[REVISED] - POLL - DRIVE vs ECO - CITY vs HIGHWAY - RE-VOTE!

[Shaka]

PS: But I think I see what you are saying.... the car will EVENTUALLY get to the same "75% POWER" if you press the pedal that far. It just FORCES a period of time to ramp up. Preventing the "jack rabbit launch" -- which in turn, by seat-of-pants, means the car won't feel like it is accelerating as fast. This obviously aids in power, but also works like "SNOW" mode does on Lexus vehicles (prevents wheel spin in the snow, etc)...

Okay... now I think I get what the other replies about this mean. The same power IS available, but the "time" to get to that power level is lengthened in ECO mode, preventing as swift accel and potential wheel-spin... all in the name of power conservation, obviously!

 

[dgpcolorado]

It is the notion that Eco is somehow "power-limited" compared to D that is a myth. Rather, Eco is power constant: at a given A pedal position you will get the same power regardless of speed or terrain. Very different from D mapping and much more conducive to efficient driving.

When I press the pedal down in ECO mode, at say 75% throttle, the "power dots" on the instrument cluster never get more than about half-way even when I'm at 75% throttle. However, in D-mode, the throttle at 75% will show about 75% of those "dots" populated. And the car will accelerate at a faster clip. Our car is a 2012 Leaf SL, picked up just a month ago (so assume all latest software). Does this not jive with how it should work? Because those are my "unscientific" results....

No, that's NOT how it should work. The pedal mapping is not 50% = 50% power and so forth and that's the whole point. But if you need 80 (90) kW maximum acceleration it is there. What is so nice about Eco is that at each pedal position it will give constant power and low power levels are spread over a larger part of the pedal travel making it easier to feather the pedal to a precise power level. For example, there is a neutral pedal position in Eco that will keep power at zero regardless of speed or terrain (try it). The D setting is mapped completely differently and it is harder to hold a precise speed at lower speeds because the power level can change at a given pedal position (as I understand it).

The power dots are not relevant. If you want to monitor power you can use the energy screen. But remember that power and speed are not linear because drag increases at the square of velocity. So a linear power input (25% pedal = 25% power, and the like) is NOT helpful with efficient driving. instead, one wants the power curve stretched at lower power levels and compressed at higher power levels where drag is much increased.

If none of that makes sense, I'll just have to give up.

 

[dgpcolorado]

PS: But I think I see what you are saying.... the car will EVENTUALLY get to the same "75% POWER" if you press the pedal that far. It just FORCES a period of time to ramp up. Preventing the "jack rabbit launch" -- which in turn, by seat-of-pants, means the car won't feel like it is accelerating as fast. This obviously aids in power, but also works like "SNOW" mode does on Lexus vehicles (prevents wheel spin in the snow, etc)...

Okay... now I think I get what the other replies about this mean. The same power IS available, but the "time" to get to that power level is lengthened in ECO mode, preventing as swift accel and potential wheel-spin... all in the name of power conservation, obviously!

Yes, I think that you have the right idea there although it isn't precisely why Eco is mapped the way it is. It is mapped that way to give more room at lower power levels for efficient driving at moderate speeds while giving access to full power if needed.

 

[Shaka]

If none of that makes sense, I'll just have to give up.

Don't give up! No but really... that all makes a lot more sense. And now that I better understand, I think what I've done before in the short 4-5 weeks we've had the car is this: I've been in D mode, hit the throttle 75% and see "lots of dots" .. but in ECO mode, I don't get that instant result and assumed it would never get there. Although I spend most of my time in ECO mode, I try to watch the road, not the dash. So I'm guessing the "dots" might increase with time based on this data, but I've never really bothered to watch it. Plus as so much of what we do is stop/go driving, and I use cruise control as often as possible, I spend more time trying to just drive slow and effective, less worrying about "is this fast enough" ....

(FWIW, we have had average temps around 30-deg-F here in Cleveland and we're managing 3.1 m/kWh according to the dash cluster, which seems typical for cold Midwest weather and 99% of our driving being in-town).

Thank you for ALL your explanations and details. That makes far more sense. I have noticed that in D mode, the pedal is super touchy whereas you get the effect in ECO mode that you can, as you said, find that sweet spot where you use next to no power and just sustain the speed you're going. And of course as terrain changes, so does pedal input typically. (and no matter what, cruise control works far better than any person ever could). Again, thanks!

 

[LEAFfan]

...And to the replies above... from a dead stop, I can spin tires at WOT in either mode which makes sense because, as the manual says, WOT = same in both modes. However, in Eco mode, I can't get wheel spin otherwise. However, in D mode, especially in this cold weather, I can light up the tires by accident at only 50-60% throttle (Based on about half the "dots" on the dash lighting up, partial pedal press). For sure then, the D mode gives you more torque/power more swiftly.

"Swiftly"? While the acceleration mapping in D is more aggressive, one has full power available in Eco. It doesn't take more than a fraction of a second to push the A pedal farther when needing more power for passing or whatever. It is the notion that Eco is somehow "power-limited" compared to D that is a myth. Rather, Eco is power constant: at a given A pedal position you will get the same power regardless of speed or terrain. Very different from D mapping and much more conducive to efficient driving.

+1! Very well put

 

[TickTock]

TickTock answered this question some time ago... ECO is constant power and D is constant acceleration (in a nutshell). He has it all mapped out in nerd drooling detail !!!!

Thanks! When I have time (not now, headed to work) I'll be sure to search for that thread and learn/read...

Here is the thread with some plots of the acceleration profile for D & ECO mode and the follow-on discussion. Most ICE's follow a power profile - why ECO feels more intuitive to most of us (although a bit gutless IMO). We certainly do not expect the constant acceleration independent of speed that D provides.

I'm part of the minority who drive D everywhere. I found no impact to my actual range and didn't like always having to double shift to go to eco. I got used to D easily enough. I asked the dealer if there was a dealer setting to make ECO be the default but they couldn't find any.

 

[GerryAZ]

I almost always use D mode because the pedal response more closely matches the throttle response of other vehicles I drive on a routine basis. If I know that I will be driving an economy car after driving the Leaf, I try to remember to use ECO to prepare myself for less aggressive throttle response. I also prefer to have the full air conditioning performance available in D mode. I once used ECO for an entire month of combined city/highway driving to see if I could measure a difference in efficiency and was unable to see a difference in my mi/kWh average.

Gerry

 

[kubel]

Why not make which one is default an option for the driver to set?

I would choose eco as default.