newly purchased e-plus impressions

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Sorry, If I was not clear, i meant from my phone at distance, so not in bluetooth distance. Good point regarding the car needing to be on, though other metrics are available via the connect application.

A couple other quick observations from the trip.

1. Call acceleration from 60 - 80 was very strong (even at high battery temp). What an improvement from the Gen one leaf, which I though wasn't too bad.

2. The car rolls very well. When clicking into neutral, the rolling resistance seemed pretty low. It could be I just forgot what my old leaf felt like new, but it seems better.

3. The 0 power mapping in the accelerator is a bit wider then before, making it easier to roll the car.

4. I was surprised pro pilot would let you turn it on single lane country roads (no divider with oncoming traffic).

5. Wife is convinced now that the cargo area is larger then the 13 Leaf. Bags that didn't fit in the old car, fit nicely in the new one. Kids also report more comfort in the back (all 3; aged 17, 15, and 10).

I have yet to take the car to low battery. Does someone with Spy know how many GIDs/kWh's are left at that alarm with the plus?
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
Loren

Thank you for the point. We left with Battery at midpoint from Chicago. It was one notch above midpoint as we left from Iowa City and 70% in way to first high temp bar as we left Ames.

The Chademo session warmed the battery to the the first high temp mark on the gauge. It didn’t seem to impact charging time at Chademo as we it seemed to stay at the 53KW speed for most of the charge. I assumed the drop to 20 KW was because we were approaching 90% Charge.

The ride home was in upper 80s. We used air most of the way home. Battery stayed at the high temp marker for the entire ride home.

Sorry, didn’t have spy with me, so don’t have the actual temps, just the gauge.

Guessing the higher temp slightly reduced efficiency on last leg, but at 70-72 mph I can’t complain about still getting near 4 miles per kWh.

This is critical. How did you determine charging speed? Dash or station?

Charge "likely" didn't go from 53 to 20 KW in a step (suddenly) so it would have ramped down. What is highest SOC you remember seeing when charging over 50 KW?

Finally; others have said this is bad but I contend the damage was minimal. On my 30 kwh LEAF, it charged at full speed to 80% SOC so I usually charged to a few minutes past the knee generally shutting down charge when rate dropped below 40 KW. Since most of it was work time, camping was rarely an option. I saw 125º+ temps all the time but my pack showed no degradation. Granted a short stint (14 months, 30,000 miles) but comparing the two separately (time with no regard to distance and vice versa) I was well beyond the curve for others in MY AREA.
 
Dave,

Its a good question, and here is the data I have (pieced together). We plugged into the Chademo at Geneseo at 6:44PM. As I had a free session from EA, I have the phone log in which they started the session for my from. As it was a free session, it did not show up in my charge history in the EA application.

We started at 16-17% on the dash. We watched it for about 2-3 minutes (it was at about 20%). The EA screen and the car both reflected the 53KW charge rate, so assumed it was accurate.

We then went to dinner across the street. I was checking my connect app every 3-4 minutes to ensure the charging continued. With each refresh it seemed to continue to go up 2% per minute, which seemed in line with my expectations at that rate. It was in the upper 70% when our meal came, so at that point stopped checking, as I only needed about 75% to confidently get back (161 miles to home at that point).

After we paid, we returned to the car, it was at 87% and showing the 20KW rate. I don't know how long it was at that rate. It took 5 minutes to get to 90%, which at that point I unplugged as we were now high enough I could drive without caring about efficiency. (the 60 - 80 acceleration curve on the car is quite crisp!).

The car was on the charger for just over an hour, as we got on the road at 8PM (65 or so minutes). I bought a coffee after the charge before getting on the road.

Its very possible it stepped down around 70% or 75% charge, as in the last 20 minutes (between getting food and paying) we only gained about 12% or so, which would imply a slower rate then 53KW.

% on dash are not completely linear, so this requires some salt.
6:44 - 7:25 17% - 75% (so ~36kWh which is about right as the timings are not exact)
7:25 - 7:52ish 75% - 90% ( ~9kWh, so a rate of 20KW or so average, which suggests the step down).

Sorry, I don't have anything more specific.
 
There is a german video showing an e+ on 2 back to back 500KM travel days using Chademo. Day 2 the heat limitations slowed him down.

I didn't have an issue on my trip, but just had the 1 Chademo session. If I needed to do another Chademo session, I think it would likely been at the slower rate.

No in Chicago, this is a 2 month issue, as outside of July and August, temperatures are rarely consistantly above 85 degrees. But I would think harder about choosing the Leaf if I lived in Phoenix or Palm Springs.

Beside air across bottom of the car, is there any other cooling for the battery? I do wish we had at least the AC cooling routed to the battery like the eNV-200s. That could at least extend the faster charge cycles, even if you were chewing up 3KW of the charge as you recieved it.

For sub 300-400 mile days, its a non issue, but I will think carefully before trying a trip to Denver/Pueblo in terms of battery temp.

One more item on the wish list. Super-Eco mode, which has even a broader accelerator mapping. On the highway, its very hard to keep a consistent power output (allowing for variations in speed).
 
Beside air across bottom of the car, is there any other cooling for the battery?

Because the bigger battery eats up what air space there was in earlier Leafs, you don't really even have that. The ePlus and even the 40kwh Leaf rely on heat conduction and radiation rather than passive air cooling. I assume that the bottom aero cover is still plastic, so it tends to insulate the pack more than conduct heat to cool it...
 
