Down to 50 miles Range

[hill]

.........snip........... I am in NC it is not really cold here. I really didn't expect this I thought from what I read I would be fine with 50 miles a day for the three years I leased the car. ........snip......

Yea, NC ... not that cold .... it's almost like being in San Diego;

.

 

[keydiver]

I It looks like going by the bars I have not lost any capacity.

Well, remember that first bar is HUGE, 15%, so you could have already lost 14.9% capacity and still have 12 bars. That's why its best to invest the $10-$15 in the OBDII dongle + LeafSpy for Android and get an exact SOH reading. It will also show you what % charge you have left, so you can stop sweating, or start driving slower, when you think you are running out of juice.

 

[2k1Toaster]

.........snip........... I am in NC it is not really cold here. I really didn't expect this I thought from what I read I would be fine with 50 miles a day for the three years I leased the car. ........snip......

Yea, NC ... not that cold .... it's almost like being in San Diego;

.

That's not that cold. Big wet snow forms around freezing. We just did a day of skiing where the high reached 38F and we were in short and t-shirts it was so hot out. Colder weather like -30F results in tiny tiny ice particles. You can sweep it away the next morning, no need to shovel.

A road with snow like that image is "good conditions" around here.

 

[TimLee]

...
A road with snow like that image is "good conditions" around here.

Would be helpful if your profile was updated to show your Colorado Springs location.

 

[EvansvilleLeaf]

With that miles/KWh number it's definitely weird that you have all bars and cannot go 50 miles. Even with the buffer that would mean you had less than 13 of the original 21 usable left. In winter I typically get mid to high 3s (high 4s in warmer weather) and have zero problems going well past 50 miles in a 2012.

One thing I may have missed is what type of commute? 50 miles of hilly 70mph+ highway is different from 50 miles of flat surface roads. With that economy I doubt it's the former unless you are a highly skilled hypermiler, in which case you would not be worried about 50 miles. I'm going with the two bar idea as first guess. Remember LBW is at 17% or so charge remaining so when you get that - which is normally at one bar - you still have more than 1/6 left in the tank.

One quick thought are you resetting the 4.1-4.3 much or is that a lifetime average? If the latter you are likely getting much lower in the winter. I reset the "dial" display economy readout you see in front of the steering wheel every charge and keep the settings menu version in the nav screen for long term averages

 

[davewill]

...One quick thought are you resetting the 4.1-4.3 much or is that a lifetime average? If the latter you are likely getting much lower in the winter. I reset the "dial" display economy readout you see in front of the steering wheel every charge and keep the settings menu version in the nav screen for long term averages

I always did that the other way (reset the nav screen daily, keep the dash for long term) because the nav screen keeps history, and I could look back at the last few days.

 

[tylerdare]

Ha yea that looks more like poor driving skills, to me NC really is not cold it all depends on your reference. Yea it dips cold but it really doesn't stay below freezing for long. I cannot imagine having a Leaf in a colder climate than this. Form many years I commuted in DC on a motorcycle year round so I am fine without a heater.

I reset the millage recently I reset it every few months.

Looks like I need to post my picture up on another location and then provide the URL? I do not see a way of uploading it.

 

[nerys]

do you have an android phone? get a ELM327 (make sure its a version 1.5) around $5 to $10

plug it into the OBD port and get LEAFSPY for your android device.

the car is a bit weird with how it reports predicted range. it is optimistic at full charge pretty accurate mid charge and pessimistic when its low.

it is optimistic to make you happy and pessimistic to encourage you to find an electrical outlet fast to avoid running flat part way. ie it is trying to scare you.

4 miles left is more like 10 miles. but not always. this is why you need leaf spy.

you need to reset your efficiency meter (switch to it using the two boxes button and hold the ... button to reset it.

drive home. drive to work.

what does it say? let's say it says 3.7m/kwh

in leafspy SET IT to 3.5 to give yourself some safety margin. what does it say?

if leafspy says you have enough range and you drive reasonably carefully THEN YOU HAVE enough range. you can largely ignore the meter on the dash it will drive you crazy.

