new owner - am I doing something wrong?

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defiancecp

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2010
Messages
367
Location
Little Rock
So I'm on my 3rd day, and I know better than to put any validity in the "remaining range" numbers. However, from what I've read, the charge remaining value should be pretty accurate, shouldn't it?

I've been feeling like the % remaining is lower than I expected every day when I got home, so today I really paid close attention:

This morning I started with 80% charge. Temp was 76 outside, so I didn't pre-engage environmental controls. It was a bit stuffy, so I had the a/c on and set to 75 (barely blowing inside). Drove in on eco mode.

I drove to work, exactly 10.0 miles according to google maps (which takes the same route I do. About 60% of that distance is interstate driving, and I was driving 60-65. Most of the rest is a split-lane highway I drove about 50 on.

At lunch, I took the car to have windows tinted - 7.8 miles, similar interstate/hwy mix as above, similar speeds, then back to work. I don't think I remembered to put it in eco mode this time. A/C on the whole time.

The odometer didn't show anything significant, so I know the window guy didn't take it for a joy ride or anything.

Now, I'm showing in the owners portal to have 33% remaining. That seems **WAY** low to me. Totaling up my route, that's <27 miles, with a consumption of 47% of the battery capacity - putting the theoretical max from 100% at 57 miles? And 80% at 46 miles? I know I'm not being uber-efficient, but with the driving above shouldn't I see closer to 70 from 100%, at least?
 
The SOC % you see in the owner's portal does not always match the actual state in the car. A more reliable method is to measure how many bars you consumed vs. miles covered. How many bars did you actually use?
 
mwalsh said:
SparkyEV said:
The SOC % you see in the owner's portal does not always match the actual state in the car. A more reliable method is to measure how many bars you consumed vs. miles covered. How many bars did you actually use?

33% in OP is 4 bars remaining. So if you deduct that from the 8 you have available at 80%..
That should be 10 bars at 80%, no?
 
Also, I've found that the best instrument for measuring your driving efficiency is the miles/kWh indicator on the dash (not the one in the center console, which reads high for unknown reasons). It provides both average miles/kWh and instantaneous. The instantaneous bar graph is good for getting instant feedback on the impact of hills, speed, climate control usage, driving style, etc. Try resetting it in the morning before you leave for work and see what you get at the end of the day. The average value is also good for determining your actual range. Just plug it into one of the following equations (determined by extensive analysis by hard-working MNL members):

range = mpk * 21 (for 100% charge)
range = mpk * 16.5 (for 80% charge)
 
davewill said:
mwalsh said:
SparkyEV said:
The SOC % you see in the owner's portal does not always match the actual state in the car. A more reliable method is to measure how many bars you consumed vs. miles covered. How many bars did you actually use?

33% in OP is 4 bars remaining. So if you deduct that from the 8 you have available at 80%..
That should be 10 bars at 80%, no?

Yeah, your right. I don't know where my head's at today. I also misread the distance. I'm going to bow out of this one....just can't deal right now. Though actually, it still comes out to 4.5 miles a bar. Still seems low. But, again, I'm on the old firmware.
 
This morning it was at 10 bars (I was trying out the 80% charge timer discussed here, so I specifically looked at it to be sure). I just checked and now it's at 4 bars.

Even if I can expect less than 60 miles, that's doesn't kill my commute, but if others are getting a lot more I just want to figure out if I'm doing something wrong or if something's wrong with my battery...


The mi/kwh on my console shows 3.3, and the one on my dash shows 3.1. It's slowly climbing from the 2.9 I had on it the first day.
 
It does seem suspicious. Is there an elevation change from home to work? It doesn't have to be one big obvious hill to have a huge impact. The good news if that's the case is that you will benefit just as much going home as it hurt going to work.
 
I didn't think there was ... Found this web site:
http://www.daftlogic.com/sandbox-google-maps-find-altitude.htm

Which says I go from 402 to 537... I wouldn't think that would be enough to matter would it?
 
I'm having a similar problem. Yesterday I drove pretty much exactly 50 miles and the battery charge went from 92% to 33%. I got these numbers from Nissan's owner online portal, which I use to monitor the charging process. If I got my math right, 50 miles / 0.59 equals to 85 miles range. I'm driving very conservatively, live in California, I'm avoiding freeways like the devil and I'm always in ECO mode.
 
defiancecp said:
Which says I go from 402 to 537... I wouldn't think that would be enough to matter would it?
No, I don't see it having this big an impact. Tomorrow reset your mpk reading going each way so you can see what you're getting coming and going.
 
This may be a dumb question, but did you refresh the view in the owners portal? It doesn't do it automatically. You could have been looking at your previous numbers...
 
surfingslovak said:
I'm having a similar problem. Yesterday I drove pretty much exactly 50 miles and the battery charge went from 92% to 33%. I got these numbers from Nissan's owner online portal, which I use to monitor the charging process. If I got my math right, 50 miles / 0.59 equals to 85 miles range. I'm driving very conservatively, live in California, I'm avoiding freeways like the devil and I'm always in ECO mode.

Nissans on-line portal numbers went into "UNRELIABLE" territory with the software patch a few months ago. Don't use/trust them at all. They only accurate info you'll find on the portal is how many bars of charge you have.

