Can any Body that uses Cruse control tell Me why

[ronwright38]

I would like to know why when I hit brakes and the miles
goes up 5 Miles and if i do not resume the cruse it will stay in the
higher mile listing and if i hit resume the mileage drops 5
Miles??

 

[iamwjh]

CRUISE CONTROL in the LEAF is not as efficient as one might think.
Check out this forum thread

 

[Nubo]

I use cruise control because it's convenient, and often appropriate.

I like to travel at a steady speed. Voila! Cruise control does that.

Why a steady speed? Because it makes you predictable to to other drivers. Even if they don't care for your speed, they can adjust, plan their passing, etc... It's quite aggravating and mildly dangerous to deal with someone who speeds up, slows down, speeds up.... and for no apparent reason (most other motorists are not hypermilers). So, imho, save those hypermiler tricks for when the road is truly deserted. If I need more efficiency, I'd rather just drop the cruise a few mph and proceed at a steady speed. It's just a lot easier and well worth the couple of minutes of added travel time to me.

Of course cruise control is not always appropriate based on traffic density, weather, etc... But those are the reasons I use it when conditions warrant.

 

[iamwjh]

I use cruise control because it's convenient, and often appropriate.

I like to travel at a steady speed. Voila! Cruise control does that.

Why a steady speed? Because it makes you predictable to to other drivers. Even if they don't care for your speed, they can adjust, plan their passing, etc... It's quite aggravating and mildly dangerous to deal with someone who speeds up, slows down, speeds up.... and for no apparent reason (most other motorists are not hypermilers). So, imho, save those hypermiler tricks for when the road is truly deserted. If I need more efficiency, I'd rather just drop the cruise a few mph and proceed at a steady speed. It's just a lot easier and well worth the couple of minutes of added travel time to me.

Of course cruise control is not always appropriate based on traffic density, weather, etc... But those are the reasons I use it when conditions warrant.

All True. And basically the reasons most people use CC.
But I think the OP question was about why the CC reduces range.
From what I gather from this forum, is that CC is a power hog.
Obviously, individual results may vary.
However, I too have noticed that especially at highway speeds, CC reduces the range and the efficiency meter.
For those that dont care or dont need to maximize these metrics, i guess it doesnt really matter. And for those that do, it does.

 

[TomT]

Yep, me too. And I find the efficiency drop estimated by the car with CC on to be very pessimistic.

I use cruise control because it's convenient, and often appropriate.

 

[Nubo]

But I think the OP question was about why the CC reduces range.

Yeah probably so. But the discussion of CC vs. "skilled driving" couldn't be too far off

Then again, equating the Guessometer's antics to "reduced range" is a dubious exercise to begin with.

 

[iamwjh]

OK, like I said, individual results vary.
however, in the spirit of statistical analysis, where all else is equal...or the essence of physics, where all is in a vacuum...

The question of whether or not the CC affects range is a valid question.
How each driver interprets that affect is duly based on their individual driving situation.

Some folks just plain dont care about their range or efficiency. and choose to drive at whatever speed/acceleration level they please.
Some folks try to maximize these metrics, for whatever reason, and question the impacts that are immediately displayed to them by the GOM.

Now, how that GOM correlates to actual results may depend heavily on the individual driver's style and the calculations of the most recent driving statistics gathered by the LEAF's system.

Over an extended period of time, using actual miles per KWh:
Real-world results for me, indicate that using CC on the highway for distances of 50 miles is less efficient than driving with my foot.
Additionally, real-world results for me indicate that using CC on side roads for distances of 50 miles is less efficient than driving with my foot. The reason...my individual driving conditions are likely far different than the average driver in, say CA or AZ.

So, does using CC reduce the "overall" efficiency of the LEAF?
Put that question in a vacuum, with all else equal, and consider it.
Regardless of how fluctuations in speed may affect the attitude of other drivers, or how that may affect one's personal drive time, there is no question that CC does not compensate for opportunities to maximize the utilization of regen.

A question: how much power does the CC use, and why does it immediately reduce the efficiency gauge upon activation?

 

[Nubo]

A question: how much power does the CC use, and why does it immediately reduce the efficiency gauge upon activation?

Because someone at Nissan estimated the effect through empirical testing, just like they estimated the effect of using Eco mode.

I'm not saying the effect isn't real. The magnitude will depend on individual circumstance. But for me personally I'd rather make up that shortfall by going a bit slower at a steady speed instead of min/max analysis every hill with the accelerator.

