2011 Leaf - Numbers don't add up as far as range

[WAM]

I have a 2011 Leaf SL delivered May 24, 2011.
It has 16,000 miles on it.
It's had all software updates.
All the capacity bars are still lit but I know the capacity is not what it was when new.
I just had my 3 year battery check and got full capacity and 5 stars all around (means nothing, I know).
Yesterday, I started with about 95% charge.
I drove 35 miles on surface streets with little elevation change and speed no greater than 45 mph.
I drove 25 miles on the freeway with little elevation change and speed no greater than 65 mph.
ECO mode was used on all trips and I drive VERY conservatively trying to keep "bubbles" no more than 3-4 when accelerating and maximizing regen.
Tires are at 38 psi. No extra weight in the car (and I weigh only 135).
A/C was off except for 10 miles of surface street and 10 miles of freeway.
I got the "low battery" warning (8 miles left on the "guessometer") at 56 miles on the trip odometer.
My "average miles per KWh" in the car which was reset before I started the day read 4.5.
I'm not understanding how, if I'm getting an average of 4.5 miles per KWh I can only drive about 60 miles before running out of juice.
Even if I had only 16 KWh available in the battery, I would still be able to drive further than 60 miles.
I would HOPE my battery capacity is greater than 16KWh since it's supposed to be 24 when new and probably about 20 after 3 years of light use.
I have let it charge to 100% on several occasions to "balance the batteries" to no avail. Range always seems WAY to short.
I don't see how people on this forum are driving 75-100 miles on a charge when the max I've ever gotten was 70 miles.
What's even stranger (well, not really considering the uselessness of "Carwings") is that "Carwings" reports my miles per KWh as over 5 most of the time.
Is there something wrong with my battery, my driving, or what?!?

 

[pkulak]

deleted

 

[FairwoodRed]

I don’t think you have any problems with your driving.

I’ve personally driver 120 miles on one charge. I had to really work it to get there and my efficiency was about a 7. You really have to slow down and have a light foot to go that far.

Regarding your battery capacity, you almost certainly have less than 20 kWh left. It was rated for 24, but only 22 is usable when new. Capacity losses seem to be affected by average temperature more than any other factor.

Since you haven’t lost a capacity bar yet, and the first bar counts for 15%, (all the rest are about 7.5%), I’d be you are at 86%, or about 18kWh usable. Since Low Battery Warning comes on at about 4kWh remaining, you likely used about 14kWh to drive 60 miles for 4.3 mpk. And that is pretty close to the 4.5 that the dash told you. Carwings has always been off for me.

Note that there can be significant range available below LBW if you like to risk running out of juice. If take that path, do yourself a favor and get an ELM327 and LEAFspy for Android. They will also tell you exactly what the car thinks its battery capacity is.

Hope this helps.

 

[TomT]

The first bar is 15% so he would be at about 85% when it goes away...

Well, worst case is that you are going to lose a bar tomorrow, which means you are at 75% capacity, which with 22 kw available new, means you have 16.5 available now, which is 74 miles until absolute dead.

 

[pkulak]

The first bar is 15% so he would be at about 85% when it goes away...

Well, worst case is that you are going to lose a bar tomorrow, which means you are at 75% capacity, which with 22 kw available new, means you have 16.5 available now, which is 74 miles until absolute dead.

Yeah, my math was waaay off. Disregard.