Is 50 miles freeway range normal?

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surfingslovak

surfingslovak

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 13, 2011
Messages
3,809
I'm happy so far with the Leaf, but I'm seeing very limited freeway range. Following the advice on this board, I adjusted my driving style and I'm usually going 55 mph, use cruise control a lot since it seems to be more gentle on the "gas" than my foot, and I generally don't use A/C and if I do, it's only for a brief period of time. Yesterday, I drove 22 miles on 280 from Palo Alto to San Jose and my battery indicator dropped from 6 bars to 1 by the time I arrived at my destination. I had a similar experience going on 880 from Santa Clara to Fremont and back. I started out full and 50 miles later, I was down to two bars. My economy is usually around around 4.3 or 4.5, no matter how careful I drive. I don't use freeways on my daily commute, but sometimes it's unavoidable and I'm quite concerned about the limited range. Any insights, comments, suggestions or help would be appreciated.
 
If you are not driving 75 mph, that doesnt add up.
For instance, most recently, I took a 60-65-mile rdtrip on Friday trying to go 63 mph on freeway as possible; 90% of the trip was on freeways and only 5-8 miles at 30 mph in crowded traffic, and arrived home with 30 miles to spare. I had a full charge at outset.
 
surfingslovak said:
I started out full and 50 miles later, I was down to two bars. My economy is usually around around 4.3 or 4.5, no matter how careful I drive.
Click to expand...
Given the battery bars, I'd say you could have gotten to 60 or 65 miles before losing your last bar, and maybe to 70 or 75 before really running out. Where are you getting your economy numbers? If from Carwings, they're notoriously inflated. If from the car, are you resetting the mpk value before setting out on these trips? 4.3-4.5 mpk should be 90+ miles of range.
 
I have found my range to be consistent with the line on this chart, with most of my drives ~57 miles and a mixture of traffic and 75mph freeway. At the weekend i tested my 57mile route in the 75-83mph range and, again, was consistent with the line.

range.jpg


http://www.abel-it.co.uk/range.jpg
 
so 5 bars for 22 miles works out to about 53 miles for 12 bars, seems low. Are there a lot altitude changes?..Mybe you were really close to 5 bars and dropped to 1 for a total of 4 bars for 22 miles or 66 miles of range for 12 bars which is a bit better.

Also, check the pressure on your tires, maybe the sensor malfunctioned.
 
I drive from South San Jose to Pleasanton over the Sunol grade which is 72 miles round trip, I set the cruise control to 65 Mph except to the top of the grade where I slow down to 50-55, drive in eco mode, and have the air conditioner on set to 79 degrees. I end the trip with 2 bars and 18 miles displayed.
 
Have you made sure the heater is turned off? I set the thermostat to 60 with AC off to make sure. Your range sounds low, have you contacted the EV hotline or the dealer to see what they have to say?
G
 
Yes it seems low. I would give it a 100% charge and see if it repetes.
100 might be optomistic but 70 to 85 would seem possible in good conditions that you describe.
 
surfingslovak said:
My economy is usually around around 4.3 or 4.5, no matter how careful I drive.
Click to expand...
That indicates a range between 80 and 90 miles (multiply by 21). Of those, some 15 is after you get battery low indicator. So, before that, you should see 65 to 75 miles of range, if you charge to 100%.
 
I regularly commute to San Jose from Belmont (on 101) and my all-highway range is around 80m (@ 100% charge).
280 has many more hills and valleys (they do not compensate each other IMO) and that may be the reason you see the worse economy (mine is ~ 3.8).
On a day when I drove from Palo Alto to Belmont using 280 I saw the same range issues you describe.
Hills seem to be a real range kill for our car.

surfingslovak said:
I'm happy so far with the Leaf, but I'm seeing very limited freeway range. Following the advice on this board, I adjusted my driving style and I'm usually going 55 mph, use cruise control a lot since it seems to be more gentle on the "gas" than my foot, and I generally don't use A/C and if I do, it's only for a brief period of time. Yesterday, I drove 22 miles on 280 from Palo Alto to San Jose and my battery indicator dropped from 6 bars to 1 by the time I arrived at my destination. I had a similar experience going on 880 from Santa Clara to Fremont and back. I started out full and 50 miles later, I was down to two bars. My economy is usually around around 4.3 or 4.5, no matter how careful I drive. I don't use freeways on my daily commute, but sometimes it's unavoidable and I'm quite concerned about the limited range. Any insights, comments, suggestions or help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
GaslessInSeattle said:
Have you made sure the heater is turned off? I set the thermostat to 60 with AC off to make sure. Your range sounds low, have you contacted the EV hotline or the dealer to see what they have to say?
G
Click to expand...

