First highway trip - 2012 Leaf w/ 9 bars

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Marktm

Marktm

Well-known member
Leaf Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
854
Location
Houston, TX
Here is all the data I recorded for a trip yesterday to a Kubota dealer about 20 miles away. Mostly (90%) freeway at ~60 MPH. At the end of the trip, I immediately did a "quick charge". No AC, htr, warmers, etc. used.

Starting charge before trip - L1 charger until OBC shutdown
Total trip miles - 40.5
Remaining miles on display - 8 miles
Average miles/KWH on display - 3.9 mi/KWH
Temperature bars ~ half- way to first red bar
Total "quick charge" - 10.35 KWH
Quick charge start - 23% battery fill
Quick charge end - 89% battery fill

Since I don't have Leaf Spy yet - and plan on taking a ~45 mile road trip, I'm thinking this is getting very close!!!
What are opinions on this "trip"? I can get L1 charging along the way. L2 at destination.
 
Marktm said:
Here is all the data I recorded for a trip yesterday to a Kubota dealer about 20 miles away. Mostly (90%) freeway at ~60 MPH. At the end of the trip, I immediately did a "quick charge". No AC, htr, warmers, etc. used.

Starting charge before trip - L1 charger until OBC shutdown
Total trip miles - 40.5
Remaining miles on display - 8 miles
Average miles/KWH on display - 3.9 mi/KWH
Temperature bars ~ half- way to first red bar
Total "quick charge" - 10.35 KWH
Quick charge start - 23% battery fill
Quick charge end - 89% battery fill

Since I don't have Leaf Spy yet - and plan on taking a ~45 mile road trip, I'm thinking this is getting very close!!!
What are opinions on this "trip"? I can get L1 charging along the way. L2 at destination.
Click to expand...

It'd be less stressful if you had leafspy but you can easily drive down to 10% SOC, possibly even to 5%. You have a couple of miles at low speeds (under 30 mph) after the dash goes to --- usually after seeing 3 miles remaining.

So when it said 8 miles remaining you could have driven those 8 miles and a few more if you were just creeping around surface streets and parking lots looking for a charge.

If you went 40.5 miles and you just need 4.5 miles more for the other trip that isn't an issue, you can do that. You have reserve after the 8 miles on the dash.
 
Hmmm, 9 bars. I say drive it as fast and furious as you can, quick charge as much as you can, and get a new battery when it drops to 8 bars before the 5 yr warranty period expires.
 
Did you reset the KW per mile gauge before the trip? 60 mph is more like 3.9 kw per mile? If you have a three bay loser, then you have about 16 KWH in the battery. I don't have Tony William's range chart in front of me. 40 miles / 3.9 KWH = 10.25 kwh used. so 10.25KWH - 16KWH = 5.75KWH left at the end of the trip...The BMS is not that accurate with the small pack. The dc fast charger does the calculation differently.
both are close to your Numbers? As others have said, the bottom of the battery pack gets bigger when you loose few bars. your range will stretch below the first low battery warning. The only way to drive in this area with out having fear factor is to buy leaf spy, then learn to use it. With leaf spy you can use the last KWH and know that is left in the tank while you drive. I drove a 3 bar looser 20K miles with leaf spy I always knew what I was working with. please get a copy of it, it will make your life easier. As for your 45 mile trip. go over the route with Goggle earth watch the alt. reading. any up and down makes a big difference in power use, "plan your drive then drive your plan" . Enjoy your leaf.
 
From when you get the 1st low battery warning, you will have 10-12 miles before turtle.

So you probably would have made it 45 miles no problem assuming no significant elevation gain with about 5 miles of range to spare.

3.9mi/kWh looks low for ~60mph. I can usually get at least 4.2-4.3 at that speed on the highway.

Was there significant wind? Tire pressures? Non-LRR tires?
 
drees said:
3.9mi/kWh looks low for ~60mph. I can usually get at least 4.2-4.3 at that speed on the highway.
Click to expand...

Maybe in San Diego. At this time of the year (temps in the 30s/low 40s) I am thrilled to be getting 3.4 (albeit at 70mph on the highway) with 41psi in all tires. If my tires are down to 30-35psi, I get about 2.9 to 3.0 on the highway. I don't reach 4.2 territory until ideal temps in the late spring / early fall.
 
I did reset the mi/KWH before the trip. The tires (found out after the trip) were at mid 30's - I have pumped them up to near 40. Tires are "Prime Well PS380's" - have to research them as never heard of such.

About the battery "replacement" - the (idiot) Nissan battery report was all 5 stars when I bought the car. What if I get all 1 stars when it goes to 8 bars?? Anyone had any push back with heavy battery use (the 70 mph on freeways and quick charger immediately as many times as possible? - in the hot TX summer)

Do love the car, but not saving any money - the quick charge is not cheap!
 
I can pretty much guarantee that any non name brand tires won't be LRR - that's a bit of efficiency right there, but 40-42 psi cold will help.

High speed freeway driving with QC use is the fastest way to elevate battery temps and elevated battery temps accelerate capacity loss.

