New Leaf model S owner and my expernce

[dweller92]

Well I leased a new leaf on 09/24/2013, I was surprised how much the leaf drove like a real car, a friend of mine talked me into get a leaf. I always thought of a electric car something small, when I got to the dealership I was very surprised that it was a mid sizes car.
The first week was really hard one me driving the leaf, I am used to driving fast and on the highway lol. I saw in a few days that I was using a lot of batt power and I was really freaking out that I was using so much power. a little bit of my drive habits. I live outside of Austin, Texas, in a rural area so I live in the country and work in the city. I drive to work on way 28 miles. I am used to taking the highway all the way to work. I soon learned that the highway is really bad for a leaf lol. I learned to just cut through part of the city to get to work. I start out with 80% charge in the morning, the meter says I can go 88 miles on the charge. I have to take part of the highway just to get into Austin, so by that time my meter drops from 88 to 66 really fast and that is with the AC on lol. So when I cut through the city, and when I get to work I move the meter from 66% to 72-76 which is really good I think and my charge is at 66% when I turn the car off.
Now I learned to coast to stop lights and in medium traffic, I try not to use the breaks that much. I learned to take things slowly.I only had the car for 2 weeks now and still learning the ends and outs. I have not tried the timers for cooling or heating the car yet.
For those that live in Austin, the city as a great charging plan, for 25.00 every 6 months you can use the charging point stations for free and unlimited charging which I really like a lot. I am not sure what my electric bill at home will be yet, but I am hoping it will not kill me. I spent 320.00 a month in gas alone before I got the leaf. I really like the leaf, just hope in the future Nissan will come out with a battery that will last longer and let the car travel further.

I would like so feed back,I dont have any complaints on the car at this time. drives really smooth and does not make any noise, expect when I use the turn signal lol

 

[planet4ever]

I start out with 80% charge in the morning, the meter says I can go 88 miles on the charge. I have to take part of the highway just to get into Austin, so by that time my meter drops from 88 to 66 really fast and that is with the AC on lol. So when I cut through the city, and when I get to work I move the meter from 66% to 72-76 which is really good I think and my charge is at 66% when I turn the car off

You're confusing me here. The meter that drops from 88 to 66 is obviously the big number on the right side of the dash. Nissan calls this "Distance to empty" or DTE. We usually call it the GuessOMeter, or GOM. You really shouldn't depend on it. It is not a percentage of anything, but a computer guess as to how many miles you can go before the battery is empty. You can make it swing wildly up and down by where and how you drive.

When you say your charge starts at 80% and ends at 66% I'm not sure whether you are still talking about the GOM (except that you said it started at 88) or now talking about the State of Charge meter, that we often call SOC. You can see that inside an outline of a 1.5v battery in the middle of the dash, but you may well have to change what is displayed there to see it. Use the top left button in the group of four to the left of the steering wheel to cycle through the half-dozen displays. The SOC meter is much more reliable than the GOM, but it isn't calibrated in miles. If you want to compare energy use between two routes, the SOC meter is the one you want to be looking at.

Another useful display in the center of the dash is the Energy Economy display. It tells you two sorts of things: The bar graph tells you (most of the time) how efficiently you are driving right now. The number tells you how efficiently you have driven since the last time you reset it. I always reset that when I charge the car. The exception on the bar graph is that it tries to keep track of how much energy you have gotten back as regen while slowing. Then it subtracts that from the energy you are using immediately after that, and makes it look like you are using zero energy until it deems you have used up that recovered amount. Like most of the computer calculations in this car you shouldn't trust that regen estimate to be accurate.

Ray

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Welcome to electric driving Dweller92! Glad you're enjoying it.

Enjoyed reading how it's making you re-think the way you drive, that's one of the best effects of EV life. Part of your old $320 gas cost was due to the way you drove.

As you learn the car, and find charge stations in the city, you'll get comfortable using the highway again and driving fast. Fast, smooth, and quiet.

 

[dweller92]

Ray,

Sorry for the confusing, my grammar in typing is not the best. The 80% is the battery charge and the 66% is the ending of the battery charge. Most of my drive is on the highway to get to work. When I first got the car and took my regular route to work the battery would drop from 100% to 44%. I realize that I could not take the car on my regular route. So with my new drive style and taking the car on through the city, I am saving battery power and increasing my miles on the one charge.

 

[garygid]

You can take the old route, you just need to move from
the fast lane to the slow lane, and drive substantially
slower. How fast did you drive on the freeway?

