Dash estimate vs actual Case Stdy

[duncan]

This is related to Jim's thread but not in the same format so I thought I would post separately.

Last Monday we took the Leaf out to a motorkhana again. The whole day was going to be a major challenge for range so we left it at a mate's nearby overnight to trickle charge, and then monitored it closely throughout the day.

The basic premis was that we could try (and trust!) this range chart:
.

Knowing that the trip home was 38klm, we decided to stop competing at 80 gids on this gid monitor:



By the chart, 80gids should be enough for 38klm @80klm/h with about 10% extra for safety.

So....80 gids arrived and we had to stop (missed 4 runs out of 36, so it was a pretty good day).

Start:
Dash showed 2 bars and 16klm range.
Gids showed 79.
Distance required was 38klm (lucky we didn't just go on the dash figure!)

Low battery:
Dash showed 0 bars and --- range
Gids showed 24
Distance required was 5klm to home

On arrival:
Dash showed 0 bars and --- range
Gids showed 17

Result:
Distance was 38klm on 62 gid. Max speed was 80klm/h with some slower sections (M2 roadwork and local roads near home)
Chart showed ~37klm at ~72klm/h should require ~61gid. Outrageously accurate!

So I guess I am showing these figures because:
1) The dash distance display is an estimate based on certain (unknown) recent history of driving. In our case we went from very aggressive to very cruisy use which meant it was 250%+ incorrect. It's not an issue with the gauge (it is doing it's best) but don't get too worried about what it tells you being perfect!

2) A gid meter and range chart were a much more accurate estimate. In fact in this case it's estimate was 2% from actual

3) How you drive (speed, aggression, coasting etc) makes a huge world of difference. 250% difference in this case (38/16)

[Jim Hare]

That's awesome Duncan!

[Phoebe]

Pity the LEAF doesn't come supplied with all that, Duncan

[duncan]

yeah it's a bit of tech overkill when the "smart"/complex version is supplied with the car, but the cheap and accurate one is not

[Jim Hare]

I'll bet a simple firmware update would allow us to get that right on the touchscreen.

[David]

I have previously stated that I didn't think ECO mode made much difference to range as long as you are not inclined to hoon too much. I have monitored this over 3 days (and 2 charges to 100%, my usual charge pattern) and present the table below.

Two things stick out to me. My range is still pretty good (looking like about 140km) driving on a combination of suburban streets and the M5 and the estimated range is about the same in ECO or Drive

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[Jim Hare]

David, can you elaborate a bit on the different cells in your table? I'm assuming you mean as you drive (actual KM) the next two fields (Drive/Eco) are the guestimation, and the last two (total Drive/Eco) are a total of the actual/guesstimate combined for each mode?

I would think regenerative braking as well as the slight reduction in power would be adding about 10%. The closer you get to empty the closer the range will be between Drive and Eco, BUT, by the time you get there you may have driven an extra 15KMs by using Eco.

I suggest you repeat your test, once driving exclusively in Eco and once exclusively in Drive and see what happens.

Either way I am envious of your range? Are there big hills near your place? I'm completely surrounded by 35° angles in every direction and I really think that's what's killing my range...

[David]

Presenting data has never been my strength!
I did drive in Drive exclusively for one day and the next 2 days I drove exclusively in ECO. The first column is the actual Km driven, the next two are the guestimation of Kms left as you say and the last two columns are actual Kms driven plus what is left on by guessometer. As your battery charge goes down, there is little difference between Drive and ECO (there is only so much that ECO can wring out of the battery).
While I agree ECO pulls back more when you are going down hill, you also don't achieve the same speed and hence on the corresponding up hill you need to accelerate earlier (I hope that is clear)
as for terrain, rare steep hills in my area of driving. I mentioned previously that we went to Royal National Park with steep ups and downs and on that day I drove 99km with 10 left on guessometer (that was in Drive)

[duncan]

It is clear! and I saw a good tip for adding range when driving in Eco.

If you are on a long downhill and don't want the regen slowing you down (ie otherwise you would need to push the throttle), shift the car into "R". It will beep and go into neutral instead which will stop the regen, and let you coast without using or losing power. When you get to the bottom shift back into D

[duncan]

BTW you can also get Neutral by holding the shifter sideways for about 3 seconds. R while you are moving is just a quicker way to achieve the same

[Jim Hare]

Ah, got it. Interesting point about regen in downhill slowing you and losing momentum for going back up. Never thought of that!

And thanks again for posting your results. It's so great to share all this valuable info with each other so we can come up with results that span many different driving scenarios.

[ravolt]

These are good tech tips - thanks all.

[lesmando24]

Funny, today the dash said it didn't know, but the sat nav did, LOL!

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[rusdy]

Wow, old post, but this graph is pretty damn accurate from my experience