My 2018 Leaf is not what I expected

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sthbeach

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
74
Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. My name is Marc, I live outside of Toronto Canada and I purchased a used 2018 Nissan Leaf with 36000 kms about 3 weeks ago. I have a LE Link OBDII with LeafSpy pro. (Also purchased a 2017 Leaf SV for my wife at the same time).

So anyway......
LeafSpy shows me an SOH: 94.17 and it appears that it's going down every day at a rate of approx. .02-.03
I have an all highway commute of 150kms and do another 10kms a day city for a total of 160kms keeping a fairly consistent 120kms/h or approximately between 70-75 mph.
In my first week I would get home with 18-24% SOC on the GOM but now I'm getting home with 8-12% on the GOM and if anything I am driving a little better now. When I got home last night I had 9% GOM and LeafSpy was showing about 17% GID and 18% SOC with a total of 161kms driven. Also note that these numbers stated have been consistent for my commute the last few weeks.
It seems very low to me. I bought this car thinking it has 242kms of range and even if I knock off 10% off the top and 25% for December through March (winter weather) that this car should be fine but I am starting to think otherwise.
I understand that I am traveling at a decent clip and it's all highway and all city driving would and should give me better numbers but these companies should be more upfront about highway driving and range. I think they are very misleading.
 
As you see in LeafSpy, the car keeps 8-9% of your range hidden so you don't run out of juice. At 9% has your low battery warning gone on yet? If not, you still have quite a bit of range left.

Be sure tires are at maximum inflation (Ideally 40-44 PSI) . This does stiffen the ride, but it does improve range. Often dealers underinflate the tires to change the ride characteristic.

Keep speed at 110. The leaf is not as Aero friendly as the Tesla 3 or Ionic. You get non linear fall off in efficiency as your speed increases. Isn't the speed limit in Canada 100 anyway?

On the highway, drive in D not B mode, to limit regen. Regen is great in the city where you start and stop a lot, but hurtful on the highway (except in rush hour driving...in which case slow and steady beats stop and go).

As the weather cools, preheat the car while charging, limit range effects.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
As you see in LeafSpy, the car keeps 8-9% of your range hidden so you don't run out of juice.
.
Wrong. I have explained this to you before. NO USABLE RESERVE EXISTS
 
sthbeach said:
I am starting to think otherwise.
Correct, your initial estimate was unrealistic. It goes like this:

242 km range from 100% -> 0% when car is new, no headwinds, good roads, good weather, and about 105 kph speed.

In your case,
You have lost 5% range already;
To avoid range anxiety you want to reach your destination with 10%
Include a 10% buffer for wet roads/headwinds
Expect a 15% lower range to travel at 120 kph instead of 105

Added all up...
242*0.95*0.9*0.9*0.85 = 160 km
Winter will be 10 - 30% less, depending on choices that you make. Then range will be as low as 160*0.7 = 112 km or as much as 160*0.9 = 144 km.

You have two good mitigations:
Find charging during the day,
Drive slower

As the battery loses range you will become ever more dependent on same day charging.
As for really bad winter weather --- well, plan for the worst and don't be surprised if you have multiple charging stops
 
sthbeach said:
LeafSpy shows me an SOH: 94.17 and it appears that it's going down every day at a rate of approx. .02-.03
You should not look at SOH change on a day-to-day basis. The error variance is a few percentage. In the last 6 months I owned my 2013, SOH varied up and down by as much as 3%.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
As you see in LeafSpy, the car keeps 8-9% of your range hidden so you don't run out of juice. At 9% has your low battery warning gone on yet? If not, you still have quite a bit of range left.

Be sure tires are at maximum inflation (Ideally 40-44 PSI) . This does stiffen the ride, but it does improve range. Often dealers underinflate the tires to change the ride characteristic.

Keep speed at 110. The leaf is not as Aero friendly as the Tesla 3 or Ionic. You get non linear fall off in efficiency as your speed increases. Isn't the speed limit in Canada 100 anyway?

On the highway, drive in D not B mode, to limit regen. Regen is great in the city where you start and stop a lot, but hurtful on the highway (except in rush hour driving...in which case slow and steady beats stop and go).

As the weather cools, preheat the car while charging, limit range effects.



Yes, my low bat warning comes on at around 10%.
I keep my tires at 43 psi, I never use Eco mode and always have e-pedal on.
 
This sucks.......I never would have bought the car if i might need to charge in the day or that I have to dramatically change my driving habits to accommodate.
The way I look at it is that I bought an EV with a range of over 80 kms more than my daily commute and without me making any serous adjustments, it just doesn't work out well. :(

The funny thing is that my wife has the 2017 Leaf SV with the same amount of kms. Her commute is on the same highway just a little shorter, she totals between 130+140kms daily. She drives in eco and usually B mode all the time and does a consistent 110-115 kms/h and has about 10-18% battery left.
I just purchased and recieved the Leafbox and was planning on installing it on her car but now I'm thinking I might have to put it on mine instead!
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
You get non linear fall off in efficiency as your speed increases.
A linear drop in range as speed increases from ~ 90 kph to 115 is a reasonable rule of thumb. You are thinking of Aero drag which increases with the square of the speed but other frictions are linear or zero order so the sum total is kinda-sorta linear.
 
