Have you ever run out of power in your LEAF?

[LauraA]

I'm just wondering. Has anyone given all the way out of power, or almost all the way out when you weren't near home? If you ran totally out, did you have to be towed? Where did they tow you to? Where do you find outdoor outlets for use with the trickle charge when you're on the road? Would gas stations have them? Take care, LauraA

 

[TonyWilliams]

I'm just wondering. Has anyone given all the way out of power, or almost all the way out when you weren't near home? If you ran totally out, did you have to be towed? Where did they tow you to? Where do you find outdoor outlets for use with the trickle charge when you're on the road? Would gas stations have them? Take care, LauraA

Hi Laura!

I'm going to guess that you don't own a LEAF, but that you are looking for information.

Just like any vehicle powedered by any source; gas, diesel, propane, LPG, Natural Gas, or electricity, when the power runs out, the party is over. The towing services comes with the LEAF purchase, or you could use AAA. They will tow you to the nearest dealer if there's a real problem, or to your home in many cases if you just ran out of power (and you're reasonably nearby).

I've purposely run the LEAF to dead on several occasions, and a few times that were not planned when trying to go farther than is wise.

Gas stations are generally the last place you'd find a charge. What part of the world are you in?

Edit: I see Georgia, so here's some nearby charging places:

Sunbelt Nissan, 3300 Washington Rd, Augusta GA 30907

Bob Richards Nissan, 5590 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Beech Island SC 29842

 

[planet4ever]

Actually, Tony, Laura's signature says she has had a LEAF for nearly a month. I think the correct answer to her first few questions is to call 877-NO GAS EV and they will tow her for free, the first three years she owns the car. The warranty booklet says only that they will tow you to the nearest dealer, but in practice they seem willing to tow you anywhere you want that is reasonable. The ideal answer, of course, is that if you are paying attention your battery won't ever run completely out.

Ray

 

[adric22]

I've had my Leaf for a year now and the lowest I've ever seen was 18 miles left on the guess-o-meter.

 

[LauraA]

I posted a reply, and I'm not sure where it went. Tony, I have had my leaf for nearly a month. It is a 2011, was a demo at Savannah Nissan dealer. I'm 65, retired, have plenty of power to get around my small town, and to get to most places in Savannah. If I need to travel, the dealership rents cars at a discount to Nissan owners, so that is nice. I was mostly thinking about the trickle charger that we all carry around. I suppose you could get in an unusual situation, detour, big traffic delay, or whatever. Then, if you needed to plug in, where would you plug in? Where are there outdoor plugs? I only used the trickle charger for a few days until my 220 v got installed in my garage. I really love this car. Tony, your chart and some answers that you gave me before about charging have been really helpful. Take care and thanks, LauraA

 

[keydiver]

Do you have a Smartphone of some sort? There are several apps, like Chargepoint, Recargo, and Plugshare which can hope you locate chargers while on the road. I signed up for Plugshare, so any EV driver who happens to find himself near my house and running too low to reach his destination can stop by for either a 120 volt plugin, J1772, or an L6-20 240 volt jack.
The lowest I have ever been was 10 miles on the GOM, and I hit Low Battery Warning just as I turned in my development.

 

[tps]

When I rented the Hertz LEAF last July, I got the first low battery warning about a bit more than a mile from my house. After I got my LEAF in February, I got to the first LBW once, also a mile or so from home. Never got any lower, though. I've charged on 120 at the office a few times; I'd have probably made it home, but it was easier just to pick up a couple kWh so I'd be sure to make it. I've made use of public L2 chargers in center city Philly a couple times. I hardly ever charge to 100% away from home, rather just pick up a few kWh when necessary or convenient.

 

[NYLEAF]

Check out plugshare.com

No smartphone needed, and it'll show you all of the places nearby you can charge up. If you wanted, you could even list your own home for anyone who happens to run low in your neighborhood!

 

[cdub]

I've never ran out. I've gotten a "low battery warning" twice... but never gone to Turtle mode.

 

[davewill]

... I suppose you could get in an unusual situation, detour, big traffic delay, or whatever. Then, if you needed to plug in, where would you plug in? Where are there outdoor plugs? I only used the trickle charger for a few days until my 220 v got installed in my garage. ...

