What is your "practical range" - 80% and 100%

[Phoebe]

The range showing after you have charged will vary according to how economical you were in your driving style during the last charge.  It bears no relationship to what will happen next.  If you have been driving slowly on flat roads, you range after charge will be a lot higher that if you have been driving fast on hilly roads.  But how fast you use up the charge is dependent on how you are driving now.  This can be confusing, but you do get used to it.

[Brian]

The anomaly on varying figures of the " Guess-o-meter " ( otherwise known as the GOM ), is because its calculations are based on your recent driving history ( in this case just before you charged ), compared to state of battery charge. So, if you had a long descent before charging, it will ' guess ' a far greater range than if you climbed a long hill.

On a slightly different note, a recent trip went as follows - charged to 80% - GOM showed 128 kms. ( The following is all driven in Eco.) Drove 700ft downhill to the plains. GOM showed 140 kms.  We then did mostly freeway driving at 110 kph. Returned home, climbing the same 700 ft hill. Elapsed kms were 45, and I estimate that 90% of this was on the freeway. GOM now showed 40 kms.

Had the same distance been covered on the level, at city / suburban speeds, without any heavy acceleration, then a GOM of around 80 kms could have been expected.

[kris]

Tall tale. The minister for home affairs drove the Leaf the 35km from Richmond to Springwood (a 370m increase in elevation). I explained to her that the height increase would use at least an extra 1493x9.8x370=5.4MJ=1.5kwh or about ~11km of range (assuming 140Wh/km) but not to worry because she would get some of it back coming down the hill. She claims the guessometer was showing more range after the return trip than it was at Springwood.

[Jim Hare]

Yeah, I can believe that.

The LEAF would have freaked out after the constant climb and the guessometre would have sank. She probably didn't need to accelerate much if at all on the return and instead went that long distance while gaining power.

[riddick]

I found the other day that out tyre pressure was well below the recommended. Looks like the dealer did not check it for delivery or the 1000km service. I have now pumped it up to 38PSI as I always like to pump up beyond the recommended pressure. The recommended pressure usually takes into account generated road noise, softness of ride etc and for ICE cars it is usually not set at an efficient point. I think the same may apply to the LEAF.

[Deleted]

tuarn B & I run 40 PSI on our mievs

got to northam today in imiev 111.4km @ 70kmh with bar flashing, but no turtle mode, westerly tail wind also might have helped.
www.recargo.com/sites/10369

started with 117km on range meter due to travelling home last night at 70kmh

[ravolt]

The bars are the best way, or the time to recharge, I guesstimate 12km per bar plus a reserve of 10 km. what kils it is when you floor it going up the steepest main road to get past all the Jeeps and Range-Rover's black exhausts. Those 2 makes after 2-3years old are sooo bad!

[jeffjl]

Took 'Coal Burner' up to the Mt Helena tavern for lunch today and to check out the range. Probably 2/3s of the trip along Roe Freeway (at 87km/h at indicated speed). Started at 100% (GOM = 141). At the tavern 6 bars (GOM = 66), odo 57km & GPS 57km. Home 1 bar (GOM = 8), odo 58km and GPS 57km. I must have done something wrong as I do not appear to have picked up much coming down Greenmount Hill. Maybe next time.

On a side note. With the GPS I have noticed that the speedo was reading a little bit low. To do 50km/h I need to have an indicated speed of 54, and at 80 an indicated speed of 87. They sure don't want you to speed (just give EVs a bad name). I did the trick to get into the speedo adjust but it just allows an adjustment of 2.5%. Not enough for the current difference. Looks like bigger tyres for me in the future.

[Deleted]

stick it into eco mode jeffjl, stronger regen
that was 1 of the reasons I didn't change to the LEAF.
regen is not as strong as imiev nor volt.

made it to york yesterday 111.2 km
www.recargo.com/sites/11955

would be interesting to see any perth LEAF owners maxing out their LEAFs' range.

