[Alex Hansford]

Decided to commandeer the Leaf for my twice-weekly commute to Peterborough - 56 miles each way, mostly A421/A1.
Clear roads, normally averaging 70/80mph on the motorways, so economy wouldn't be great, but so long as I could get there it would be fine, right?

The journey to Peterborough was uneventful (arrived with 20 miles and 2 bars to spare), parking in the Queensgate car park, which offered free charging facilities (7kW/ Type 2). The process using the eVolt charging station was easy enough - park up, plug in, then scan your ticket at the station and indicate which connected station is yours and off it goes (provided you've remembered to switch off the charge timer!). Had 20 miles of range and 3 bars when I plugged

After paying for a day's parking (£12 for up to 9 hours, £17 if you can't get out of work on-time) - you just unplug and off you go.

The journey back from Peterborough was also uneventful, driving similarly 70/80mph all the way home. On the way back though, the range dropped really quickly - I ended up slowing down a bit and limping home with --- miles of range and 1 bar showing.

Point is, is 56 miles too far for a regular commute by EV (particularly a Mk2 Leaf?). The way back made me feel that I needed "just another 20 miles of range" for it to feel comfortable.
Probably a familiar theme, but anyone else felt this?

 

[jontracey]

There is now a fast charger at the extra services on the a1 so you can always top up there for 10 mins if you want to do 80mph or just drop it to 65 and you should be fine

 

[Alex Hansford]

Thanks - spotted that, but that's right at the Peterborough end, when I had 80 miles of range. Need charging nearer the Black Cat roundabout or Bedford to make sure I don't have risk of getting in trouble. (I have a Source East card, but haven't managed to get it working yet).

I think the dream battery size is 30kWh - the 24kWh Leaf battery seems just a little bit short when your commute is as long as mine.

 

[leave]

Whatever range an EV has, there'll always be someone who says, "Ah now if it only had another 20 miles range..."
I was reading someone's post on another forum which went along the lines of "I'm not buying a Tesla with a 400 mile range because it won't go from X to Y"...
But seriously, if you you drive at 65ish, you'd have made it with range to spare. If you were parked for 7 hours the Leaf should have had nearly 100% charge. I drive 62 mile round trips regularly, not motorway granted, but still have 20+ miles left when I get home...

 

[flipper]

There's always the Nissan dealer in Kempston - they have a rapid now.
But, really, just dropping your average speed would mean you should do it easily. 70+ is a range killer.

 

[tim_battersby]

56 miles too short surprises me. I regularly commute 55 miles to Newcastle. I drive a Zoe and do a steady 60 - 65 mph on the (mainly) dual carriageway. Never ran short of juice. Is this a difference between Zoe and leaf or driving style or both? Have you tried the trip at 65mph?

 

[Paul]

Drove to Peterborough and back to get my passport and aside from not understanding the parking regulations and having to use (free) Chargemaster posts in ASDA to top up it was no problem in the LEAF. Was a bit low on my return, but that was without a full charge on leaving Peterborough, but 100% on leaving MK.

That's from over here in Oxley Park, so almost as far west as you can get (away from Peterborough).

 

[Alex Hansford]

Definitely my driving style on a long motorway commute is at fault, but I'm loathe to cut it too much.

Will try it at 70mph tomorrow and see if that's better, but EVs need to get better at how we're driving now. Sitting on cruise control at 70mph should give a consistent milage, as that's what the majority of people do on motorways and A roads out of towns.

I'd much rather the Leaf under reported milage but always got the range it said at the start of the journey.

 

[Paul]

I wasn't going slower than most traffic, but I could have been going faster I guess. Took it a bit easier because I knew it would be close (and didn't want to stop for long) but didn't take it too easy as I left later than planned!

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

70-80mph? I never drive at that speed in my Leaf. Range drops like a stone once past 60mph.

56 miles too far for a regular commute by EV (particularly a Mk2 Leaf?)

I had to laugh at this... sorry... because Mark Tebbutt has a Mk2 Leaf and he commutes every day over 80 miles... so I think he would disagree with that

I think this demonstrates one of the things people must learn when getting an EV... you cannot treat them the same as a ICE... but that is no bad thing. Like anything new, if you use it with consideration for its limitations then it is fine.

Sitting on cruise control at 70mph should give a consistent milage

Please forgive me but that statement does show your inexperience of the Leaf and EVs in general. Sitting on cruise at 70 is not a great idea if you are looking to get anything in the way of descent range. 70mph should give you a range of about 70 miles but that is if the road is flat and the speed is constant. I would say that it is not at all unreasonable to have a range of 60 miles at 70mph. So your 56 miles is very tight.

