I Beat EPA's 73 Mile Range : Report your experience

DougWantsALeaf said:

Has anyone driven their Leaf in the 45-50 mile range for 80%+ of their battery? According to the charts, you should easily be able to push 100 miles at 45/hr. Yes this is bottom edge of freeway legal, but tolerable for distances of about up to 100 miles. Beyond that, its Tesla or ICE right now.

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you might be able to do it but the times I went over 100 miles on a charge was all in town driving at 25-40 mph and I did a lot of coasting. now, I did this twice in Summer, once in Winter (that was a REAL challenge) and I think its not so much speed that is important since of the 3 100 mile events, only one was planned. the other two I did only because I had started out with really good numbers early and decided to go for it which means twice it happened during my somewhat normal driving routines and I think it was more a case of dumb luck than any driving skills I had in just hitting green lights, missing traffic, etc. IOW, the real issue is finding 100 miles of fairly open uninterrupted driving at low speeds... not such an easy thing to do

Is that true that 13SV can give better miles range then 11/12SV. ??
If both are driven under similar conditions.

13SL has the solar panel which can help to run AC I think..

No, there is no real demonstrated difference in range between a 2011, 2012 or 2013. The solar panel, which is also on the 2011 and 2012 SL is only for trickle charging the 12 volt battery and has no affect on range or power usage.

freshleaf said:

Is that true that 13SV can give better miles range then 11/12SV. ??
If both are driven under similar conditions.

13SL has the solar panel which can help to run AC I think..

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freshleaf said:

Is that true that 13SV can give better miles range then 11/12SV. ??
If both are driven under similar conditions.

13SL has the solar panel which can help to run AC I think..

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highway tests show there is no difference. if there is a range advantage, it would be in mixed city driving and such

TomT said:

No, there is no real demonstrated difference in range between a 2011, 2012 or 2013. The solar panel, which is also on the 2011 and 2012 SL is only for trickle charging the 12 volt battery and has no affect on range or power usage.

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I am a New Bee to all this Leaf concept and done lot of reading too..
So AC use the Main Battery and will affect the range, any # what % drop like 10 or 20 if AC is turned ON for the whole trip.
I thought i read that if we turned on the AC and anything else then the Computer calculate the numbers expecting that the AC will be ON for the entire range so then it shows lower range numbers from the starting point A.

freshleaf said:

TomT said:

No, there is no real demonstrated difference in range between a 2011, 2012 or 2013. The solar panel, which is also on the 2011 and 2012 SL is only for trickle charging the 12 volt battery and has no affect on range or power usage.

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I am a New Bee to all this Leaf concept and done lot of reading too..
So AC use the Main Battery and will affect the range, any # what % drop like 10 or 20 if AC is turned ON for the whole trip.
I thought i read that if we turned on the AC and anything else then the Computer calculate the numbers expecting that the AC will be ON for the entire range so then it shows lower range numbers from the starting point A.

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Everything that is powered on the LEAF uses the main "traction" battery, just like everything on an oil burning car is powered by oil. The 12v battery on any car is replenished from the EV car's "DC to DC converter" or the oil burning car's alternator.

So, any autonomous vehicle consumes energy for its onboard climate control. The oil burner car has the luxury of being so grossly inefficient with waste heat that the heater use is "free".

Now, what you are talking about is the dash displayed numbers we call the GuessOmeter (GOM). Yes, it adjusts if you turn on the heater or air conditioning.

Thanks TonyW.

So what I learn so far is to get better Range try to control these variable.

1)Speed - stay less then 60 mph (ECO mode might be better)
2)Avoid using AC or Heater. (Climate control)
3) City driving better then HWY, since Breaking create more Energy.
4) Flat roads are better then Steep Roads to Drive.
5) Too much Cold or too much Hot Weather is not good and may affect the Battery.

I am trying to get a better Driving habits to get the most Range, it will take me some time since I come from Twin Turbo with getting into speeds I cant even mention on these boards.
BEV will change the way I drive in the PAST..

