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I had some fun this afternoon. When I returned from my 200 mile trip to Highbridge today I was pretty low on power when I arrived home so I popped into tell my other half that I was going around the block a few times to see how low I could go before it went to Turtle mode. My wife put the kettle on and made tea assuming I'd only be 5 or 10 mins. What happened resulted in me being delayed for my tea!
I went twice around a circuit watching LeafSpy as I went trying to guage if I could get around another loop. What I was trying to do it see at what percentage SOC I could go down to. The idea was not to actually get to Turtle but if I could get close then I would have a bottom SOC that I was comfortable going down to.
The thing is that I totally misjudged it and thought I had power enough for another 1 mile loop... I didn't! I went to Turtle about 400yds from my house and the car stopped about 300yds from the house. It only went 100yds in Turtle mode. That was less than I expected but nonetheless... I still misjudged it!
As our other car is an Ampera which cannot tow (nowhere to safely attach a tow rope without damage) I had to call a mate who came and towed me the 300yds home with his Land Rover.
No harm done except that my tea went cold!
The annoying thing is that in all the excitement I forgot to look at how low it went at Turtle so I will have to do it again at some point. DOH!
I know I can drive safely down to 7% and it was probably a bit lower than that at Turtle. It had just 2 GIDS remaining when it stopped completely.
On the short tow back I was in N so probably no harm done and I did not have power steering but brakes were fine.
Believe it or not but this is the first time in not far off 3 years of owning the Leaf that I have gone into Turtle mode. If you can do it safely knowing you can be recovered back home then I do recommend you do it once to experience it. It will help preventing any anxiety when you get that low battery warning!
I went twice around a circuit watching LeafSpy as I went trying to guage if I could get around another loop. What I was trying to do it see at what percentage SOC I could go down to. The idea was not to actually get to Turtle but if I could get close then I would have a bottom SOC that I was comfortable going down to.
The thing is that I totally misjudged it and thought I had power enough for another 1 mile loop... I didn't! I went to Turtle about 400yds from my house and the car stopped about 300yds from the house. It only went 100yds in Turtle mode. That was less than I expected but nonetheless... I still misjudged it!
As our other car is an Ampera which cannot tow (nowhere to safely attach a tow rope without damage) I had to call a mate who came and towed me the 300yds home with his Land Rover.
No harm done except that my tea went cold!
The annoying thing is that in all the excitement I forgot to look at how low it went at Turtle so I will have to do it again at some point. DOH!
I know I can drive safely down to 7% and it was probably a bit lower than that at Turtle. It had just 2 GIDS remaining when it stopped completely.
On the short tow back I was in N so probably no harm done and I did not have power steering but brakes were fine.
Believe it or not but this is the first time in not far off 3 years of owning the Leaf that I have gone into Turtle mode. If you can do it safely knowing you can be recovered back home then I do recommend you do it once to experience it. It will help preventing any anxiety when you get that low battery warning!