Your suggestion that you need another 20 miles range might be true for the speed you want to drive but you have a Leaf, with the range it has now, so slow down a bit and you will find that the Leaf is perfect for a 56 mile commute with room to spare

Here is a range grid for the Mk2 Leaf... sorry but it is in kilometers so do your own conversion. Using this grid there was a Leaf on the WAVE that did nearly 200kms on a single charge! I know, I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it myself.

 

[Robert McAdam]

I drove a 35 mile trip between berwick and st boswells, guessometer said I had 80 miles but when I arrived it had dropped to 35 miles. A lot of long slightly uphill stretches. Coming back The same road, same speeds, I used lots less lecky

 

[drivelectric]

I understand the temptation to maintain 70mph or so where that's the speed limit - I tend to do it myself, just to show everyone that EVs don't have to be slow - but it does hit the energy consumption. I've just finished a post on my blog which makes the point: http://wp.me/p4md1P-38. (Sorry about the plug)

 

[Edd Beesley]

Definitely my driving style on a long motorway commute is at fault, but I'm loathe to cut it too much.

Will try it at 70mph tomorrow and see if that's better, but EVs need to get better at how we're driving now. Sitting on cruise control at 70mph should give a consistent milage, as that's what the majority of people do on motorways and A roads out of towns.

I'd much rather the Leaf under reported milage but always got the range it said at the start of the journey.

I completely agree, there should be no "special way" you have to drive an EV. I drive at 70mph with the climate control on, and I know I can only go 60 miles. I'm happy with that, but will of course be happier when I can upgrade to a better car!

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I completely agree, there should be no "special way" you have to drive an EV. I drive at 70mph with the climate control on, and I know I can only go 60 miles. I'm happy with that, but will of course be happier when I can upgrade to a better car!

There is no special way anyone has to drive an EV... drive it like you want to... it is just a car.

We must remember though that it is not an ICE and so you can expect it to behave differently... so you cannot drive it like an ICE if you want the good range performance.

Remember too that the Leaf was never designed or intended to be used on long trips so we are always going to need to compromise if we want to use it outside its intended purpose. By all means, use it for those long trips but to get the range you must slow down... simple as that.

 

[Edd Beesley]

There is no special way anyone has to drive an EV... drive it like you want to... it is just a car.

We must remember though that it is not an ICE and so you can expect it to behave differently... so you cannot drive it like an ICE if you want the good range performance.

Remember too that the Leaf was never designed or intended to be used on long trips so we are always going to need to compromise if we want to use it outside its intended purpose. By all means, use it for those long trips but to get the range you must slow down... simple as that.

56 miles isn't exactly a long trip.....

 

[flipper]

70-80mph? I never drive at that speed in my Leaf. Range drops like a stone once past 60mph.


I had to laugh at this... sorry... because Mark Tebbutt has a Mk2 Leaf and he commutes every day over 80 miles... so I think he would disagree with that

I think this demonstrates one of the things people must learn when getting an EV... you cannot treat them the same as a ICE... but that is no bad thing. Like anything new, if you use it with consideration for its limitations then it is fine.


Please forgive me but that statement does show your inexperience of the Leaf and EVs in general. Sitting on cruise at 70 is not a great idea if you are looking to get anything in the way of descent range. 70mph should give you a range of about 70 miles but that is if the road is flat and the speed is constant. I would say that it is not at all unreasonable to have a range of 60 miles at 70mph. So your 56 miles is very tight.

Your suggestion that you need another 20 miles range might be true for the speed you want to drive but you have a Leaf, with the range it has now, so slow down a bit and you will find that the Leaf is perfect for a 56 mile commute with room to spare

Here is a range grid for the Mk2 Leaf... sorry but it is in kilometers so do your own conversion. Using this grid there was a Leaf on the WAVE that did nearly 200kms on a single charge! I know, I wouldn't have believed it either had I not seen it myself.

View attachment 1475

A rough translation of the attachment:
56km/h = 35mph = 123 miles
64km/h = 40mph = 112 miles
72km/h = 44mph = 103 miles
81km/h = 50mph = 90 miles
89km/h = 55mph = 82 miles
97km/h = 60mph = 76 miles
105km/h = 65mph = 70 miles
113km/h = 70mph = 63 miles
121km/h = 75mph = 58 miles

So, drop your speed to 65mph and you'd do the 56 miles comfortably.

I do a daily commute of ~67 miles round trip, with no option to charge at work. I usually make it home with 20%/20 miles remaining. The journey is mainly single carriageway A-roads, with a little bit of dual carriageway (in Milton Keynes), travelling at 50-60 on the A-roads (keeping up with traffic).