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The difference the warmer weather makes...110 miles from a charge in a Leaf today.

2K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  Steve Thayne 
#1 ·
Interested to note the like for like difference. Temp 16 to 20 c. Similar driving style and passenger load. 110 driven from a charge with a couple left in the tank. A ten % improvement from winter temps
 
#3 ·
Would prefer the word gently ;)

To be honest though....a lot of taxi like around town pick up drop off driving. 30 or 40 limit so drive up to that with gradual acceleration.

Commute in I choose the motorway which has a long downhill stretch. Use gravity to get me to 60 then the motor to hold it there. I come back the back road. A mile shorter and twisty so my wish to drive around 40 to 50 fits the road profile.

But yes...I am a little obsessive about getting as many miles as I can....partly from the absence of public charging. And have learnt to enjoy this way of driving.
 
#4 ·
110 seriously?? I need to hone my Leaf driving skills :eek:
 
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#5 ·
Saw this post earlier and did a bit of maths based on some logfiles on the RX8. I'll admit to battery sag in my rx8 being much better today than it was in the coldest part of winter. About 10% less sag in comparison. :)
 
#7 ·
Have you increased your tyre pressures at all?
Added a couple of psi to mine yesterday and have saved 3% on my journey this morning.
 
#9 ·
Yes keep meaning to check mine. Do before a long borderline trip. Makes a real difference.
Steve - looking at your first post, in which you quoted an increase of 10% in range in the warmer weather, from your 100 miles usual. My leaf is a MKII, bought as a demonstrator but first registered May 2013, which is just before release of the MK11. Certainly I've got a MKII body etc, but I'm hard pressed to get 70 miles range. Full battery quotes me a range of around 95 miles. Most of my journeys are on the almost flat roads east of Oswestry. When driving my old diesel I used to reckon that the easiest road for the car, with the best fuel consumption, was the A5/A483 to Chester. I got very used to driving for economy, so I translate the same techniques to the Leaf. But I can't better 70 real range even there, no matter what eco setting I use .Local Nissan say it's my driving, as does the voice next to me! Have I got a MkI battery - seems very unlikely. Any comments anyone.
 
#12 ·
So the GOM says 95 miles after a full charge?
That's pretty much what mine shows most mornings (well, in the last few weeks). I do about 70 miles daily and usually get home with 15-20 remaining. My commute is mainly A-roads, averaging 50-60MPH with a bit of town driving at both ends.
Have you looked at Carwings online to see your energy usage? I tend to use about 10kWh on each journey, with 8kWh coming from the battery and 2kWh from regen. I can always clearly see the days when the weather was bad or where I decided to drive more enthusiastically? I *always* have the heater or a/c on, set to 20-21 degrees, never use ECO mode but switch lots between D & B, as well as coasting in N on some stretches (which is probably naughty but does help!)
I put my tyres up to 40psi (cold) last weekend. It definitely helps compared to the default of 36psi with very little degradation in the ride.

Interestingly, I've noticed that some of the techniques which gave me the best MPG in my petrol and diesel cars *do not* work in the Leaf! Notably, in an ICE, coasting in gear uses zero fuel, while coasting in D does use battery energy (hence choosing N at times - but be aware that if you do this there is no regen braking available). I also make a point of putting it in N while stationary, certainly if you know you're going to be stopped for more than a few seconds.

Oddly, you might find your flat roads are working against you! There's a guy on LeafTalk who does a similar length commute to me, in Wales, but gets home with 30%+ remaining, and he says it's pretty hilly. I suspect he's getting more back in regen than me. My journey has a few hills, not huge, but not really big enough to get much regen. Although you obviously use energy getting up hills, you can get a surprising amount back on the way down and I think that's how he does better than me. If you're not getting much regen because it's so flat, that might be where you're losing out! (See my usage - if I lost that 20% regen energy, I'd be getting home almost on zero).
 
#10 ·
David,

There's no battery change for "mk1/mk2". The extra range in the UK built cars comes from changes to the motor, inverter, aerodynamics, regeneration settings and a much much better heater (in the Acenta and Tekna trim, the Visia retains the old heater).

People getting 100miles from a charge are travelling at a low average speed (think in the 40's). People getting in the 70's are travelling up to about 60mph, and people getting in the 60's are travelling closer to 70mph. The people getting less than 60 are travelling faster than 70, or driving very aggressively.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for this info So, I'm driving locally at 30 to 50, with care, without the heater or aircon nearly all the time, keeping my eye on the histogram, or on the dots, always bringing them back to two as soon as possible. In general I drive in eco mode, but not B, which I found to make little difference. Any other ideas?
 
#13 ·
Try looking at this site:

http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/

the route from Chester to Oswestry goes from 25m above sea level to about 125m, so it's not totally flat. Without knowing exactly how you drive it's difficult to say, but in the 70s is I would say fairly typical. Maybe you eke out a little more by coasting instead of using regen, by riding hills and by drafting lorries, but not a lot.
 
#14 ·
Think the others have given most of the tips I've learned elsewhere and from experience David. Tyre pressure can be a big one. And driving with the road, avoiding the inertia of absolute stops where possible - but guess you know all about this?

Wonder whether it may be worth getting your battery health checked? Others have talked about the number of gids and I believe you can buy something to check....look elsewhere on here or others may help on this thread. If the exdemo was kept for long periods at 100% or 0% before you had it this can impact on battery performance / life. Presume you have your battery warranty. Have you still got all 12 bars showing?
 
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