Hot weather performance

[RickS]

Well it was 110 degrees here today, 108 yesterday and I thought I'd report a whole lot of nothing. My car is parked in the sun all day with a heat shield in the windshield to keep the interior temperatures down some. The battery temperature gauge shows seven bars in the afternoon and six in the morning when I leave the house. Aside from loosing a few more miles of range from using the AC, I've seen it up to +8 miles, the car acts perfectly normal. I still have 80kw of power available on tap. We'll see what happens after a few more weeks of this, but so far the car is working excellently in the heat.

Interestingly the electronics under the hood can become quite hot. The other night I walked out in the garage while it was charging and noticed the coolant pump was running at a faster than normal rate so I poped the hood and found I couldn't keep my hand on the on the top of the controller for more than a few seconds. I wasn't expecting this, but it doesn't seem to affect anything.

I have also been using the pre-conditioning quite extensively and it's probably the best feature on any car I've ever owned.

 

[Carlos]

I agree and am also impressed with hot weather operation. My LEAF is a bit more spoiled than yours. I garage park at home, drive 8.8 miles to work five days a week and park two floors underground. Precool is an awesome feature but my car doesn't always receive the signal to turn on parked down in the cave.

 

[Volusiano]

OK, so another report from a Leaf owner from Phoenix here as well. Mine is also holding up OK. I don't take it to work, so it's garage parked, but my family uses it a lot for various trips around town and they do park it out in the sun when they're out and about. I do notice the fan may come on for charging from time to time, but never for a very long period. But I guess I don't stay out in the hot garage long enough to know that for sure.

 

[GeekEV]

I agree, the AC in particular is impressive - as good or better than any car I've owned. Here in the central nor-cal valley, so far we've hit a couple days in the 90's and 100's. Even after sitting in the sun all day (and NOT pre-cooling) the AC quickly brings the car to bearable temperatures. If I do remember to pre-cool, so much the better!

 

[LEAFfan]

The official temp today at Sky Harbor was 112. Our garage reached 104 during the peak heat hours, and the battery temp was still on 6. I don't anticipate any problems with the heat this summer. When I go somewhere, I have always found a shaded spot far from the place I'm visiting, so no cars park next to me and it doesn't get that hot inside. When my wife is with me, I have to use the A/C, but I noticed how fast it begins to cool compared to an ICE. It sat for almost four hours outside yesterday, and the A/C blew cool air instantly...amazing!

 

[TomT]

The car was parked outdoors all day yesterday and the temperature got to 99 where I was. I saw 7 bars on the temp gauge when I got in and left. The indicated range was 1 mile less when I turned the car on than when I turned it off... So, no apparent difference at that temp.

The official temp today at Sky Harbor was 112. Our garage reached 104 during the peak heat hours, and the battery temp was still on 6. I don't anticipate any problems with the heat this summer. When I go somewhere, I have always found a shaded spot far from the place I'm visiting, so no cars park next to me and it doesn't get that hot inside. When my wife is with me, I have to use the A/C, but I noticed how fast it begins to cool compared to an ICE. It sat for almost four hours outside yesterday, and the A/C blew cool air instantly...amazing!

 

[Skywagon]

Another Phoenix area LEAF... all is well here. I have an East facing garage that gets to the lower 90's max during the day and cools off quickly in the evenings. I commute 5 miles to work where I have a covered parking spot. I normally only see 6 bars on the battery temp during the week, even yesterday. I have seen 7 bars on the weekends as I do park outside when running errands and such. The precool has been a great feature as I turn it on before the 4 minute walk to my car at the end of the day and it is nice and cold in there when I open the door. That is great with the Wet Okole seat covers as they do not breathe well and having them precooled is nice.

 

[Bassman]

Got up to 105 this week in Northern CA. On the way home from work, the battery temp finally exceeded 6 bars and went to 7. Used A/C and cruised at 65 for a while. Never went above 7 bars and this is going predominantly uphill. No problems.

 

[DaveEV]

I wonder how much of the cooling performance is due to the light colored interior - I know that even after sitting in the sun a while it seems to stay much cooler than other cars with darker interiors. Leaving the windows cracked a bit seems to make a big difference, too.

