2013 LEAF Range Test Feb 24, 2013 in San Diego; 81 miles

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TonyWilliams

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
10,107
Location
Vista, California USA
March 8, 2013 subsequent range test between a 2012 and 2013 LEAF in San Diego.

InsideEVs link with comments


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJudzKQftv4[/youtube]


Nissan 2013 "LEAF-S" Range Autonomy Demonstration
February 24, 2013 in San Diego County, California, USA
by
Tony Williams
[email protected]


A new 2013 LEAF-S wearing metalic slate exterior paint and black interior with a total of 180 miles (290 km) on the odometer was tested today for range autonomy. The car arrived at the Blink charging station at 13520 Evening Creek Drive North, San Diego to top off the car to 100%. The car had started from the owner's house about 8 miles away where it had been charged to 100% and left for 6 hours to allow the automation to balance the 96 cell pairs.

I estimated that the 3.3/3.8kW 16 amp charger would take about 45 minutes to charge back to 100%. Unfortunately, the Blink charging station stopped in only 8 minutes. It is not unusual that a Blink would fail as they very frequently do and fortunately, there was another nearby unit that did work. I plugged the car into the second charging station and it operated for 49 minutes.

Test procedures were similar to the planning for the September 15, 2012 range test in Phoenix and subsequent Phoenix range test demonstration event. Unfortunately, this car does not have cruise control, so I had to manually maintain speed at 100kmh ground speed as measured by GPS; not a fun task, particularly in the somewhat hilly terrain. This resulted in an indicated speed of 65mph on this car, or about 4.6% increase greater than the actual speed.

At 100kmh ground speed, it was estimated that this would yield a target energy usage rate of 4 miles (250 watts per mile) or 6.437 km per kWh (155 watts per km) without climate control. Based on Nissan’s published official range data from Nissan Technical Bulletin NTB11-076a, it was determined that a new car would travel 84 miles (135 km) until “turtle” mode (a reduced power mode to safely get the vehicle off the road before the battery disengages power altogether). This data is also consistent with extensive independent testing, both by myself and many others.

The car had two occupants for the test, both the owner Bob and myself. The combined total crew weight was 450 pounds (205 kg). The weather was absolutely perfect for the event with close to 70F (21C) degree weather, clear blue skies and light easterly breezes. In short, another perfect day in San Diego. Of course, thanks to a change in the 2013 LEAF, we were able to run the climate control fan without powering the heater or air conditioner pump, which we did.

Weather between 1:53pm and 3:53pm at nearby Montgomery Airport (KMYF) in San Diego:

- Time --- Temp. - DewPt-Pressure - Visibility-Wind Dir-Wind Speed - Gust Speed
1:53 PM -- 66.9F -- 9.0F - 30.06 in - 10.0 mi - NNE -- 15.0 mph -- 21.9 mph
2:53 PM -- 66.9F --10.0F - 30.05 in - 10.0 mi - NE --- 10.4 mph -- 17.3 mph
3:53 PM -- 64.9F --26.1F - 30.05 in - 10.0 mi - NW --- 10.4 mph -- N/A

Weather between 1:53pm and 3:53pm at nearby Palomar Airport (KCRQ) in Carlsbad:

1:53 PM -- 64.0F --30.9F - 30.04 in - 10.0 mi - West -- 8.1 mph -- N/A
2:53 PM -- 64.9F --26.1F - 30.04 in - 10.0 mi - NW --- 6.9 mph -- N/A
3:53 PM -- 62.1F --30.9F - 30.05 in - 10.0 mi - WSW --- 9.2 mph -- N/A


Density Altitude Calculation

Density Altitude - 932 feet, 284 meters
Absolute Pressure - 29.59 inches Hg, 1002.02hPa
Air Density - 0.0744 lb/ft3, 1.192 kg/m3
Relative Density - 97.3%

The course selected was an 85.8 mile (138 km) loop as measured on Google Maps, starting and ending at the same Blink charging station at 13520 Evening Creek Drive North, San Diego, California and began with:


0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Interstate 15 freeway south to:
18.0 miles (29 km)
California 94 freeway west to:
1.7 miles (2.7 km)
Interstate 5 freeway north to:
36.2 miles (58.3 km)
California 78 freeway east to:
16.4 miles (26.4 km)
Interstate 15 freeway south to:
12.0 miles (19.3 km)
California 56 freeway / Ted Williams Parkway
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Blink charging station at 13520 Evening Creek Drive North, San Diego, California


The letter "H" icon in the photo below is the planned start and stop location:

LEAF2013rangeTestSanDiego858mileLoop.jpg



The elevation profile of the route:

LEAF2013rangeTestSanDiegoElevationProfile.jpg



Both trip odometers, miles/kWh, average speed, timers, etc., were reset by the disconnect of the 12 volt battery earlier. Headlights were off, climate control off (except fan) and tires set to 36 pounds per square inch (2.48 bars) pressure.

