Range questions

I just got my Leaf 2 days ago and we haven't driven more than 50 miles on a charge so far. But I'm curious about a couple of things. First of all, this sheet that we got with the car talks about range under different circumstances. I'm very familiar with why these things affect range. But I was disappointed that none of their scenarios showed the car being driven faster than 55 mph. Here in Texas, many of our highways have speed limits of 70 mph, and unless you want to get run over you need to drive that fast. So that begs the question, how far will the leaf go at 70 mph. I'm surprised they didn't offer that as one of the test scenarios. I'm sure I'll eventually find out. I just don't want to find out the hard way.

Second question. I know the EPA came out and said the Leaf really only gets 73 miles per charge. Well, I noticed that Nissan is still advertising the car as 100 miles range. On the other hand, GM is now advertising the Volt at 35 miles (where they used to say 40) so I wonder why GM caved to the pressure, but not Nissan.

Nissan's 100 miles is more realistic then the GM Volt 35 even. GM's CEO only got 28 miles from what I remember. I drive 76 miles of freeway everyday at 57 to 60 mph in ECO no AC and have more then 20 miles left. I do not want to push faster until there are some fast chargers just in case at 65 I do not make it home until then I have to be happy to be able to get to work and back on a single charge over night to 100%. That is no gas to buy at ever higher prices.

adric22 said:

On the other hand, GM is now advertising the Volt at 35 miles (where they used to say 40) so I wonder why GM caved to the pressure, but not Nissan.

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One too many black eyes, perhaps? The Leaf's 100 mile range has at least been independently demonstrated, but AFAIK the Volt's claimed range(s) have not. Of course I don't haunt the Volt related websites so I may be a little out of touch.
=Smidge=

Really? After a year here, and having received your car already, NOW you ask about range at highway speeds? :shock:

But to answer your question....around 70 miles at 70mph, maybe a hair more. But if you drop your speed to 65mph you'll get 80-85 miles. Sans any use of climate control, of course.

mwalsh said:

Really? After a year here, and having received your car already, NOW you ask about range at highway speeds? :shock:

But to answer your question....around 70 miles at 70mph, maybe a hair more. But if you drop your speed to 65mph you'll get 80-85 miles. Sans any use of climate control, of course.

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Well, when I first signed up for the Leaf, I expected to be driving it myself. I drive about 10 miles per day, so the range was an afterthought. But we recently decided it would make more sense for my wife to drive it. She drives a lot more than me (about 40 miles per day) and she tends to drive fast, and will most certainly use the air-conditioner and heater to the full extent. So I thought it might be a good idea to let her know what the limits are, and give her an incentive to drive a little slower.

Perhaps those ranges are only with flat-land (no hills) driving, I suspect. A few hills, even a long, gentle grade, seem to make a noticable distance, I think, but I am just learning.

The real incentive, for those who do not want to consider the "laws" of Physics, comes from an internalized realization that the destination is (or might be) unreachable.

However, with a 40 mile RT, one can get away with fairly "aggressive" driving.

One NuLeafDriver near here lives in hills, and apparently he might also have PbFoot disease ... so he is wondering if his LEAF is missing half its batteries!

adric22 said:

Second question. I know the EPA came out and said the Leaf really only gets 73 miles per charge. Well, I noticed that Nissan is still advertising the car as 100 miles range. On the other hand, GM is now advertising the Volt at 35 miles (where they used to say 40) so I wonder why GM caved to the pressure, but not Nissan.

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Probably because they got beat (unjustly) over the 230mpg claim. The Leaf is not really intended as a high speed hwy cruiser.. I bet people in normal small towns are getting much better range results.

It would be neat if you could pre-program your Leaf with a speed governor, set it to 55mph