62kwh Leaf Plus Efficiency Posting

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
My 02 Maxima (bought new) came w/tires that were way overinflated above door placard values. I stumbled across that and figured that might've been to help prevent flat spots while in storage/on the dealer lot.
DougWantsALeaf said:
2. Open the hood at the one Chademo planned to see if it reduces rate of battery temp increase.
Doubtful it'll help much. You'd really need a lot of forced airflow of air at much cooler temps to do much good. Immersing most or all of the battery casing in liquid that's much colder than ambient air temp would probably help.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The only other thing I do is drive in B mode the majority of the time I'm on the road and try to "coast" as much as possible when needing to slow down.

B Mode (and ePedal when available) work great for city driving, but Eco alone or D alone are better for highway use because it's so much easier to coast.

I can't stand driving with the ePedal lol I like the B mode because it slows me down faster when traffic slows in front of me. I was originally only driving in Eco mode and doing a true coast like I did with my hybrid but I feel like I retain my range better with B mode. I should really do a true test one week vs the next to see the difference personally but I don't have the patience nor reliable traffic conditions for that sort of test to be comparable without too many variables. :|
 
We only had the car for the last 10 days of the month, but our Efficiency was:
642.5 miles
4.3 miles/kWH

It was really hot most days, so the AC was running almost all the time.
 
umdkevin said:
May: 4.0 Miles/kWh Distance: 1,022 Miles
June: 4.0 Miles/kWh Distance: 905 Miles
July: 4.0 Miles/kWh Distance: 880 Miles

As you can see I'm pretty consistent with kWh. So, for August I decided to try and get max efficiency for my normal commute. Since, I'm adjust multiple variables at different intervals, this is not really a test as it is an attempt to get the best possible kWh for one month. I'm implementing 3 approaches:
A) Adjust my driving, primarily minimize acceleration boarding highways
B) Increased PSI. it was set at about 36 cold, bumped it to 40
c) Use a few different drive settings. e.g. Eco , B-mode, D-mode. For the last 3 months I've driven exclusively in Eco + D-mode.

Initial indications are positive, one week in:
Aug 1-8: 4.4 Miles/kWh Distance: 234 Miles
 
Nice improvement.

You can even go a tad higher on the tires if you are ok with the stiffer ride. I also find that D is better for the highway, as you don't generally want alot of regen (short of coming down large hills/mountains), rather conserve momentum.

I can only do the long slow highway accelerations when its really light traffic, and by myself as no one else can stand it. I also try hard to keep my foot in a constant power position, but that's difficult to maintain. Usually at or just below the first bar of power on the highway.
 
Transport Evolved has a piece on using the adaptable cruise. If you stay with a pack of cars, potentially using the adaptable cruise hanging with the crowd can possibly give you a gentle boost to your efficiency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMUUknGbvg
 
August efficiency continued to tick up, 4.5 overall so far for the month.

I think I am in that Goldilocks period where temps are perfect and the edges are now worn off the tires so often I am touching or exceeding 6 miles/kWh on around town trips. Fully enjoying tires which have a sidewall suggested 44psi. The average is weighted down a bit from the early part of the month highway trips.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
August efficiency continued to tick up, 4.5 overall so far for the month.

I think I am in that Goldilocks period where temps are perfect and the edges are now worn off the tires so often I am touching or exceeding 6 miles/kWh on around town trips. Fully enjoying tires which have a sidewall suggested 44psi. The average is weighted down a bit from the early part of the month highway trips.

What do you run your tires at Doug.
 
On the freeway or anywhere really; Eco helps with efficiency by leveling power output. There is no loss of acceleration. Eco only dampens acceleration response to pedal movement.

Tire pressures do help. Some contend they feel a difference in ride comfort. I tried 36 PSI for a week over my normal 42-44 PSI and couldn't tell other than 36 has a lot more body roll and instability in roundabouts.