If 75 mph, dropping to 65 will save a bunch of energy.
Dropping to 60 or slower might not be necessary,
unless you are running low on "e-fuel".

Welcome to EV driving.

Make us proud of your experience with the LEAF,
and see how many others you can convert to
EV driving during the next 6 months.

Cheers, Gary

 

[pkulak]

Yeah, I don't shy away from freeways at all. I just do 65 and stay in the slow lane. But, I've always been a super slow driver. The slow lane is just so much more relaxing and the difference in travel time is under 5 minutes on a 30-minute drive. I am not so important that I can't give up 5 minutes of my day to chill the hell out.

 

[Nubo]

Yeah, I don't shy away from freeways at all. I just do 65 and stay in the slow lane. But, I've always been a super slow driver. The slow lane is just so much more relaxing and the difference in travel time is under 5 minutes on a 30-minute drive. I am not so important that I can't give up 5 minutes of my day to chill the hell out.

Sounds like you, your commute, and LEAF are a good match. It's nice to pay for a new car by gas savings alone!

 

[RonDawg]

I have to take part of the highway just to get into Austin, so by that time my meter drops from 88 to 66 really fast and that is with the AC on lol.

FYI unlike with an ICEV, using the A/C on an electric car is not nearly as energy intensive. If you have the Leaf S, it might use the same A/C compressor as the older cars and it is very efficient. It's probably the best car A/C I've experienced other than those from old Detroit barges. So go ahead and set that thermostat down as cold as you dare :lol:

If you have the SV or SL, it uses a heat pump system which is far more efficient in winter, but not quite as efficient in A/C mode. However it's still not the power drain like the A/C of a conventional car.

BTW since you are in a humid part of the country, if you find water in the driver's footwell after using the A/C, it's because a drain hose located below the center console was not properly hooked up at the factory. It's a known issue with early production 2013 Leafs. You can take it back to your dealer or you can try to fix it yourself if you don't want to wait.

So when I cut through the city, and when I get to work I move the meter from 66% to 72-76 which is really good I think and my charge is at 66% when I turn the car off.
Now I learned to coast to stop lights and in medium traffic, I try not to use the breaks that much. I learned to take things slowly.I only had the car for 2 weeks now and still learning the ends and outs. I have not tried the timers for cooling or heating the car yet.

As you found out, speed does kill range. And as already mentioned above, knocking 10 MPH off your freeway speed will do wonders for your "fuel" economy.

If you have the SV or SL, try driving around in "B" mode for added regen. Some folks prefer this as it lets them do "one pedal driving" with minimal brake pedal application. If you have the S, you will not have "B" mode but try driving around in Eco as much as possible.

 

[babynuke]

If you have the S, you will not have "B" mode but try driving around in Eco as much as possible.

Somehow, I got my S Model into B mode. Nothing in the car indicates that is possible, no labels, etc.
I am in ECO mode, but the ECO disappeared when the low battery warning came on. The "B" stayed. ???



Ty

 

[Berlino]

Somehow, I got my S Model into B mode.

That looks like the B for the trip-meter (can be A or B). The other B would take the place of the D (Drive.)

Since you're in Park, could that cause the "ECO" to disappear?

 

[RonDawg]

Yeah as Berlino said the "B" on your dash display is for the trip odometer, and not "B mode." I have a 2012 and thus lacks that mode, perhaps the owners of 2013 SV's and SL's can tell you how it is displayed, but I believe it is displayed where "P" or "R" would normally be.

 

[planet4ever]

Since you're in Park, could that cause the "ECO" to disappear?

No,at least not in my experience. The ECO stays there for D, P, R, N, and is remembered when you power down and back up. It does occasionally disappear for me for reasons that I haven't figured out, but when it's gone, it's gone, and (in my S model) I have to "double shift" into Drive to get it back.

Once in a blue moon (well, OK, a little more frequently than that) I end up with the car in "ON" state when I expect it to be in "READY" state, i.e. the green car with the double arrow is missing on the dash. I suspect that shifting into D or R in that state (and getting N instead) then powering up to READY and shifting again may somehow be interpreted by the computer as a "double shift" asking it to turn ECO off. But that's just a guess that I haven't tested.

Ray

 

[babynuke]

Well, don't I feel like a dumbass!
Ahhh, the joys of learning a new car and technology!!
My "ECO" had disappeared and I had to restart it. Didn't realize I had hit the trip button.
Oh well, having fun anyway. Got my tag today (and a nice fat tax bill), installed with my tag holder.



Ty