[HighlandLeaf]

The past 3 months have been my first experience of EV driving. Overall, it's been a very positive experience and it somehow feels like you're winning every time you get in the car.

The only issue I've been struggling with is range. We live in a rural area and nearly all of the driving is at 40mph+ with plenty at 60mph+ of local dual carriageway. Throughout the winter months, the range has been around 100mi only driving at sensible speeds and not going crazy with the heating. Admittedly it has been a cold winter with regular minus temps.

I'm wondering if I'm missing a trick on driving at higher (motorway) speeds. I understand it's better to not use e-pedal nor Eco mode to improve coasting (presumably at the expense of battery regen?). What's the verdict of Leaf Owners out there. Should you regularly be able to achieve the quoted 125mi motorway range in standard winter temps if staying within speed limits? As it is, I'm not confident of making the 100mi trip to Edinburgh on a single charge.

Thanks for any advice and useful pointers.

 

[jonnobris]

Hi, in the depths of winter at higher speeds with heating on etc I am getting probably about 105 miles to a charge. The leaf seems quite effected by temperatures as it hasn't got thermal managed batteries. I noticed keeping speed to an indicated 65-68 really has an impact on range compared to indicated 70+ mph.

As weather gets warmer it will increase and last summer I was getting, easily, 125-130 miles per charge at motorway speeds.

Hope this helps

 

[Kingpleb1]

Nope, if your sitting at 60+ and in a rural area where the roads are often more exposed, the car will work harder.
the heating has been suffering a lot as well due to the cold months as the heat pump cant work enough so the electric heater kicks in. this is about 3kw as well so for an hour of driving that can suck about 10% of the battery out.
The colder battery as well never helps as its less efficient, and tyre pressures dip as well.

I've found the following helps a lot.

• have the charge session finish about 30mins before you leave (this gets some heat into the battery even at 7kw
• preheat the car for 15mins before you go, this helps get some heat into the car as well so less is needed when driving
• avoid using regen on long downhills and coming up to junctions, coast more instead by just feathering the throttle
• Tyre pressures all at least 36psi when stone cold in the morning I ran 41 on my leafs and some run 42 with no noticable comfort loss, but less shoulder wear.

 

[jonnobris]

What sort of benefit did you find by running at 36+psi. Mine is currently only at 31 all round. I have the Tekna with 17' alloys and does this make the ride really harsh? I think I might give this a go.

 

[HighlandLeaf]

Useful to hear. Thanks. Am I right in saying that the speedo reading low is a common issue for the Leafs? GPS would suggest that 70mph is more like 66-67mph. So an indicated 65-68 might be closer to 62-64?

Hi, in the depths of winter at higher speeds with heating on etc I am getting probably about 105 miles to a charge. The leaf seems quite effected by temperatures as it hasn't got thermal managed batteries. I noticed keeping speed to an indicated 65-68 really has an impact on range compared to indicated 70+ mph.

As weather gets warmer it will increase and last summer I was getting, easily, 125-130 miles per charge at motorway speeds.

Hope this helps

 

[modo]

Useful to hear. Thanks. Am I right in saying that the speedo reading low is a common issue for the Leafs? GPS would suggest that 70mph is more like 66-67mph. So an indicated 65-68 might be closer to 62-64?

Yes (re indicated speed), not an issue as such - seems to be a Nissan 'feature'. Perhaps it's a Japanese thing as an Accord I had used to similarly over-read.

 

[farmergiles]

Nope, if your sitting at 60+ and in a rural area where the roads are often more exposed, the car will work harder.
the heating has been suffering a lot as well due to the cold months as the heat pump cant work enough so the electric heater kicks in. this is about 3kw as well so for an hour of driving that can suck about 10% of the battery out.
The colder battery as well never helps as its less efficient, and tyre pressures dip as well.

I've found the following helps a lot.

• have the charge session finish about 30mins before you leave (this gets some heat into the battery even at 7kw
• preheat the car for 15mins before you go, this helps get some heat into the car as well so less is needed when driving
• avoid using regen on long downhills and coming up to junctions, coast more instead by just feathering the throttle
• Tyre pressures all at least 36psi when stone cold in the morning I ran 41 on my leafs and some run 42 with no noticable comfort loss, but less shoulder wear.

I don't understand why not to use regen if you need to slow down? 20% of my energy consumption is from regens on my daily short journeys. Feathering the throttle in e-pedal mode will vary the regen amount from 0 to max so can't see why you'd not use it.

 

[DomJ]

I don't understand why not to use regen if you need to slow down? 20% of my energy consumption is from regens on my daily short journeys. Feathering the throttle in e-pedal mode will vary the regen amount from 0 to max so can't see why you'd not use it.

