DRL (Daytime Running Lights) wiring source

[TomT]

The low beam LED headlights are 10 watts each.

I'm assuming that the LED headlights are in the mW range, yes?

 

[myev]

Interesting. I was told (at a local Leaf meeting) by a British visitor that the UK DRLs are a second bulb in the fog housings. I'd be surprised that Nissan would do differently in Canada.

Yeah, you'd think that for every market where DRLs were mandated, Nissan would spec the same equipment, but my fog lights have only one bulb, as per all North American models.
I checked the power meter between DRL and having headlights on, and there is a noticable jump when switching to headlights. This sounds contradictory. Can anyone explain how the 10W LED headlights can be consuming more power than the highbeam bulbs, even at half power? There's no change when going from DRLs to parking lights, but it looks like a 50W jump (hard to tell with the resolution of the power meter) when the headlights get added (and high beams go off).

 

[TomT]

The accessory power meter in the Leaf does not actually measure power usage. It monitors the CAN buss and uses an algorithm that simply adds a given amount of power to the meter when it sees certain accessories are on. Thus, for example, you could pull 120 watts from the cigarette lighter and it would not see it or show it. Likewise, if you change bulbs, it will not know about the different current draw.

I checked the power meter between DRL and having headlights on, and there is a noticable jump when switching to headlights. This sounds contradictory.