[Steve Thayne]

Commute to work..up to 65 mph on M54 driving with the road, no less than 50 (temp speed limit to 50 in parts). 15 miles.

Numerous work trips at speed limit round Shrewsbury at 30 or 40 mph. Several routes chosen as quicker not shorter ie alomg the A5 at 50 mph +.

Commute home on back roads to avoid traffic. Shopping locally.

100 miles driven from a charge.

No workplace charging available. No outside office hours charging reliably available in Shrewsbury to get me home to Telford.

Feels important to share my experience so that those considering a Leaf whose circstances are similar in part or full can see what range is possible when you need it.

Cold and wet and windy weather would have reduced my range further - to the 90's.

I was by no means driving as though my life depended on the range today - could have eked out a few more if needed. The warm weather helped though.

But. If you are desparate to drive an ev. If you drive such high mileage that your fuel savings alone could pay for the Leaf despite being on a below £20,000 salary. If you need the Leaf to be your only vehicle and get you close to 100 miles from a charge. If you are prepared to adjust your driving style to achieve this.

It can be done....

 

[Steve Thayne]

You did pretty well getting down to 8% as I remember!

And it is good we are all different. Sometimes my trusting that all will be ok gets me in trouble.....!

But I suppose rationally my point would be that we only have 100▲% of the range available if we are prepared to use nearly all of it!

And more importantly....for others like me .... I want to share my experience...because prior to buying my Leaf knowing what was possible for people like me would have helped me make the decision to buy....

It is good we are all different though....

 

[Steve Thayne]

Yes I do think the Leaf display is incredibly anxiety triggering when it gets low. To stop giving you any guide at the point where you most need guidance.....can only suspect a lawyers influence in this

The thing is, when you lose all info at 7%.. you should have up to 7 carefully driven, on level ground,miles remaining.

My experience and others confirms this to be true.

We do it so you don't have to. But remember it IS there if a gun to your head on a cold,wet, blowy, misty autumnal night.....

 

[Steve Thayne]

It is all distracting......blocking the display with lbr warning at 7 % .... and so on.

Guess I have just learned to ignore it all.

"I have !7% / miles remaining? Great, I am within 17 miles of home so no problem. And hey, I was watching both my trip and % guide so knew this anyway. Can I have my info display back please?

(Finger press of button.)

Thanks. Where were we?"

 

[Steve Thayne]

Did you not notice it was in the Leaf section of the forum......

Also had 5 people in the car at times which you can't in a Zoe.....

More importantly though they are BOTH great cars. Am sure Zoe owners made the right decision for THEM as did Leaf owners. For one of us to be right doesn't make the other wrong.

 

[Steve Thayne]

Better leave one of the boys behind in future @Eunicholas

Was confusing the Zoe with the i3 which only has 4 seats!

But the Zoe does have the lease which was a deal breaker for me. On my salary.

And the 100 miles from a charge really is enough for me.

An added benefit is the Leaf motor is relatively more efficent at low speeds than the Zoe as opposed to the Zoe being more efficent at high speeds. Most of my miles are around town.

Again, am happy that you are happy with your Zoe....we can both be right here.....

 

[Steve Thayne]

I just got myself a Peugeot iOn and fetched it from the dealers yesterday. It was a 70 mile journey and I did seriously consider driving the iOn but as it's second hand and most folk are saying 60 mile real world range I decided to trailer the car home. (range anxiety before I even got the car!)

It does look like the newer EVs are getting into the much more acceptable range for the regular motorist as opposed to us motoring oddities. I bought the iOn to save me money as 11,500 of my 15,000 annual miles are a regular 20 mile to and 20 mile back commute, I reckon I should save myself about £1500 a year in fuel and being that the car was just under £8000 with 3000 miles on the clock I figured the time was right to take the plunge. I'm still keeping my regular car for the long journeys and to haul heavy stuff about with but given that it's got 115,000 on the clock it isn't really worth trading in against much.

Effectively I've bought myself a cheap hybrid. Consider it as an Outlander but £20k cheaper!

I intend to gradually push the range on my iOn to find out how far I can really go in it, though I'll do the finding out within a reasonable radius of home like you Steve. Currently the car's telling me it's got 45mile range on a full battery but that will be based on all the test drives and hacks around by the service department while it's been up for sale at the dealers. It's good to read how people are getting good realistic ranges from their cars.

