1st Day w/2013 Leaf SL - Wanted to see what she could do!

[RLewisCA]

Well, I leased my 2013 Leaf SL yesterday, and after an overnight charge to 100% (with the 120 EVSE), it was time to see what it could do!

I had plans to visit a friend of mine today, and his house is 33 miles each way, so I decided what better initial test than a 66 mile round trip. Here's the 'vital' statistics, when I finally got home to the charger:

Total Miles Driven: 75.3
Highway (mix of 63 mph cruise, and some stop and go): 50.3
City (all stop and go, busy city streets): 25
GOM Remaining: 22
Battery Bars Remaining: 3

Some things to note:

I drove all day with no climate control It was a really nice SoCal day around 70-75 degrees. I did drive with a combination of open and closed windows. There wasn't a lot of elevation change in my drive all day. Perhaps a roughly 400-500 elevation change from origin to destination (over 33 miles).

When I got home the estimated charge time for the 120v charger to charge to 100% was 19:30.

When on the highway, I set cruise control at 63 mph, however there were two or three periods of slow/stop and go traffic. The city driving was all stop/go on very busy streets.

Overall, I'm very happy with my first day out. It was a nice combination of driving types, and I feel like I got a much better sense for the overall range of the car in those varrying conditions.

A really nice first day with my new Leaf!

 

[TonyWilliams]

Great post, and welcome to the LEAF experience.

I'll suggest that since you have a % gauge on your dash, that you record those values (and not just the number of fuel bars, but it's OK to include that, too). Also, whatever the GOM says really doesn't matter for how far you went, or how far you can go.

Finally, I recommend resetting that dash economy meter (miles/kWh) at each electron fill-up and recording that info also.

Then, we know that your fresh battery at 70F or warmer has 21kWh of usable energy, and when we know the economy, we can derive range:

21 * 4 miles per kWh for example = 84 miles of range

 

[mkjayakumar]

I think you did pretty good.

 

[philipscoggins]

Great job RLewisCA, 63mph on the interstate is a good place to be. Pay attention to your m/kwh reading & you will be fine.

I drove total of 170 miles today & when I came up on a semi doing 60mph, I slowed down from 63 to 60 and my m/kwh went up to 5.2! The stop and go won't be too much of a negative impact if you have a soft foot on acceleration & try to brake with your regerative braking (as long as it's safe to do so). It took a WattsLeft meter to show me how many electrons I was wasting at stop lights & stop signs with my old ice car habits.

Get out there & drive!

Philip

 

[RLewisCA]

Thanks for all of the tips. I hadn't really messed with the trip computer on the dash much, so I didn't realize how much more information could be found there. I was using the nav system energy consumption info to tell me the miles per kWh, I didn't even know it was in the trip computer as well.

So, after having looked, here is what additional info I have:

The car now has a total of 123 miles on it. When I took delivery, it had 30 miles on it total, and I drove 18 miles on the first day. The total so far, without resetting either on the day I got it, or the first full day I drove it is 4.1 miles/kWh. I did take a look at the end of the day I got it, and I recall it saying it was 3.6 miles/kWh.

So, I guess that means I drove more effiiciently on my first full day than the car had been driven previously, because I went from an overall average of 3.6 to 4.1. If I can maintain 4.1, then that would be 80+ miles of range (at least for a while), so that would be nice.

I am looking forward to getting to a place where I can reliably predict my overall range, and have a good sense for how the charging stations work, so range anxiety will become a thing of the past. I know it'll take a little time to figure it all out, so I'm fine with that, and I'm having a really good time in my new car. I haven't used any of the Blink (or other types of stations) yet, so I'll have to try that soon. I ordered my Blink card over the weekend.

One of the things I hated about my previous ICE car is that I would see 100+ of the same model, and probably 30 or 40 of the same color every single day. Yesterday, driving quite a few miles in several cities, I saw one other Leaf - in a different color, and I ended up having a nice conversation with them.

 

[ronwright38]

The 2013 SL Leaf with the new meter tha show's the battery Percent is great
as it gives the exact mileage and I now get at least 95 or more mile not
like the 68 that i got in the 2011 , I drive with cruse on and not over 50 MPh
and some stop and go , the Regen is much better and also the green regen lights,
The ride is much improved and handling too. Also you do not have click on
the ok. :roll:

 

[RLewisCA]

Well, my day 2 driving is pretty much on the books. I think I'm getting more comfortable with how I'm going to have to drive the Leaf. Below are the stats from today, and I reset the Mi/KW gauge before starting out today. I started with 100% charge from the 120 EVSE.

Weather Clear - 67 - 75 degrees.
Miles: 52.4
Highway: About 30 (cruise set at 63, no stop/go traffic)
City: about 22.4 (all heavy stop/go traffic)

% battery remaining: 39%
Avg. Mi./KW = 4.4

 

[adric22]

Well, my day 2 driving is pretty much on the books.

You should edit your profile to show your location, as well as create a signature explaining which model of Leaf you have with year model, trim level, and charging equipment. This really will help later on when you are commenting in threads and your vehicle, so we will know what kind of climate you have, as well as what equipment your Leaf has.