Yes, I usually press the OFF button and I believe that there is a brief on-screen confirmation that climate control is off. I thought that I would ask on the board and try a few more things before approaching Nissan. I found the forum to be very helpful and well-informed.
 
I suggest you pay particular attention to what Fabio, davewill, and Herm said above.
  • Driving 280 will give you lower mileage because of the hills.
  • Counting bars, you can be off by 1 in either direction.
  • You are still not close to empty even when the last bar disappears.
  • Be sure you are reading m/kWh from the car, not Carwings, and reset it every day.

Some time after you get down to one bar you will get a "Low Battery" warning. At that point you apparently still have about 15% of the available battery capacity remaining. If you keep driving, some time after the last bar disappears you will get a "Very Low Battery" warning. You have now used about half of that 15% and it's time to start thinking seriously about finding a place to recharge.

Note: the above comments assume the car has the April firmware upgrade. If you got your car before April and it hasn't been upgraded your results will be different. LB and VLB will come at about the same time, but you will have more bars showing.

Ray
 
i see the same thing and have done 80 miles by basically ignoring the bars. normal trip is 62 miles RT with about 88% being freeway (driven at 65+ mph generally. part of freeway from exit 107 to 101 is 60 mph, the rest is 70)

even when i did the 80 miles (last week) it said i had 5 miles left but car stated based on MPK that i had more like 13 miles. MPK is what i normally judge by.
 
How much weight are you carrying? If you're a 400 pounder and keep 2 sets of golf clubs in the trunk at all times, your range will be far lower than if you weigh 125# and don't haul anything extra. Were you driving alone? Car full of people?
 
I'm about to get car and my commute is between San Francisco and San Jose. It's 52 miles long and I was thinking to take I-280. After reading thins post I'm not sure if a I will be able to make it.

Is anyone already commuting between San Francisco and San Jose? What kind of mileage you are getting?
 
GoSolar said:
How much weight are you carrying? If you're a 400 pounder and keep 2 sets of golf clubs in the trunk at all times, your range will be far lower than if you weigh 125# and don't haul anything extra. Were you driving alone? Car full of people?
Click to expand...

That's a very good point, I should have included that information. I'm about 200 pounds, give or take, and I'm not really hauling anything. My range is OK if I drive carefully around town, but it's quite limited when I'm on the freeway, which has me puzzled. I'm glad that there are some folks from the Bay Area and I'll respond to them individually. Hopefully I can use some of their data to benchmark my Leaf's performance.

Other suggestions about driving around 55 mph, counting the bars, using the 21 * mpk range formula, understanding the silent reserve at zero bars, gbshaun's range against average velocity graph, checking tire pressure, making sure the heater was off, and others have been most helpful. I'll do my homework and follow up with my dealer and Nissan corporate if necessary. Thanks again.
 
CASF said:
I'm about to get car and my commute is between San Francisco and San Jose. It's 52 miles long and I was thinking to take I-280. After reading thins post I'm not sure if a I will be able to make it.

Is anyone already commuting between San Francisco and San Jose? What kind of mileage you are getting?
Click to expand...

You will be able to get from San Francisco to San Jose no problem, but you will need to at least trickle charge in San Jose to get back.
 
i would also investigate not using CC. when negotiating hills, vary your speed so you regen AS LITTLE as possible. regen is nice but you still lose more power than you gain by maintaining a higher speed and its associated momentum.

yes your speed will vary since you would gain speed on the down slopes and the objective is to bleed that extra speed slowly as you crest the next hill.

now this method assumes hills not too big, enough room to vary your speed, etc. not always an easy thing to do in your area
 
CASF said:
I'm about to get car and my commute is between San Francisco and San Jose. It's 52 miles long and I was thinking to take I-280. After reading thins post I'm not sure if a I will be able to make it.

Is anyone already commuting between San Francisco and San Jose? What kind of mileage you are getting?
Click to expand...

This is a trip I attempted couple of weeks ago as well; I drove from Santa Clara to Noe Valley and back. I charged for couple of hours at Pat's garage in SF and trickle charged for an hour in Palo Alto. There was one bar and 12 miles range left when I arrived home. I took city roads starting in Redwood City on the return leg to conserve energy. Based on this performance, I would not dare to do that trip without a charging opportunity, but I'm freeway challenged as you probably have gathered from this thread.
 

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