[Barfly]

I have seen on here others posting that they have used neutral to coast when they are concerned about their low battery levels.

I have not been able to select neutral at all, let alone when moving.

How can this be done? I am a bit nervous about playing with the shift lever when in motion.....

Cheers, Tony.

 

[husoi]

You just pull the selector to the right for a longer period than you would do to select D or B mode.
You don't move it neither forward (which it will result in a beep if you're moving) or backwards as you do for D/B modes.

 

[husoi]

Having said that, I would prefer to change my foot to feather mode as this is far more efficient. In neutral you can't regenerate energy.

 

[Barfly]

Than

You just pull the selector to the right for a longer period than you would do to select D or B mode.
You don't move it neither forward (which it will result in a beep if you're moving) or backwards as you do for D/B modes.

Thanks, I wondered how to do it.

 

[husoi]

Do you know that when cruise control is active you can increase/decrease set speed by increments of 5mph by long pressing the + or - buttons?
This is very handy when you're on motorway and come into a roadworks area and need to go to 40mph.

 

[Barfly]

Do you know that when cruise control is active you can increase/decrease set speed by increments of 5mph by long pressing the + or - buttons?
This is very handy when you're on motorway and come into a roadworks area and need to go to 40mph.

No I didn't-I have been tediously doing multiple taps, thanks for this-a good tip.

 

[dk6780]

You just pull the selector to the right for a longer period than you would do to select D or B mode.
You don't move it neither forward (which it will result in a beep if you're moving) or backwards as you do for D/B modes.

And of course you do this in static traffic to allow you to take your foot off of the brake. When you want to move off you just select D without the need to put your foot back on the brake again.

Do you know that when cruise control is active you can increase/decrease set speed by increments of 5mph by long pressing the + or - buttons?

I for one didn't! Personally I'd prefer two or three buttons that I could programme for say 30, 50 and 70 (like radio presets) and in the case of my LEAF24 with 16" wheels do so for actual speeds not the -11% that the speedo reads.

 

[husoi]

And of course you do this in static traffic to allow you to take your foot off of the brake. When you want to move off you just select D without the need to put your foot back on the brake again.

I for one didn't! Personally I'd prefer two or three buttons that I could programme for say 30, 50 and 70 (like radio presets) and in the case of my LEAF24 with 16" wheels do so for actual speeds not the -11% that the speedo reads.

In static traffic I would just go to P mode.
The preset settings would be a good idea as long there is no risk that you press it by mistake and end up slowing down or going crazy and speeding up
Although, Nissan solved the problem with ProPilot but for that you need someone to follow.

Alternative is to cancel the CC and set it up again when you reach the speed you want. i.e. you're going at 70 then cancel and set it again at 40 (common limit in roadworks areas).
If you're accelerating, say from 40 to 70 you just need to press the pedal to 70 and press the set button again.

 

[dk6780]

The preset settings would be a good idea as long there is no risk that you press it by mistake and end up slowing down or going crazy and speeding up

Similar to hitting resume with the standard cruise control!

Although, Nissan solved the problem with ProPilot but for that you need someone to follow.

Assuming that they are doing the correct speed. I was only speeding your because my car followed the one in front, your honour!

Alternative is to cancel the CC and set it up again when you reach the speed you want. i.e. you're going at 70 then cancel and set it again at 40 (common limit in roadworks areas).
If you're accelerating, say from 40 to 70 you just need to press the pedal to 70 and press the set button again.

Agreed, and this has the benefit of accelerating more gently than the "resume" equivalent. I'll add the "gently accelerate" to my fantasy buttons, or expect it to use an equivalent of the "limit" function to allow manual control before taking over when the speed it reached.

 

[Hilltop Dave]

In static traffic I would just go to P mode.

Coming to my Leaf from an ICE with a manual gearbox, I found it preferable to apply the parking brake and move the 'gearstick' into Neutral. This avoids having to press the brake pedal to get out of P mode, just move the 'gearstick into D, release the parking brake, and apply some right foot [on a steep hill, apply the right foot before releasing the parking brake with the left foot]

 

[husoi]

I would like a Eco CC and a normal CC systems.
The eco being just slower and more efficient to accelerate.

