Speedometer Accurate?

[djjazzy]

Only been driving my Leaf S about 1 week so far. When on the freeway, it
sure feels like I'm going 5-10 mph slower that what my speedometer says.
When the speedometer says 65 mph, it doesn't feel nor seem like I'm at 65.
Seems more like 58-60. BTW I'm driving in the same lanes that I normally
drive me ICE in, next lane over from the slow lane. Not the 3rd or Fast lane.
so cars are definelty passing me like I normally drive. I normally drive about
60 MPH in my ICE, so that what I'm comparing to.

Is it just me, or any other's notice a high speedometer reading.

 

[TomT]

It's typically about 2 MPH fast compared to the real speed...

Is it just me, or any other's notice a high speedometer reading.

 

[ObjetDart]

There's another thread about this:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=12606

As I mentioned there, the speedometer in my 2013 SV consistently reads about 4mph too high. I've confirmed it multiple times against various handheld GPS units.

 

[djjazzy]

Well I read that thread on inaccurate speedometers. I'll run my Leaf with a GPS and see how much my 2013 S is off by.

I knew something was off right away when I got on the freeway to head home after picking up my Leaf, I felt there was no way I was going 65 MPH as the speedometer stated. It felt like I was only going 57-60. There shouldn't be that much of a discrepancy between actual speed, and the speedometer. The car should tell me what speed I am actually going. And Nissan won't do anything about it? That's just wrong! A high tech car that doesn't show accurate freeway speeds, has got to be intentional. I spent good money on a car that doesn't have fairly accurate freeway speedometer reading? Not happy about that at all. Other than changing tire sizes to trick the car, what else can we do? Complain? to who?

If my Leaf is about 2 MPH off, I can live with that, but if it's closer to 5-7 MPH, which is what it feels like, that throws me off, as well as increases the mileage on the vehicle over time.

 

[mwalsh]

Allowed to be off by law. Reading up to 10% faster than actual speed at 65mph is the acceptable limit, if I recall correctly.

 

[user 10599]

Also what type of ICE are you comparing it to?

My ICE is an SLK, which sits real low. The lower you are to the ground, the faster you perceive you are going. I'm sitting a lot higher in the Leaf, so I expect to feel as though I'm going slower.

Note: This does not excuse the BRODs running around at close to warp speed. :evil:

 

[LEAFfan]

Only been driving my Leaf S about 1 week so far. When on the freeway, it
sure feels like I'm going 5-10 mph slower that what my speedometer says.
When the speedometer says 65 mph, it doesn't feel nor seem like I'm at 65.
Seems more like 58-60.
Is it just me, or any other's notice a high speedometer reading.

Mine reads about 3mph high at 65, but only two at 45mph, and one high around 35mph down to 20 or so.

 

[ebill3]

With my 2011, I find that 61 on the speedo gives my 60 on a GPS.

 

[TonyWilliams]

 

[dgpcolorado]

...If my Leaf is about 2 MPH off, I can live with that, but if it's closer to 5-7 MPH, which is what it feels like, that throws me off, as well as increases the mileage on the vehicle over time.

The odometer reading isn't necessarily off the same as the speedometer. Back when the dash linkages were entirely mechanical the two tended to be the same but now with electronic processing of the information they can be different.

FWIW, my 2012 is 1-2 mph high at 60 mph indicated, as measured by radar. I agree that 5-7 mph high, if that was real, would be unacceptable.

 

[djjazzy]

I had a chance to run my 2013 Leaf S with a Garmin GPS, and the speedometer runs anywhere from 2-3 MPH faster than what the GPS says. When the leaf is at 65, GPS shows 62. That's fine, I can live with that, it's not off 5MPH or more as I previously thought. That was probably due to the quietness of the Leaf vs a ICE vehicle. BTW, I ran my mini van with the GPS, and that vehicle showed 1-2MPH faster than what GPS showed. So it seems my Leaf is 2-3 MPH off.

 

[LilDave]

This is something I really wish they would fix. I have to set the cruise at 64 just so I can go 60. I switch between the Leaf and the Volt all the time so I'm surprised I haven't gotten a ticket in the Volt. Nissan seems to have a habit of ignoring any and all issues.

 

[sdbonez]

I think it's actually worse than just being off. I think they may have re calibrated it with P3227. I have to go faster now on the speedo to go the same speed. Hmm.. 'let's just recalibrate it so that when they go the same speed they've always gone, they're able to go a little farther and don't notice the other changes we did'

(...like nerf'ing regen)

 

[cwerdna]

This is something I really wish they would fix. I have to set the cruise at 64 just so I can go 60. I switch between the Leaf and the Volt all the time so I'm surprised I haven't gotten a ticket in the Volt. Nissan seems to have a habit of ignoring any and all issues.

Have you read the other thread that was pointed to in post #3 along with http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=287968#p287968" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

Speedometers and odometers being off isn't a Nissan only thing.

As for the bolded part, have you contacted Nissan, the company and filed a complaint? http://www.nissanusa.com/apps/contactus" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; seems like a good means to. If you call them, make sure they actually record the reason for your call in a ticket.

If enough people actually do the above, there's a better chance of it showing up on their radar as a top/higher priority issue vs. all the noise (of other issues) they'd normally see.

Even though this is for Toyota, I pointed this out at http://priuschat.com/threads/has-toyota-made-any-progress-fixing-the-engine-knocking-on-the-2010-prius.92134/#post-1297400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Maybe Toyota's practices below might be insightful (I have met Doug and Erica. They do work for Toyota corporate and one is the current Prius Product Manager (at last check) and the other the former.)

http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-brake-recall-%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C-a-little-more-information.76158/page-3#post-1064441" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-brake-recall-%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C-a-little-more-information.76158/page-2#post-1061546" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://priuschat.com/threads/toyota-unveils-entune-app-ready-sync-fighter-at-ces.88347/#post-1239586" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://priuschat.com/threads/toyota-unveils-entune-app-ready-sync-fighter-at-ces.88347/#post-1239131" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://priuschat.com/threads/the-famous-weve-never-heard-of-that-problem-toyota-line.81553/#post-1140153" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I pointed this out again at http://priuschat.com/threads/entune-class-action-suit-anyone.111550/#post-1589545" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I loved the response from one of the mods (who I've met):

In my opinion, cwerdna is making excellent points. If any aspect of the car is underperforming, call the Toyota Customer Experience line and tell them. Don't get angry with the person on the phone since its not their fault; simply state the problem, clarify when asked, and get it logged.

Venting on a forum is akin to shouting at the wind. I've actually heard people say "[they] have been pointing things out on forums for years but it's still unresolved." Yeah and I've been telling my wife for years how to balance the budget but no politician has acted on my ideas. Go figure.