drees said:
electricvw said:
Now that its in the mid 50's here I can't even go 45 miles on a charge at 55 mph.
That loss of range seems to be quite a bit more than expected for 55 mph and 50F with only 1 bar down.
What's your efficiency?
After 45 miles at 55 mph you should have at least 10 miles of range left and possibly up to 15 miles of range left with 20% capacity loss.
I agree that I should be having 10 miles left and even up to 15 even in the cold weather. My efficiency has always been 4.2 miles per KwH. I keep track of my tires inflation and there is no sign of misalignment. My drive is exactly the same road every day. I drive alone and the speed is on average 57 mph. I don't hypermile either. I just drive my car.
The loss of capacity can't be marked with the loss of bars. Its marked with the average you drive. If they figure capacity loss the way they figured how far you can go. Advertised 100 miles then the 30% capacity loss is going to be much more than that.
My range to work is 45 miles round trip. Flat and at 57mph. My tires are filled properly and no alignment issues. Maybe my exhaust is plugged. My efficient is still at 4.2 miles per KwH average. I can't even do the round trip anymore with the heat off. Im still showing only one bar down. My normal distance was around 75 miles when I first got the car. So with a 30% loss that would be 52.5 miles I should be able to drive. Nope. Sorry but it does not compute. It does still perform properly and no, eco mode is just bull. It does not increase your distance.
I don't creep along nor do I hot rod. I just drive. My other co-worker is no longer able to make her drive either after 3 years and 38,000 miles.
What is the value if you have to spend $5k every three years to replace the battery pack. I'd save more if I purchased a use VW TDI and just drive that all the time.
The cost to drive the leaf in our area is just over $5k if you drive the vehicle for 150,000 miles. If I can't even make it to 40,000 miles and then have to spend another $5k to replace the pack I'd say the car is not a value nor is it saving you any money. In fact it's going to cost you more.
The battery must be able to handle much more than what its giving and it must be cheaper to replace other wise the value is junk and the resale value is no better.
I know that driving a regular car can cost you a whopping $4k in fuel for 35,000 miles but if the gas is slightly better than the electric there truly is no incentive. Cleaning the air is great but there must also be a great incentive to do so.
Im all for electric cars and I love them. But this range issue is just going to have to be fixed for others to really jump on board. I have stopped recommending buying an electric car except for those that never venture out side of theirs towns.
Each person must plan on the use, distances and life of the pack even in the worst of conditions and plan ahead 4 years. If the car does not meet those expectations during that 4 years then the car is not worth buying.
My expectations were for at minimum of 5 years. That is what I expected after crunching the numbers and planning ahead. I did now however plan on the large cold weather hit for winter driving nor did I expect the initial distances to be far below the original 100mile range advertised. I did expect at least 80 miles my first year or two. I got 75, pretty much tops.
Also plan on all your calculations at 80% charge level and not the 100% charge level.
The Leaf and all other electric cars need to be calculated well into the future to see if it will still live up to your expectations.
Im getting ready to sell my Leaf to a local person and hope I get what I still owe on the vehicle. I did pay down the principal on the vehicle when I got my rebates.
Nissan will be getting my video. My range loss according to my calculations is far below 30%.
though purely for numbers sake I estimate it will consume about $800 a year in electricity (versus the $8700 a year I was spending in gasoline)