There are losses in regen, it is not a 100% efficient way to put energy into the battery. If you are reading the road far enough ahead and you know you're not going to have to come to a stop coasting and therefore using no energy would be more efficient than regen. If you're going to have to come to stop or slow down significantly regardless then of course you'll use regen to slow down as you press the brake pedal.
A real world example would be going downhill on a motorway/dual carriageway where say you're travelling at 65mph, you reach a downhill section and lift off the accelerator, as you roll down the hill some regen happens and energy goes back into the battery, in this situation it would be more efficient to let the car completely coast with no regen and allow the car to gather speed (up to 70mph of course...) and then come back down to speed as the road levels out.

 

[farmergiles]

There are losses in regen, it is not a 100% efficient way to put energy into the battery. If you are reading the road far enough ahead and you know you're not going to have to come to a stop coasting and therefore using no energy would be more efficient than regen. If you're going to have to come to stop or slow down significantly regardless then of course you'll use regen to slow down as you press the brake pedal.
A real world example would be going downhill on a motorway/dual carriageway where say you're travelling at 65mph, you reach a downhill section and lift off the accelerator, as you roll down the hill some regen happens and energy goes back into the battery, in this situation it would be more efficient to let the car completely coast with no regen and allow the car to gather speed (up to 70mph of course...) and then come back down to speed as the road levels out.

Yes, that makes sense.

 

[Nigelbs]

as far s I remember back when we were allowed to drive for my trip to London(120 miles mainly motorway) keeping to low 60s mph and heating set at 20 degC I would get the following:

Winter driving GoM has 15 miles left

Summer driving GOM has 30 miles left.

so between 130 and 150 miles on a full charge. I just leave it in D for long trips, only use B for engine braking on steep hills and only use the e-pedal around town. I used to mess around with the settings but then realised that my wife who uses D the whole time was getting better mileage than me. I think it’s more down to how you drive!

 

[John-Sparks]

Hello, I am new to the forum and have a LEAF 40 which I have owned for the last 3 Months, coming from a diesel. I have been lurking for the last year and have really enjoyed this fantastic forum. This forum being a big driver in giving me the confidence to make move to an EV. I have now plucked up courage to join and hopefully make some constructive contributions. So please go easy on me until I earn my spurs.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that with the LEAF, when the GOM and the percentage bar read zero. There is still hidden mileage in the battery, approximately 12 miles in winter and 15 in summer.

This is going to make any winter range look a lot worse than it actually is. With my limited motorway experience, I would say that 90 - 95 miles range at 70mph (73 mph for a true 70mph) if head wind or rain then this has the most impact and would be less.

The best motorway mileage is achieved at 58 mph streaming a lorry I think 125 miles is possible in winter using this technique.

 

[Nigelbs]

if head wind or rain then this has the most impact and would be less.

I should have added that wind and rain do make a surprising difference !

 

[jonnobris]

Today did a 260 mile run at motorway speeds and averaged 3.9miles per kWh.

 

[Kingpleb1]

What sort of benefit did you find by running at 36+psi. Mine is currently only at 31 all round. I have the Tekna with 17' alloys and does this make the ride really harsh? I think I might give this a go.

Comfort didnt change at all for me really compared to the 36psi standard. Handling and response to input on the wheel was much improved, range seemed to go up a little on motorways and tyres lasted that little bit longer as it offset the shoulder wear from carrying safe speed a bit more on twistier bits

 

[JeffG]

All speedos over-read by law. My dash cam shows the true speed, so I know to drive at around an indicated 32 in a built up area.

 

[farmergiles]

All speedos over-read by law. My dash cam shows the true speed, so I know to drive at around an indicated 32 in a built up area.

Yes, I always stick to the speed limit + 3-4mph (or more !). Sadly, many motorists seem to think their speedo will under read and slow down to the speed limit - 3-4mph.

 

[farmergiles]

Comfort didnt change at all for me really compared to the 36psi standard. Handling and response to input on the wheel was much improved, range seemed to go up a little on motorways and tyres lasted that little bit longer as it offset the shoulder wear from carrying safe speed a bit more on twistier bits

The E+ is 2.5 bar or about 37psi but I have bumped mine up to 40 as I noticed the shoulders seem to wearing faster than the centre of the tread.

 

[Astolat]

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that with the LEAF, when the GOM and the percentage bar read zero. There is still hidden mileage in the battery, approximately 12 miles in winter and 15 in summer.

I understand that’s correct, though I’ve never got down that low. It’s not mileage I’d include in range, thoug( if you’re the sort of person who used to drive an ICE with the fuel gauge on empty, then maybe you would!

 

[farmergiles]

I understand that’s correct, though I’ve never got down that low. It’s not mileage I’d include in range, thoug( if you’re the sort of person who used to drive an ICE with the fuel gauge on empty, then maybe you would!

Carwow video test

When the SOC displays ----- you might find it just stops quite suddenly so definitely do not assume you have 10 or 15miles range. Also, you can't push it unless there is someone in the driving seat.