reasons for headlight upgrades hid and led purely cosmetic?

[kieranmullen]

Is upgrading the lights to led and head lights to hid purely cosmetic or is there mayor power savings?

 

[LeftieBiker]

I think that most people replace the headlights because of the terrible high beam on the Leaf, not to save juice.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I think that most people replace the headlights because of the terrible high beam on the Leaf, not to save juice.

In most cases I would agree.

 

[kieranmullen]

Any suggestions? They can be spendy

 

[Bob]

The headlights don't consume significant power, so switching to LED or HID is not going to improve range measurably. Here are some very rough calculations to show why I say this.

Assume 20kWh in the battery and 35MPH average speed (including driving time and stopped-at-lights time) for 70 miles, you will be driving roughly 2 hours on a charge. That means that the traction motor is drawing an average of roughly 10kW. By comparison, headlights draw roughly 100W. That's roughly 1% of the total battery load, so having the lights on will reduce your range by roughly 1%.

You can try other assumptions, but unless you are a taxi driver working at night with the headlights always on and nobody wanting a ride, I doubt you will notice the power drain from headlights.

Bob

 

[Nubo]

Any suggestions? They can be spendy

I think a voltage booster would probably take care of the problems with the incandescent high beams

 

[TomT]

The main problem with the high beams is very poor reflector design.

I think a voltage booster would probably take care of the problems with the incandescent high beams

 

[rogersleaf]

The headlights don't consume significant power, so switching to LED or HID is not going to improve range measurably. Here are some very rough calculations to show why I say this.

Assume 20kWh in the battery and 35MPH average speed (including driving time and stopped-at-lights time) for 70 miles, you will be driving roughly 2 hours on a charge. That means that the traction motor is drawing an average of roughly 10kW. By comparison, headlights draw roughly 100W. That's roughly 1% of the total battery load, so having the lights on will reduce your range by roughly 1%.

You can try other assumptions, but unless you are a taxi driver working at night with the headlights always on and nobody wanting a ride, I doubt you will notice the power drain from headlights.

Bob

My observation from a couple of long commute trips in the rain using both lights and wipers is likely a higher draw against range, maybe up to 3-4% (SV w/ std halogen headlights). The dashboard is showing a jump from @ .25 kW to @ .5 kW. The general reduced traffic speed from the rain doesn't seem to overcome the extra draw. Can agree, converting to LED headlight bulbs probably won't make much difference unless 2-3 miles of gained range becomes critical. Then, would want to address the other non-LED lights that are lit constantly with the headlights (such as license plates, side markers, etc...). Somehow think the difference in power draw can be recovered by route & driving habits easier than changing bulbs. Would more likely convert the horrible headlights my CRV before the Leaf.