Nissan Leaf EV General Discussion

[bilgladstone 13]

Sounds like a purely warm-weather car to me.B

[MikeT 744]

Another complaint, that I forgot to mention last time. This car, if you have seen one and know what it looks like, has headlights that manage to be both hideous and have about 80% of their plastic lens exposed to the sky versus the 20% that represents frontal area (i.e. where the light is supposed to go, ahead of the car).Although the LED low beams do have projector lenses, there is so much chromed plastic within the headlight assemblies, 80% of which is exposed to the sky, that the low beams shoot fugitive light upwards. On a clear evening, this is not an issue, but in fog or falling snow - even heavy rain, it is a DISASTER. We were unable to drive faster than 45 km/h in the falling snow on our way home from Youbou on Tuesday due to this ridiculous artefact of the surrealist car stylists at Nissan. Otherwise we probably would have been doing 70 on the snow covered roads, in a 100 zone. Ironically, even the fog lights, that are mounted in the lowest part of the front bumper, also had a fugitive light problem. This really is a major design flaw.

[Huronlad 186]

Might be something Transport Canada would be interested in.

[MikeT 744]

Maybe, but I am not arsed to take it up with them

[MikeT 744]

Here is some food for thought. We have yet to experience this sort of loss with the office fleet LEAF, but that day is coming.

[MikeT 744]

Now that summer has finally reached the west coast of Canada, I and a co-worker decided to take the LEAF to Victoria and back without recharging at the (free) Fairmont Empress EV station. The total return drive is about 125 km, but we were going to a meeting that was slightly out of town, so the total projected distance of the entire trip was about 135-140 km. There is no way we could have done this last winter, the car would top out at under 100 km.Background info: ambient temperature: about 20 degrees C, dry, no wind.Car info: charged to 100% for the occasion (instead of the 80% we've been using as maximum for a month or so), no A/C, just a blower fan on despite the heavy sun loading, car driven in ECO mode, at a maximum speed of 90 km/h.We left from Duncan with 12/12 segments illuminated of course (fortunately it's not hot enough up here to get the premature pack degeneration I have read of in the southern USA). To get to Victoria there is a little pass to get over called the Malahat (named after the local first nation), it is 352 metres above sea level. Both the departure point and the destination in Victoria were more or less at sea level. Most of this drive is on a rural 2/3/4 lane expressway with a 90 km/h speed limit, with urban driving in Victoria of course.By the top of the Malahat on the leg down to Victoria, we had lost 4 of the 12 blobs, but by the time we got to our destination at about 67 km into the drive, we had only lost two more. The energy consumption indicator showed 7.5 km/kWh at that point. I figured that we'd have to be better than 7.0 to have a chance, assuming 20kWh to begin with. So far, so good.After the meeting, we drove back downtown for lunch, and when parked near the restaurant, the car was still showing 6/12 blobs. After lunch, when restarting, the 6th blob had gone out, so we were faced with the prospect of driving back over the Malahat pass with less than half the capacity, to get slightly less than half of the total journey distance.....we went for it!At the top of the Malahat on the return leg, the car had only 2/12 blobs left, but the descent was kind to us and it was about 15 km from our home destination that the 11th blob went out. About 3 km from the office, the low battery warning sounded and we got back into our parking space/charging bay with 15 km showing on the (I think, highly unreliable) range estimator. Average energy consumption for the whole trip was 7.8 km/kWh, so perhaps it was correct after all, and we could have gone another 10 or 15 km.A lot of people in the office (especially the women) are scared to use the LEAF, presumably because it could leave them stranded if they run out of juice, so after this journey I send a batch email around explaining what is possible in these conditions. I am not sure if it helped with that lack of confidence, but it was worth a try.We reset the charger to 80% and that was that.It seems to me that the LEAF is not all that great a highway car, and its range may be better in suburban conditions, with lots of stops. This certainly is true of the hybrids, which typically are rated better in urban driving that in highway use.The car only has 4000 km on it after 8 months, so we need to start using it more. I am doing my part!

[MikeT 744]

I have been driving the LEAF occasionally since that last report. But today I took a longish (for winter) drive, from Duncan to Ladysmith (via Saltair) and back. Total distance was 57 km. The car left the office charged to 100%. The temperature was 7C, and the roads were dry. About 65% of the drive was on 4 lane 90 km/h highway. Heated seat was on high, with only me in the car. Estimated range upon leaving was 105 km.

I used up 4 of the 12 energy blobs in the drive northwards, and another 4 on the way back, although it was probably very close to losing the 9th "blob" when I got to the parking area back at the office.

Speed was set at 90 km/h, with 35% of the drive at 40-60 km/h (no stops). The car was in Eco mode.

Estimated range when I got back was 20 km.

Its range probably a bit less than half as good as it should be!