 

[Barfly]

It would be nice to be able to re-programme the speed limiter for an eco mode cc. Does anyone actually use that weird function when they have cc? I personally have never been able to see the point of it.

 

[dk6780]

I find the speed-limiter useful in long boring stretches with speed limits that appear low for the road concerned. Setting the limiter avoids the risk of speed gently rising beyond the limit when the nature of the taffic prevents theuse of cruise control.
As an aside, the local Council are currently proposing a blanket reduction from 30 to 20 MPH throughout the County. Given that I am regularly overtaken when doing 30 indicated on GPS in the current 30 MPH limits I can see the 20 MPH being observed without some very heavy enforcement.

 

[husoi]

It would be nice to be able to re-programme the speed limiter for an eco mode cc. Does anyone actually use that weird function when they have cc? I personally have never been able to see the point of it.

I take it you're talking about the eco mode.
Both eco and B mode are turn off when in cc.

 

[cjm_2013]

Neutral is most useful at car washes, or at the beginning of a journey at a high SOC after the car has been stood for a while - it's handy to clear any disc corrosion or pad contamination, as braking in N is purely mechanical. I'd go for a 'firm' brake if conditions allow.

 

[Glyndonian]

I'm under the impression that coasting in neutral is damaging to the motor, been advised against it in my Ampera, I've stopped doing it in my Leaf too. @donald will be able to clarify.

 

[husoi]

I'm under the impression that coasting in neutral is damaging to the motor, been advised against it in my Ampera, I've stopped doing it in my Leaf too. @donald will be able to clarify.

I would tend to generally agree with it.
It all depends how the gearbox works so any effort will be done to the gearbox not the motor.

 

[DBMandrake]

What's all the obsession with putting cars into park while stopped at the lights for a few seconds ? Are we worried we might fall asleep at the wheel and release the brake pedal ?

Unlike an ICE auto where there is a reason to put the car in neutral or park at a traffic light (just pressing the brake pedal leaves the near-stalled torque converter loading the engine wasting a small amount of fuel) there is no such reason in an EV - if you press the brake pedal in drive while stationary in an EV the electronic "creep" is automatically disabled, so no power is wasted having the motor tugging at the foot brake.

So dropping into Neutral with the foot brake on makes no difference to staying in drive, but does increase your reaction time to get moving when the lights change. And being in park and/or applying the hand brake of course increases your reaction time to get moving significantly.

The only issue I can see in an EV with simply pressing the brake pedal in drive at a traffic light is literally if you fell asleep or your foot slipped off the pedal you would start to slowly creep forward. (And only in an EV which has creep in the first place) How often does that happen ?

Putting any automatic car (EV's included) in park without having the foot or handbrake also applied for the duration is also bad for the parking pawl mechanism in the gearbox as if the car rolls slightly it will put a lot of strain on it - don't do it. The parking brake in an automatic gearbox is only there as an emergency second line of defence if the primary means of braking (foot brake and handbrake) fail to hold the car stationary. It's not designed to be the primary means of holding the car stationary when stopped, especially on an incline.

 

[donald]

What's all the obsession with putting cars into park while stopped at the lights for a few seconds ?

Glaring brake lights.

 

[donald]

I'm under the impression that coasting in neutral is damaging to the motor, been advised against it in my Ampera, I've stopped doing it in my Leaf too. @donald will be able to clarify.

Especially in the Ampera. If you are in CD2/CS2 and select neutral the two motors then have to compete against each other to maintain the shaft speed. If you were to try it, I am not recommending remotely that you do, you should see that your energy consumption actually goes UP!

For permanent magnet equipped motors, I would not risk it, there may be flux-weakening algorithms that you suddenly discover don't work so well in neutral and cause some catastrophe or other.

For externally excited motors, induction motors and hybrid switch reluctance motors, you're probably OK to select neutral ... but why?

Just hold the power setting to approx 0kW. Doesn't have to be exact. Anything between +5kW and -5kW, you're really not going to detect any additional energy used/recovered. It is waaaaay below any 'signal-to-noise' ratio you are going to achieve by reading off any dash instruments.