[Eunicholas]

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.

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

 

[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.

 

[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.....

 

[Paul]

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!

 

[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?

 

[Paul]

Gen 2.

Hard to say miles as I'm not going near zero, I'll check later for more detailed info, but on a road trip yesterday covering 150 or so miles total we left at 100% and had a low battery warning three times and three on-route rapid top-ups (two about 10 minutes and one (near destination) of over 30 minutes). Almost all motorway, fastest I went was an indicated 64moh to overtake a car wandering lane to lane slowly.

I wouldn't want to go slower than I was on a motorway, I know people do, but I'm not particularly at those speeds, let alone 50 or less, feels unrealistic for most drivers

The last ten miles I went quick with low battery as frankly I was bored, getting tired and bed was calling and within range at any reasonable speed!

Two up for a change too.

Could I get 100? Maybe if I went out of my way to do so, but I never have. Closest was 94 or 96 when he car was quite new and we were a bit reckless.

 

[Paul]

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.

 

[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

 

[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....

 

[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

 

[Paul]

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.

 

[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.

 

[Paul]

It wasn't local, hence the distance.

The other irony of EV driving (as per my journey) is the trip was longer than it would be in an ICE because I had to seek out charging, rather than it "just being there" as petrol stations are.

I'd still rather be in the LEAF a little longer than an ICE for the day. Which is just as well being an EV only household!

Very glad I was sold and treat the LEAF as an 80 mile car, as I'm never disappointed but sometimes pleasantly surprised.

 

[Paul]

As mentioned above, two up rather than the usual four, no luggage, and only used the heater sparingly on some of the return leg due to frozen wife.

 

[BarryP]

Yesterday I drove an 70 mile round trip on the M27 at a steady 60 on cruise control, except for a few bursts up to 70+ on necessary overtakes and some 10 miles on country roads. My indicated power consumption was 4.4 miles per kwh, with 23 miles shown remaining when I got home.
If the 4.4 mphwh is correct on a full charge and the batteries new I should manage 105 miles.
My normal mpkwh is 4.6, so with care the 100 is possible.
The other day, by cheating, I managed to show 30.6 mpkwh, That's how that guy from the USA does it. When I have a spare day I will try for first place on Carwings. Perhaps we could have a contest.

 

[Rory166]

Yesterday I drove an 70 mile round trip on the M27 at a steady 60 on cruise control, except for a few bursts up to 70+ on necessary overtakes and some 10 miles on country roads. My indicated power consumption was 4.4 miles per kwh, with 23 miles shown remaining when I got home.
If the 4.4 mphwh is correct on a full charge and the batteries new I should manage 105 miles.
My normal mpkwh is 4.6, so with care the 100 is possible.
The other day, by cheating, I managed to show 30.6 mpkwh, That's how that guy from the USA does it. When I have a spare day I will try for first place on Carwings. Perhaps we could have a contest.

I don't seem to be able to do this sort of mileage. What could the reason be? I had heard that cruise control was uneconomic. I assume you refer to indicated speed rather than actual.

 

[Mark Surry]

When on the motorways I feel more conformable following slow lorries if I need to keep the speed down. Never use cruise control if economy is required. I tend to let the car slow down slightly going up hill (not too slow) then gather the speed back up going down hill. Displaying the eco meter on the dash I find helps too.
My last trip I managed to achieve 4.8 miles/kW. This was a mix of motorway and town driving.
Eco driving is an art where patience is a must.

 

[Paul]

I don't seem to be able to do this sort of mileage. What could the reason be? I had heard that cruise control was uneconomic. I assume you refer to indicated speed rather than actual.

I think most people can't/don't get these numbers. It looks even from the dubious CarWings rankings these figures are the exceptions not the rule.

Cruise control isn't "aware" of what's going on ahead or under the car, so I echo the above about controlling things yourself.

Also helps combat motorway tedium.

 

[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.