[mike]

Had the Leaf for a week now and decided to test the range with a family road trip to Sea World Gold Coast (...reminding me of National Lampoon's Vacation).  I bought the Leaf knowing that Gold Coast was within round trip reach from our house in the southern 'burbs.  After a 100% charge, the Leaf started out with an estimated range of 154km.  Google stated the geographic distance as 62km one way.  Loaded up the 3 kids and my lovely wife and headed out for a day of Flume Rides and 3D Sponge Bob Shows.  It didn't take my wife long to figure out that this was one my "experiments".  Used Eco Mode and traveled at 100km/h (by GPS) without aircon (not needed) for most of the way.  The margin between estimated range and remaining distance slowly dropped to about 20km upon arrival at Sea World.  Got a bit mixed up on the correct parking lot and clocked a bonus 5 km back-tracking to the South side of the park.  Love then started to question if we were going to make it home and what was the back up plan...I stood confident that it was not going to be problem.  We had a great day at the park!!  The kids were asleep before we got out of the parking lot.  Enjoyed about 30 minutes of stop and go traffic and an intense line of questioning about the difference between a cell phone and an electric car...along the lines of "It's on...so the battery must be going down".  Once back on the highway, the margin dropped to 15 km.  At this point the Range Anxiety good pretty intense in the passenger seat....the driver remained resolute.  105 km/h (speedo) & 98 km/h (GPS) on the M1 along with a "play-by-play" on the margin between estimated range and remaining distance from the left-seat driver.  At the crest of a long hill when the margin dropped to 2km, doubt that we were going to make it set in strong despite reassurances.  Just before the off ramp, the low battery light and verbal warning come on.  We exited with 9 km remaining range.  The GPS took a route (up the steep hill) not preferred by the co-pilot and the plan to stop at Subway for some take-out was vetoed....I quote "Don't stop, I don't want to know what happens when it hits zero...I'll take the Land Cruiser to get dinner".  The Leaf performance was unchanged despite the steep climb up to the house.  Arrived home with 7 km remaining range.  Love fired up the LPG fired V8 beast for the short run to Subway to retrieve the human fuel.  Plugged in the Leaf for the estimated 11hr charge to 80%.  Total distance traveled by GPS was 129 km.  Over sandwiches, we decided that Sea World was a bit of stretch, especially if the air-con is needed, unless I include a stop at a yet unidentified public charging station.  So 120 km is my vote for "practical range" at 100%....which will give you a small margin for any Clark Griswold moments.

[leafboi]

It's funny you mention the left seat driver Mike, I too early on learnt any 'experimenting' with range would be complete solo.

[Feng]

If it helps, you're supposed to have about 10km reserve when the dash shows "---". If you want to know your true remaining capacity, buy an OBD dongle and use LEAF Spy to monitor your battery state. The freeway speeds would have reduced your range, it helps to drive under the speed limit if it's practical to do so. Lastly the tire pressure has an effect on range. Nissan recommends 34PSI but I think anywhere to 40 is meant to be okay.

I hope the close call didn't make your family doubt the car. My mum's pretty bad with that after having one (not really) close call. Good luck with your next trip!

[gabzimiev]

Apr 18, 2014 22:25:58 GMT 11 mike said:

unless I include a stop at a yet unidentified public charging station.

no luck there you only have api.plugshare.com/view/location/19511 and les home charger api.plugshare.com/view/location/40064

You should write to sea world see if you can persuade them to put one in the cost of a charger for them is a small expenses. (at worst you wasted an hour writing a letter, I would suggest you concentrate on good publicity for them to be supporting "Green" cars marketing loves greenwashing) Qld is pretty lacking in public charging compared to the other states (except tas)

[Jim Hare]

Heh, great story Mike! As Feng said, you probably had close to 20KM in reserve when you got home, suggesting the range is closer to 150km than 120, but it's all about your comfort level and whether you want to divert power to air con.

I wanted to run my LEAF down to "Turtle Mode" and it's not easy. At about 5km the guessometre goes away and is just replaced by lines, and then you have to drive for ages for it to finally go to the Turtle. Here is a post about my experiment:

ozleaf.proboards.com/post/552

[Brian]

Great report, Mike.