 

[Carlos]

Charged to 100% last night in the garage.
Counted 7 bars at startup in the morning after complete charge.
Temperature 93 degrees
8.8 mile commute @ about 43mph
7 temp bars at end of one way commute.
Charged from about 37% to 100% started at 7:00pm with garage temps about 100+ degrees.

I have experienced 6 temp bars routinely and on occasion 7 bars.
I wonder if a 100% vs 80% SOC has any impact on battery temp display or if the battery just didn't settle back to 6 bars after charging?

 

[Skywagon]

Charged to 100% last night in the garage.
Counted 7 bars at startup in the morning after complete charge.
Temperature 93 degrees
8.8 mile commute @ about 43mph
7 temp bars at end of one way commute.
Charged from about 37% to 100% started at 7:00pm with garage temps about 100+ degrees.

I have experienced 6 temp bars routinely and on occasion 7 bars.
I wonder if a 100% vs 80% SOC has any impact on battery temp display or if the battery just didn't settle back to 6 bars after charging?

Charging to 100% vs. 80% can increase battery temps. If you do not need the range 80% charging is the best way to go for battery life, especially in this heat.

 

[Volusiano]

With all this talk about good AC performance, I want to say that usually on my Lexus LS400 which has auto climate control, usually I have to set the temperature at 75F or lower to get adequate cooling. On the Leaf, I find that I can set the internal thermostat to 85F and I already have adequate cool air coming out (even in the hot 110F summer). I wonder if this is just an offset because they're different cars so the settings are set differently and not calibrated against each other, or whether this is because the Leaf actually has more effective cooling.

On another note, one time I sat in the back while my son is driving, and I notice that it's not as cool in the back as in the front, simply because of the proximity to the AC vents. I had to ask my son to turn the temperature down a couple of degrees and redirect the airflow toward the back before I felt more comfortable. I never had passengers asking me to crank up the AC when I'm the driver, though.

 

[LEAFfan]

I wonder if this is just an offset because they're different cars so the settings are set differently and not calibrated against each other, or whether this is because the Leaf actually has more effective cooling.

IMO, the LEAF has more effective cooling. I've never had a car sit out in the sun for over 3 hours in over 100 degree heat (no extra tinting, no windshield shade) and be able to put out cool air right from the start. In those kind of conditions, my other cars would take a few minutes before any cool air came out the vents. All I would get immediately would be really HOT air.

 

[RickS]

Yeah the A/C is awesome, probably the best in any car I've owned. I've been seeing 7 bars on the temp gauge in the morning now, but never any higher. I know the cars ambient temperature reading is quite in accurate, but I saw it reading 120°F yesterday at one point. Now I just wish when the A/C were remotely activated it would automatically roll up the windows first.

 

[mkjayakumar]

I am glad the AC works fine and battery doesn't heat up that much in hot weather. But what about the Range ?

Is there any hit on the range during hot days, just like sub zero temps reduce the battery capacity and the range. I am more concerned about that, rather than the comfort of instant cooling.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I am glad the AC works fine and battery doesn't heat up that much in hot weather. But what about the Range ?

Is there any hit on the range during hot days, just like sub zero temps reduce the battery capacity and the range. I am more concerned about that, rather than the comfort of instant cooling.

Not the same. Cold equals reduced battery capacity AND high power draw from the heater

Hot equals increased battery capacity (slightly up) and a much more efficient air conditioner (than what the heater is).

The 2013 LEAF will have a heater much like the air conditioner; both quite efficient. But, the battery capacity issues will remain.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Thanks. That's good to know.

 

[N1ghtrider]

No matter how efficient the a/c, I have gotten by without it 85% of the time or so (and never used the heater) during my first 3 months of Leaf ownership during the Miami winter. Now that Sprint has sprung I will need the a/c most of the time and will report changes to my range. During my first 2,450 miles I achieved more than 100 miles on a charge 9 times, for a total of 41% of my driving exceeding the 100 mile per charge range.

Miami summer: here you come.