Las Vegas range question - mt Charleston

[coreyh]

Has anyone tried to take their Leaf up to Mt Charleston?

It is only 38 miles from my house, but of course it is entirely up hill. (I have a brand new 2015 Leaf FWIW) I'd be willing to do the trip without the A/C running if need be.

[TonyWilliams]

Shouldn't be much of a problem if it's not cold and you keep the speed below 50mph (4.5 miles per kWh on flat ground)

The rule of thumb is 1.5kWh burned for every 1000 feet gain for the mass of a LEAF, in addition to normal consumption on level ground. Las Vegas is 2500 feet-ish, and the top of the drive can be up to 8500 feet-ish, so 6 thousand feet is the difference multiplied by 1.5kWh per thousand feet consumed equals 9kWh... JUST TO MAKE THE CLIMB!!!

To drive the 38 miles at 50mph / 4.5 miles per kWh consumes an additional 8.5kWh with NO HEATER USE (seat heaters are OK). The air conditioner is very efficient, and it will cool off as you climb, so I don't recommend turning it off.

Total consumption at the top of hill - 17.5kWh

Miles per kWh on dash at top of hill - 2.2 miles per kWh

I want to be clear that 50mph isn't an average speed, or top speed... it is the speed. So, if you have to slow down and accelerate out of turns, the consumption is likely to be higher (lower "miles per kWh"). If that is the case, I recommend an even slower speed, maybe 45mph max.

The new 2015 LEAF holds about 22kWh when new with a warm battery. You have about 4kWh to return to Las Vegas, or about 9.5 miles per kWh !!!

Yes, it can be done, but this is NOT a casual unplanned drive. Plan the drive and drive the plan.

This is somewhat similar to the two times I've driven to Julian, California:

LEAF to Julian

I used 9 bars on the climb, and drove 41 miles from my house at 580 feet elevation to Julian (over 4000 feet elevation). The Guess-O-Meter was showing 18 miles remaining and 3 bars when i started my 41 mile return.

I did about 20 total miles of pure coasting. I didn't drop to 2 bars until 66.6 total miles into the trip (about 26.5 miles on the return from Julian) The trip was complete with one bar showing, just before the Low Battery Warning came on.

100% battery charge to 18% charge remaining after 81 miles total.

Distance: 40.55 miles.....return 40.55 miles, total 81.1 miles

Elevation gain / loss: 5189 ft


The trip was a success.

[paulgipe]

The new 2015 LEAF holds about 22kWh when new with a warm battery. You have about 4kWh to return to Las Vegas, or about 9.5 miles per kWh !!!

Yes, it can be done, but this is NOT a casual unplanned drive. Plan the drive and drive the plan.

This is somewhat similar to the two times I've driven to Julian, California:

LEAF to Julian

I used 9 bars on the climb, and drove 41 miles from my house at 580 feet elevation to Julian (over 4000 feet elevation). The Guess-O-Meter was showing 18 miles remaining and 3 bars when i started my 41 mile return.

I did about 20 total miles of pure coasting. I didn't drop to 2 bars until 66.6 total miles into the trip (about 26.5 miles on the return from Julian) The trip was complete with one bar showing, just before the Low Battery Warning came on.

100% battery charge to 18% charge remaining after 81 miles total.

Distance: 40.55 miles.....return 40.55 miles, total 81.1 miles

Elevation gain / loss: 5189 ft


The trip was a success.

As Tony says, it can be done, but you do need to plan carefully. Tony's trips and others on this web site can be helpful to explain the process of how to estimate what you need. As Tony says Plan the drive and Drive the Plan. Tony and some of the others on this forum are far more adventurous than I. I try to plan to always have a reserve and that limits what we can do in comparison to others.

I suggest you construct a tabular estimator based on Tony's formulas and also check the calcs on EVTripPlanner. You can see what we've done under Pacific region, then plan accordingly.

Paul

[lasvegas95]

Great info Tony. I had the same question but I am out in Green Valley with a 2012 missing one bar. I did see on plugshare there is a J1772 at 6601 N Buffalo Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89131 which is showing 25.6 milles from the top of the Mt. Charleston if you wanted to top off before heading up. It sounds like that would be a safer bet and you can see what mileage is left at the top.

[baustin]

Planet Nissan is also in that area, 5850 Centennial Center Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89149. They have two stations out front, and one back in the service area (where they have left my car charging). Andrew Brack is the service guy I have dealt with there, and is friendly and easy to work with.

[coreyh]

First post to the myNissanLeaf forums a resounding success! Thanks so much folks!

This helps me wrap my head around how this all works massively.

Side note: I was just in Julian for a little vacation a couple months ago, so I can picture how that drive compares.

[lasvegas95]

First post to the myNissanLeaf forums a resounding success! Thanks so much folks!

This helps me wrap my head around how this all works massively.

Side note: I was just in Julian for a little vacation a couple months ago, so I can picture how that drive compares.

If you can, let us know if you make the trip, where you drove from full charge and with how many miles left (I understand the GOM is the GOM).

[Jac]

I have plans to make the trip up to deer creek picnic area next Wednesday. I'll let everyone know how it goes if we do follow through and go.

[Jac]

Last Sunday we took our 2015 leaf up to mt charleston and back home. We left Ann and Clayton with a full charge and took the 215 to the 95 and did 50 mph on the way up the mountain. We stopped at fletcher trail/picnic area which is towards the bottom of the mountain with 16 miles left. On our way back we stopped at Costco before arriving home with 40 miles of range left. We got back 60 miles total by the bottom of the mountain.

We will be happily doing the trip again tomorrow