With the exception of Phoebe, it seems the ladies are exclusively prone to ' range anxiety '. We blokes know that ' range anxiety ' is just a myth promoted by the fossil fuel barons.

[lesmando24]

Hi Mike,

The charger at Beenleigh is mine. If you ever need charge, then call (numbers look funny in plugshare, but they add up to my mobile number). If I am not going to be home, then I can leave the charger cord out for you. You only need the last two bars of a leaf to get from Beenleigh to the city (usually showing 31km on GOM) - maybe 30 - 45 minutes of charge to get you from 1 bar to two.

If you drop to 1 bar about the Hyperdome or Ikea, exit at Springwood and use Logan road. Is more hilly, but you are going 70 - 80 and past garden city is 60 ( you can do 50 easy, is a two lane road all the way). I find the GOM will sit on 10km for ages. Once the GOM said 11km at Norwell, but I made it home (18km) with 9km to spare (doing 50km and pulling over to let people pass).

I have asked the GCCC if I can put a charger in the Beach road carpark (near Cavill mall) . Not heard back from them yet. Otherwise I was hoping for the carpark near Griffith Uni gold coast campus, as the new tram will terminate there.

I get to the gold coast and back on an 80% charge all the time (and I have lost one capacity bar), but I don't use air con much.
There are a lot of road names to go parallel to the motorway, but mainly you don't notice as they feed directly into each other.
Also, I prefer the side road as you don't get traffic. Many times I look and the motorway is crawling.

-- Non Motorway Route
When you get to Beenleigh, take the distillery road exit (Beenleigh south) and follow parallel to the motorway (should pass a BP), when you get to Yatala, go straight through the roundabout (head towards the industrial estate), it will turn sharply right, then left and run parallel to the motorway (eastern service road). Then continue parallel to the motorway (Lahrs road --> Creek Street --> Old Pacific Highway). You will end up at Dreamworld roundabout. Follow Dreamworld Parkway --> Siganto Drive, that will take you to opposite Movieworld. Turn right (under the motorway) and left at entertainment drive (go past wet and wild). Turn left onto the gold cost highway (go over the motorway). You can cruise to surfers paradise easily.
--

Les

[Phoebe]

Apr 20, 2014 1:58:25 GMT 11 Brian said:

Great report, Mike.

With the exception of Phoebe, it seems the ladies are exclusively prone to ' range anxiety '. We blokes know that ' range anxiety ' is just a myth promoted by the fossil fuel barons.

I don't have Range Anxiety because I always have a Plan B, which Jim knows about because his charger was my Plan B when I found I needed one    On a previous long trip I had a tow truck lined up to come and collect me, but I got home unaided and didn't need my Plan B that day 

[mike]

Les, Thanks so much for the offer. I think our next two trips will be to other two amusements parks on the family VIP package that expires at the end of June. Luckily, Sea World is the farthest of our GC destinations. Later, once the weather warms up again and we head a bit further South to enjoy the beaches, I may take you up on the offer. Though my wife was a bit anxious about the range issue this time, she hasn't issued an executive decree banning any further trips to Gold Coast. We have actually found it quite amusing discussion this weekend. The info on this website is quite helpful in the discussion ...because "---" is not the end of the road.

[southernvolt]

Remember there's a few good charts out there as well that show more accurate ranges then the GOM

bit.ly/SCBmPc

jpwhitenissanleaf.com/2012/04/12/a-more-accurate-way-of-predicting-your-range/

[lesmando24]

Apr 20, 2014 20:53:00 GMT 11 mike said:

Les, Thanks so much for the offer. I think our next two trips will be to other two amusements parks on the family VIP package that expires at the end of June. Luckily, Sea World is the farthest of our GC destinations. Later, once the weather warms up again and we head a bit further South to enjoy the beaches, I may take you up on the offer. Though my wife was a bit anxious about the range issue this time, she hasn't issued an executive decree banning any further trips to Gold Coast. We have actually found it quite amusing discussion this weekend. The info on this website is quite helpful in the discussion ...because "---" is not the end of the road.