I see that thing blinking at me 4 miles left then I look at 11.5 miles on leafspy and I stop worrying just make sure it is accurate. the colder it is the less range you will have. also remember you can NOT go down to 0kwh the car will hard disconnect the battery around .5kwh. don't push it that far.

if you really want to go EV you may have to stop using the heater.

with a 25mile trip you can preheat the car on umbilical power before you leave for work and with just the seat warmer as long as you do not open the doors or windows you will stay plenty warm for a 25 mile run. the car is impressively insulated.

if you don't have power at work you will get a bit cold coming home but again. really not bad. I am quite comfy even down to 20'f with just the seat warmer.

if you can somehow get power at work even just 110v power your worries are history. even a trickle charge will allow you more than enough range to get home. and you can preheat the car again (it won't heat up much on 110v power but it will "break the ice" a little so the car warms up faster once you get in it.) and this would let you use the heat both ways.

My commute is 54miles (one way) even at 0'f outside I can make the trip (with about 2-3 miles left) if I don't use the heater.

down to 28' I can use the heater but NOT if I had to cold warm half way like you do (25 then 25 miles)

this is on a 2012 with 89% capacity. I am not driving freeway however. 50mph.

 

[cwerdna]

Looks like I need to post my picture up on another location and then provide the URL? I do not see a way of uploading it.

You could try http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2456" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Unless you have one of the paid accounts, you can't upload images directly to MNL.

I usually tell people to answer http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=275421#p275421" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; on their complaint thread (here). It would be helpful to answer those questions, even though a few have been answered already.

You likely have lost one or two capacity bars with your location and miles.

A 2012 LEAF is unlikely to be suitable for a 50 mile round trip in winter.
You indicate that you do not use the heat and with your very efficient miles/kWH you might do 50 miles in winter but doing that using only the built in instrumentation of the 2012 LEAF is aggravating.

Not much fun driving with Distance to Empty being extremely low or with nothing but dashes.
If you are getting home with it showing only 4 miles you should be close to Low Battery Warning, or already received it.

It will be showing dashes before or when Very Low Battery warning happens.

I think if you get LEAF Spy or LEAF Spy Pro your tolerance of using the full range will be better and you should be able to use the LEAF to the end of lease in the fall.

Yep on all of the above.

 

[cwerdna]

I could do a 60 mile trip in Seattle Winter weather.

Yeah, but evnow had plenty of experience w/the '11 Leaf w/no heated seats, no heated steering wheel, crappy slow power hog heater and a battery that seemed to not hold up as well as the '13's battery in terms of degradation.

 

[Newporttom]

do you have an android phone? get a ELM327 (make sure its a version 1.5) around $5 to $10

plug it into the OBD port and get LEAFSPY for your android device.

If you get one of these does it just plug in or do you have to do some re-wiring?

 

[TomT]

It just plugs in to the OBDII port under the dash.

If you get one of these does it just plug in or do you have to do some re-wiring?

 

[Newporttom]

It just plugs in to the OBDII port under the dash.

If you get one of these does it just plug in or do you have to do some re-wiring?

Thanks, I'll pick one up tomorrow

This one is 1.5 and is Prime (for quick delivery). I'll go for it unless someone has a better suggestion (and it's Prime)

http://www.amazon.com/Version-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner/dp/B008UR7J6I/ref=pd_sim_auto_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1BHC7HXMS7D98AXSW76D#Ask" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But I like the small one better if it works

http://www.amazon.com/ERUSUN%C2%AE-Bluetooth-Interface-Scanner-Compatible/dp/B00ARAQHGE/ref=sr_1_20?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1429594159&sr=1-20&keywords=elm327+prime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TimLee]

It just plugs in to the OBDII port under the dash.

...

You can do that, but better to use extension cable.
See Wiki.

 

[Bob]

From what you say, you have at least 85% capacity left (no bars gone), run 4.2 miles/kWh, and only get 32 mile range. That doesn't add up. It's a 24kWh battery and they let us use roughly 21kWh of that capacity, so you should have typically 75 miles of range.