Leftie,

That explains why I saw no cooling on this past trip when we were in the middle of a downpour. I was hoping to take a smidge off of the battery heat with the rain.

It should be good in winter though, as we will cherish every retained degree of battery temp in January. Chademo also becomes a great range extender as moving the battery from 0 to 10C does wonders for range.
 
I had to pick up my registration from the dealer (it takes a long time in IL) yesterday and asked him about Leaf sales. He mentioned that they were doing well now and picking up. He said specifically now that that gas tax doubled in IL this month, they had received more interest.

My suggestion to Nissan is to have add showing off the utility of the car over EV-magic, as they are just short of the Kia/Tesla posted ranges. thinking something along the lines of a Tesla 3, Niro, Kona, and Leaf all parked next to each other trying to put something large in the trunk, and only the Leaf being able to manage. (we have put a ping pong table, costco 6' non foldable table, and other things usually we relegate to a minivan in the back.) The Leaf owner can even offer to help transport a few items for the other drivers to be kind (as being kind is an attribute of a Leaf driver).

There was a similar demo in the UK with the Kona vs. the Leaf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Ftpl2CyIY
 
Anyone notice the route planner on the Nissan Connect app gives you elevation mapping. Would t use it to plan a trip alone, but to see the elevation is a nice plus as plugshare doesn’t have it in their mobile version.
 
Dave,

I just looked at the time stamps of the texts I sent my wife while waiting for the car to charge last weekend to get more exact timing. It took 43 minutes (+-30 seconds) for the car to go from 16% to about 78%. That comes out pretty close to exactly 53KW rate. So the slow down happened at that percent. What I don’t know is at what point the battery hit the high temp marker in the charge process.

The German video suggests that the temp limitation still kicks in.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
Dave,

I just looked at the time stamps of the texts I sent my wife while waiting for the car to charge last weekend to get more exact timing. It took 43 minutes (+-30 seconds) for the car to go from 16% to about 78%. That comes out pretty close to exactly 53KW rate. So the slow down happened at that percent. What I don’t know is at what point the battery hit the high temp marker in the charge process.

The German video suggests that the temp limitation still kicks in.

Good to know. On the 40 kwh, the knee (point which current drops due to SOC) is ~ 63%. If its 75+% on 62 kwh, that would be a huge improvement making a trip of 350 miles quite easy with a single QC on a 100 KW station. As I age, my desire to cover 600-800 miles a day is all but gone. Did enough of that BS when I was a kid. Nowadays, 350-400 is all I want to do and frequently less. At the same time, my trips have gone from a single destination planning to "what can I do and see on the way?" and I can only ask myself why I didn't start doing this much earlier in life?
 
I hear you. We stated the run home at 2pm and was back home (north of Chicago) around 10:30. The 340 miles was enough for me for the day, and I felt pretty pooped the next morning)partially due to a large cup of late coffee). 400-500 is about all I would want to muster in a day, and barring charger outage, the car will do that just fine.

The extra top off (to be careful, but not strictly necessary) and stupid phone call with EA (though still worth almost $20 in free charging) cost us close to an hour in delay, but such is the price of venturing into the wild outside of larger cities.

Our next large run is to Minneapolis, which is 410 or so miles each way. May try to do it in one stop if we are bold. If nothing else to quiet all the complaining about the new Leaf. The line has been a good car with little to no maintenance (from experience with our 13).

I am hearing more and more horror stories about Tesla 3 repairs (time to repair and costs) as time continues and their supply chain has struggled to catch up-to the 30x scale they are expanding to cover. Given the hyperscaling they are doing, I think the other automakers only have a year or two left to really innovate, and maneuver but are profit trapped and market prevented from spending the needed capital to make the transition. For a while I though Nissan might compete, but not so sure 7 years on. Such is the way of the world.

I am keen to see if the little bit of taping (just for trips) will help us eek out another 5-10 miles a charge on the highway. Taping the grill helped quite a bit on the old leaf, especially on winter runs.
 
Well, I am in favor of any EV over any gasser. No option is perfect so we all have to weigh the needs and wants with each model. They all have strong points and weak points. As far as Tesla reliability goes, I am quite certain we are hearing a disproportionate group that are having the issues while 98% have none. Its always a gamble. I have had 4 LEAFs and 3 didn't need anything while my 2016 had to have a water pump, AC condenser lines and the charger replaced. But it was also THE best LEAF I had for usability and battery robustness. Knowing all that I know now, the only thing I would have changed is my location back in Jan 2018...
 
Ok, next college visit done. This one was a walk in the park. Near northern Chicago Suburb to Waukesha for a college visit and back.

Total mileage 176.5 miles
Leaving % battery 86%
Returning % battery 17%
Trip efficiency 4.7 miles kWh
Outside temp 80-91F
Tires at 44Lbs
Driver +1 passenger on the highway, and +2 for the around town (picked up grandma).

Battery stayed at midpoint temp during entire trip.

While majority of miles were on the freeway/tollway, we did have 25 or so miles touring the town. While we didn’t run air the entire trip, it was on for long sections.

Lots of construction on 94 north of IL border kept speeds often to 62-65. A bit faster south of the border.

I do drive
I really need to get leaf spy rolling again.
 
My son and I were rewatching the Thrifty 3 Leaf vs Tesla up a mountain and a thought came time mind. Well besides that I thought the Leaf did pretty well in that test.

Did the higher elevation reduce differences in aero drag, hence bringing closer together the characteristics of the cars?
 
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