My goal is to get 60-70 miles on each charge, my normal runs wont be longer then 60 miles at the most and 44 miles at the Least..

freshleaf said:

...I am trying to get a better Driving habits to get the most Range, it will take me some time since I come from Twin Turbo with getting into speeds I cant even mention on these boards.
BEV will change the way I drive in the PAST..

My goal is to get 60-70 miles on each charge, my normal runs wont be longer then 60 miles at the most and 44 miles at the Least..

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Whether you need to stretch the range or not it is good to learn how to drive efficiently so that someday when you do need the extra range it will be easier to accomplish. But, once you learn "hypermiling", if you don't need the range and want to play with the car, go for it.

Some of us like to drive efficiently whether we are using electrons or driving an ICE and trying to keep gasoline costs down. Others here prefer to "drive it like they stole it". I've had occasions when I got annoyed at someone following me too closely and gave the LEAF the full 80 kW just to watch them recede to a speck in my mirror. It may not be efficient but it can be fun.

FWIW...Last week I got some very nice results on my 2 month old 2013 SV.

Best day was on Thursday....

Day started out at 45deg and 100% charge. After pre-heating the cabin, Idrove the just under 30 miles to drop my son off at school and then onto work. Mostly highway averaging around 50mph. At lunch I had a bunch of errand to run during my lunch break...put on around 24 miles, mostly at freeway speeds averaging between 60 and 65. After work, I unexpectedly had to pick my son up from school...another almost 30 miles. The day had warmed up nicely, no climate control was needed over lunch or in the afternoon.

In the end, I had traveled 82.5 miles. About 2 miles from home the low battery warning was triggered. I arrived home with 15% on the battery. Probably could not have made 100mi, but easily could have gone 90. The mix was about 30% freeway driving...averaging between 60 and 65. I would say 50% of the miles were secondary highways...driving between 40 and 55, with the remaining 20% of the miles on residential roads going 30mph or less.

For the week I averaged 4.7 m/kWh

dgpcolorado said:

Some of us like to drive efficiently whether we are using electrons or driving an ICE and trying to keep gasoline costs down. Others here prefer to "drive it like they stole it". I've had occasions when I got annoyed at someone following me too closely and gave the LEAF the full 80 kW just to watch them recede to a speck in my mirror. It may not be efficient but it can be fun.

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This Car has 100% torque and thats what put the power, When I test drove I was amazed the power it has, The Sales Guy keep telling me to Floor the Pedal and see the response and I did few times and it was very quick, this seals the Deal for me, Their are always moments on the HWY driving when you like to pass someone quickly, so if you know you have that power you wont hold it back.
but otherwise just Cruise normally at 50-60 on HWY. Streets may be 25-45 Stop & Go..

Leaf in the Park, your results sound great.

We may be purchasing this week. My stretch goal for the car is to reach my folks, which are nearly exactly 80 miles. 25% freeway (more if you want a longer route).

There are 2 charging stations available (Lake Forest Oasis, and Kenosha), hopefully won't need them.

LeafinThePark said:

For the week I averaged 4.7 m/kWh

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4.7m/kWh * 21kWh usable for a new warm battery = 98.7 miles calculated range

DougWantsALeaf said:

Leaf in the Park, your results sound great.

We may be purchasing this week. My stretch goal for the car is to reach my folks, which are nearly exactly 80 miles. 25% freeway (more if you want a longer route).

There are 2 charging stations available (Lake Forest Oasis, and Kenosha), hopefully won't need them.

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Just know that what you can do in warm weather will be significantly less in cold weather (even with the heater off).

freshleaf said:

This Car has 100% torque and thats what put the power, When I test drove I was amazed the power it has, The Sales Guy keep telling me to Floor the Pedal and see the response and I did few times and it was very quick, this seals the Deal for me, Their are always moments on the HWY driving when you like to pass someone quickly, so if you know you have that power you wont hold it back. but otherwise just Cruise normally at 50-60 on HWY. Streets may be 25-45 Stop & Go..