Sometimes you can get lucky and find a plug at a parking garage, although 120v is a tough way to go if you have to sit with the car until it charges. The best plan is to know where all the 240v EVSEs are in your area (or at least along your route) and plan ahead. Luckily, getting stuck in traffic is almost never a problem since sitting still doesn't really use any power.

As far as the thread topic goes, I've turtled twice, but always made it into my garage.

 

[RegGuheert]

Here is a YouTube video which shows exactly what happens when you run out, including calling the number in the manual and getting towed: 2011 Nissan LEAF Battery Depletion.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

... I suppose you could get in an unusual situation, detour, big traffic delay, or whatever.

Detour could ruin your day, but traffic delay actually tends to help because it slows you down, and the slower you go, the further you go. We plan always on operating with some reserve. so the red bars are there fer dealing with the unexpected, not the normal planning.

 

[lpickup]

The best plan is to know where all the 240v EVSEs are in your area (or at least along your route) and plan ahead.

This is my favorite response so far.

In my case:
50% of the time my trips are WELL within the range of the car, even accounting for unexpected detours (which would be kind of hard to imagine since I'm not really more than 15-20 miles from my house)
30% of the time I may be outside that absolutely comfortable zone, but it's still within the range of the car, and I'm very familiar with exactly how much juice I'll use. Even if I'm close to the "edge" of the limits of the car, I'll drive conservatively if I need to, and if I was to fall short it would probably be within a few miles of my house. And I am intimately familiar with all the charging stations within a 10-15 mile radius of my house (thanks to plugshare and other on-line map sites) if I needed to top off.
15% of the time (so far, but this category is shrinking) I may go to a new area I haven't been and am not really sure about how much buffer I'll have. I plan these trips out using online maps, checking mileage very carefully and comparing to similar distance trips I have taken. If it's going to be at all close I'll research remote charging options and have a backup or two in mind. If I haven't verified a particular charging station and actually gotten a charge, I don't go past 6 bars (half the battery). I probably wouldn't attempt such a trip if I couldn't be flexible and go charge somewhere for an hour or two if I needed it. If my schedule was tight, I would not take the LEAF. Having said that, I'd try really hard to build extra time into the trip for a charge as I do like to learn what the limits of the LEAF are and add that to my list of "known" doable trips.
5% of the time it's just too far, or I can't afford to stop for an emergency charge, so I'll take the ICE car. This has only happened 5 times since I got the LEAF.

In over 5400 miles this strategy has worked well for me. Only once have I been down to 0 bars (barely), and even then I was just driving around my neighborhood and not too concerned. I understand that I probably had at least another 10 miles of range at that point.

I do make use of the NAV system when doing longer trips, even when I know the route, because I can put in all my waypoints for the trip to get a total distance remaining and I can gauge that against the number of bars remaining and the guess-o-meter (I don't take the miles it reports literally, but once you know kind of how it's working you can adjust in your head how many miles you have remaining approximately).

I would say that in almost all cases if you are running low on battery you will be VERY near your home (if not, you really didn't plan things out properly).

And like I said, you'll quickly get used to knowing how much battery it takes to get to various places and in a few more months you won't be worried about this what-if because you'll be very confident that you'll either have the range you need, or, if you ARE pushing it, have several different backup plans should you need them.

 

[EVDrive]

1 year and 14,200 miles into ownership and I have never turtled or run out of a charge. I charge to 100% once or twice everyday, drive 100 miles a day 2 - 5 days a week charging at work of course and still manage to get to the low battery warning almost once a week. I've only reached the very low battery warning 5 or 6 times. Can't wait to start quick charging, then it is on and I'll see how fast I can wear the car out.

 

[klapauzius]

I ran out of power in February 2011, one month after getting the car...They did not even have a special phone number to call back then and
wanted to give me a new starter battery

It was not a great experience, but in retrospect, everything was sort of new and I had severely underestimated the effect of cold weather on the range.
There was no 'hidden' reserve also and the so called 'guess-o-meter (aka 'remaining miles') had given me a 7 mile margin, which wasn't real.

Also, turtle mode was just good for ~300 yards and I ended up stranded on busy road with no outlets in sight...

