http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2014/08/15/forget-your-range-prediction-display-guts-familiarity-planning-and-common-sense-are-your-best-aids-to-long-distance-driving/ Forget your range prediction display: Guts, familiarity, planning and common sense are your best aids to long-distance driving Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield August 15, 2014
[video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG1kXfflWnk Flat Battery | Fully Charged fullychargedshow Jul 17, 2014 A Fully Discharged Special where I drive my Nissan Leaf until it stops. The first time in 41,000 miles that I have 'run out.' images Nissan LEAF 2011 REAR Nissan LEAF 2011 side view ] Right now, I’m sitting in my three-year old Nissan LEAF at a rapid charging station on the M6. I’m on my way back to Bristol after making a quick trip to Norwich to see family, and my LEAF has happily travelled some 425+ miles on this trip without a single problem. On this particular trip, my 2011 LEAF rolled over its 60,000 mile mark, officially ending Nissan’s three year, 60,000 mile warranty for the battery pack and EV drivetrain. And as a way of celebrating, I did something I’d never done before: I threw caution to the wind and drove from Bristol to Reading without stopping once for a charge. Taking the chance For the first time in an age, I ignored my ‘always be charging’ motto and decided to risk it. Inspired by Robert Llewellyn’s recent miles-till-empty experiment (see video below), I decided that it was time to see if I could beat my inner range anxiety and drive the 72.5 miles from my house to Reading Services without stopping. While that’s far less than the 100+ mile range quoted by Nissan in the LEAF’s official press material (for the original 2011 model), anyone who has driven an electric car will tell you that official range — and range quoted by the car’s on-board telematics systems — have absolutely nothing to do with real-world capabilities. When it was new, my Nissan LEAF always quoted a range from full of around 120 miles per charge, but even then a range of 80 miles was about as far as I felt happy going. While the improved 2013 and later model years manage nearer to 90 or maybe even 100, my LEAF and I nearly always end up finding a charge point long before those kind of figures appear on the odometer. Now, with twenty per cent of its original battery capacity gone, my LEAF is happier doing sixty miles between charges, so opting to do a 72.5 mile leg went against everything I ever tell every other EV driver, especially as the route included the steady but range-zapping climb to the top of some moderately high hills around Swindon. Plan and recharge at every point in case of charging failure. Don’t push it. Play it safe. That’s been the motto. Over the past three years of LEAF ownership however, I’ve developed a fairly good gut feeling for when my car needs to stop for electricity and when it’s just moaning because I’ve climbed a hill. With the cruise set at 55, I headed east towards London, letting the car tackle any hills in its own way and trying not to freak out as the range indicator jumped up and down in an alarming fashion. While the remaining range display — or guessometer — did its frenetic up and down, telling me at multiple points that “You might not be able to reach your destination,” I focused on the data which did matter: the miles to my destination and the number of bars left in my car’s state of charge meter. Trusting my instincts At 48 miles down and with just less than half a charge remaining, I reached the highest point of my Reading marathon. I started to relax… and I kept on going, because I was travelling a route which I knew incredibly well. The computer was still saying no, but I was saying yes. With the elevation profile firmly entrenched in my head, I pushed on, knowing my car had what it took to get to the next charging stop. As it happens, I arrived in Reading with nine miles of estimated range remaining on the car’s display. I think with some careful driving on A roads rather than a motorway, I could have perhaps stretched that out to nearer to twelve, since my LEAF’s low battery warning came on just a mile from my destination. Of course, I’ll admit: the draw of pulling in earlier and stopping for a charge was pretty strong, and I actually passed three potential recharging locations before stopping at the one in Reading. With twenty per cent of its original battery capacity gone, I’d just driven a 72.5 mile trip. That’s fairly close to the official 75-mile EPA range given in the U.S. for the 2011 Nissan LEAF when it was brand new. If I’d had the same amount of guts as Mr. Robert Llewellyn a few weeks back when he told me about his range experiment, I might have managed more than 80. I’m not advocating people drive their electric cars until the final electron