Primarily, use the battery bars and actual miles driven, and secondarily, use the "miles remaining" number, but only as a ball-park figure because it's dependent on recent driving styles. The Nissan CARWINGS or portal information is completely bogus right now.
 
Interesting, I appreciate your response. I'll start using battery bars more and trust the other indicators less. My understanding from this thread is that the mpk indicator on the dash is fairly accurate. I found it very useful so far and my average mpk is going up a notch every day.
 
Well, quick update - No better on the way home. 10.0 miles (odometer agrees with google maps), and now I'm down to 2 bars (portal shows 17%). Total distance driven less than 38.

The mi/kwh meter on the dash went up from 3.2 to 3.3 on the way home as well... I haven't reset it since getting the car, but that means I would have to have been above 3.3...
 
Bars do drop away faster with the new firmware....but, 3.1mpk on the dash is pretty low. We are getting 3.9-4.1 on a similar commute (some freeway, in non-flat terrain), and when I drive it (admittedly delicately) on the weekends, I can get closer to 4.5. I suggest resetting your mpk on the dash next time you charge since you're still working your way up from the initial reading.

To clarify the accuracy of the dashboard mpk indicator - it may well be accurate in a relative sense, but does not reflect consumption from the wall. To me the most useful stat is wall to wheels mpk, which for us hovers around 3.2. If you have a Blink and can measure the consumption at the wall, you should be able to get an idea of how you're doing.
 
defiancecp said:
Well, quick update - No better on the way home. 10.0 miles (odometer agrees with google maps), and now I'm down to 2 bars (portal shows 17%). Total distance driven less than 38.

The mi/kwh meter on the dash went up from 3.2 to 3.3 on the way home as well... I haven't reset it since getting the car, but that means I would have to have been above 3.3...
Well, that's actually better than you got before. If you were really down to 4 bars, that's 5 miles per bar. That would be 60 miles from 12 bars, plus there's at least another 10 miles hidden after the last bar expires.

For tracking your mpk, use the "e" button, then choose energy. You get both an instantaneous mpk and an average that you can easily reset (separate from the one on the dash). It keeps a history each time you reset it.
 
mwalsh said:
Yeah, your right. I don't know where my head's at today. I also misread the distance. I'm going to bow out of this one....just can't deal right now. Though actually, it still comes out to 4.5 miles a bar. Still seems low. But, again, I'm on the old firmware.
Note that each bar represents 2KW (24 KW battery capacity/12 bars). In my case I am averaging about 3.8 to 3.9 miles/kW (running AC on a hot Texas day, non-eco mode), so a quick mental calculation gives me about 7 to 8 miles per bar.

As I noted in another thread, I really wish I had the ability to blank out the mileage remaining estimate, as it is very misleading. I would put black tape over the display, if it did not look so cheesy.

Surprisingly, the AC only accounts for about a 500 watt load, so it does not have a dramatic effect on overall distance reduction.

Count the bars and ignore the mileage, and you will have fun with your new car!
 
mbutter said:
Note that each bar represents 2KW (24 KW battery capacity/12 bars).
Sorry, mbutter, but this is not true. I don't think it was even correct with the original firmware, though that might be debatable. It is definitely not true if you have the March upgrade.
Jimmydreams said:
Nissans on-line portal numbers went into "UNRELIABLE" territory with the software patch a few months ago. Don't use/trust them at all. They only accurate info you'll find on the portal is how many bars of charge you have.
I'll go Jimmy one better. The "percentages" you see there do not mean, and have never ever meant, anything other than just the number of bars remaining. "33%" means 4/12 bars. Period. Now, that could be four full bars, or it could be just a smidgen more than three bars. They will both be reported as 33%. That is also why you see 83% if you charge to 80%. An 80% charge is not ten full bars, but it is more than nine, so ten are showing. 10/12 = 0.8333, so you see 83%.

Now, the important news: With the firmware upgrade the bars have shrunk.

We don't know the exact numbers, but each bar now appears to represent about 7% of the total capacity, and there is approximate 15% of the total capacity left after the last bar disappears. There is some debate as to whether all the bars are the "same size". I think they are, but others disagree.

defiancecp said he went from 80% to 4 bars in 27 miles. Using my assumptions, that means he had somewhere between 37% and 43% left. By happenstance, if you subtract that from 80% it means he had used between 37% and 43%. That yields an estimated range of between 63 and 73 miles on 100%. That's better than his calculation of 57 miles, but admittedly not terribly good. You can do a lot better, defiance, as you learn to use the car. Start by watching the bubbles in the "eyebrow". Try to hold it down to three bubbles. If you ever see more than four, back off the accelerator. And I recommend having the dot matrix LCD in the middle of the dash set to energy economy. Look at the average every night, think about your driving that day, and then reset it. It depends on where you are driving, of course, but good drivers can usually keep that above 4 m/kWh; great drivers can get it over 5 m/kwh.

Good luck in your journey!

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
We don't know the exact numbers, but each bar now appears to represent about 7% of the total capacity, and there is approximate 15% of the total capacity left after the last bar disappears. There is some debate as to whether all the bars are the "same size". I think they are, but others disagree.
Ray

Based on my experiences so far, I believe the bars are different sizes. On this 80% charge so far I'm averaging 5.5Kwh on the dash driving 27 miles with 6 bars left. If they are the same, then that's only about 68 miles. It just seems like the next ones should increase so I can reach over 90 miles (5.5KwhX17).
 
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