It never happened since.
Once you have driven a number of routes under a number of weather/temperature conditions, it is much easier to get a feeling for how far one can go.

 

[Stoaty]

I haven't ever ran out of juice or even gotten close. 8,000 miles on my Leaf. Most days drive 45 miles, sometimes drive 100 miles on a weekend with 6 hours of L1 charging at the 50 mile mark.

 

[Caracalover]

First off let me say that I am inspired by yet another person buying and enjoying a Leaf.

I turned 14,500 miles this week, and need to schedule my battery check for a one year 15,000 check up. I expect it to pass with no issues, much like the year I have been driving the car, but Nissan wants the information, and I want them to have it.

I have seen the Milage remaining indicator report 11 when I was over thirty miles from home, and arrived home with two or three bars of charge remaining - mountain passes are fun once you understand the car - you can laugh at the "remaining miles" if you know what you are doing. You are now driving a vehicle that can fuel itself - amazing stuff when you opt to use it.

I have never seen turtle, and only a couple of times have I seen a second low battery warning. When it is cold and rainy you use a lot more power - so that is when you should slow down (DUH, it is raining, slow down) and you will get where you are going.

I did once have to detour around the mountain since the pass was closed due to snow making a 70 mile trip closer to 90, in the rain, sleet, and such. Had I realized the situation earlier, I would not have felt the need to charge, and just driven slower. I had already driven 30 miles at 65 and the another 5 up the mountain when I realized the road was closed. My wife worried, I assured her we would be fine, turned around and started to use the power generation that going downhill can give you. It works really well if you have a big enough hill, and I did that night. Having two choices I tried the surface streets for a little bit, then realized the freeway traffic was only moving at 45 and was not stopping much, so I got back on and took it easy - and felt I could make it home. There was an L2 at a Kohl's with a burger joint literally right off the freeway so we stopped, ate, and then got back on the freeway - my mistake was again doing 65. As I saw the power dip I slowed down but did not get off the freeway. This was one of the nights I saw a second low battery warning, but I did make it home.

I don't even carry the "emergency" charger with me anymore, unless I plan to use it elsewhere. I have heard of people getting a charge from a gas station though, so in a pinch stop and ask - anywhere with power will likley help you out although it may take a few tries. I would suggest diners, merchants, and mom and pop style businesses where you can actually talk with the owners should you ever have to go that route. Many public areas have plugs in place for soda machines, etc, so stealing a charge from these closed businesses would be possible. As for those that call this stealing, if it is less than a dollar worth of power, it isn't prosecution worthy, so don't worry too much on that unless you are doing it every night, all night.

 

[LauraA]

It is really fun to see all of these answers, and to hear of everyone's adventures! I'm a grandma, and a "grandma driver". Now I have a good excuse to go slow! During the first week that I had my Leaf, I didn't yet have the 220 v charger, and in the afternoon I was picking up my daughter and grandson at the airport. I had lots of errands in the morning, and had only charged to 80%. I realized, at about noon, that I might be cutting it close for the airport, so I plugged in, but with the trickle charger, the car didn't charge much in the short time that I had. The 18 mile trip to the airport was my first freeway drive in the leaf, and I was shocked at how quickly the power bars went down. We drove home very slowly, and made it with the gauge saying 2 miles left! Needless to say, I've learned a lot since then, have my 220 v charger, charge 100% on days that I may have to do a lot of driving, and also have time to recharge. We have no hills here, and very little cold weather. My normal driving is in a very small town - maybe 10 miles per day at most. I sometimes go into Savannah, but not usually on the freeway, and I once in awhile go to the airport. I will look into plugshare for some added adventures. Thanks for all of the great replies. Take care, LauraA

 

[Bassman]

11 months of ownership and 18,500 miles- I 've ran down to turtlr mode twice, once intentionally and once when I ran out 3 miles from my home because I didn't slow down when I should have(about 4 months ago). Called Nissan LEAF CS and they sent the tow truck service and got towed home. If you plan ahead, pay attention to your battery bars (SOC bars) and change your driving speed accordingly, you shouldn't need the tow service.

 

[TNleaf]

Here is a YouTube video which shows exactly what happens when you run out, including calling the number in the manual and getting towed: 2011 Nissan LEAF Battery Depletion.

Very decent video.