I was only able to complete eight range/capacity tests in the last year on my usual mountainous route from my home to Burney Falls State Park and back, using the charge allowed from "100%" to ~VLBW, since my last post on the previous page.
I completed
two trips over 100 miles, bringing my LEAFs total of trips over 100 mile-on-a-charge to thirty-two since delivery.
It has quite clear for many years now that my LBC is significantly
pessimistic in over-reporting capacity loss, and apparently by a similar percentage that it has been under-reporting kWh use.
So, I estimated the actual kWh use anjd m/kWh in all the entries below by multiplying the kWh use from the dash/navscreen, and the Carwings kWh use reports by 1.11, which is the ~the average under-report of kWh use over the year, calculated by using an external meter to measure the kWh my pack accepts from the grid.
The most significant change in the last two years is that my LEAF's LBC's
pessimism no longer seems to be increasing rapidly, and appears to be have remained between nine and twelve percent for the entire time.
I do not use LBC data for any purposes (other than ending these range/capacity tests at ~the VLBW, which of course is set by the LBC) and suggest anyone wanting to know their pack's
actual capacity do the same.
I don't know how much longer I will keep my LEAF, but it seems very possible now that at ten years and ~90 k miles my LEAF would still exceed 100 miles of range, under
favorable conditions Nissan defined in its sales disclosure.
Applying the EPA's LA4 test cycle, also less commonly referred to as the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule (UDDS), Nissan came up with some real-world range numbers for the Leaf. Here's an overview of the range variations we can expect from the Leaf:
Cruising at 38 miles per hour with ambient temps of 68 degrees, you could squeeze 138 miles out of the Leaf.
Averaging 24 mph in city traffic drops range to 105 miles, assuming air conditioning (A/C) is not in use on a 77-degree day.
In heavy stop-and-go traffic, averaging just 6 mph with temps of 86 degrees and A/C on, range drops to 47 miles.
At 55 mph on the highway in 95 degree temps and A/C on, expect range to be 70 miles.
Winter temps of 14 degrees with the heater on, will drop range to 62 miles in stop-and-go traffic, assuming an average speed of 15 mph.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/14/nissan-pegs-leaf-range-between-47-and-138-miles-individual-resu/
Under
those test conditions, I expect my LEAF would have had ~133 miles of range when new, had ~118 miles of range last May, five years from delivery, and if capacity loss continues at ~the same rate, should still have about 100 miles of range in May 2021.
Range loss has been somewhat lower than capacity loss due to efficiency increases, and the ranges I get on my tests are close to (at the same temperature) to a 38 mph constant/level test, since the lower average speed, lower tire rolling resistance and higher pressures (45-48 PSI) closely offsets the large kWh loss to regen on this mountainous route with numerous stops (see the 8/13/16 NC regen report, 8.1 kWh nominal, ~9 kWh actual, below).
Remember, my LEAF's pack still has ~2.3 kWh left, or ~14 to 16
slow miles past the VLBW range results below:
2/9/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.9 kWh 85.4 miles, 6.2 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.4 kWh (est.) 87.5 miles (odometer) ~87.7 miles (est. actual) ~5.7 m/kWh
(est. = 87.7/15.4)
2/15/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.5 kWh 87.8 miles, 6.5 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.0 kWh (est.) 87.8 miles (odometer) ~90.0 miles (est. actual) ~6.0 m/kWh (est.)
3/17/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.6 kWh 91.6 miles, 6.6 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.1 kWh (est.) 91.6 miles (odometer) ~91.8 miles (est. actual) ~6.1 m/kWh (est.)
4/17/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.7 kWh 91.6 miles, 6.7 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.2 kWh (est.) 93.7 miles (odometer) ~93.9 miles (est. actual) ~6.2 m/kWh (est.
5/12/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.8 kWh 98.1 miles, 7.1 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.3 kWh (est.) 100.4 miles (odometer)
~100.6 miles (google maps) ~6.6 m/kWh (est.)
6/6/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.6 kWh 97.1 miles, 7.1 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 15.1 kWh (est.) 99.4 miles (odometer) ~99.6 miles (est. actual) ~6.6 m/kWh (est.)
