New owner, mountain driving range

[Aspenspryte]

Hi all!
I'm Julie and I bought a 2017 Leaf S with a bit over 19k miles in May. She just dropped to 11 bars.

I'm loving the car and am learning how to drive her to optimize range. I live in Oregon and have to drive through some mountain passes to get to nearby larger cities. The distances aren't that far in miles but getting there takes a lot of time on the two-lane roads through the passes. And, now, I have to watch range, too.

On a full charge, the range shows 125 miles on Eco and 105 on regular Drive. That drops quite a bit if the climate control is on. The city I go to the most is 75 miles away. There are two mountain ascents (and descents) and most of the rest is relatively flat and very rural. Maximum speed is 55 with a stretch at 35. There are no charging stations until you get to the city.

I took the car through part of this trip, fully charged, ran it on drive the whole way, up the first mountain, through the foreest at 60 mph and on the return also ascended a butte that I normally wouldn't to take a friend home. So the trip was 55 miles and the meter showed 31 miles remaining.

The question I have is can I make it to the city that's 75 miles away? Is there any way of changing my driving so I'm not cutting it too close? The second mountain on the trip has a long, winding descent that would regenerate battery, unlike the butte that just required energy.

Sorry this was so long! Advice appreciated!

 

[goldbrick]

75 miles on a 11 bar 2017 Leaf is going to take most of the battery capacity. If the weather is good and you're careful you can probably make it with 10-20% charge remaining so if 10% is cutting it too close you might be nervous at the end of the trip.

Things you can do to maximize range are to use LRR (low rolling resistance tires, often labeled ECO or similar) and keep them inflated to 40-42 PSI. The AC doesn't consume much power but the heater will noticeably reduce range but that is probably a concern for the furture.

Coasting as much as possible when going downhill (shift to N) will maximize range and you can use the D or B modes to brake as needed.

Going slow 55/35 mph will help quite a bit for range as well since the aerodynamic drag will be be reduced. You can watch the power output by looking at how many circles light up on the dash so try to avoid spikes there when going uphill.

I've found that driving like this - often called hypermiling - yields about the same range over hills as flat ground. The regeneration is not 100% efficient but coasting is so over-all it seems to balance out.

I'd suggest getting a USB dongle and the LeafSpyPro app on your phone since it will give you a more accurate reading of the battery capacity and it's state. If you have any weak cells in the battery they can trigger the car to shut down early. If all the cells are equally balanced the battery will be drawn down evenly until it is used. Basically the lowest cell is the trigger so it's best if they all reach the limit at the same time. The only way to monitor this is with LeafSpy. LeafSpy will also show you the remaining capacity after the dash display shows --- which happens at about 6% charge on my car. That is certainly cutting it close but if you're going downhill you might get an extra 7-10 miles after that point before the battery is drained.

Start at 100% charge and go slow and you will probably be fine. Make sure your tires are inflated to 40 PSI or more and coast down the hills. Pick a day with good weather for your first trip.

I don't know what kind of charges are in the city you are visiting but if the battery is below 20% charge and you need to get to 100% charge before the return trip be sure to plan for the time required for charging.

Good luck and enjoy the Leaf.

 

[Aspenspryte]

Thank you! Most of it is a gorgeous and fun drive. The descent from Mt. McLoughlin is long and curvy, total blast and probably a good battery-charger.

Speaking of charging, there are many charging stations available but I figured I'd use the Nissan dealer's. Do they have the fast charger available usually? There's no info about what type they have at Medford Nissan.

 

[BillAinCT]

Check that dealer for charging capability. Not all dealers have charging. When I travel I use EVgo as most, maybe all, have CHAdeMO connections. Some at malls have only one fast charge. I've seen 2, 4, and 6 connections at other malls and larger shopping areas. The EVgo app shows how many CHAdeMO connections there are. I avoid ones with one to lower the risk of having to wait or there being a gas car parked at one. :evil:

 

[Driver8]

I have the same car as you do (also with 11 bars). I would recommend ONLY driving it in ECO mode. While I can sometimes get my GOM (called the "guess-o-meter" on here due to it's often being inaccurate) to over 100mi on a full charge, I definitely wouldn't trust my car to get me that full 100mi. 75mi seems like it should be doable on your car (in good weather, and not using climate control). Your car reading a range of 125mi in ECO is a mirage (that's more than the estimated range when the car was new), and is likely due to you having a lot of downhills at the end of the previous drive.
The other suggestions above are all great to extend range. Basically just don't push the motor hard, and try to use the engine to slowly brake, versus hard, abrupt braking. Use the dash indicators and you'll be able to change your driving pattern over time to maximize the battery.

