sciencegirl said:
I'm looking at a 2013 Leaf that has me puzzled..... It's showing 12 bars but only 63miles of range. On the charger it showed that it was 91% charged. Dealer said it will go to 73 on a full charge (smirk and doubtful side eye).
I LOVE this particular car. know, I know....I need to see what kind of data I get using Leafspy, but, is this a deal breaker?
Thoughts?
first off.... what does 12 bars mean
Well, a full charge on the pack is only 97%. The 12th "capacity" bar (the short ones on the right side of the GOM display) is 15% while the others are 6¼% each. The "SOC" bars are the long ones on the left side of the GOM display. How much they represent is anyone's guess due to a very large buffer for the parameter that turns the bars on and off but 8-10% is a good rule of thumb. FYI; Just like analog meters like gas gauges, the first and the last bar seems to hold a bit more umph so maybe consider the 12th SOC bar to be 11%??
2nd off; The salesman could be referencing the EPA standard for the LEAF when he mentioned the 73 miles (don't ask me how this number came about because I have not heard a explanation yet that made any sense. If you are interested in reading comedy, check out the 80% charge setting and how it relates to the EPA's guidelines...)
3rd off; The car is sitting in a dealership which means it has spent a lot of its recent life moving from one part of the lot to the other. If you are in a warm climate, I would venture to say that it did it with A/C blasting away. A/C does not use much power but it will still depress your GOM numbers.
4th off; referencing the above, the GOM gives you an estimate of range based on the assumption that your recent history of driving patterns will continue until you hit turtle (power limited mode due to very low SOC which is "state of charge") IOW, it is not representative of the true range of the car at all. There are clues that can help you like the "miles/kwh meter" that can be viewed in the center of the driver's screen. You may or may not be able to see it since the info can be toggled with several other things and it is only effective if it was reset when the car was charged.
So in conclusion; for help with the GOM, I would suggest
**LEAF Spy which gives you a much better picture of the condition of the battery pack
and
**Duct tape. Simply apply a piece to the dash to obscure the GOM. this is the best course of action I can recommend.