Is it possible that you have a significant defect, such as a bad cell in the battery pack or a bad connection to one of the cells?

You should still be under warranty. Has a dealer checked out the car?

Bob

 

[nerys]

From what you say, you have at least 85% capacity left (no bars gone), run 4.2 miles/kWh, and only get 32 mile range. That doesn't add up. It's a 24kWh battery and they let us use roughly 21kWh of that capacity, so you should have typically 75 miles of range.

Is it possible that you have a significant defect, such as a bad cell in the battery pack or a bad connection to one of the cells?

You should still be under warranty. Has a dealer checked out the car?

Bob

read the conditions. I am at 88% I can exceed 5m/kwh in the warm times (never been through a summer yet so we shall see)

but that m/kwh measure on the dash is pretty meaningless except to compare one point to another point. not as an absolute value.

it says I am getting 4m/kwh in the winter but I can plainly see I am only getting 3.2m/kwh so I ignore that.

second in the warm months I can do around 80 miles to a charge. (18.5kwh or 18kwh usable since you can't go below .5kwh)

that is 4.44m/kwh even though it is telling me I am getting 4.9m/kwh and 5.1m/kwh. so hogwash.

in the winter at 0'f my range is 57/58 miles. and that is to "battery hard disconnect" ie you are done. period.

this is at 48mph average speed with almost no stops. my trip distance is 54miles. needless to say no heater

at 28'F and over if I preheat on umbilical power and keep the heat at 65'F I can make it to work using the heater.

lower than 28' and I can not use the heater and even at 28' it is "iffy" so I tend to not use it except when over 30'

if I tried to use the heater at 0'F my range would be around 40miles at a guess. maybe 45.

add in highway speeds (60mph) and I could easily see the range being 32miles.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my leaf. 15,000 gas free miles in just over 6 months. very happy.

but it takes some work on your part and an understanding of its very heavy restrictions on range for this to be a viable car for you.

 

[Bob]

Sorry, I misinterpreted the conditions. It was my mistake.

I'm afraid that your description is indicative of a normal Nissan Leaf with a good battery. It is just lousy in the cold, as you found. The 2013 is a tiny bit better because the heater includes a heat pump, which is more efficient than resistive heating.

If you have the option, you could preheat the car before leaving in the morning, while the car is still plugged in. But otherwise, you're doubly hurt by the cold weather - less range and higher cost of comfort.

I drive a 2013, but I think that the 2012 has the same controls. On the far left side of the dash is a group of four buttons that lets you select dashboard display. One choice is average Miles/kWh. That is the average Miles/kWh from when you last reset the display until now.

When you are displaying Miles/kWh, you can push the button in the upper right and reset the display to "-". Then after driving a tiny distance, it comes up with an average. This should be a useful way to determine actual Miles/kWh for any particular trip on any particular day. Otherwise, as you say, the reading is almost useless.

Bob

 

[desiv]

The 2013 is a tiny bit better because the heater includes a heat pump, which is more efficient than resistive heating.

I'm not sure that would help.
I don't have a Leaf with a Heat Pump, but I understand that it is better for cold temps, but only down so low.
After that, it basically becomes just a resistive heater again.

desiv

 

[Newporttom]

It just plugs in to the OBDII port under the dash.

If you get one of these does it just plug in or do you have to do some re-wiring?

Thanks, I'll pick one up tomorrow

This one is 1.5 and is Prime (for quick delivery). I'll go for it unless someone has a better suggestion (and it's Prime)

http://www.amazon.com/Version-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner/dp/B008UR7J6I/ref=pd_sim_auto_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1BHC7HXMS7D98AXSW76D#Ask" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But I like the small one better if it works

http://www.amazon.com/ERUSUN%C2%AE-Bluetooth-Interface-Scanner-Compatible/dp/B00ARAQHGE/ref=sr_1_20?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1429594159&sr=1-20&keywords=elm327+prime" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well. ordered the small one and when I tried it today I had trouble connecting on my new phone. Tried it on an old Android and got a message that sais a certain protocol or info was missing therefore this was a 2.0 Device and you need a 1.5 device......" So trying again with the big one.