The stars on the battery report only very, very roughly indicate how you treat the battery, not how much capacity it has left.
 
speedski97 said:
Did you reset the KW per mile gauge before the trip? 60 mph is more like 3.9 kw per mile? If you have a three bay loser, then you have about 16 KWH in the battery. I don't have Tony William's range chart in front of me. 40 miles / 3.9 KWH = 10.25 kwh used. so 10.25KWH - 16KWH = 5.75KWH left at the end of the trip...The BMS is not that accurate with the small pack. The dc fast charger does the calculation differently.
both are close to your Numbers? As others have said, the bottom of the battery pack gets bigger when you loose few bars. your range will stretch below the first low battery warning. The only way to drive in this area with out having fear factor is to buy leaf spy, then learn to use it. With leaf spy you can use the last KWH and know that is left in the tank while you drive. I drove a 3 bar looser 20K miles with leaf spy I always knew what I was working with. please get a copy of it, it will make your life easier. As for your 45 mile trip. go over the route with Goggle earth watch the alt. reading. any up and down makes a big difference in power use, "plan your drive then drive your plan" . Enjoy your leaf.
Click to expand...

Speedski97;
I did a calc from the quick charge data and it indicated the battery had 15.7 KWH capacity with about 3.6 KWH left ( about 14 miles to 0% on quick charge data). Essentially the same as the 3.9mi/KWH to get the KWH used.
 
Speedski97;

I do plan on using Leaf Spy and have asked Turbo3 to confirm that a specific OBCII controller will work with iphone/Bluetooth with a "beta test" version and have not yet heard back (on the beta test version portion). I will have that working before attempting any long range highway trip. I do want this trip to work as I do it 2-3 times per month and willing to put up with the intermediate level II charge.
 
Marktm said:
...Anyone had any push back with heavy battery use (the 70 mph on freeways and quick charger immediately as many times as possible? - in the hot TX summer). Do love the car, but not saving any money - the quick charge is not cheap!
Click to expand...
I missed the TX location. You should be able to keep the battery pretty warm, even without the QC! Drive it like you stole it and immediately charge to 100%, keep it in a closed garage at night and in the full sun during the day. Nobody has reported Nissan complaining about driving or charging too much. The warranty only states something about keeping it above 120 F (or something close to that) ambient for more than 24 hrs. The don't "recommend" more than 1 DCQC per day, but it doesn't void the warranty.
 
Reddy said:
Hmmm, 9 bars. I say drive it as fast and furious as you can, quick charge as much as you can, and get a new battery when it drops to 8 bars before the 5 yr warranty period expires.
Click to expand...

I like the part of "fast and furious". Unexpected benefit of this little portable battery. Going to need new tires soon
 
speedski97 said:
Did you reset the KW per mile gauge before the trip? 60 mph is more like 3.9 kw per mile? If you have a three bay loser, then you have about 16 KWH in the battery. I don't have Tony William's range chart in front of me. 40 miles / 3.9 KWH = 10.25 kwh used. so 10.25KWH - 16KWH = 5.75KWH left at the end of the trip...The BMS is not that accurate with the small pack.
Click to expand...


Recently purchased the OpenEsve 30 amp deluxe charger. Ran the Leaf to "turtle" mode, then left the heater on until the "drive" would not engage. Began charging at 2:50 PM and ended around 8:00 PM. Amps varied from 14.9 to 15.1. My split phase voltage runs right at 240 volts - at the circuit breaker. Total KWH on the OpenEsve at end of charge was 18.3. At 88% charge efficiency, the battery would have taken right at 16 KWH. The 88% was taken from a graph of 208 v level 2 charging at 15 amps (Idaho National Laboratory). Appears speedski97 made a good estimate!

Next step is a 40 mile, 55mph journey to determine the M/KWH more accurately with my tires pumped up.

Still holding off on the OBCII dongle to get more feedback on the LELink Bluetooth model - seems to have really mixed reviews on the dongle itself.
 
That was a guess. Remember you have to leave 500 watts in the battery. Mark the miles when it goes to bars on the guess o meter, you have 4 miles from that point. How are you doing on you 40 mile trip? do you have a plan on how to do it yet?
 
speedski97 said:
That was a guess. Remember you have to leave 500 watts in the battery. Mark the miles when it goes to bars on the guess o meter, you have 4 miles from that point. How are you doing on you 40 mile trip? do you have a plan on how to do it yet?
Click to expand...

Good point - I'm going to modify the "40 miler" so that I'm back home (at least very close) when the GOM goes bars. I can then totally deplete. This should "kill two birds" - one to verify I do have the mileage range for the (eventual) 100 mile trip - with similar conditions and some safety factor - and two, another grossomoto check of battery KWH with my OpenESVE charger. However, the battery capacity check depends upon the charge efficiency for which I have no way to reality check. However, the charts I referenced seem to be confirmed by the ~90% Level II CE that resulted from tests reported on this forum.

With 18 months left on my warrantee - in TX - I'm hoping this will also help me determine how aggressive I need to be about eventual battery replacement.
 
Marktm said:
With 18 months left on my warrantee - in TX - I'm hoping this will also help me determine how aggressive I need to be about eventual battery replacement.
Click to expand...
If you drive anywhere near average distances (1000 mi/mo), I'm guessing you'll lose that 4th bar by August, probably earlier. However, if it were me, I'd wait until October to get the replacement.
 
Reddy said:
If you drive anywhere near average distances (1000 mi/mo), I'm guessing you'll lose that 4th bar by August, probably earlier. However, if it were me, I'd wait until October to get the replacement.
Click to expand...

Maybe November here in TX - Only a few months of really cool weather.
 
Marktm said:
Maybe November here in TX - Only a few months of really cool weather.
Click to expand...
Ha, yes, some years it's like that. I remember harvesting all my basil around the 1st of Nov due to snow in NC Texas, but then having 90 F temps later in the month. I used to say that there are four seasons in TX: Dec, Jan, Feb, and summer.
 

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