Miles->5%, Miles->LBW or Miles->VLBW

My GOM range is way off.
I decided to get Leaf Spy Pro
mainly because I need to know the actual range.

Miles->5%, Miles->LBW or Miles->VLBW

Which one is the best representation of the actual range?
LBW?

Is @4mi/kWh realistic?
for a 24kWh battery?

VLBW is as low as you want to go, and then only occasionally, if you want to keep the pack healthy.

In terms of efficiency, 4 miles/kWh is absolutely realistic in moderate ambient temperatures. In fact, you can easily better that using some hypermiling techniques (maintaining momentum by seldom braking, coasting, accelerating slowly, etc).

Of course, if you drive aggressivey, at high speeds, or climb a lot of hills, then it's very easy to get much worse efficiency too.

So, it depends...

Should I be looking at LBW then?
Isn't that what most people do?

LBW is a good "floor" for driving range, with the miles between that and VLBW the emergency reserve. Just try to make sure that you recharge at least 5% immediately after arriving home. Think of LBW as the floor for driving and 20-25% as the floor for letting the car sit without recharging immediately.

johnnybegoode said:

Should I be looking at LBW then?
Isn't that what most people do?

Click to expand...

To echo what LeftieBiker said, and what I said earlier:

VLBW is as low as you want to go, and then only occasionally, if you want to keep the pack healthy

Click to expand...

If you are willing to sacrifice some range for pack longevity, then try not to frequently drive below LBW. That's because high depths of discharge are known to cause premature degradation.

Realize though that, as the pack degrades, you'll either have to charge en route for longer trips, or you'll have to eek out more range by dipping down to VLBW.

All of the above is secondary to heat, in terms of degradation. So, while some people in cooler climates get away with frequent "bad" behavior, those who live in hotter climates will definitely regret that

4 mi/kWh is reasonable to use for your 2012 if not using the heater and not driving really fast. If most of your driving is on the freeway, you might want to use 3.5 mi/kWh. I generally use either 3.5 or 4 mi/kWh in LEAF Spy and have it display distance to either LBW or VLBW. Based upon my experience, your 2012 should have about 7 miles after LBW to reach VLBW and almost 7 more miles before power limited (turtle) mode at moderate speeds, say 40-50 mi/hr. There is almost no remaining distance left at turtle mode (you may get 1/4 to 1/2 mile at 20 mi/hr or less before shutdown).

Personally, I have never been afraid to discharge to VLBW or lower when necessary. Also, I am not afraid to wait a few hours for off-peak power rates before charging. Others will argue with this so read the discussion and decide for yourself.

johnnybegoode said:

My GOM range is way off.
I decided to get Leaf Spy Pro
mainly because I need to know the actual range.

Miles->5%, Miles->LBW or Miles->VLBW

Which one is the best representation of the actual range?
LBW?

Is @4mi/kWh realistic?
for a 24kWh battery?

Click to expand...

1%. All the rest require you to guess at what's left.

As far as miles/kwh only YOU can determine what is realistic.

To determine; simply record mileage and miles/kwh daily for a month in Winter then a month in Summer. Average it out. That gives you a baseline. On longer trips, make sure you reset both before starting the trip. Adjust LEAF Spy to match the car's performance. If pushing the boundaries, I would recommend adjusting driving habits ASAP to hit your target. Don't wait until you are almost empty. By then it's too late. What I like to do is determine trip mileage and miles/kwh goal I need to hit then add .1 miles/kwh and use that as a target.

FYI; not knowing what you drive forces me to generalize. Know that daily mileage and efficiency can be reset as often as you like on every LEAF.

OP: if you don't mind a little mental arithmetic ..

Set LSpy to 4 miles/kWh
If highway or non-dry roads or heater or aggressive driving than knock off 15% of reported range
If easy driving add 15% to reported range.

As for where to set the floor, I would choose by how close emergency charging is to you on your route(s)

Nissan uses an additional measurement called GIDS. This can be viewed on LeafSpy Pro, but I'll give you a summary of my experience. LBW sounds at 49 GIDS, VLBW at 24 GIDS, turtle mode kicks in somewhere below half that. I've made a habit of noting the odometer at LBW and again on the rare occasions VLBW sounds. After calculating the difference I consider a charge essential before traveling half that distance to avoid turtle mode. I could supply miles, but results vary due to differences in routes and operator behavior. I will admit I have not risked traveling two miles after VLBW and not yet experienced turtle mode.

Raspberry22 said:

Nissan uses an additional measurement called GIDS. This can be viewed on LeafSpy Pro, but I'll give you a summary of my experience. LBW sounds at 49 GIDS, VLBW at 24 GIDS, turtle mode kicks in somewhere below half that. I've made a habit of noting the odometer at LBW and again on the rare occasions VLBW sounds. After calculating the difference I consider a charge essential before traveling half that distance to avoid turtle mode. I could supply miles, but results vary due to differences in routes and operator behavior. I will admit I have not risked traveling two miles after VLBW and not yet experienced turtle mode.

Click to expand...

Ok, just a reminder the above applies to 24 and 30 kwh LEAFs, ONLY.

I hit ZERO percent SOC at 51 GIDs on my plus