Nissan LEAF featured in Feb '11 SAE Newsletter

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patrick0101 said:
Very good coverage of the LEAF and some of Nissan's EV history.
http://www.electricauto.org/resource/resmgr/media/nissan_leaf_sae_2_11.pdf
Nice to see, on page 25, that the cold weather package (heated seats and steering wheel and a battery blanket) will be available "later this model year." But as most of us here know, that's what "somebody at Nissan" probably told the reporter (Paul Weissler) so I guess we've all learned to take that with the proverbial grain of sodium.

Glenn
 
I'm surprised no one has commented on the graph on page 17. Have we seen this before? It sure shows you where the motor's sweet spot is, and helped me (as an EV neophyte) understand a lot more about how to conserve energy.

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
I'm surprised no one has commented on the graph on page 17. Have we seen this before? It sure shows you where the motor's sweet spot is, and helped me (as an EV neophyte) understand a lot more about how to conserve energy.
Ray, this graph is very interesting engineering data. However, motor efficiency is only one factor in efficient EV driving. For example, if you were only considering this graph (not that I am saying you were *only* consider this) then anytime you had to have the RPMs above 3000, then you would jump as quickly as possible to 10,000 RPMs. This, however, would be a large draw on the batteries if sustained for any significant time. Additionally, this would rapidly increase the vehicle speed and increase drag, thereby reducing the overall efficiency, despite the motor running optimally.

Is there a thread for LEAF specific hypermiling tips and tricks?

If so, that is the place to go. If not, the quick list range maximized driving tips is:
1) smooth acceleration
2) early gentle regen breaking
3) maintain momentum when possible. Even with regen, coasting is far more efficient than stopping and starting.

There are more hypermiling tips and explanations here in this link.
 
I didn't know the electric motor was water-cooled. There is a nice picture showing the cast aluminum housing that has water jackets inside it for housing the electric motor.
 
ml194152 said:
I didn't know the electric motor was water-cooled. There is a nice picture showing the cast aluminum housing that has water jackets inside it for housing the electric motor.
Neither did I. How dk u check the water level?
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
ml194152 said:
I didn't know the electric motor was water-cooled. There is a nice picture showing the cast aluminum housing that has water jackets inside it for housing the electric motor.
Neither did I. How dk u check the water level?
There's a reservoir and filler cap on the right side of the motor compartment. This should probably go in the maintenance thread, but the washer fluid reservoir is on the left, coolant reservoir on the right, brake fluid reservoir just above the inverter.
 
There are two separate cooling loops in the car.

One for the motor, inverter, and charger (with pump and access to the radiator) (pressure cap to left/passenger side of inverter), and one for the cabin heater.

There is a shared 'overflow' coolant bottle toward the front of the car that supplies both pressure systems.

Under-Hood photos:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=754
 
patrick0101 said:
. . . the quick list range maximized driving tips is:
1) smooth acceleration
2) early gentle regen breaking
3) maintain momentum when possible. Even with regen, coasting is far more efficient than stopping and starting.

Hybrid owners are good at these strategies already. It's fun.
 
Electric4Me said:
One glitch I just I just found is that the spec sheet (pg 14) states that there's a spare tire mounted in the trunk.
Is there a spare tire? If so, where is it?
 
garygid said:
No known Spare.
There goes my plan to take the spare out to get a little more range :D

The Chevy S10EV that I drive now (until my LEAF arrives) does not have a spare either. I got a flat about 3 weeks ago at 1AM; I just called AAA. No big deal.
 
Andy said:
"The doors and hood are aluminum..."
Really?

Yes, really! :shock:

I didn't see this quote before, so it's a surprise to me too, but I found out myself when we tried to stick magnetic door signs to the LEAF for the OCC Green Day on Wednesday - the doors, hood, and charge port door are entirely Aluminum (not just skinned). But, strangely, the rear hatch is not. The rest of the monocoque structure is, as expected, steel.
 
mwalsh said:
Andy said:
"The doors and hood are aluminum..."
Really?

Yes, really! :shock:

I didn't see this quote before, so it's a surprise to me too, but I found out myself when we tried to stick magnetic door signs to the LEAF for the OCC Green Day on Wednesday - the doors, hood, and charge port door are entirely Aluminum (not just skinned). But, strangely, the rear hatch is not. The rest of the monocoque structure is, as expected, steel.
Thanks!

So much for the 'more range with a carbon fibre hood' plan. :lol:
Who makes carbon rear hatches? ;)
 
mwalsh said:
But, strangely, the rear hatch is not. The rest of the monocoque structure is, as expected, steel.

Rear hatches have to be very rigid to support all that glass, either that or very small. Its a shame because they tend to weight a ton, if you ever had to remove one. The Tata Nano has a glued-on rear hatch, and I think thats an excellent idea to save weight.

It is very surprising about the aluminum used in the Leaf.. they could save more weight in the suspension system also, lots of cast iron parts there.

Bookmark this:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/Vehicles/2011-nissan-leaf-sl/

this one has lots of detail on the suspension:

http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2011/03/2011-nissan-leaf-suspension-walkaround.html
 

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