I would highly recommend getting the PlugShare app. It has great info on the available chargers around a destination, and with users reports so you can see if people have recently used the chargers successfully (not all chargers listed on maps/apps are always functioning unfortunately).

If you're just worried about a more accurate battery reading, I've done fine with just the basic, free version of LeafSpy (called "LeafSpy Light"). LeafSpy is also really helpful for giving your a SOH (state of health) on your battery, which is a much more accurate indicator of battery health than the bars Nissan uses. You will have to buy the dongle to attach to your car, but they're cheap (usually less than $30). The one I used isn't on Amazon anymore, but this one looks similar: https://www.amazon.com/LELink-Bluetooth-Energy-OBD-II-Diagnostic/dp/B00QJRYMFC/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2QFF1ICDZY6NA&keywords=lelink+obd2&qid=1690293550&sprefix=LELink%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-2

Happy driving!

 

[WetEV]

Thank you! Most of it is a gorgeous and fun drive. The descent from Mt. McLoughlin is long and curvy, total blast and probably a good battery-charger.

Speaking of charging, there are many charging stations available but I figured I'd use the Nissan dealer's. Do they have the fast charger available usually? There's no info about what type they have at Medford Nissan.

You need to consider elevation as well as distance. I suspect you live at about 2000 feet higher than Medford OR, so the trip there wouldn't be too hard.

The trip back, on the other hand, will use significantly more energy.

I would not take this trip in this car. Too marginal. No fall back charging. Lake of the Woods Highway, Route 140, from Medford OR to about 70 miles away.

The trip to Medford would be a nice drive on a nice day. Back is a problem.

Medford Nissan does not have a fast charger, according to Plugshare. There are others in Medford.

The closest to a reasonable plan would be to spend a night in Medford at https://www.plugshare.com/location/384992

Or camp at https://www.plugshare.com/location/53516 with a reservation for an RV spot.

and then return home via Route 66. Still will get to https://www.plugshare.com/location/254339 with less than 10%. But a lunch at https://www.plugshare.com/location/10612 would make this reasonable. Still a little risky in any but ideal weather.

 

[SageBrush]

You can just about treat a mountain that you go up and down as flat terrain overall, with one VERY big gotcha: you have to reach the top first.

Energy in joules to go up is m*g*h,
where m - mass in Kg
g - 9.8
h - elevation climb in meters

EXAMPLE:
Say you travel 10 miles and a net 1100 feet elevation climb before your overall descent. In the summer, if you drive around 60 mph you can count on 250 Wh/mile. The elevation gain will cost you about 1500*9.8*300 = 4.4 MJ = 1.2 kWh

Summed up:
2.5 kWh for the driving distance, +
1.2 kWh for the climb
------
3.7 kWh consumed to reach the peak elevation

----
I want to emphasize that the arithmetic is for the summer. Winter range will be quite a bit less, and you can probably forget about using cabin heating. And notice that none of your replies pay any attention to the range meter -- it is worth than useless for the type of driving you are talking about. You have to get used to thinking in terms of how much usable energy is in the battery, and how much your miles and climbs will consume.

 

[coopensal]

I find this to be quite a risky choice for a newbie.

duck life

 

[Aspenspryte]

Thank you! Most of it is a gorgeous and fun drive. The descent from Mt. McLoughlin is long and curvy, total blast and probably a good battery-charger.

Speaking of charging, there are many charging stations available but I figured I'd use the Nissan dealer's. Do they have the fast charger available usually? There's no info about what type they have at Medford Nissan.

You need to consider elevation as well as distance. I suspect you live at about 2000 feet higher than Medford OR, so the trip there wouldn't be too hard.

The trip back, on the other hand, will use significantly more energy.

I would not take this trip in this car. Too marginal. No fall back charging. Lake of the Woods Highway, Route 140, from Medford OR to about 70 miles away.

The trip to Medford would be a nice drive on a nice day. Back is a problem.

Medford Nissan does not have a fast charger, according to Plugshare. There are others in Medford.

The closest to a reasonable plan would be to spend a night in Medford at https://www.plugshare.com/location/384992

Or camp at https://www.plugshare.com/location/53516 with a reservation for an RV spot.

and then return home via Route 66. Still will get to https://www.plugshare.com/location/254339 with less than 10%. But a lunch at https://www.plugshare.com/location/10612 would make this reasonable. Still a little risky in any but ideal weather.

Yeah, I live in Klamath Falls and occasionally go to Medford. But even with an ICE car it's a pain because there's 70 miles with only one massively overpriced gas station and bathroom stop on Hwy. 140. We need charging on 140. Badly. I won't travel 66. It's a bit scary.

There's charging on 97 going to Bend and more being planned. It's wild how many charging ports and options we have in our little city of KF. I live a quarter-mile from the one you suggested for lunch.