Range differences

We recently purchased a 2015 Leaf SV & a 2015 Leaf SL at the same time. We are charging both with the same Clipper Creek brand 220v charger. Upon both being charged to 100%, the range on the SL shows to be averaging 84-86, while the SV shows a range averaging 103-105.
Does anyone have an explanation as to why if they're both 100% charged, the range would be so different?

On my 2015 S, the GOM bounces all over the place on a full charge. Sometimes 104, other times 83, and anywhere in-between. I assume it has to do with my average miles/KWh over the last ? miles before the charge.

whats a GOM?

GOM stands for "Guess O Meter", which is what most people here refer to the dash display as, because of how inaccurate the estimates can be.

If you want an accurate measure of the current battery charge, you need to get an ODB II Bluetooth adapter and a copy of LeafSpy Pro. That will give you the raw numbers on the state of the battery. You can then divide into that based on your average miles per KWh.

marciatoby said:

We recently purchased a 2015 Leaf SV & a 2015 Leaf SL at the same time. We are charging both with the same Clipper Creek brand 220v charger. Upon both being charged to 100%, the range on the SL shows to be averaging 84-86, while the SV shows a range averaging 103-105.
Does anyone have an explanation as to why if they're both 100% charged, the range would be so different?

Click to expand...

driving styles. two cars so two different drivers, two different routes, two different everythings essentially.

marciatoby said:

We recently purchased a 2015 Leaf SV & a 2015 Leaf SL at the same time. We are charging both with the same Clipper Creek brand 220v charger. Upon both being charged to 100%, the range on the SL shows to be averaging 84-86, while the SV shows a range averaging 103-105.
Does anyone have an explanation as to why if they're both 100% charged, the range would be so different?

Click to expand...

Let me guess:

On the way home every day, the SV (higher estimated range) is either coming down hill a significant amount of time, or mainly traveling at non-freeway speeds around 30-45 mph, while the SL (lower estimated range) is driving freeways speeds and/or coming up a significant hill at some point?

How'd I do?

To add detail to what others have been saying:
The "range" you are referencing is probably the number of "miles remaining" displayed on the Leaf dashboard. That number is nothing more than an ESTIMATE that is based on how much energy the Leaf was using per mile traveled on its most recent driving session. If you were driving the Leaf pretty hard, say by driving freeway speeds of 70+ mph, or driving up a significant incline, that means each mile traveled was taking a large amount of energy, and the "guess-o-meter" (GOM) is going to simply assume that the type of driving you will do next is the same type you did before. So it will say "gosh, if they keep going under these driving conditions, then after a full charge they will only get 84 miles worth of range!". Conversely if you are driving the leaf under energy efficient conditions (i.e.: lower non-freeway speeds, or down a significant incline), the guess-o-meter will think: "Hey this is easy going! If they keep driving like this, they should be able to get 105 miles+ on a full charge!"

As an example of how your GOM reading might change during the course of a single drive:
You could be coming down a hill into a canyon, and by the time you get to the bottom of the canyon the Leaf thinks you have 50 miles range remaining based on you using barely any energy per mile coming down. And then as you start up the incline on the other side of the canyon, it notices you are now expending way more energy per mile to climb up out of the canyon than you were gliding down into it, so your 50 mile range estimate drops down to 35 miles over the course of a single uphill mile. (you can pretty much exchange "downhill" with "~30mph speeds" and "uphill" with "70 mph speeds" in this example and get the same result)

Take-home message: however the driving conditions were the last time you drove the leaf, the algorithm that provides that range estimate will assume that the driving you are going to do next is the same, and that will affect its estimate of your remaining range. The inherent flaw: How you drove before is not in any way a good predictor for how you are going to drive next (as evidenced in the canyon example above)

Other take-home message: You will probably find that you will just stop trusting the guess-o-meter range estimate, except as a +/-15 mile uncertainy estimate. Instead, just get the battery state of charge indicator up on the dash board (The display with a battery-like graphic showing you the percentage state of charge of the vehicle). After a month or so of driving, you will be able to mentally estimate your range based on your state of charge and your fore-knowedge of the kind of driving you will be doing next. Your mental estimate will probably be more reliable than the GOM, since the GOM doesn't have that fore-knowledge.

The last post is right on target. Why don't you swap cars for a few days and see if it stays the same. My bet would be that the estimates follow the drivers and their commutes.

I was driving over Stevens Pass in Washington State, and at the crest the GOM said 12 miles. I was going to Leavenworth, WA, 35 miles away.

No worry, as the car had over half a battery left, which is more than enough to drive 35 miles on the flat, and Leavenworth is downhill. One could almost coast from the summit into Leavenworth. I made it there easily, of course. Didn't hypermile.

The GOM doesn't know that the road now is down hill, the GOM is basing the estimate on the climb to the summit, a long steep climb from Skykomish, WA. I had driven 16 miles and used half the battery, and the last part of the climb is the steepest. So the GOM was... a little pessimistic.

In the rare case there's an accident or other bad traffic on my way in to work, I will have more "miles" on the GOM than when I left my house when I'm 2/3 of the way to work.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. Found it rather helpful.