S+ Range Test - Illinois

OK,

So I took the Leaf Plus on a longer drive today. 215 miles from Skokie to Starved Rock outside Utica IL. We then went to Matthiason Park, then home. 215 miles in total. 40 Left in GOM with 13% on dash at the end if the drives. 13.5kWh left per Leafspy. Ambient started in mid 70's on way down and was 85-89 on way back. 4 adult size people (my kids are 18, 16, and 12 all fully sized). Total occupant weight about 620lbs. We also had a packed cooler, food, etc., maybe another 40lbs.

We ran at or above the speed limit the whole way (different than my SV+ test last year to Iowa city where I had to modulate speed significantly to keep 4.4 miles per kilowatt hour. We ran AC lightly on way day as it wasn't very hot. We arrived at 60% on the dash, and 4.6, pretty awesome considering 2nd half of drive is fully at 70 and above. The first half is 60 and 65 mph, but at times faster (or slower). Traffic was thick, but moving well so I am guessing we had some implicit drafting given how thick it was with cars and trucks.

Its about 5 miles to the freeway, and we had about 5 miles post freeway into Starved Rock. It was then another 4-5 miles to Matthiason Park.

Post some adventurous hiking, we headed back. Given i had such an amazing buffer (Leaving at 57% on the dash) I drove even faster in the way back until we hit a spot of slow traffic due to a rain storm for 5 miles. While it did slow us down, we were driving in the rain, so guessing that is an efficiency wash. We ran more AC on the way back given the heat and 4 sweaty occupants. Once cool, we turned up the temp to keep dehumidification, but reduce power a bit...though we had plenty.

Battery on the way down moved from low to 80s to touch 90 on arrival. On the way home it started at 88F ( close to ambient at that point) and arrived about 92. I had one long hard regen cycle that put nearly a degree on the battery, but prior it was sticking pretty well at 90F just a few degrees above ambient. I think as the car is more efficient, it doesn't heat the battery as much at high speeds.

I made stupid YouTube video with the leafspy shots. No worries about my future in the movie business.

https://youtu.be/sI61dCJPs1Y

We started with 282 on the GOM (i put some freeway miles on it to lower the GOM from the 300s prior to the trip). We ended with 215+13.5kWh or maybe 275 miles possible at 4.6. Not too bad!

The 3 legs were:
751 - 485 (266 used) gids 21671 watts used 104.4 miles 1 hour 55 minutes
485 - 474 (11 used) gids 855 watts used 3.7 miles
23 minutes
473 - 175 (299 used) gids 24339 watts used 106.9 miles 2:04 minutes. I drove home faster yet as I knew I had a buffer. Rain towards the end thwarted it.

Let me know your thoughts.

You're tempting me to get a S+. I have 3 driving kids at home now due to Covid and as my son said last night, it's not like we're going to be doing 3 road trips at once (I have 3 ICE cars in addition to my 2017 Leaf :shock: )

As fair warning, I drive without using cruise control and actively manage my power usage which I believe gives me a couple extra tenths of efficiency.

Understood, but I'm also pretty efficiency oriented and have no problem with actively managing the car. I'm actually a servo engineer in my day job so inertia, velocity, acceleration, etc are second nature to me.

Great. I dont know when, but would like to try a double full dc charge day to see if the car handles it better than the SL Plus videos showing charge throttle on the second long dc charge (or sometimes third).

Honestly, the 2019 or 2020 Bolt is a way better ICE replacement, even considering the lack of a federal subsidy. We still don't have any proof the 2018-2020 Leaf batteries will age any differently to the 2013+ units given their so-far unimpressive performance at the moment.

coleafrado said:

Honestly, the 2019 or 2020 Bolt is a way better ICE replacement, even considering the lack of a federal subsidy. We still don't have any proof the 2018-2020 Leaf batteries will age any differently to the 2013+ units given their so-far unimpressive performance at the moment.

Click to expand...

Bolt is a good car if the size is adequate for your needs, but it is too small for me. I will know more about 62 kWh battery life after a few more years, but there is significantly less capacity loss after almost one year and 19k miles than the 2015 after one year and 18k miles.

I agree GM did a great job with the Bolt battery. They nailed that piece..i would say givem new data leaked, maybe better than Tesla batteries.

If we liked the bolt when we test drove the car, I would have pressed for it, as at the time costs were pretty similar all included. My wife hated the way it drove, and really hated the interior. The small boot was also a showstopper as we use it for excessive consumerism at Costco. Yes, you can put down the seats and all in the Bolt, but that's a pain and often we have 3 or more in the car.

I had also hoped the ENiro would come to Illinois, but still no luck.

All that said, the S+ continues to impress me. Today was Skokie to Milwaukee and back, this time 5 in the car (we are mean parents) and AC the whole way. We went to see 7 Bridges. It's a nice day trip if in the area. At or above the 70 mph speed limit for for majority of journey (first few miles were a little slower due to construction). There were a few miles off the freeway in Mikwaukee. 4.2-4.3 miles/kWh for the trip (ticked up to 4.3 as we pulled in at home). Arrived home with 33% after 153 miles and 95 miles left on the GOM. Not as awesome as yesterday, but faster driving and more consistant AC (keep wife happy).

Ok, in my own personal quest to understand why the S+ rocks, I found another small nugget.

The S+ has less radar and other electronics. When monitoring idle power usage, the S+ used 250-300 watts and the SV+ used 450-600 when observing. It may not sound like a lot, but that is 1 mile for every hour of driving.

So today, in the 2 hours and 30 minutes of driving for round trip to and from Milwaukee that would have been a potential 3 additional miles lost if in my SV+. Yesterday, with 4 solid hourse of driving it would have been 4-5 additional miles.

All these pennies add up (wheels, weight, ride height, and now power) to a measurable efficiency difference. Here is a short video showing difference. Ignore the aux difference. With the SV+ having running lights, its hard to be in drive with them all off.

https://youtu.be/odZqkMVFITY


Any additional ideas?

Ok, ended my week off with a camping/hiking trip in the Kettle Moraine area (Skokie to Dousman WI) for a father daughter weekend. A little over 100 miles each way. Overall the S+ did great.

We took the freeway out, so first 40 or so miles were at 70ish mph, car averaging 4.3. We then went west on highway 50. Between Kenosha and Dousman at but the last 6-7 miles were st between 55 and 70 (couldn't believe some interior highways in WI were posted at 70 now). The final stretch was 45 and 35 mph to the camp ground. Due to the lower speed overall efficiency movdd up to 4.4-4.5.

During the weekend, local travel 20 or so miles, car efficiency moved up to 4.7. Camping and hiking was nice, but tons of mosquitoes. Even the 40% deet and a smoky campfire only had a limited effect.

My daughter drove home, while not a speed demon, she is not practiced at driving efficiently. She did ok though. We took a route through where i grew up, so slightly slower roads. Car efficiency moved up to 4.9 at one point, but then retreated to 4.8 after the final leg home. Overall 233 miles, with 11% gom left or 20% LeafSpy. So not even close for an experienced Leaf driver.

The other drivers in the caravan apologized for needing to make a gas stop during the trip.

One interesting note was that the battery temp, after 2 hours of driving still had not caught up to ambient. Temps started at 76F after a mild overnight. It was low 80s when we left the campground. When pulling in, ambient was mid 90's and battery temp had just reached 90. Pretty good!

https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/hycqes/leaf_plus_s_range_warrior_chicagonorth_side_to/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

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