Wow! Bad range today....

[Goodtohave]

So my leaf is only a week old but on a 100% charge (with the 120v charger, haven't installed my level 2 yet) on a somewhat cold morning, had to use the heat a bit and it was very windy. I got home after 90km of driving to 12km remaining.

I am hoping that in colder weather preheating will help and that the wind was a factor.

Do they break in at all and get better range?

One thing I noticed is that the battery temp gauge showed it was warm first thing in the morning so I am wondering it the level 2 had to charge it so slowly it was either not fully charged in the morning or that possibly the level 2 charges faster and then leaves the car time to cool down.

Whatever it is I will make it work, I love the car.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Do they break in at all and get better range?

2012 Leaf SL Her name is Maple (Canadian Leaf)

Welcome to the club. No, it's not going to break in appreciably, so don't expect range to improve much with identical conditions. Please check out the Range Chart linked in my signature line, which will give you an idea of what affects range.

In the Great White North, cold on the battery will significantly reduce the capacity of the battery and the Denso 6kW resistance heater will SUCK the life right out of the battery!!

Since your car was manufactured some time ago, I recommend a few 100% charges in a row and then leave the car sitting for 4-6 hours while plugged in each time. This will allow the cells time to balance.

 

[lpickup]

No but there's a possibility that YOU will break in and get better at driving efficiently!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

"very windy" is the key here. a headwind of 20 mph is the same as driving 20 mph faster. look at Tony's chart and see the difference in range between 40 and 60 mph or 50 and 70 mph. As you can see, speed kills!

 

[TomT]

No, unfortunately, it only gets worse with time (battery degradation), assuming your driving habits remain the same...

Do they break in at all and get better range?

 

[Goodtohave]

Do they break in at all and get better range?

2012 Leaf SL Her name is Maple (Canadian Leaf)

Welcome to the club. No, it's not going to break in appreciably, so don't expect range to improve much with identical conditions. Please check out the Range Chart linked in my signature line, which will give you an idea of what affects range.

In the Great White North, cold on the battery will significantly reduce the capacity of the battery and the Denso 6kW resistance heater will SUCK the life right out of the battery!!

Since your car was manufactured some time ago, I recommend a few 100% charges in a row and then leave the car sitting for 4-6 hours while plugged in each time. This will allow the cells time to balance.

I am curious, if it is plugged in and I set the heater to run does it take power from the battery but continue charging or does it draw from the house? I am guessing the battery.

 

[smkettner]

Keep in mind a head wind hurts far more than a tail wind helps.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Keep in mind a head wind hurts far more than a tail wind helps.

only because its a lot closer to zero than it is to infinity

 

[Goodtohave]

The Nissan Canada website shows "it was built for 160km on a charge". 99 km in winter and up to 222km ideal (impossible conditions).

I used this as a baseline and was told to expect 120-140 driving normally, which is fine. 100km is a bit rough.

Funny that in the US the EPA rating is 73 miles (approx 120KM) and Canada shows 100 miles.

I can make it work but charging to 80% will be hard. I can't do much on 80km.

I think I will order Phil's climate control upgrade. I would like to have more control (no pun intended!)

 

[smkettner]

Keep in mind a head wind hurts far more than a tail wind helps.

only because its a lot closer to zero than it is to infinity

Because the additional drag is an exponential function..... not linear.

Example:

4 squared is 16 for triple unit increase
square root of 4 is 2 or just half unit decrease.

 

[planet4ever]

I am curious, if it is plugged in and I set the heater to run does it take power from the battery but continue charging or does it draw from the house? I am guessing the battery.

Note that if you are charging at 120v, your charge rate is only a bit over 1 kW. Since the heater can pull up to 6 kW, the answer is both -- it uses all that the house provides plus a lot from the battery.

Ray

 

[dgpcolorado]

I am curious, if it is plugged in and I set the heater to run does it take power from the battery but continue charging or does it draw from the house? I am guessing the battery.

Note that if you are charging at 120v, your charge rate is only a bit over 1 kW. Since the heater can pull up to 6 kW, the answer is both -- it uses all that the house provides plus a lot from the battery.

Ray

And this is why those of us preheating in the snowbelt really need to use Level 2 (240 V) charging. Yes, in mild climates preheating at Level 1 (120 Volts) can work ok, especially if taking a bit of a hit to the battery charge isn't an issue. But when the car is really cold Level 2 is more practical.

 

[dgpcolorado]

...I can make it work but charging to 80% will be hard. I can't do much on 80km.

If you need 100%, use 100%. Just don't leave it at that level for days or weeks. Set an end timer for 100% around when you are going to leave and don't worry about it. The range is limited enough in very cold weather as it is.

I think I will order Phil's climate control upgrade. I would like to have more control (no pun intended!)

I have Phil's CC mod and it is very helpful to be able to leave the heater off when not needed but still be able to circulate air, especially to defog the windshield periodically. After preheating the heater core will retain some heat that you can use for a time without draining the battery further. The lack of control of the heater was such a glaring error that Nissan fixed it on the 2013 models. For those of us with older LEAFs Phil's mod is the way to go.

 

[Goodtohave]

So better today, Just have to take it easy and grow those trees!

Drove 70 km, showed 75 remaining, I forget how many bars. about half.

I ordered a level 2 Nissan branded Aeroenvironment one, it should be in any day and I will send my brick to Phil to convert as a backup. I will also do the climate control mod.

I look forward to learning more about it and playing around. I will stick to driving hard when I don't have far to go, or on my way home!

 

[cwerdna]

Drove 70 km, showed 75 remaining, I forget how many bars. about half.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen a post telling you to forget the GOM (guess-o-meter). You'll need to go by "fuel bars" or gids in conjunction w/Tony's range chart.

Have you also plotted elevation change via Google Earth (http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-house-pancakes/100653-google-earth-can-give-you-elevation-profile-route-between-2-points.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Drove 70 km, showed 75 remaining, I forget how many bars. about half.

I'm surprised that I haven't seen a post telling you to forget the GOM (guess-o-meter). You'll need to go by "fuel bars" or gids in conjunction w/Tony's range chart.

Post number 2 in the thread:

Welcome to the club. No, it's not going to break in appreciably, so don't expect range to improve much with identical conditions. Please check out the Range Chart linked in my signature line, which will give you an idea of what affects range.

 

[Goodtohave]

I don't take the GOM seriously , reminds me of the speedometer on my Sea Doo, we call it the "dreamometer". It is a bit optimistic

I love the car, I just have to get used to it and work around the strengths and limitations.

There is only 1 level 3 in Quebec right now but the government and Hydro Quebec has said they are trying for more by Fall. Hopefully it will make for some interesting road trips!

I hope so if not I wasted $800 on the QC, but I just couldn't take the chance that they pop up in the next couple of years and I will be kicking myself!

The 2013's are only going on sale in Canada in July. I was going to wait but Nissan had a huge rebate on the 12's. Made it hard to resist!