B mode has a higher level of regen. The best option is maintaining a constant "power" level (notice I did NOT say speed) and adjust for traffic conditions. But that is not always possible or easily predictable so when a reduction of power is needed, B mode recaptures significantly more power than D mode.
 
Yes, I completely agree. Level power output is best. And as long as you aren’t holding up traffic, if you can maintain momentum by timing lights a little bit, it goes a long way in your efficiency.

Here is a question. Ionic and Tesla’s 3 both show much higher efficiency then the Leaf (even more so my plus). If I can get 6 around town, would an Ionic or 3 let me get 6.5 or 7? I haven’t seen any posting supporting that. I do get the feeling that Ionic and the 3 do a bit better job leveling the power curve in normal driving, more than drive train efficiency. Weight on the 3 is pretty close, a bit less on the Ionic.

I find the difference between 36 and 44 psi is bumps from missing pavement feel harder at 44. I can live with that. I would like to look for some light steel or aluminum rims that I could put aero caps on. Guessing you could shave 40 lbs of unsprung weight and improve aero a bit. Not sure where I would put the extra set of wheels.

Ok, 2 month check. This is after overnight level 1, 89% SOC and 270 on the gom. Last 40 or so miles have been pretty efficient.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MhNtcjwsrOUbOaLCvnMjt3YHBFmDCWXC/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QbdKTFL6VqphS5fM0bGa8SNxdGUa7lJy/view?usp=drivesdk

Have othera go adjusted down further yet. This is with eco on and no ac/heat activated.
 
Not sure where I would put the extra set of wheels.

You have to take one set off the car. Sorry - couldn't resist. :D As for efficiency, I think you'd see the same numbers with an Ionic, as it mainly makes it easier to get high efficiency.
 
So, certainly have been happy thus far. Key will be to watch the rate of battery degradation.

The 40 battery seems to have a bit more negative than positive now with them in the wild for a year and a half. I have to say in some states you can get a new leaf (non plus) super cheap.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
So, certainly have been happy thus far. Key will be to watch the rate of battery degradation.

We'll probably drop below 98% SOH on the return trip home the end of this coming week at about 6,500 miles. Watching the SOH go down consistently makes me nervous about the longevity of the vehicle for us given the amount of miles we'll put on it a year.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Not sure where I would put the extra set of wheels.

You have to take one set off the car. Sorry - couldn't resist. :D As for efficiency, I think you'd see the same numbers with an Ionic, as it mainly makes it easier to get high efficiency.

Both Ioniq and T3 benefit from lower drag which is minimized in situations where your LEAF gets 6 miles/kwh. In those situations, I am thinking you will see little if any difference. Get on the highway and the numbers will start to diverge.
 
NotATesla said:
DougWantsALeaf said:
So, certainly have been happy thus far. Key will be to watch the rate of battery degradation.

We'll probably drop below 98% SOH on the return trip home the end of this coming week at about 6,500 miles. Watching the SOH go down consistently makes me nervous about the longevity of the vehicle for us given the amount of miles we'll put on it a year.

If it makes you feel any better my 40kWh is currently at 94.48% SOH with 15,600 miles on the car in 11 months of ownership. That represents a 4.72% SOH drop since new.
 
Just found this History of Averages chart in NissanConnect

05dNfOV.png
 
August Efficiency:
2,356 miles
4.0 mi/kWh

Two big road trips to Tennessee in August. Those hills are not kind... getting regen on the long hills is fun though. Coming down from the Newfoundland Gap to Gatlinburg, TN earned us back about 8% in range, B mode the whole way down.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
Here is a question. Ionic and Tesla’s 3 both show much higher efficiency then the Leaf (even more so my plus). If I can get 6 around town, would an Ionic or 3 let me get 6.5 or 7?
.
About 165 - 180 in a Tesla. The king is the Prius Prime, I would get into the 120s with easy driving.
 
Back
Top