A stored energy display meter (Gidmeter) was installed. A new LEAF in optimum condition will show 281 units reported by the LEAF’s automation, for a total of 281 x 80 watt hours per unit = 22.48 kWh stored in the battery. This value, referred to in the LEAF community as “Gids”, is alternately displayed as a percentage of 281 (281 would equal 100%). Of the 22.48kWh stored, the LEAF has 21 kWh available to use to propel the car and operate it's various systems, therefore at 4 miles (6.437 km) per kWh of economy multiplied by the 21 kWh available will equal 84 miles (135 km) of range autonomy. The LEAF battery has an advertised capacity of 24 kWh.

The fuel capacity gauge segments were observed to be 12 of 12 illuminated, as were the battery capacity segments. The dash display of State Of Charge (SOC) showed 100%. Battery temperature segments displayed both 5 and 6 bars, indicating temperatures between approximately 50F (10C) to 74F (23C) for the 5th bar and 74F (23C) to 98F (37C) for the 6th bar, per Nissan service manual documents. The bottom line is that the battery was likely very close to 74F (23C). Finally, the “Distance to Empty” meter, known amongst LEAF owners as the "Guess-Oh-Meter" (GOM), was observed displaying 84 miles. The Gidmeter first showed 279, then 280 as we got underway.

We got underway around 2pm due to several problems with the car. First, it would not recognize the key, nor go to READY mode. Also, it kept referring to operating the parking brake on the dash display. I decided to do a reset of the computer with a disconnect of the negative lead of the 12 volt battery. The car then did turn on properly, however it would not stay in Drive; it kept popping into Neutral.

I was ready to give up and consign myself to just driving to the dealer for repairs, but it finally stayed in Drive. Subsequently, at the end of the test, when I turned the car off and then back on, it did the same routine of popping out of D. I used ECO mode mostly because it's easier to modulate the speed.

One small surprise was that the dash SOC% meter matched the the Gidmeter exactly at LBW and VLB (17% and 8% respectively).

******************************

Results:

We drove about 69.2 miles (111.4 km) indicated (the odometer seemed surprisingly accurate compared to the speedometer) until Low Battery Warning (LBW) at 3.9 miles/kWh, and an additional 8 miles (12.9 km) to Very Low Battery (VLB). I determined based on many dozens of previous examples with the 2011 and 2012 LEAF that the car could drive another 4 - 5 miles (6.4 - 8.0 km) until Turtle mode, for a total of 81 - 82 indicated miles of range.

Not surprisingly, 81 miles divided by 3.9 miles per kWh equals 20.76 kWh of battery energy consumed to Turtle.
If the car could go 82 miles divided by 3.9 miles per kWh equals 21 kWh of battery energy consumed to Turtle.

If the car had gotten 4.0 miles per kWh of economy, it likely would have made 84 miles.


Conclusion:

There is no more nor any less range with a 2013 LEAF under these conditions that a 2011 or 2012 (when those cars were new with fresh batteries).



******************************

For comparison, a brand new 2012 LEAF-SL was driven on Nov 4, 2012 in Phoenix with only 138 miles on the odometer (and a recent production date) ran a course and parameters in similar weather as the Sept 15, 2012 LEAF Phoenix range autonomy demonstration. The key differences from that test to today's test is that this 2013 LEAF was as much as 200 pounds heavier as tested, the air in San Diego today was slightly more dense, the terrain had substantially larger elevation changes (although both tests started and ended at the same elevation), and the battery was cooler.

The results for the 2012 LEAF last year were:

83.2 miles (133.9 km) driven (with 21 Gids / 7.47% remaining battery energy)
88.7 miles (132.7 km) calculated range to turtle

Start battery stored energy: 265 Gids / 94.3%
Start pack volts: 393.5 (4.1 per cell average)
Start SOC: 91.4%
Start GOM: 103
Start temperature: 6 bar segments
Economy: 0 miles/kWh (reset)

Highest cellpair: 4095mv
Lowest cellpair: 4055mv
Average cellpair: 4093mv
Max voltage delta: 40mv

The car was driven an additional 4 miles to a charger when these readings were recorded:

Gids: 11 / 3.9% remaining
Pack volts: 317.5 (3.3 volt average per cell)
SOC: 4.3% (this SOC% is different than the 2013 dash SOC%, since 95% = 100% on a 2013 dash)
GOM: "---" (normal for "Very Low Battery")
Battery temperature: 7 bar segments
Economy: 4.3 miles/kWh

******************************************

I'd like to thank Bob for volunteering his car, and Phil for loaning me his extra Gidmeter.
 
Awesome! Thanks!

Are you planning to get a cruise control equipped '13 Leaf to try the same test? The trouble you had is bit concerning. Hope not too many other '13s have the same problem.
 
It'll be interesting to see whether Nissan updates NTB11-076a (NTB11-076b?) to cover the '13 or if they issue a separate TSB on the same topic just for the '13 and whether the values are different vs. '11/'12.
 
