I Beat EPA's 73 Mile Range : Report your experience

[planet4ever]

Heater,A/C etc don't matter. We are just trying to figure out kwh used for a particular bar.

There is a chart in the sticky that gives the soc% range for every bar.

I apologize. You are right on the chart. It says quite unequivocally that each bar is 8% of available charge. The fact that you still have 4% left when the last bar disappears doesn't matter for your experiment.

As for the heater, A/C, etc., you obviously are interpreting the Average Energy Economy number differently from me. I take it you believe (perhaps with good justification) that it is based on all energy being extracted from the battery. My assumption (and it is only an assumption) is that the number is based on energy used and returned by the motor. Does anyone know which is correct?

I guess it wouldn't be too difficult to test this. Reset the average and travel some distance on an open road at a fairly low constant speed with the heater going full blast. Reset again, and repeat the same route at the same speed but with the heater off. Are the two economy numbers about the same, or is the second one significantly higher? [Unfortunately I can't run the test myself, since I don't have a car yet.]

Ray

 

[IBELEAF]

a bit off topic, but does anyone know what's the optimal speed to get the best range for your charge?

 

[planet4ever]

a bit off topic, but does anyone know what's the optimal speed to get the best range for your charge?

See the graph on page 17 of this SAE report.

As I read the graph, the motor doesn't reach peak efficiency until nearly 40 MPH. When you go very much faster than that you start getting the air resistance effect.

Ray

 

[Herm]

As I read the graph, the motor doesn't reach peak efficiency until nearly 40 MPH. When you go very much faster than that you start getting the air resistance effect.

While the motor/inverter is at max efficiency from 37-74mph (outstanding range), its still very high outside of these limits.. it is likely the Leaf is similar to the Tesla Roadster and maximum range will occur below 20mph, due to the air resistance effect. It would be nice if Nissan published a power vs speed graph like Tesla does.

 

[Smidge204]

Based on a very crude model I made in Excel a few months ago, max range would be from driving ~15-20 MPH. Not sure what the actual range would be but I'd guess maybe 150 miles or so. (I should probably try to calibrate my model on the anecdotal evidence from the forum!)
=Smidge=

 

[edatoakrun]

Based on a very crude model I made in Excel a few months ago, max range would be from driving ~15-20 MPH. Not sure what the actual range would be but I'd guess maybe 150 miles or so. (I should probably try to calibrate my model on the anecdotal evidence from the forum!)
=Smidge=

So, what is the longest range achieved from a 100% charge?

Under what speed/terrain conditions?

I'm surprised no one seems to have taken a LEAF on a 3-6 hour low-speed drive, just to find out. From what I've seen, I wouldn't expect the range would increase very much, below a 30-40 mph average speed.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

probably my best day for performance was 89 miles on a charge and with range left over...i think we were in "..."
mode but had at least 4-6 miles left. we were not in turtle mode nor in danger of it as i recall.

now, this day was a bit of normal driving, around 25 miles or so, but also was a day spent looking at houses. we had set up a map to cruise but while driving to these places, we were passing other neighborhoods so we would cruise thru them real quick to see if there were any unadvertised places (this is how we found our current location. we simply applied before it was advertised)

so most of the driving was a LOT of stop and go but also at speeds of 15-25 mph.

so i would have to say, the best range is probably the lower end.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I don't trust the computer but I did 50 which included freeway at 60 and large freeway hills and 20 plus minutes of mountain climbing up and 20 min back up on the return, city driving and when I returned I had 55 miles remaining. If the hills and freeway were omitted I bet it would have been over 125. I did take extra care on this trip to drive efficiently though.

 

[edatoakrun]

I just went over this thread,and the best total range reported here is a measly 91 miles.

I formally challenge those with LEAF's in their possession to the contest.

Are you not men?

Or are you reduced, by the dreaded "Range Anxiety," to a snivelling gelatinous mass whenever you get down to the last two bars?

Don't you have a favorite "Sunday drive" of some distance, relatively flat and with few stops, that can be safely done, at 35-45 MPH?

Come on.

120 miles should be easy!

Based on a very crude model I made in Excel a few months ago, max range would be from driving ~15-20 MPH. Not sure what the actual range would be but I'd guess maybe 150 miles or so. (I should probably try to calibrate my model on the anecdotal evidence from the forum!)
=Smidge=

So, what is the longest range achieved from a 100% charge?

Under what speed/terrain conditions?

I'm surprised no one seems to have taken a LEAF on a 3-6 hour low-speed drive, just to find out. From what I've seen, I wouldn't expect the range would increase very much, below a 30-40 mph average speed.

 

[palmermd]

I just went over this thread,and the best total range reported here is a measly 91 miles.

I formally challenge those with LEAF's in their possession to the contest.

Are you not men?

Or are you reduced, by the dreaded "Range Anxiety," to a snivelling gelatinous mass whenever you get down to the last two bars?

Don't you have a favorite "Sunday drive" of some distance, relatively flat and with few stops, that can be safely done, at 35-45 MPH?

