occ
Well-known member
We picked up our LEAF and get ready to make the anxious 87 miles drive back from
Mossy Nissan Poway to Tustin, 2 adults and 2 kids.I used the word "anxious" (and not for the last time) there because we had hoped to stop by my uncle's house 18 miles on the way back and charge for a few hours, but as you know, buying a car is never fast or easy. By the time we got done with all the orientation and paperwork, it was past 11pm. It was too late to stop ANYWHERE, so we decided to go for it all and drive the entire route without stopping!
For those of you who knows the area, I-15, 78, I-5, was a pretty average drive in terms of energy consumption, even a bit on the "easy" side - esp going east to west on the 78. I kept my speed right at 59-60 for all of that first 30 miles on the freeway. As my miles-to-go gets smaller, my guest'ometer actually gained when compared to the miles-to-go. I got more confident
until....
"The stretch from Camp Pendleton to San Onofre". We've driven this stretch countless times, and until now, never noticed the gradual rise in elevation until driving the LEAF, trying to get home! By the time we got to San Clemente, the anxiety came back. In that ~25 miles, my speed gradually dropped from 60 to 55 as my anxiety level rised. I think by San Clemente, we had 30 miles to go while the guest'ometer said 25! There was one point where my LEAF said "You may not reach the desination. Press button to ...". Yikes!
"Rise in elevation not done yet". San Clemente to Mission Viejo on the I-5 kept climbing as it goes inland. You'd never really call it a mountain driving, but last night, it felt like it to me! By the time we got to Lake Forest, I was down to 50mph. I've never done that, and wouldn't do it again in SoCal freeway. But it was past midnight, so it seemed safe, and we had 1 bar and ~15 miles to go! This is where my anxiety was the highest. As we past Lake Forest, I was contemplating stopping at OC Nissan Irvine, but past it by mistake since my brain was busy calculating and trying to remember where to get off the freeway. Oh well.
Luckily, from there I was in familiar territory, and knew the surface streets well. We got off the freeway with 8 miles to go and the "low battery" (actually I dont remember when "low battery" happened since my brain was on anxiety alert around then). I kept to 38mph even in areas marked "Max 55mph", since it was well into 12am, and the steets were empty. ONce I got on the surface streets (8 miles to go), without the "very low battery" warning, it was a huge relief! That was thanks to all the MNL members and their experiences, speed/distant graphs, etc.
That last 8 miles, I remember, I lost the last bar, but keeping at 38mph, so the guest'ometer had just enough range to get home. In reality, with the later LEAF delivery and the new firmware, I was pretty confident about the reserves. I never got the "very low battery" warning, so might have been fine taking the freeway at 55mph instead using surface streets for that last 5 miles, but I would have been sweating it, I think.
Summary:
~50 miles freeway at 60mph
~20 miles freeway at 55mph
~5 miles freeway at 50mph
~15 miles surface streets ~35mph
total 90 miles on a full charge...
all bars gone, "low battery", but no "very low battery" warning.
(ps. did not use cruise control)
The LEAF range met my expectation, and I gained range experience that you can only get after doing it yourself. I hope this will help others, but as always, YMMV.
Mossy Nissan Poway to Tustin, 2 adults and 2 kids.I used the word "anxious" (and not for the last time) there because we had hoped to stop by my uncle's house 18 miles on the way back and charge for a few hours, but as you know, buying a car is never fast or easy. By the time we got done with all the orientation and paperwork, it was past 11pm. It was too late to stop ANYWHERE, so we decided to go for it all and drive the entire route without stopping!
For those of you who knows the area, I-15, 78, I-5, was a pretty average drive in terms of energy consumption, even a bit on the "easy" side - esp going east to west on the 78. I kept my speed right at 59-60 for all of that first 30 miles on the freeway. As my miles-to-go gets smaller, my guest'ometer actually gained when compared to the miles-to-go. I got more confident
until....
"The stretch from Camp Pendleton to San Onofre". We've driven this stretch countless times, and until now, never noticed the gradual rise in elevation until driving the LEAF, trying to get home! By the time we got to San Clemente, the anxiety came back. In that ~25 miles, my speed gradually dropped from 60 to 55 as my anxiety level rised. I think by San Clemente, we had 30 miles to go while the guest'ometer said 25! There was one point where my LEAF said "You may not reach the desination. Press button to ...". Yikes!
"Rise in elevation not done yet". San Clemente to Mission Viejo on the I-5 kept climbing as it goes inland. You'd never really call it a mountain driving, but last night, it felt like it to me! By the time we got to Lake Forest, I was down to 50mph. I've never done that, and wouldn't do it again in SoCal freeway. But it was past midnight, so it seemed safe, and we had 1 bar and ~15 miles to go! This is where my anxiety was the highest. As we past Lake Forest, I was contemplating stopping at OC Nissan Irvine, but past it by mistake since my brain was busy calculating and trying to remember where to get off the freeway. Oh well.
Luckily, from there I was in familiar territory, and knew the surface streets well. We got off the freeway with 8 miles to go and the "low battery" (actually I dont remember when "low battery" happened since my brain was on anxiety alert around then). I kept to 38mph even in areas marked "Max 55mph", since it was well into 12am, and the steets were empty. ONce I got on the surface streets (8 miles to go), without the "very low battery" warning, it was a huge relief! That was thanks to all the MNL members and their experiences, speed/distant graphs, etc.
That last 8 miles, I remember, I lost the last bar, but keeping at 38mph, so the guest'ometer had just enough range to get home. In reality, with the later LEAF delivery and the new firmware, I was pretty confident about the reserves. I never got the "very low battery" warning, so might have been fine taking the freeway at 55mph instead using surface streets for that last 5 miles, but I would have been sweating it, I think.
Summary:
~50 miles freeway at 60mph
~20 miles freeway at 55mph
~5 miles freeway at 50mph
~15 miles surface streets ~35mph
total 90 miles on a full charge...
all bars gone, "low battery", but no "very low battery" warning.
(ps. did not use cruise control)
The LEAF range met my expectation, and I gained range experience that you can only get after doing it yourself. I hope this will help others, but as always, YMMV.