 

[iamwjh]

I'm not saying the effect isn't real. The magnitude will depend on individual circumstance. But for me personally I'd rather make up that shortfall by going a bit slower at a steady speed instead of min/max analysis every hill with the accelerator.

Yes, the effect is REAL and some folks rely on that effect for their personal circumstances.

Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not harshing on your groove man, I respect your opinion. This is an extremely valuable forum to me and a place I turn to daily...where I can obtain serious advice and other smart stuff from folks that know a lot more than I.

However, even though my driving situation and your driving situation may differ widely, we do agree then that the effect is real.

 

[GlennD]

To me the Leaf must have cruse control! I do not use it on my 19.6 mile commute but If I am going long distances I set it at 55 Mph. Without the control there is no way I can drive that slow!

I rarely use the GOM. I only go by my lincomatic SOC.

 

[TomT]

I don't go quite that slow but I'd find it hard not to go faster without cruise too... And I'd never leave home without my Lincomatic!

To me the Leaf must have cruse control! I do not use it on my 19.6 mile commute but If I am going long distances I set it at 55 Mph. Without the control there is no way I can drive that slow! I rarely use the GOM. I only go by my lincomatic SOC.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Long distance, funny.

 

[mrdcmills]

Keeps me from speeding. I frequently travel a six lane road with a 40mph limit. Florida troopers need the revenue.

 

[LEAFfan]

For me, besides holding a steady speed, it's much more relaxing for my foot, knee, and leg. Without it, my knee will hurt and I often will cramp. When I did that 15 mile loop at 15mph, I had to quit after one hour because my foot, knee/leg was hurting really badly. Actually, it started to hurt after less than 10 miles.

 

[garygid]

When using the Cruise Control, if you hit the brake, the CC is
disabled, allowing the car to slow down (when on a flat road,
or going uphill.). However, if you are going sufficiently downhill,
the car's speed will increase... because there is no longer any
speed control by the CC.

When you Resume (re-activate the CC) the speed control will
usually bring the car back to the last-set speed.

 

[Pipcecil]

I have a fairly good EV "foot" while driving, but CC still beats me in my efficiency having owned the car almost 2 years. I can see though someone who is extremely good beating the CC and could even beat it by a large margin, but with "normal" driving CC will win since your micro over-accelerations of trying to stay at a specific speed will cause more energy usage - a constant use that would not have that loss will be more efficient. BUT someone who is extremely good (taking hills just right, streaming behind big rigs, etc.) will be better than the CC.

 

[Stoaty]

I use cruise control when appropriate (e.g., on freeway traveling at steady 52 MPH) and haven't seen any effect on my efficiency (Lifetime 5.7 miles/kwh on the dash). The speed at which you travel will have a far greater effect than whether you use cruise control.

 

[planet4ever]

I would like to know why when I hit brakes and the miles goes up 5 Miles and if i do not resume the cruse it will stay in the higher mile listing and if i hit resume the mileage drops 5 Miles??

I believe every responder except perhaps iamwjh is way overthinking this question. Ron can correct me if I am wrong, but I believe he saying nothing more nor less than that the big "Distance to Empty" number (what we call the GOM) goes up by five when he hits the brakes and back down by five when he resumes cruise control.

The answer is that the GOM is not a measurement of anything actually happening in the car. It is a guess, which is why we call it the GuessOMeter. It is a guess made by a stupidly programmed computer which is trying to estimate your future driving behavior and environment by your recent history. For all I know it may have seen you slow down and decided you would keep slowing down until the battery was empty!! No one knows what algorithm the computer uses, but we do know that it is often - very often - laughably wrong. Frankly, anyone attempting to evaluate the efficiency of cruise control based on GOM numbers is sadly, sadly, under-informed.

Ray

 

[ebill3]

Looks to me that the majority of the responses ignored the question posed by the OP in the body of his post, and answered the title question: "Can any Body that uses Cruse control tell Me why" (you use cruse control).

 

[ebill3]

When using the Cruise Control, if you hit the brake, the CC is
disabled, allowing the car to slow down (when on a flat road,
or going uphill.). However, if you are going sufficiently downhill,
the car's speed will increase... because there is no longer any
speed control by the CC.

Is that really correct? Without going out to double check, I recall the CC will indeed try to control downhill speed by calling for regen - assuming, of course, that the battery is not fully charged.