drove my Leaf at -13F this morning !

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ve2maa

Active member
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
33
Location
South-Shore of Montréal, Canada
Yes the autonomy was short ! ( I doubt I would have made more than 40 miles)

BUT...

Pre-heating gave me a nice warm car
The driving was soft
The car stayed warm and the windows unfrosted using A/C..

Proof is made... That car is still usable in deep cold ! :p
 
So, -25C / -13F should have turned on the battery warmers at -20C. Was the car "cold soaked" at that temperature (did it sit outside all night in that temperature) ?

Was there any indication on the dash (or anywhere) that the battery heaters were on ?

Did you happen to get a look at the energy consumption page ? I'd like to see what that heater is using for power !!!!!
 
I think you may win the prize for the lowest temp so far but we may possibly match it later this winter ... how much range do you think you had as the comment on not being able to get 40 miles?
 
Bienvenue!
That's my question also, how many battery bars did you see and was it garaged the night before or did the Leaf sit outside? Personally I have not seen lower than 18F this winter yet (4 battery bars).
Thanks
 
We were down to 9 F (at night) and still had 4 bars on the battery temp so not sure when it would drop low enough to activate the battery warming system. Of course, when we left our (heated) garage whose air temp was around 60 F the battery was warmed enough so even though the outside temp was very low it would probably take several hours to have any effect. This I would guess is also the beauty of being able to preheat. I noticed that it showed an indicated 1 F in Nashua, NH but not many LEAF's are out that way yet (most have been reported from MA).
 
My wife just took our new LEAF (picked up 2 days ago) to work in negative six degree (-6 F) weather.

It was garaged with climate control while plugged in. Used 3 battery bars for the 11 mile drive to work. We'll see this afternoon when it is more cold soaked but hopefully much warmer outside (also more downhill)...

I am happy to have our LEAF finally, but the range has been less than stellar with temps below 10 degrees at all times (lower than normal.)

The dismal 2.6 miles/kWh reported on the dash will hopefully improve soon as the temperature rises (also soon).
 
redLEAF said:
We were down to 9 F (at night) and still had 4 bars on the battery temp so not sure when it would drop low enough to activate the battery warming system. Of course, when we left our (heated) garage whose air temp was around 60 F the battery was warmed enough so even though the outside temp was very low it would probably take several hours to have any effect. This I would guess is also the beauty of being able to preheat. I noticed that it showed an indicated 1 F in Nashua, NH but not many LEAF's are out that way yet (most have been reported from MA).


I thought the leaf disclosure form said the battery warmer kicks in if temp is -4 F degrees. But, it will stop if the battery power is less then 30% (I think).
 
Lot of questions !!!

The battery temparture indicator was showing 1 bar at the beginning, then, 5 minutes after went up to 2 bars !!!
Yes the car was preheated for 15 minutes prior to my departure.
Yes the car slept outside and was frosted before I started to heat it up.
I checked for an indicator that the battery heater was on but didn't see anything. (only the "cold outisde temp" at startup)
The A/C system was using aroung 4,5KW

Drove around 30 miles and was having only 3 bars left ! Should say that I charged at 80%, not 100%

The short range available was not only created by use of the A/C. I guess the battery was to cold to work properly.
 
redLEAF said:
We were down to 9 F (at night) and still had 4 bars on the battery temp so not sure when it would drop low enough to activate the battery warming system. Of course, when we left our (heated) garage whose air temp was around 60 F the battery was warmed enough so even though the outside temp was very low it would probably take several hours to have any effect. This I would guess is also the beauty of being able to preheat. I noticed that it showed an indicated 1 F in Nashua, NH but not many LEAF's are out that way yet (most have been reported from MA).


I work in Nashua and am expecting my leaf any day now. Luckily I have a garage so my leaf would Not really be cold soaked. It was cold though. My Subaru AT took a looooong time to shift out of second gear!
 
Although it is not that cold here, I have found a nice way to keep the cabin warm without using too much power.

First, time the preheating to be done as closely to your departure time as possible.

During the preheating, the liquid in the heating system will be heated using the grid power; the goal for the time you are driving is to keep it hot, therefore, use the climate control in AUTO, but at a lower temperature, say 19°C or 20°C. This will still keep you warm but it will not ask for too much power from the pack to keep the liquid hot.

Turn off the climate control at some times by using the ON/OFF button only but not too long to avoid letting the liquid get too cold.

Use the heated seats, it helps to make you feel warmer.

While driving, even if you have the climate control turned off, cold air from outside comes in by your feet (my only complain to Nissan so far). If possible, use the recirculation mode when the climate control is off (but the windows will fog-up and you will have to turn on the defogger for a few seconds every couple of minutes or so) or do like my wife does; she cover her lower legs with a scarf of an airplane blanket.

If it bothers you that the A/C light stays on while using the AUTO mode, then follow this sequence; I do not know if it makes a difference, and I have not noticed a temperature or power consumption difference:

Set the climate control to AUTO
Press the windshield defogger button
Press A/C to turn it off
Press the windshield defogger button again and it will switch back to AUTO with the A/C light off.
 
Currently driving my Leaf at -30 degrees Celsius. Range is reduced by about 70% by my estimate. Car seems to be working fine, with the exception of the range. Will be parked outside at -30 for the work day.
 
Ted , can you tell us how many battery temp bars are illuminated and wether or not you have seen indications of the battery heater operating( single center blue led flashing)

??????
 
After charging over night the car was showing 2 battery bars when I left for work this morning. It stayed there for the full trip (16km). Yesterday when I left work to drive home there were no battery bars showing at all, but the car worked.

I haven't noticed the blue light flashing to indicate the battery warmer functioning, but I assume it is working because the battery is being depleted while the car is sitting in the parking lot. I'll look today to see if the light is flashing.
 
Anyone has suggestions on how to stop the cold air breeze on our feet? Switching to recirc will fog the windows in a matter of second in the Montreal climate (humid and minus 15). I do not feel the cold draft when stuck in traffic or when driving at city speed, but as soon as I get on the highway, I feel like there is a hole in the floor. Any modification could be done to limit the outside "ram air" pressure? Anyone knows the entry point of this ram air?
Leaf 2015 SV.
 
I now have a 2015 Leaf and experience the same cold floor issue. I actually think the door seals are not nearly as good as the previous car (2011 Leaf) as I notice much more wind inside the cabin in my new car. In fact, if you park in a crosswind you can feel it coming in around the doors. Unfortunately I have not found a solution yet.
 
I have been lucky to only see 2 battery bars once this winter and most of the time it has 3. Car is garaged and pre-heated in the mornings. The car is now a year old and last summer I could pretty easily get 150km. When the temps get below -10c it is tough and I routinely bump into the limits because of how I drive for work (multiple hops with sometimes up to 100km in a day and no routine commute). While I can make the car work and love EV driving my next one will have a larger battery so there are no days of having to use little to no heat to make sure I get the range I need.
 
If you search, someone on another thread suggested turning on the front defrost and then hitting "off", on the assumption that the defrost vent will remain engaged. However, I've not found that to be the case; it seems to me that it goes back to the floor heating position.

I just opt for running the heat at the lowest fan level and at a lower temp after the car is warm. I can do this because my commute leaves me spare battery.
 
The vent setting for floor heat only (down arrow only) allows some air to make its way up to the windshield through the defroster vents. If you use heat in that setting, then switch to recirculate, the window will fog a little less quickly, and you can switch recirculate off and on as needed to keep it clear, without having to play with the airflow controls as well.
 
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