2013 SL - Range Dropped quickly

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smilroy

New member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
1
Can someone tell me if it's ok or normal that the range in my Leaf when purchased went from 97 miles last week to 85 miles this morning? The battery shows full capacity and shows full charge, all bars and the percentage charge shows 100% too. The only thing that has changed is the range numerical value next to the bars has dropped. I bought a new 2013 SL this past week! This Tuesday when I woke from trickle charge is read 95, then by Friday morning it had dropped to 87 miles, then this morning it read 85 miles. WTF!....

On the good side yesterday when I drove the car about 20 miles the range only dropped a couple of miles. Does this mean anything to anybody??

Thanks
 
It's learning how you drive and the range number adjusts accordingly. I wouldn't stress too much about that. The car is likely behaving as Nissan predicted it would.

You will also quickly learn that the range guide is commonly referred to by owners as the GOM (Guess-O-Meter) which basically means that the range guide is trying to estimate how far you can go but still struggles at being very accurate and can vary drastically.
 
It only means that the number you're referring to is called the GOM or "guess-o-meter" and it shouldn't be used for precision, just general info.

It reflects history of how you drove the car, and will change dynamically up and down as you go up and down hills, etc. Some people actually cover up the number and just use the bar display.

How about using the State of Charge display right above the odometer? That's new for the 2013 models....
 
The 2013 DTE is very accurate now. It's much different than before and mine doesn't fluctuate anymore. In fact, I no longer need my BCM as the DTE matches it perfectly most of the time or it's only different by one, then perfectly matches it again.
 
LEAFfan said:
The 2013 DTE is very accurate now. It's much different than before and mine doesn't fluctuate anymore. In fact, I no longer need my BCM as the DTE matches it perfectly most of the time or it's only different by one, then perfectly matches it again.
Considering this person is so know you probably would want to limit the TLAs.
 
your range has not been reduced, only the estimate of the range and you are the one who admitted that the range estimate was inaccurate on your 20 mile drive so why would you think it accurate now?

i turned on my LEAF this morning and it gave me a range of 118 miles which is not going to happen. would be nice but it simply aint there
 
Whole new threads started about the inaccurate GOM earn the coveted "dog chasing his tail" award:


big_headed_tiny_dog_chasing_tail_lg_nwm.gif
 
It's not unexpected that some new LEAF drivers will be confused by the GOM, or "distance to empty" range estimates.

My understanding is that the Tesla S has the concept of "rated range", which directly correlates to remaining charge and not to one's driving history. A Tesla S with a brand new, fully charged, room temperature 85 kWh battery should have a rated range value of 265 miles, corresponding with the EPA's range rating on the car. The Tesla S can also display a "predicted range" value which depends on driving behavior/conditions.

By contrast, the LEAF only displays a predicted range value which while better in the 2013 model is prone to fluctuation. There is no "rated range". Look at the SOC value or charge bars for a better idea of how much charge you have left.
 
newownermnl
There are couple of videos from a new owner, which are making rounds on Facebook. I believe that this owner has elevated the art of taking the guessometer literally to a new level. Let's hope that the GOM is better and more accurate in 2013 LEAFs, just like LEAFfan has said. Nissan would be also well advised to educate new owners better, via YouTube videos and otherwise. It would also be a good idea to set realistic range expectations, instead of pushing the old 100-miles mantra.



Click to open
 
He and that other woman poster are obviously shills/trolls. The DTE has definitely been improved and the two invisible bars from the '11-'12 are now visible. Like I said before, I can drive it and know exactly how many miles/% left without using my BCM/SGII. I've done it for almost 200 miles. So Tony can retire his DCT animation. ;)
 
LEAFfan said:
The DTE has definitely been improved and the two invisible bars from the '11-'12 are now visible. Like I said before, I can drive it and know exactly how many miles/% left without using my BCM/SGII.
Are you driving mostly on flat land or are there a lot of hills in your driving? If the former, I would expect the DTE to be fairly accurate. For the latter, not so much.
 
Stoaty said:
LEAFfan said:
The DTE has definitely been improved and the two invisible bars from the '11-'12 are now visible. Like I said before, I can drive it and know exactly how many miles/% left without using my BCM/SGII.

Are you driving mostly on flat land or are there a lot of hills in your driving? If the former, I would expect the DTE to be fairly accurate. For the latter, not so much.

Yeah, it's relatively flat, so I can't speak for hilly terrain. But even on flat terrain, as you know, the other one was all over the place.
 
surfingslovak said:
newownermnl
There are couple of videos from a new owner, which are making rounds on Facebook. I believe that this owner has elevated the art of taking the guessometer literally to a new level. Let's hope that the GOM is better and more accurate in 2013 LEAFs, just like LEAFfan has said. Nissan would be also well advised to educate new owners better, via YouTube videos and otherwise. It would also be a good idea to set realistic range expectations, instead of pushing the old 100-miles mantra.



Click to open
Good grief! :( If there were only an emoticon here for banging one's head into a wall.

It sure seems like the supposed buyer didn't do his homework but I'd guess that his dealer didn't do him any favors in terms of educating him, or not. Who knows what the "almost had a few fatal accidents" business is about either? Maybe he needed snow tires?

I guess he also doesn't get how car depreciation works either.

Agree on the bolded part.
LEAFfan said:
He and that other woman poster are obviously shills/trolls.
Yep. Sigh...

