62kwh Leaf Plus Efficiency Posting

Feb was 3.2 m/kWh with 1347 miles traveled, Dec and Jan had the same m/kWh, miles traveled were about the same, living in lower NY state.
I know it’s an EV but I don’t hold back on the heat when I’m cold. Didn’t spend all this money to be uncomfortable.
For those interested, last battery SOH was at 94.29% with 7450 on the odometer.

Took a trip Sunday 3/1/20 Outside temp 11def F for the trip down and 17degF for the trip back. Studded Cooper Evolution tires @ 40 psi.
From the car's trip comp; 3.1 m/kWh, 94.2m 35mph avg 2:37 trip time.
I ran enough heat to be comfortable. Although the car reported 35 mph avg speed I mostly went 50-55 unless in a town.
There were two climbs to 1700 ft ASL fro 570 at the start. The first low point to 800 then after the second a drop to 600 then back to 800 at the destination. This was repeated in reverse for the return leg.
I started with a full charge because I wasn't sure if I wanted to take some deviations on the way back. Ended with 40% - 93 miles on the car computer upon returning home.
I planned this trip with A Better Route Planner and its estimates were spot on. That is a really great piece of software.
I gave it the car's specs and set weather conditions to rain and snow because of the studded tires. The roads were actually dry. It it had been snowy I would have move it up another notch. Great tool. Very peaceful trip.

Now that the temperature jumped back to 50F in Chicago, I have been getting some local drives back above (just barely) 5 miles to the kilowatt.

There is something magical about 45-50F which seems to be the dividing line between summer and winter efficiency.

There is something magical about 45-50F which seems to be the dividing line between summer and winter efficiency.

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Assuming that you have the heat pump, it may be that. At temps above 45F the efficiency hit is similar to A/C. Below that it starts to increase quite a bit.

With the temp 50-60F today, just pulled into the garage with 65% SOC and the GOM still reading 179 miles.

I did 44 miles at an average of 5.2 miles per KW, mainly local driving (25-45 mph). So glad to be above 5 again after the winter. (Segments between 4.5 and 6 miles per kWh)

I am trying to use ePedal starting this month to see if it can incrementally help overall efficiency of my non freeway driving. So far so good, but only a couple days into testing.

Have others found it helped overall efficiency (obviously with eco on as well)?

I rarely use E-Pedal because it applies the friction brakes more than I want. I am curious to see your efficiency comparisons.

I agree that e-pedal is mostly using friction braking- the dealer told us that the brakes would never wear out if we used e-pedal but they have never understood these things anyway. Watch the regen side of the enrgy use meter, using the B drive mode maxes out the regen capability most of the time (although I wish that regen was adjustable, doesn't Bolt have that)?

It does look on the dash like regen is better with ePedal. I thought the friction brakes get applied only towards the end of the stopping process with ePedal.

I will report back in a few weeks with my unscientific analysis.

dmacarthur said:

I agree that e-pedal is mostly using friction braking- the dealer told us that the brakes would never wear out if we used e-pedal but they have never understood these things anyway. Watch the regen side of the enrgy use meter, using the B drive mode maxes out the regen capability most of the time (although I wish that regen was adjustable, doesn't Bolt have that)?

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How did you determine its "mostly" friction braking?

DougWantsALeaf said:

It does look on the dash like regen is better with ePedal. I thought the friction brakes get applied only towards the end of the stopping process with ePedal.

I will report back in a few weeks with my unscientific analysis.

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This is also the impression I got. "Sometimes" I can almost sense when the friction brakes are actually engaging at low (under 5 mph) speed.

One way that might be easier to test is when SOC is very high. E Pedal feels the same but its mostly friction braking then. I have only charged past 83% twice and not willing to make a habit of charging to 100% needlessly but I know there are several here who simply plug it in. If you are one of them, might be something to pay attention to?