Impressive testing and write up, Tony.
cwerdna said:
It'll be interesting to see whether Nissan updates NTB11-076a (NTB11-076b?) to cover the '13 or if they issue a separate TSB on the same topic just for the '13 and whether the values are different vs. '11/'12.
NTB11-076a PDF link: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/images/e/e2/NTB11-076a.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Via: Battery_Capacity_Loss wiki entry Range Test on Cars with Battery Capacity Loss
here: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/wiki/index.php?title=Battery_Capacity_Loss" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Thanks for confirming what I and a number of others suspected.

TonyWilliams said:
Conclusion: There is no more nor any less range with a 2013 LEAF under these conditions that a 2011 or 2012 (when those cars were new with fresh batteries).
 
cwerdna said:
It'll be interesting to see whether Nissan updates NTB11-076a (NTB11-076b?) to cover the '13 or if they issue a separate TSB on the same topic just for the '13 and whether the values are different vs. '11/'12.

Why would they? It doesn't appear there is any measurable difference. When folks get all wound up over 73 EPA and the 2013 75 EPA (or 84 EPA at 100% charge, which appears to be the most correct)... the bottom line is that these are not apples to apples comparisons.

2011-2012 was a two cycle test, and 2013 is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT five cycle test. Driving the car proves they go the same distance.

That's not to say that there won't be a considerable improvement in heater consumption in the SV and SL in cool weather.
 
TonyWilliams said:
cwerdna said:
It'll be interesting to see whether Nissan updates NTB11-076a (NTB11-076b?) to cover the '13 or if they issue a separate TSB on the same topic just for the '13 and whether the values are different vs. '11/'12.

Why would they? It doesn't appear there is any measurable difference. When folks get all wound up over 73 EPA and the 2013 75 EPA (or 84 EPA at 100% charge, which appears to be the most correct)... the bottom line is that these are not apples to apples comparisons.
They might only update it to include the '13 model year and change nothing else.

I could also see them splitting up the winter estimate to values for cars with and w/o the hybrid heat pump heater.
 
Thanks for running the test, Tony and confirming what we all suspected.

My LEAF was driven 80.6 miles today at 4.1 mi/kWh on some of the same roads - but I charged on L2 about 90 minutes / 5.4 kWh (according to Blink logs) to do it. Got home a mile or two after LBW, so estimate I'm about 10% down on capacity. After all the driving/charging temp saw 6 temp bars for the first time in a while!

Did you happen to get a good look at the grill area of Bob's LEAF? That's where the aerodynamic improvements are supposed to be...
 
drees said:
Did you happen to get a good look at the grill area of Bob's LEAF? That's where the aerodynamic improvements are supposed to be...

It goes the same 4 miles/kWh at 65mph as earlier cars, so I didn't realize any noticeable difference, or notice anything significant for aerodynamic mods (although I wasn't looking very hard).
 
TonyWilliams said:
Nissan 2013 "LEAF-S" Range Autonomy Demonstration

We got underway at a bit past 2pm due to several problems with the car. First, it would not recognize the key, nor go to READY mode. Also, it kept referring to operating the parking brake on the dash display. I decided to do a reset of the computer with a disconnect of the negative lead of the 12 volt battery. The car then did turn on properly, however it would not stay in Drive; it kept popping into Neutral.

I was ready to give up and consign myself to just driving to the dealer for repairs, but it finally stayed in Drive. Subsequently, at the end of the test, when I turned the car off and then back on, it did the same routine of popping out of D. I used ECO mode mostly because it's easier to modulate the speed.

I'd like to thank Bob for volunteering his car, and Phil for loaning me his extra Gidmeter.

You too, Tony. Thanks for the fun :? experience. Glad you were driving. In regard to the vehicle errors, I think it might be helpful to note these errors occurred for the first time immediately following the car's first connection to a Blink charging station. I have been trickle charging over the last few days. I will let you know what the service man says. Thx, Bob
 
Very nice work! The only thing that I see missing is the Gid reading at the start of the test (to confirm the battery isn't defective).
 
Thank you for both of you. I guess is very fair to say that there is no improvement in range of 2013. When all that talking started that is not 75 but 84 miles I was so happy that increased range may help a lot of people. I know "recharge" but unfortunately this is not possible in many places where I drive.
 
Stoaty said:
Very nice work! The only thing that I see missing is the Gid reading at the start of the test (to confirm the battery isn't defective).

I hate it when that happens.

280 Gid at the start. I did video it, so hopefully I'll get that up soon.
 
Many thanks for taking the time to do this. Very interesting results. I had actually expected it to do better than the 2011 and 2012 models.
 
Tony, sorry to be so dense, but could you clarify? As I read your 1st post, you drove ~77 mi to VLBW at close to 65 mph. Assuming a perfect speed, you drove 1 hr and 11 min. How close were you to averaging 65 mph?

Also, at that point, you seem to say that you stopped the test, and then "extrapolated" the remaining distance to turtle using previous experience from the 2011/2012 Leaf. Is that correct?

Amazing results. I wish I could get 77 mi at 65 mph. However, I'm pretty sure my battery only gets to 70 F except after sitting in the parking lot in August. When I left on my long journey at 4am last August, the morning temps were actually in the 50's.

Reddy
 
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