I just saw this video on youtube, shows you what happens in a 2013 leaf when it goes flat (he had to keep driving around till he got it there).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah7xmS3Ln9k

[Deleted]

e-station will be happy to see a circontrol wall box at the nissan dealership

[datsunleaf]

Traveled from St Marys to Wentworth Falls today,104 klms round trip. Had 18 klms left on GOM and 1 bar. Kept to speed limit mostly except for 3 occasions when a Skyline tried to prove he was faster, he lost all 3 times, but I may have had more than 18 klms left had Twiggy had not wanted to prove a point  

[mike]

Update #2...practical range while "driving it like it's stolen". Continuing the family trips to Gold Coast theme parks on our limited duration VIP passes, we ventured back to Gold Coast to spend the day at WB Movie World. Since this trip is only about 45 km each way, I decided on a no compromises trip...full speed, air con, no eco mode, five people, etc. Left the house with 155km of estimated range. To solve the left seat drive range anxiety issue, I didn't fire up the nav system and let her play with the radio display. We made an unplanned detour to the library to pick up some books for the kids, then a spirited launch onto the M1 Southbound...keeping it in the right lane at 110km/h+. No complaints except for a request from the back seat that the A/C was too cold. Arrived after the first wave of crowds had already entered. Best part of the day was watching the live stunt driving show...which raised the question "can you drift a leaf?" Heading home, I gave it a try on the entrance to the M1 with the traction control off....not even a chirp from the tires...but still quite brisk. One sacrifice of electric car driving is a flawless full torque starts every time with no drama. I had a gutless Ford Festiva once and it would do a rather unimpressive burnout if whipped hard enough. I haven't given up the idea of drifting a leaf...but I might need to find an empty parking lot where I can get up enough speed in reverse to break the front tires loose. Stopped in for some dinner fixins at the local BW. Did a full power run up the big hill to the house...held 80KW for about 4 seconds and crested the hill a respectable, but steathly pace. Arrived home with 10 km of estimated range remaining. So the practical "drive it like it's stolen" range from 100% charge is about 100km. Also, the partial solution to the spousal range anxiety issue is to do the route planning on the laptop and leave the navigation system off for the trip.

[southernvolt]

Are people generally driving in Eco? I enjoyed my first commute today: 70 km round trip for commute, ~5km trip to the shops at lunch, ~10 km's driving a few workmates around the suburb to show off (planted it a few times to show the acceleration). Got home with the GOM showing 20 km's remaining with two bars.

Tried to do worst case scenario so all in D, climate control on (~10-11 degrees and had heat set to 20), rain, lights, wipers. This range expected?

[riddick]

Was it 80% charged prior or 100% charged?

[Phoebe]

Aug 7, 2014 20:43:35 GMT 11 southernvolt said:

Are people generally driving in Eco?

I always drive in Eco and never use the air con.  I got about 160km when I first had the LEAF, Nov 2012, but get about 140km now.

[southernvolt]

Aug 7, 2014 21:02:53 GMT 11 riddick said:

Was it 80% charged prior or 100% charged?

100%

[riddick]

I was gonna say that you did well, if you had it on 80%... Heating is the worst consumer in the LEAF unfortunately, this is about the only fault with this model. Of course, flooring the pedal does not help either, but you do need to enjoy the amazing torque sometimes (it also costs nothing to do that).

Phoebe, you are the most careful driver amongst all of us, so that is a big loss of range over 5000kms!

[Phoebe]

I still have 12 bars - I just don't get quite so much out of my 12 bars.  Actually the range varies quite a lot - that was the range on the last charge.  A few charges ago I only got 120 and the next one was 165, so I don't take too much notice.  I'll only be concerned when I start to loose bars.

[Feng]

The weird thing I get is when my dad drives it, he's a complete lead foot and when it recharges to 80% it shows around 130km remaining on the GOM. I usually drive in ECO and make a game out of hypermiling, yet when it recharges to 80% it's usually closer to 120km. One time I let it all hang out when returning from work and the next morning it was 130km. It's counter-intuitive!