BTW, what's the recommended/best practice when a thread's in the wrong area? This one clearly is. Should we just flag it?
 
I have had my Leaf now of about 4 months. it's a 2011 and i bpught it on ebay. I used the remaining range as my main indicator like you but it was so misleading that i now just try to maximize the miles per Kwh reading. When i first got the car my miles/kwh was in the 3 to 3.5 range. Lately i am able to get in the high 5s (today on a 20 mile trip i got 5.6). So my advice is to not worry abou tthe range going up and down and ponly used it to make sure you can get home or to the next charging station. My question is about the Carwings announcemetns we get on a rdgular basis telling us what our specific averages are as well as the the regional averaged are and then telling me i have a Gold standing or whatever. I thought i was doing wall to get 5.6 miles per Kwh, but this morning i get an announcemetn that someone in the USA just got over 20 miles per Kwh!!! How is that possible. The guy can't cheat since the data is coming from Carwings. what is he dpoing and what specific magic does he have? The scale only goes to 8.0 so how is this possible???
 
Don1946 said:
I have had my Leaf now of about 4 months. it's a 2011 and i bpught it on ebay. I used the remaining range as my main indicator like you but it was so misleading that i now just try to maximize the miles per Kwh reading. When i first got the car my miles/kwh was in the 3 to 3.5 range. Lately i am able to get in the high 5s (today on a 20 mile trip i got 5.6). So my advice is to not worry abou tthe range going up and down and ponly used it to make sure you can get home or to the next charging station. My question is about the Carwings announcemetns we get on a rdgular basis telling us what our specific averages are as well as the the regional averaged are and then telling me i have a Gold standing or whatever. I thought i was doing wall to get 5.6 miles per Kwh, but this morning i get an announcemetn that someone in the USA just got over 20 miles per Kwh!!! How is that possible. The guy can't cheat since the data is coming from Carwings. what is he dpoing and what specific magic does he have? The scale only goes to 8.0 so how is this possible???

carwings only reports data you send to carwings. if you want 20 miles per kwh, then do this

go to top of hill (make sure carwings is OFF) power cycle LEAF to turn carwings on. go down the hill. when you get to the bottom, power cycle LEAF to turn carwings off. repeat

you should be able to easily beat that 20 miles per kwh
 
The GOM is no more inaccurate than the range estimates given by an ICE trip computer with less than a quarter tank of gas. I tested this theory on my son's Audi. I pulled off the highway with a little less than an eighth of a tank, zeroed the meter, and the range was at 95mi which was about right for 3-4 gal on the highway. As I pulled out of the lot and onto the highway the range went down to 67, then slowly climbed up to 90 or so. When I left the highway for the city portion of my trip and the range crashed down 25mi after a couple of lights and then after a 900' climb up a hill for two miles my range was down to 42mi. An extreme case but I lost 53mi after driving 12mi. Sound familiar? I still had around 3gal in the tank, but I'm only getting 7-10mpg going up a steep hill, it pulled the ongoing average mpg down from 32mpg to ~17mpg which makes the estimate look pretty generous given the last 4mi or so had been < 15mpg.

Most people don't see as large fluctuations on their ICE cars b/c they drive on a full tank of gas which maintains a longer running avg for the estimate, but if you restart the estimate with not much gas in the tank you'll see the problem. It's not rocket science, everybody needs to judge how much farther they can drive based on several variables, but those variables are similar for a gas car, especially an inefficient one. The thought of a tow truck at the end of the line just amplifies the anxiety....
 
I have to call BS on this. I've spent a few weeks driving a 2013 on and off and in my area, which is not really flat anywhere, and the GOM was slightly better than my 2011 but still worthless in trying to determine actual range. It greatly over-stated the range on my way to work and understated it on the way back... If you drive fairly constantly on level terrain it is not bad - but then neither was the 2011 or 2102 under those same conditions... Sorry, but it still sucks and likely will until they can incorporate route look-ahead with elevation and speed data to do a true calculation...

LEAFfan said:
Yeah, it's relatively flat, so I can't speak for hilly terrain. But even on flat terrain, as you know, the other one was all over the place.
 
I don't understand why EV makers want to even show range, ie GOM. Why bother? Its totally inaccurate. It has to be. It can't possibly know how you intend to drive.

In an ICE, the DTE isn't usually prominent. Front and center is how full the gas tank is. Always has been. Likewise an EV should simply show how full the battery is. Show it in kWh or % SOC. But don't bother to show range. Drivers are bound for major disappointment and likely to be stranded. Bury the range guess under some menu somewhere, but not front and center as the primary measure of SOC.
 
dm33 said:
I don't understand why EV makers want to even show range, ie GOM. Why bother? Its totally inaccurate. It has to be. It can't possibly know how you intend to drive.

In an ICE, the DTE isn't usually prominent. Front and center is how full the gas tank is. Always has been. Likewise an EV should simply show how full the battery is. Show it in kWh or % SOC. But don't bother to show range. Drivers are bound for major disappointment and likely to be stranded. Bury the range guess under some menu somewhere, but not front and center as the primary measure of SOC.

Tesla does "rated range", which simply means that it is a energy level meter expressed in miles/km.

The Turbo3 Android battery app does the same, with adjustments for your economy and automatic adjustments for battery temperature.
 
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