Any tips for cold weather driving

[Raza]

I am not sure. The noise is there and profound when the temps are around 35 F or lower. I doubt it is frozen brakes as it is there while I am driving over 35 mph. It definitely seems to go away as the temps are warmer. Two days ago, it was in 50 F and the noise was not there.
Thanks for your reply!

Raza

It is likely something that contracts with the cold weather and is likely nothing to worry about, but isolating it would be something Nissan should help you do. Have you contacted the dealer, and have they noticed it in the demo cars they have? I have never started out with the car in those temperatures, but I have driven into them and not heard anything like what you are describing.

I doubt that Nissan dealership in my area are as knowledgeable as some of forum members They only have sold three cars only and have one demo car that has only 50 miles on it. Leaf has just picked up sales in Maryland.

 

[Nubo]

Maybe some elastomers stiffening somewhere resulting in reduced dampening. "Motor mounts"?

 

[Reddy]

14 F this AM. Pre-warmed to 77 F. Nice! Still using 4.5 KW on the heater on the drive. I have noticed that I need to charge for more hours. I'm still on L1 for 4 hrs/night but do have to add a few hours here and there. Also, I've been driving more for work, sometimes doubling or tripling my 8 mi RT commute.

Reddy

 

[lpickup]

Okay, it was finally "cool" here tonight (mid 30's) and I may have heard your sound. It's a whining sound that changes pitch with vehicle speed. I can't really make it out once I got up to 55.

Trouble is I think it sounds really cool! So I'm definitely not worried about it.

 

[Raza]

Maybe some elastomers stiffening somewhere resulting in reduced dampening. "Motor mounts"?

Thank you for the suggestion. I will ask the dealer sometime in two weeks. I am not sure how well-trained the Leaf specialists are in the dealership near to us.

 

[Raza]

14 F this AM. Pre-warmed to 77 F. Nice! Still using 4.5 KW on the heater on the drive. I have noticed that I need to charge for more hours. I'm still on L1 for 4 hrs/night but do have to add a few hours here and there. Also, I've been driving more for work, sometimes doubling or tripling my 8 mi RT commute.

Reddy

Thanks Reddy.... The question is now if you did not pre-heat and just drive, would you have the noticed the noise past 30 mph and how much loss of range you would note for the same commute?

Raza

 

[Raza]

Okay, it was finally "cool" here tonight (mid 30's) and I may have heard your sound. It's a whining sound that changes pitch with vehicle speed. I can't really make it out once I got up to 55.

Trouble is I think it sounds really cool! So I'm definitely not worried about it.

Hi Lance.... You may have a better sound than I have.... Believe it or not, I was watching some Nissan Leaf reviews on Youtube and I heard one of the reviews by CNET (I think) that said that Nissan Leaf makes a whinning sound between 45 - 50 mph. They test drove the 2011 model. I have the 2012 model. So apparently, that noise does exact for a short time. As you suggested, it does disappear past 55 mph. I have never driven past 55 as the roads I drive have the speed limit of 40 - 45 on my commute.

Raza

 

[kinggeorge13]

I've done the standard processes of pre-heating the car before unplugging it via my iPhone and using the heated seats and heated steering wheel and driving in temps outside that were just a couple degrees above freezing with no other heat on. The car does stay not too bad for quite a long time but I have to say, my feet/legs don't just get a little chilly, they get downright cold. Even with all the climate controls turned off, it's like there is still a lower vent open and cold air slowly coming in the feet/floor area. In my other vehicles, there is a way to turn off the outside air even without the fan going or at least close vents off (i.e. have the vent to the windshield get the air that's simply driven into the vehicle by the forward motion of the car as you drive). But it does not seem we can do that? No matter what I do, it seems like cold air goes in at my feet. Or am I missing how to make that setup?

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

This is an issue on the 2011 as well. one of my biggest beefs with CC is that the fan increases the circulation of outside cold air to the interior, increasing the need for heating and even with the CC turned off, you have to have it on foot/defot to keep the windows clear, letting cold air in and chilling the legs and feet... I really wish there was a defog only mode that did not require power defog. I have considered blocking the lower vents to see if that helps the comfort. If the legs didn't get cold, the car would stay comfortable with a good prewarm, much longer.

I've done the standard processes of pre-heating the car before unplugging it via my iPhone and using the heated seats and heated steering wheel and driving in temps outside that were just a couple degrees above freezing with no other heat on. The car does stay not too bad for quite a long time but I have to say, my feet/legs don't just get a little chilly, they get downright cold. Even with all the climate controls turned off, it's like there is still a lower vent open and cold air slowly coming in the feet/floor area. In my other vehicles, there is a way to turn off the outside air even without the fan going or at least close vents off (i.e. have the vent to the windshield get the air that's simply driven into the vehicle by the forward motion of the car as you drive). But it does not seem we can do that? No matter what I do, it seems like cold air goes in at my feet. Or am I missing how to make that setup?

 

[Reddy]

1+

We need to be able to:
1) turn on fan only (no CC energy consumption) in all modes, but especially window/defrost.
2) toggle between fresh air and recirc (again in all modes with and without energy consumption).
3) allow more modes and combinations (but especially NO FEET and WINDOW ONLY)! :evil:

I don't run without CC/heat below about 40 F.

Reddy

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

did another loop around the lake today. it was around 33F. took a piece of packing tape and taped over the floor vent so I could run in foot defog mode without frosting my feet! It worked well. trouble is I will have to remember to remove the tape to preheat, as this is one of the main vents for preheating... still good to know I can block the vent if I'm going a long distance and must have control over every last electron.

It's getting cold enough that the preheating does not end up adding much to the battery charge. I've still been charging to 80% the night before and preheating, then checking the charging progress, sometimes turning off the preheat and letting the charge come close to 100% then topping off the last bit with more preheat.

I really wish we had a real temperature for the battery. the preheating/charging combo brings the battery from 4 bars to 5, but I really don't have much of an idea of how that really effects the range. My hope has been that warming the battery while topping off increases the amount the battery will hold and increases the distance I can go before the battery becomes "cold soaked" again.

still getting 4.0 + MPkWh and roughly an 80 mile range in the low 30's.

oh, and I was at Fred Meyers the other day and picked up an inexpensive, "Dr Scholl's" seat warmer for around $25. it uses an imperceptible amount of energy on the energy screen and does a good job of warming the seats. it does unfortunately reduce my coveted leg room a little.

 

[Reddy]

Thanks Reddy.... The question is now if you did not pre-heat and just drive, would you have the noticed the noise past 30 mph and how much loss of range you would note for the same commute?

Raza

No, I don't really notice the noise over 30 mph. Mostly around 25 mph and when very lightly accelerating or decelerating. As for range loss, I'm seeing around 60-70 mi on the GOM when using the heater. Yesterday and today I charged to 100% (had some extra driving planned) and saw 100-105 mi on GOM with heater off. I think I drove about 35 mi and used 6 or 7 bars with the heat on. Others have reported only small range loss in the 30-50 F temps (if not using the heater). I hardly even approach using 50% of the range on the car. I think I've exceeded 50 miles on only a handful of days.

Reddy