Also, I believe my Leaf suffers from Rapidgate and needs a software update because last week was the long weekend and I did a trip to cottage country. I planned my route so I would have to quick charge each way for about 20-30 minutes......anyway the 50kw DC quick charger I hit on the way up and back charged at less than 20 kw/h both times and it took me forever!
 
Nobody drives 100 kph on Highway 401.
The 18 wheelers are a plenty and they all travel at 105-110 kph so you want to be driving a solid 115 kph or it's just hell.

I use to be a speed demon, my average speed on the highway was 140+ kph. I have been lucky over the years and have only got one ticket in the last 8 years of this commute. When I bought the Leaf, I had intentions of it settling me down to about 120 kph which is a good thing but I didn't expect to have to dull it down to 105-110kph, that's just pure torcher for me.....lol
 
Maybe they just pick on us with US plates then. I stay at no more than 105 around Toronto.


SageBrush,

So when your Leaf hit's 1%, the car bricks and dies after a KM or two? How many miles does it take for your leaf to go from 1% to Turtle?

In my 2019, I have driven for many miles after hitting 1% on the dash and still not hit VLB? VLB is still miles from turtle.
 
SageBrush said:
sthbeach said:
I am starting to think otherwise.



Winter will be 10 - 30% less, depending on choices that you make. Then range will be as low as 160*0.7 = 112 km or as much as 160*0.9 = 144 km.

Yes. Mine is more like 40% less, and that's during a mild western Oregon winter.
I'm stuck with the resistance heater in the 2018 Model S.
 
Tortoisehead77 said:
SageBrush said:
sthbeach said:
I am starting to think otherwise.



Winter will be 10 - 30% less, depending on choices that you make. Then range will be as low as 160*0.7 = 112 km or as much as 160*0.9 = 144 km.

Yes. Mine is more like 40% less, and that's during a mild western Oregon winter.
I'm stuck with the resistance heater in the 2018 Model S.
The percent drop in range is less as the trip length increases.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
In my 2019, I have driven for many miles after hitting 1% on the dash and still not hit VLB?
.
You tell me, it is your car and I was not in it.

As I explained to you before, the SOC gauge is inaccurate, particularly at very low values.
 
sthbeach said:
Also, I believe my Leaf suffers from Rapidgate and needs a software update because last week was the long weekend and I did a trip to cottage country. I planned my route so I would have to quick charge each way for about 20-30 minutes......anyway the 50kw DC quick charger I hit on the way up and back charged at less than 20 kw/h both times and it took me forever!
What does kw/h mean ?
 
sthbeach said:
I use to be a speed demon, my average speed on the highway was 140+ kph. I have been lucky over the years and have only got one ticket in the last 8 years of this commute. When I bought the Leaf, I had intentions of it settling me down to about 120 kph which is a good thing but I didn't expect to have to dull it down to 105-110kph, that's just pure torcher for me.....lol
120 km/h (about 74.5 mph) is what's causing your high energy consumption.

The highest average speed for any of the EPA test cycles (see https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml) is only 48.4 mph. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/EPA%20test%20procedure%20for%20EVs-PHEVs-11-14-2017.pdf talks about adjustment/fudging downwards.
 
SageBrush said:
sthbeach said:
Also, I believe my Leaf suffers from Rapidgate and needs a software update because last week was the long weekend and I did a trip to cottage country. I planned my route so I would have to quick charge each way for about 20-30 minutes......anyway the 50kw DC quick charger I hit on the way up and back charged at less than 20 kw/h both times and it took me forever!
What does kw/h mean ?

It's an alternate convention for kWh. I see it a lot on UK discussion forums. I agree it is confusing, if you interpret the slash as a division symbol.
 
css28 said:
SageBrush said:
sthbeach said:
Also, I believe my Leaf suffers from Rapidgate and needs a software update because last week was the long weekend and I did a trip to cottage country. I planned my route so I would have to quick charge each way for about 20-30 minutes......anyway the 50kw DC quick charger I hit on the way up and back charged at less than 20 kw/h both times and it took me forever!
What does kw/h mean ?

It's an alternate convention for kWh. I see it a lot on UK discussion forums. I agree it is confusing, if you interpret the slash as a division symbol.
Can you show me the symbol in any science handbook of units of measure ? I've never seen it.

Addedum: Google says it is 1 kW divided by Planck's constant. I cannot say that I am any closer to understanding the OP.
 
SageBrush said:
sthbeach said:
Also, I believe my Leaf suffers from Rapidgate and needs a software update because last week was the long weekend and I did a trip to cottage country. I planned my route so I would have to quick charge each way for about 20-30 minutes......anyway the 50kw DC quick charger I hit on the way up and back charged at less than 20 kw/h both times and it took me forever!
What does kw/h mean ?

Sorry, I meant it didn't was intaking 20 kilowatts max.
 
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