[Dean Hamer]

What you might find is after a couple of full discharge cycles your range will gradually increase.

It seems based on the evidence posted on the LEAF batteries that they like to be discharged quickly and regularly. Hope your iON's battery hasn't been effected by sitting around most of its life. Let us know how you get on with it.

 

[Dean Hamer]

I am anticipating that things will settle down, regarding charge and range, once I get it into a regular routine and use. It's going to get a shock in that I'm aiming to use it 7 days a week doing 30 to 40 miles a day.

After a week or two I'll then do a few exploratory circular journeys and see what the range is. 100 miles would be wonderful but the iOn should be fine for my use and save me a fortune that I really had to seize upon.

40 miles a day will be easy for the Ion even with future degradation. As you said 4 years of ownership and you would have paid back your Ion in fuel savings! Sounds like a good plan.

 

[Dean Hamer]

@Paul as I live in South Wales I know first hand that elevation changes in the road really does effect range, I have to climb a 1800ft mountain Road once a week! But being in MK I would have thought it was fairly flat.

I use this website to check elevation changes in the road if I'm unsure of the route, not only taking in considering the mileage from A to B but the elevation changes too.

http://www.doogal.co.uk/RouteElevation.php

 

[Dean Hamer]

Have to add though I never expected 100 miles and was never sold 100 miles by the dealer and don't feel disappointed to not get it, just wish the LEAF was at least a bit better at (approaching) motorway speeds.

My 2013 Gen 2 LEAF 14k miles has had hardly any battery degradation. Leafspy tells me I need to average 4.8miles/kWh to achieve 100+ miles.

Any idea what is your average for yesterday. Mine usually sits around 3.6-3.8 because I have a heavy right foot and definitely keep up with the motorway traffic

 

[Dean Hamer]

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.

I certainly didn't feel less stressed on Thursday driving home with the girlfriend.

It was 10pm and I had 18% battery remaining.

Do you;

A) take the 9 mile route you have never driven before which is basically driving though a single track road over a mountain which was a 800ft incline.

B) take the 16 mile route drive the long way around and rapid charge for 5 mins.

Yep I took option A. Not fun when you can't see 5ft in front of you because the fog is so thick. Your still climbing this single track mountain. The dash turns to - - - %. Then the girlfriend asks every 10 seconds are we going to run out.

I will be taking option B in future lol. Not nice arriving home on turtle.

 

[Dean Hamer]

No, that's one thing I didn't measure.

It wasn't a science experiment, just a journey to a place we enjoy which I tried to take more slowly to see if the range improved much.

Apparently it didn't.

To be honest I have never tried a range test on my LEAF. Mainly because where I live it's just no good for such a test. Maybe I will do it soon before it gets too cold so I don't need the heating.

@Paul did you have a full car? Was it weighed down with passengers. What about heating?

To really get 100 mile range it is going to a scientific task if you ask me. All conditions need to be perfect. You will need a very light right foot too. Someone you or I do not have

In real world conditions 80-90 miles is more realistic if you ask me.

 

[Dean Hamer]

Hi Gail.

Firstly, charge the car to 100%. There is no real evidence that charging to 80% is any better for the battery. It seems that the battery likes to be charged up and discharged fairly quickly soon after.

Secondly, the LEAF will not get 120'od miles on a full charge (unless you drive a constant 20mph).
Realistically the LEAF has a range of 80-90 miles. This is driving economically. Minimizing motorways, and if you do use motorways keep your speed at 60mph or below. With very little heat being used to warm the cabin also.

The main things that will reduce the range of the leaf are;

• Driving uneconomically - Accelerating hard, braking hard, not reading the road ahead and not coming to a gradual stop (not making use of regenerative braking).
• Speed - When you drive above 55mph you will notice you will be using more energy as the LEAF isn't very aerodynamic.
• Wind - again, as above with aerodynamics of the car.
  
• Rain - The rolling resistance of the tyres increase when there is water on the road, this results in more energy used to get through the water.
• Heat - Turning the heater on uses energy, as much as 3-4kW in the gen 2 LEAF. Even more if you have the gen 1 (not sure how much energy it uses)

.