Come on.

120 miles should be easy!

That is a different thread. "What is the longest trip you've taken on a charge...who can set the record...who can beat the 138 estimate from Nissan".

1. At perfect 68 degree Fahrenheit temperature and steady-state flat-course 38 mph, the car could achieve 138 miles of range.
2. Moderate temperature at 24 mph suburban driving, 105 miles of range.
3. Dense inner city traffic and 86 degrees F, only 47 miles of range
4. Highway driving at 55 mph in 95 degree heat with A/C on, 70 miles
5. Cold weather (14 degrees F) city driving, 62 miles of range

 

[edatoakrun]

Sure, start a new thread, if you like.

I am serious, though, that I'd think at least a few LEAF owners would be curious enough to try a maximum range test. I know what Nissan and others, have estimated. But I haven't seen any reports longer than the 116 miles from the "tennessee" test last year.

I just went over this thread,and the best total range reported here is a measly 91 miles.

I formally challenge those with LEAF's in their possession to the contest.

Are you not men?

Or are you reduced, by the dreaded "Range Anxiety," to a snivelling gelatinous mass whenever you get down to the last two bars?

Don't you have a favorite "Sunday drive" of some distance, relatively flat and with few stops, that can be safely done, at 35-45 MPH?

Come on.

120 miles should be easy!

That is a different thread. "What is the longest trip you've taken on a charge...who can set the record...who can beat the 138 estimate from Nissan".

1. At perfect 68 degree Fahrenheit temperature and steady-state flat-course 38 mph, the car could achieve 138 miles of range.
2. Moderate temperature at 24 mph suburban driving, 105 miles of range.
3. Dense inner city traffic and 86 degrees F, only 47 miles of range
4. Highway driving at 55 mph in 95 degree heat with A/C on, 70 miles
5. Cold weather (14 degrees F) city driving, 62 miles of range

 

[Herm]

see the note I posted here:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/04/2011-nissan-leaf-oh-very-funny.html

it was a challenge but I doubt they will take it, they seem more interested in poking fun at the Leaf.

 

[IBELEAF]

I've been experimenting with my range, nothing scientific, but still pleased with results.

My daily commute is 11.5 miles one way, with 6.7 miles being all freeway or 10.7 with no freeway. Yesterday I've charged my car to 83% and drove on ECO mode taking back roads route and arrived to work with 75% charge showing. Today, I decided to see how much charge I would loose if I do "regular" commute in ECO with freeway speeds between 55-67 miles. I arrived with the same exact 75% charge, so no noticeable difference.

I have not tested commute back because I did have several stops on the way back, but I will make sure to do that in the future.

 

[planet4ever]

Definitely not scientific. I take it you are looking at CarWings numbers. 75% is just its way of saying '9 bars'. Nine bars while discharging means you are somewhere between 76% and 68%. So one day you might have been at 76%, the next at 69%, or the other way around. There is no way of telling just from what CarWings says. You need to watch when the bar disappears and what your mileage is at that time.

The CarWings algorithm is laughably simple and not at all accurate. If you have n bars showing it calculates n/12 and reports it as a two digit percentage. But the precision of that number is really only one digit.

Ray

 

[IBELEAF]

Yes, I did notice where the bar disappeared. In freeway driving I was about 2-3 miles away from destination. In back roads it was more .5 miles away.

 

[Ready2plugin]

I have a 78.4 mile drive on Friday, about 50% freeway....have never been down to the red bars before....probably will this time!

 

[evnow]

Come on.

120 miles should be easy!

Not the idea of this thread. Everyone knows if you "drive like a grandma" you get better mileage. We want to see real-life driving that beats EPA ratings.

 

[Stoaty]

Not the idea of this thread. Everyone knows if you "drive like a grandma" you get better mileage. We want to see real-life driving that beats EPA ratings.

Personally, I am interested. I think there is a lot of territory between "driving like grandma" and "real-life". For instance, most people don't consider driving 53-55 MPH "real-life"--but that is what I drive on L.A. freeways for the past 18 months. I would like to know whether I can drive 50 miles with a 1500 foot elevation gain, charge for 5 hours on L1, then drive 50 miles back. I make this drive about 30 times a year, so it is "real-life" for me. Probably I will have to wait until I get my Leaf and try the drive (carefully) myself. I will report back my findings.

 

[Boomer23]

Not sure if this counts because I did 2 hours of L1 charging mid-trip.

I did 83 miles total, all of it in ECO mode, 90% of it on the freeway, with about 1,000 foot elevation gain and then loss on the return trip.

 

[edatoakrun]

Come on.

120 miles should be easy!

Not the idea of this thread. Everyone knows if you "drive like a grandma" you get better mileage. We want to see real-life driving that beats EPA ratings.

To avoid the possibility of, for the very first time on this forum, this thread diverging from the topic (in the opinion of some) and out of respect to grandmas everywhere, I started a new thread here:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3479