New 2020 SV Leaf with Tech and CW - First Long Trip Report

Hello everyone,

I recently took delivery of a new 2020 SV Leaf and went on my longest trip to date yesterday.

Background info:

Leaf is garaged

100% charge at the time of departure - car reported 140 miles range

Total miles traveled = 120

Average temperature = 28 degrees F

Average elevation gain = 1,000 ft

Heat was used sparingly on my way to the destination and off on the entire way home (to conserve range)

Sirius XM was on the entire trip

By the time I had returned home, the car was at 1% and I was sweating bullets (just a little, lol).

How can I improve this performance? My maximum speed was 60 mph on my way to the destination and averaged 45 on the way home. I knew cold weather and some hills affect performance, but I was not expecting to lose 20 miles of range to hills, using heat and the cold.

Thanks for any thoughts in advance.

Check your tire pressure. I recommend 44 psi for the OEM tires because the Nissan-recommended 36 psi is too soft for best handling and tire life. Those with 40 kWh batteries may have better guidance, but I still have several miles of normal driving available after the SOC % display goes to --- on my SL Plus with 62 kWh battery so you probably had 10 miles left if you still had 1% showing.

Winter
1. Pre-heat the car using shore power, and then set the cabin thermostat to the lowest you find OK and does not lead to foggy windows
2. Use the seat heater and wheel heater if the cabin heating is not quite enough

Realize that non-dry roads can easily sap 10% off range, and you never know about wind. You need to give yourself more buffer or have charging en-route, winter or otherwise. And ignore the worthless GOM

Driving through thick snow or heavy rain can take off well over 10%. That was a shocker for me a couple summers ago when doing the 220 miles back from Iowa city and much less experienced with the car; realizing i was going to have much less range than I thought after driving through 20 miles of puddle.

If you a small space heater, and overall conservation of the environment is not of concern, you can run it for an hour next to the car and heat up the battery allowing to run more efficiently. And yes, preheat the hell out of it while plugged in a charging. A battery at 55F does much better than 15F.

Thanks for all of the great tips! So the seat heater and steering wheel do not take away from range? They are run by the 12V I assume.

I meant steering wheel heater

Can you take a 10 minute pee/coffee refill brake at a fast charger. 10 minutes at a fast charger would take all the stress out of that trip. And there’s always time for a scone.

Just sayin. .

applephan said:

Thanks for all of the great tips! So the seat heater and steering wheel do not take away from range? They are run by the 12V I assume.

Click to expand...

Correct. The power for them does come, indirectly, from the big battery, but the range loss is measured in yards, not miles.

You didn't mention whether you had the eco-mode on; or if it was off, the "B" [not the "D"] mode on.

The eco-mode apparently activates the "B" for you. Similarly, the e-pedal also actives the "B"

The "B" mode is the regen system. It's a MUST if you travel up and down hills. We recently drove up a 3000ft mountain and the GOM showed 110miles at the top. After descending, the GOM showed 127miles. Thus, we gained 17miles for a 165mile trip.

Congrats...and oh my gosh...taking it to 1%! :shock: You really know how to dive in!

I get panicky enough at 13% (the lowest I've ever been).

You could look for long-draft opportunities on the highway. I'll often fall in behind a box truck or something with a large wind profile. I feel like it reduces energy use even with generous following distance. I also feel more relaxed that way than trying to stay out of everyone's way in the passing lanes.

You'll probably find that some routes are just more energy-efficient than others, and it isn't always clear why. It sounds like you did very nicely with the available energy. At speeds over about 50 mph, it's very difficult to achieve the initial range estimate. I would suggest at least a short charge stop, though, to keep the stress down. :shock:

By the time I had returned home, the car was at 1% and I was sweating bullets (just a little, lol).

Click to expand...

While it's OK to do that to get a better feel for real world range in your new LEAF, I wouldn't recommend you do that frequently (if at all). High depths of discharge (DoD) are known to reduce the longevity of lithium ion battery packs.

If you want to keep the pack healthy, try to keep the DoD to no more than 80% on a single trip