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Be prepared for a significant loss of that pep above 40-45mph. Making all the torque at zero RPM means the torque falls off at some speed.

TonyWilliams said:

freshleaf said:

This Car has 100% torque and thats what put the power, When I test drove I was amazed the power it has, The Sales Guy keep telling me to Floor the Pedal and see the response and I did few times and it was very quick, this seals the Deal for me, Their are always moments on the HWY driving when you like to pass someone quickly, so if you know you have that power you wont hold it back. but otherwise just Cruise normally at 50-60 on HWY. Streets may be 25-45 Stop & Go..

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Be prepared for a significant loss of that pep above 40-45mph. Making all the torque at zero RPM means the torque falls off at some speed.

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Good to know that, I was driving City street so never went above 45mph. But it was zipping pretty good under 45 speed.
I will know soon how it behave on a HWY..

Last summer I drove from Oceanside to Simi Valley 114 miles on a single full charge. I drove at 50 miles an hour in the slow lane. I was lucky for about 60 miles of it I was able to follow the truck that was going same speed. The entire route has a gradual climb to it and it was a bit of a headwind maybe 10 to15 miles an hour. I also had to climb one mountain pass about 1000 foot rise in elevation. A/C was on and set at 78 degrees and it was 85 outside. I used a slow trickle charge and charged it up 100%.

Just three weeks into my ownership of a 2013 Leaf SV. About ten days ago over a two day span I traveled 106 miles with an estimated 9 miles of road life left from a 100% charge. Based in Evanston IL it was attained with a mix of Chicago and suburban driving with very little expressway use. Barely touched the climate control and mostly flat roads. With 33 miles of range left I pushed it by taking two passengers (over 400 lbs. total) on trip to the subway station that included a short expressway trip and saw a 10 mile drop in range after just a few miles at 60 MPH. Left the freeway a bit early to get to our destination by secondary roads. By the time I returned to my base driving along a slow road with few light or stop signs (and with one passenger dropped off) all the lost miles had returned to the range and I still had 9 remaining.

freshleaf said:

TonyWilliams said:

freshleaf said:

This Car has 100% torque and thats what put the power, When I test drove I was amazed the power it has, The Sales Guy keep telling me to Floor the Pedal and see the response and I did few times and it was very quick, this seals the Deal for me, Their are always moments on the HWY driving when you like to pass someone quickly, so if you know you have that power you wont hold it back. but otherwise just Cruise normally at 50-60 on HWY. Streets may be 25-45 Stop & Go..

Click to expand...

Be prepared for a significant loss of that pep above 40-45mph. Making all the torque at zero RPM means the torque falls off at some speed.

Click to expand...

Good to know that, I was driving City street so never went above 45mph. But it was zipping pretty good under 45 speed.
I will know soon how it behave on a HWY..

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The passing power of a LEAF above 50 is pretty poor so plan on very long passing times.

83 miles consistently!

Weather changes, driving speed 80% 60-70mph, 20% 20-30mph. This is my commute to work-home-work or home-work-home. Either way I end up with ~10% still left on the charge and I only have to plug in every other day.

Granted there are days I plug it at work if I have errends to run at the end of the day but if I am strictly talking to a from work it works every time.

~ LEAFSpecialist

Over Memorial Day weekend I twice beat the 73 miles with my 18 month old, 16K miles SL (2012).
Rolling hills, generally 45-55mph (there is a place where the limit is 70mph, but I went 65 there). Temps between 59 and 81.

On the way, had about 4.9 m/kwh on the dash. Coming back, had 5.2 m/kwh. I actually drove 72 miles each way. However, in both cases I still had 2 battery bars showing and could easily have surpassed the 73 miles. Could have gotten at least another 8-10.

The car has never been QC'd (we don't have those here in NC), has never hit VLB or turtle, and has only hit Low Battery once. I don't think I've ever seen the battery temp above 6 bars (but it may possibly have hit 7 bars once last summer). I have only what came with it in terms of SOC detection, but I think it is losing some capacity (but not a bar yet), just based on how far I go with how many battery bars.

I love my Leaf.