As far as higher regen in E Pedal; that is proven. In tests on my 40 kwh and E Plus, I am seeing regen more than 50% greater in E Pedal over Eco B

Exactly. Honestly, I am such a conservative driver (hope my efficiency bears that out), that B regen is usually enough, but not always in city driving. I also agree that when you feather back on the accelerator carefully you can kind of feel when the friction brakes engage.

In any case, I will let you know how it goes. But given outside temps, early indications are that it does modestly improve your overall efficiency. Certainly maintaining momentum is the best, but if you have to stop...best to regen it back.

Feb Stats;

Have some home charging to report (NCTC ended the 16th)

miles; 1056.3
miles/kwh; 4.01
home charging cost; $3.74

Now I do have a $250 credit from EVgo and the plan was to only use it away from home since I have until Nov 16 to exhaust the credit so I signed up for the subscription plan and instead of the $7.99 being billed against the credit, the credit balance started at -257.99 and I was billed the $7.99 on my CC.

So I have decided to stop home charging and exhaust the EVgo credit ASAP to reduce the number of Monthly subscription charges. This may seem counterintuitive to many but in the "no so long run" it will save me money since EA is cheaper.

That’s pretty good winter efficiency, but I know it’s more temperate in Washington than here in Chicago. (Though this winter has been pretty warm)

I still struggle with the free DC charging vs extra wear on the battery (and convenience) with NCTC. Especially we have other free Chademos and L2s in the area as well.

We purchased a 2019 Leaf SV Plus in September. We live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the Mid-Atlantic and store and charge the car in our garage.

Our Efficiency since purchase is as follows:
Month / Miles / Mi/Kwh
October / 572 / 4.2
November / 784 / 3.8
December / 775 / 3.3
January / 468 / 3.3
February / 690 / 3.4

Range on a charge has varied from a high of around 235 to a low of 180. It is definitely related to outdoor temperature and the amount of heating, defrosting, etc. we use on a trip.
Most of our trips are local and less than 20 miles one way.
Will keep you posted as we get into Spring and Summer.

Ira

DougWantsALeaf said:

That’s pretty good winter efficiency, but I know it’s more temperate in Washington than here in Chicago. (Though this winter has been pretty warm)

I still struggle with the free DC charging vs extra wear on the battery (and convenience) with NCTC. Especially we have other free Chademos and L2s in the area as well.

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You get a lot more wear and tear charging to high SOC. Just finished a 26 minute DC session. Ending battery temps 70.2/70.6/71.2 That is a risk I am willing to take.

Olympia Dave,

Quick odd question. Does the S Plus have a CD player? Do you miss the remote heating/cooling or seat warmers at all?

There are still a few S Plus 2019 models out there. My wife really wants a car with a CD player. She hates being forced into blue tooth or usb connection for android auto to play her music.

The S Plus does not have a CD player, we do not miss any remote stuff on ours, and we had a local guy put some great heated seats in, cost about $500 but the S was thousands less than the other models so that worked out well. In Vermont, we do miss the heated steering wheel but since the resistance heater works so quickly the car is warm fast, and we keep a nice pair of comfy gloves on the dashboard all winter. I do wish the S had the heat pump heater, but again with the savings over the fancier models it would be years before we broke even. Go for the bargaining- make them meet your offer!

be aware that in B mode and no e-pedal ...the brakes lights do not come on...good way to get rear ended.

see this test https://youtu.be/-GwYWuoQO0g

Think of B mode as being like driving a standard transmission in 2nd gear. No brake lights then, either.

Learjet said:

be aware that in B mode and no e-pedal ...the brakes lights do not come on...good way to get rear ended.

see this test https://youtu.be/-GwYWuoQO0g

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I found just the opposite. After a few slowdowns, people behind me follow at a much greater distance.

FYI; gassers have working brake lights which does not seem to prevent rear end collisions. My reality suggests that drivers rely on those brake lights too much to enable them to follow closer.