flows out of the battery pack. Nor am I advocating that people take silly risks on long-distance trips. But with a little careful planning, a lot of familiarity with your car, and some decent common sense, the seemingly impossible becomes achievable. [© thegreencarwebsite.co.uk] ... [video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpNjcdX-c_I Nissan Leaf Road Trip - Range - Guess-O-Meter Test Tech Angel Sep 7, 2013 This is a video of how the Nissan Leaf guess-o-meter (GOM) performs over 60 miles of variable speeds up to 75 mph. If you don't want to watch the entire video you can fast forward. The video starts out in the morning. I show much of my trip into work (especially the high speed sections including quite a long stretch at 73-75 mph). At about 25 minutes into the video I arrive at work. At about 25:37 I go out to lunch (just a few miles). Thereafter, I show parts of my trip home. Video is of a 2013 Nissan Leaf SV. To me, it seems the guessometer is an average of what you would get IF your drove about 50% highway and 50% around town. Around town with ECO and B mode, I get 2-6 road miles for ever GOM mile. Often the GOM will actually add miles when driving around town in areas where you need to take your foot off the accelerator occasionally. On the highway (60-75 mph), I get about .4 to .90 road miles for every GOM mile. Once your speed is steady on the highway, performance greatly improves. After becoming more skilled with using the B mode, smoother acceleration, etc. one could expect to obtain a tad better performance than what is shown in the video. I admit I'm not very good at either yet. The steadier you drive, the further you get. Therefore, you may want to use cruise control on long stretches. The 2013 leaf accepts a 6.6 charge. I believe the 2013 is the first year with the higher capacity chargers. I have noted that the chargers at my local Nissan dealer seem to be capable of charging at 6.6 but their breakers/wiring is not. I tried to go ahead and charge while my car was having something minor looked at and all their breakers blew. The car is extremely sturdy, quiet (compared to my last car - a Prius C) and very attractive. Right now, a federal tax credit of 7,500 is offered. Some counties in Texas also offer a 3,500 rebate (not mine). In Texas rebates on charging equipment may be available. If you drive a lot like I do, the gas savings could be substantial. We are on a personal quest to lower our monthly bills. We have arranged to charge up for free. We switched to an electric plan that offers free nights (since they have unused wind power which they have to just dump at night). The day rate is higher but, we aren't home much in the day. We just leave the ac on a little bit. We have put everything else on timers to come on only between 10 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. This include the dishwasher, water heater, laptop and phone charging, etc. My better half is a night owl so he starts and washer and switches them to the dryer, etc. Our other car is a volt [pih], so we have timed one car to start charging at 10 p.m. and the other to charge at 2 a.m. If you are a two car household and decide to go electric, you may want to keep one car a hybrid for trips. My better half has been able to get up to about 46 miles on electric on his 2011 Volt (he is very good at hypermiling), then it switches to gas at about 37 mpg. Therefore, most days, he does not need any gas, and we have a car available to take off on further excursions. I hope this video is helpful. I really love the leaf so far. ] For all EVLN posts use: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date http://www.torquenews.com/1080/rolls-royce-enters-video-games-wraith-now-forza-motorsport-5 Formula E racer enters in anticipated Forza-Motorsport5 video-game http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/coast-to-coast-in-the-zoe-my-electriccar-drive-diary-30509734.html Driving a ZOE EV on an eventful UK coast2coast-Dublin2Galway journey http://www.motortorque.com/renault/twizy-reviews/renault-twizy-review-25943 £6.9k Renault Twizy review> the cheapest EV on the market http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093873_electric-boats-as-in-cars-electric-propulsion-offers-advantages-on-the-water Electric Boats> Battery Power Offers Advantages On The Water http://transportevolved.com/2014/08/12/ever-wondered-tesla-supercharger-site-built-video-explains/ How Tesla Superchargers Are Built (video) ... http://news.boldride.com/2014/08/building-a-tesla-supercharger-at-warp-speed-video/54342/ Building a Tesla Supercharger at Warp Speed (video) + EVLN: Incentives make buying a new EV better than buying used {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Forget-the-Guess-o-Meter-use-planning-common-sense-video-tp4671122.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