8/3/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.3 kWh 96.0 miles, 7.2 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 14.8 kWh (est.) 98.3 miles (odometer) ~98.5 miles (est. actual) ~6.7 m/kWh (est.)
8/13/16
Carwings/Nissan connect: 13.4 kWh 98.3 miles, 7.4 m/kWh (identical to dash m/kWh display)
Actual: 14.9 kWh (est.) 100.6 miles (odometer
, after tire rotation)
~101.1 miles (google maps) ~6.9 m/kWh (est.)
I already posted details on that last trip, including the various ways to calculate m/kwh
~87.6 of the miles, including the two pass ascents, were identical in all of the trips, and shown within elevation profile (8/13/16 trip, with ~0.65 miles not mapped) below:
edatoakrun said:
Re: Capacity Loss on 2011-2012 LEAFs
Tue Sep 06, 2016 7:31 pm...
...And while there is, IMO, little chance my pack has actually lost ~31% of available (or total) capacity since delivery as my LBC indicates, I estimate (from metered recharge capacity) that my available capacity is down ~20% from that available from a 24kWh total pack, and probably about 17% less than It had available at delivery ~47k miles ago.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802&start=7620
Last years post on 100+ mile trips, copied from previous page:
edatoakrun said:
Nine more actual 100+ mile trips to add to the 22 odometer (21 actual, the 100.0 odometer mile trip was probably ~99.9 actual m) I posted on p 75.
So I'm at 30 total now, by either metric.
Seven were on my usual range/capacity route, a relatively slow course but with ~7000 ft total ascent and descent, all results since last July 15 posted below.
The kWh are nominal, as reported by CarWings and the dash/nav screen m/kWh displays.
The miles are odometer and actual as corrected using google maps, for some of the trips.
8/22/14 (new tires)
14.9 kWh, 99.3 m (~101.1 m actual)
9/7/14
14.6 kWh, 98.8 m
9/14/14
14.8 kWh, 94.8 m (35 PSI, ~9/7/2011 speed/temp conditions re-test)
10/5/14
14.7 kWh 95.3 m
11/5/14
14.1 kWh, 89.8 m
1/7/15
14.4 kWh, 89.9 m
1/25/15
14.6 kWh, 93.4 m
2/15/15
14.4 kWh, 89.1 m
3/9/15
14.3 kWh, 93.7 m
3/29/15
14.4 kwh, 98.5 m
4/17/15
14.4 kWh, 102 .9 m (~103.4 actual)
10 capacity bars from 5/5/15
5/30/15
14.4 kWh, 102.1 m (~102.5 actual)
6/7/15
14.3 kWh, 101.6 m
7/16/15
14.3 kWh, 102.7 m
8/16/15
14.2 kWh, 104.5 m
9/20/15
14.1 kWh 93.3 m (loaner tire, passenger)
10/14/15
14.1 kWh, 100.6 m (~100.9 actual, one ~new front tire)
I also made two 100+ mile runs on trips back from the Bay area last summer, both with small net ascents.
As mentioned here:
Capacity Losses 2011/12 Leafs-Was(Lost a bar...)
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802&start=7340
The first was on 7/29/15, 101.9 m (~102.1 actual) from Winters to Corning, ending with 31 gids reported by the LBC.
The second was on 9/8/15 from Vacaville to Corning, ~14.7 kWh,112.6 m (~112.8 m actual) to VLBW, 14.8 kWh 114.2/114 .4 total miles to destination.
The most interesting aspect of this trip was that I drove 25.8 m from LBW to VLBW, meaning the LBC let me use ~3.3 kWh nominal (~3.6 kWh actual) between the two warnings, and so the average Wh/gid was ~132 nominal (~144 actual) during that segment, the highest I've ever seen.
The first Snow of the season is forecast for Thanksgiving, and I'm not likely to see warm enough conditions to hit 100 miles without driving past the VLBW until next spring.
My LBC report is at ~73.5% now, so it's likely my future 100+ mile trips will be using only nine (or fewer) capacity bars.
I was wrong on that last point.
Although I had lost over 30% of LBC indicated capacity by Summer, my LEAF did not lose the tenth capacity bar until 9/15/16.