EVs make ideal runarounds at the moment and as most households these days have more that one car it really does make sense that one of them is an EV. I figured I could not really afford to not save on my fuel bill by not buying an EV despite the fact that what I needed was a car to replace my diesel which I haul various cars around on a trailer and also use as a van with all the seats removed to lug heavy engines about. But I only do this for 3,500 miles in a year.

Sounds sensible. And that factoring of the fuel costs into financing ev ownership was key for me too. Up to 22,000 miles a year. Paid for in full over five years. Fuel savings pay for the car repayments in full. I expect some battery degradation in the last year or two. Will look at battery replacement at the end of the five years when car paid off.

 

[Steve Thayne]

Lol the zoe is a 5 seater lol do people think the zoe is a 4 seater

No my mistake was thinking of the i3 which is a 4 seater.

Memo to myself though. To resist the temptation to join in competitive exchanges about which car is better.

All ev's are good to my mind. Happy with the choice I have made for me. Does not mean others are wrong in choosing zoe, i3, etc for them. Keep faith in yourselves people...for you to win no one has to lose.....

 

[Steve Thayne]

Had a longer trip in the LEAF today, just can't get these figures I see folk post from time to time even when driving slower than all but a handful of cars on the motorway. Frustratingly I have to say!

That is odd and must be frustrating.

Presume yours is a gen 2? And that you have checked the obvious things like tyre pressure.

Other than that, wonder about your battery health?

How many miles were you getting?

 

[Steve Thayne]

Perhaps the local infrastructure is the difference then! Driving 100 miles on Friday I knew there was no reliable public available outside of office hours - the only time I could charge. Concentrates the mind! And we have no rapid chargers yet in Shropshire or Mid Wales.

Have to be honest I have grown to like driving to maximise range. I feel more relaxed, less stressed. On days off locally I do sometimes slip into driving with a heavy right foot - feel less relaxed when I do.
.
But then I don't have a wife or kids in the car to get home....

 

[Steve Thayne]

I think all our circumstances vary. For me it is a case of needs must. I have a 30 mile round trip to work, a job that requires frequent journeys in the day, and no reliable charging available to me after 5 when I finish work to get me home.

Knowing this when I bought the Leaf it was essential that it was able to do close to the 100 miles from a charge I hoped.

It has done, and it felt worth sharing for the benefit of those others who are in a similar situation. I do it by as gradual acceleration as possible, driving with tge road, keeping speed down and route selection.

While it is needs must I do find that I genuinely enjoy eco driving personally. We are all different.

For those who are motivated for ev driving primarily by sustainability motives is worth remembering that charging during the day when you could avoid it may lead to more fossil fuel generation due to the risk of adding demand to the grid at times when demand is high. Charging overnight when there is spare capacity less likely to.

And the heavy right foot can start to undermine the money saved from driving an ev - every penny of which I need to own a £21,000 car on a £17,000 salary.

But in saying this I don't judge. We are all different as personalities and in our needs, resources, preferences. That we are choosing to drive some or all of our miles in ev's is wonderful.

 

[Steve Thayne]

I believe your experience Edd. I also believe mine having lived it! Note in my post I said a lot of my miles were done at 30 to 40 as I was driving round town for work.

I doubt I would have got 100 miles per charge last night either as it was cooler. I would have got in the 90's. But I would have been prepared to drive to the end of the vlbw
having set and watched the trip.

Rate of acceleration also affects the range. So would aim to accelerate using no more than one dot on eco where possible. And downhill holding it between drive and eco to effectively coast and use gravity.

Sounds like your journey was not point to point so does not tell us about elevation - if you stopped higher than you started it would have taken more charge.

On long drives I listen to podcasts like Transport Evolved so don't find them boring. And if you do the maths of driving at 70 or 55 arrival time is very little different due to the choke points at traffic lights etc.

But will leave you to your truth Edd. I believe you. But I also believe my own experience of getting 100 miles per charge even on the motorway when temp warm.....and over 90 when not

 

[Steve Thayne]

Don't go by the gauge on the right...the gueasometer....select the % guide. 1 % to 1 mile roughly. Just under for me today - 95 mile range from 100%.

Not all dealers are knowledgeable. If your car has been stored at 100% for a period of time this can damage battery health. Worth checking if performance below what you hope for. Though would echo Rory's thoughts about charging it 100 % without fear when in daily use.

Also if away for an extended period do not leave the battery empty....will completely ruin it.

 

[Steve Thayne]

More than a little bit proud of our
efforts on this thread and the forum in general.

Together we are more than the sum of
our parts