My 2018 Leaf is not what I expected

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Yes, sorry, I meant kwh.
Interesting read on the link.
It explains everything a little further.
I wish I was on this forum before I bought the 2 Leafs, I probably wouldn't own either of them right now....lol
 
sthbeach said:
It's not like a gas car where people go read the sticker and it says 27/32mpg city/highway, buy it and then 6 months later realize that they are realistically getting 22/26.
Nobody is up in arms about it and selling their car because of it. As a matter of fact, most accept it pretty reasonably.
The slew of class action lawsuits in the $Billions of dollars over unrealized fuel economy says differently. And guess what ? Unless the manufacturer cheated on the EPA testing (or its equivalent), the lawsuits are decided in the manufacturer's favor.

Reduced MPG in an ICE or reduced range in an EV from road conditions or driver behavior that do not mimic EPA testing are EXACTLY the same thing, and they end up with same result: More fuel consumption and more frequent refueling. The only difference to the consumer is that it takes longer to fill the battery in an EV than it takes to fill the tank of an ICE and charging locations may be less or more convenient.

I'm sorry that you had not figured this out beforehand but it falls in the 'no ****, Sherlock' category. And the manufacturers do tell you the charging rate.

This is something else entirely: you bought an EV with a battery too small to meet your commute and behaviors. This is a pretty easy error to make * but it is not the manufacturer's responsibility to quizz you on your lifestyle preferences.

* I know I came close to making just that error, but folks here in the forum set me straight.
 
Yes, but there is a huge difference between ice and EV you said it....TIME. Time is money and there is nothing more precious or valuable especially to commuters that already spend countless hours on the road each week. I never said the manufacturers lie or even should be on the hook for anything because the bottom line is that I can charge my car again at some point in the day and be on my way with the only sacrifice being.......MORE TIME.
So like I was saying a few posts ago about who EV's are suitable for at this point in time and that the EV homers need to chill out and not be so gung ho just because it's ideal for them. And again, I didn't make a bad purchase, I made the only purchase that I can afford (and our combined income is a few notches above the average Canadian median family income) and it still doesn't serve my needs. And still, the only reason I could afford this car is because of commute I was spending $550/month in gas driving a 2006 VW Passat and when I did the math I realized that for an extra $100/month including cost of electricity to charge that I can be driving an almost new EV.
So this is a perfect example that the EV market is not quite there yet, I say a solid 3 more years.
Also, here in Ontario Canada, we are the king's when it comes to Nuclear energy as a matter of fact we sell most of it off to the States for pennies on the dollar so we are one of the ideal places for the EV boom. Not to mention that the 401 in the Toronto area IS the busiest stretch of highway in all of North America with cars and commuters Galore so if it doesn't happen here, it Ain't Happening!
 
Out of curiosity what model 2018 do you have? I scrolled back through and didnt see. Some had a heat pump and some did not. Without it, winter range will be much reduced. SL had it. Sv with all weather had it. But I'm in CA and Canada might have been different?
 
Sorry, I don't think I ever stated my model.....

2018 Nissan Leaf SL
Pearl White
Winter package
40,000 kms
 
I agree with WetEV. Besides long road trips, our home is our only charging point (save some free charging at the mall/library when shopping). This round, even though 30K (USD) was the most we have ever spent on a car, we did it for the time savings of never going to the gas station, really no significant trade for regional travel, and less times to the mechanic.

From a fiscal sense, it would have been much more economical to buy the 40, as it is substantially cheaper when all discounts are applied and still really met most needs we have today. (the same SV with tech and weather would have been 7K or more less all said and done).

Admittedly we have a Plus, and did not consider the 40 Leaf as it wouldn't make our longest normal drive (Chicago to Milwaukee and back 150-170 miles/240 km) on a charge year round. (In summer the round trip with local driving uses about 60-65% of battery with the plus, so should be fine even in winter as car is garaged). We didn't want the pain in butt of having to charge on that route.
 
sthbeach said:
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!

Easy fix. Drive slower. Your LEAF actually comes with closer to 265 km of range. Even a 5% loss puts you well above the rated range. FYI; you may not think so but the weather has changed so expect your range to start dropping. Its quite subtle now but guessing your climate control needs will be a lot more than mine.

I had to bump my tire pressures up yesterday morning because the daytime temps have only changed a little but nighttime temps have changed much more. Still a lot way from heating season but its no longer shorts and t shirt first thing in the morning here.
 
SageBrush said:
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

Your statement being correct has nothing to do with the fact that he did not mention a reserve
 
sthbeach said:
Yes, sorry, I meant kwh.
Interesting read on the link.
It explains everything a little further.
I wish I was on this forum before I bought the 2 Leafs, I probably wouldn't own either of them right now....lol

Well, you can't come into the EV World thinking there are no compromises. The huge advantages of EVness comes with a price just as slamming around in a gasser comes with huge compromises. Its a trade off. EVs have a lot of upside, gassers only have one; quick EXPENSIVE refueling.

If you can't figure out a balance, get rid of them while they still have reasonable value. You will lose your shirt but at least if you do it now, you won't get arrested for indecent exposure.
 
You're right - I'm not fully awake yet. I read it as "gassers" having expensive refueling as a downside. Sorry about that. To be fair, ICE vehicles also usually have much more range before refueling, and they have better fueling infrastructure.
 
LeftieBiker said:
You're right - I'm not fully awake yet. I read it as "gassers" having expensive refueling as a downside. Sorry about that. To be fair, ICE vehicles also usually have much more range before refueling, and they have better fueling infrastructure.

Well, there are ways to view range. imm, the only important thing is how far to empty. Nothing else really matters. In an EV, you could start out every day 160 miles from empty (in my case) or 350 miles from empty in a gasser...one day, 275 the next, 200 after that, and so on.

So having longer range does benefit EVs in that we have more options for battery management, time management, etc. Now, the latter only applies if road tripping. For the other (estimated) 320 days a year, even that is not a worry. In a gasser; its all about how much gas you can afford to buy. Gasser brain; Do I fill up or get that overdue oil change?

So add it up. Gassing it once a week spending 6 to 18 mins a pop (real data from the Prius days) with the most common stop being 9 minutes so in a year lets say 468 mins at 9 mins a pop.

So I could do 15 NCTC freebies a year and still have time to spare!

It is really how you decide to look at things.
 
Ok....
So I did the exact same commute again today, same outside temp, same exact kms and Pro Pilot Cruise set the whole way again except this time I bumped it up to 120kph.
Results:

Yesterday's run at 115kph

GOM:
17.1 kwh/100km = 5.85 kms per kw (3.6 miles)
17% battery remaining
38 kms remaining (23.6 miles)

LeafSpy:
GIDS = 24.8%
SOC = 25.8%
9.6 kwh remaining


Average outside temperature today was 60-68 degrees.

SOH : 94.16
Ahr : 108.70
HX : 108.30

Today's run at 120kph

GOM:
17.6 kwh/100km
15% battery remaining
35 kms remaining

LeafSpy:
GIDS = 23.2%
SOC = 24.3%
9.0 kwh remaining


Average outside temperature today was 60-68 degrees.

SOH : 94.16
Ahr : 108.70
HX : 108.30
 
Yes, I think so too. I figure 110kph and I should be ok in winter......... Now in a few years from now....maybe not.
 
sthbeach said:
Yes, I think so too. I figure 110kph and I should be ok in winter......... Now in a few years from now....maybe not.

Take my advice; get LEAF Spy. It will truly add 20-30 miles of "comfortable stress free miles" to your range. You won't see the value of it right away but as the range diminishes (all Li batteries degrade no matter who is on the nameplate) it will become your lifeline.

Getting it now only allows you to create a database which can help you predict when

You need to replace it
investigate on the road charging options
 
With my experience using ProPilot, I think it works great and can actually increase efficiency on relatively flat highways. My recent trip from Raleigh to DC, I left PP on and driving about 95 pct of the time. Averaging speeds around 62-67 mph, I used the RES+/SET- buttons to dial back speeds on significant uphill and increase speeds on downhill. This allowed me to get around 4.2 mi/kwh efficiency.
 
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