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Leaf's Range 105 Miles: Truth or Dare?

 
756 views Jul 27, 2011

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If you had to choose the most essential part of any gas powered car what would it be?  Engine?  Transmission?  Fuel injection?  Lots of choices, right?  I venture to bet that “fuel gauge” would not make your top ten list.  But for an all electric Nissan Leaf driver, the electronic range computer (fuel gauge) is definitely number one.

Just how trustworthy is the range computer in Nissan’s all electric Leaf?  The answer depends on three essential factors: 1. Driving style. 2. Driving conditions -- city or freeway, flats of Phoenix or the hills and valleys of Malibu. 3. Weather.

Let me take you on a simple round trip drive from Agoura to Malibu, California, approximately 24 miles via Kanan Road which is a canyon road with lots of steep climbs up the Santa Monica mountains and just as steep downs to the ocean.  

I get into my fully charged Leaf (12 bars) and after playing a half dozen “hello master” electronic notes, the dashboard’s digital monitor flashes the range: 98 miles.  I back out of the garage (using the very cool backup camera with moving line navigation display) and then flick the center knob to D, then one click more to “eco” mode.  

The eco mode range now increases to 105. 

First, I have to tell you I love to squeeze every last mile out of my electric battery.  This means, I baby the gas pedal, whoops, electric pedal.  No jack rabbit starts.  No honking at the jerk dawdling in front of me.  Actually, I prefer a slow driver up front because it reduces the chances of people honking at me.

One mile in the Leaf is not really one mile in the real world and to an inexperienced Leaf (electric car) driver this real world driving reality can easily raise your blood pressure.

The Leaf’s electronic range computer is constantly updating.  The first few miles on Kanan Road are relatively flat and after two or three miles my range indicator is fairly mile-to-mile accurate.  I’m down to 102 miles.  But then my climb up the mountain begins and little “Greenfoot” (that’s what I call my Leaf) hates mountains.  You can almost see the sweat on the dash as the computer imagines we've magically been transported to Mount Vesuvius.  The range display miles start to evaporate...91...85...74...62...and I’ve only driven 6 real world miles.  By the time I get to the top of Kanan, I’m down to 41 miles.  

The Leaf’s secret weapon is the ability to regenerate energy via its engine and braking.  Not to toot my own horn (which in a Leaf is quite lame), but among Leaf drivers I am currently ranked #4 worldwide, producing 148.4kWh in regenerated energy. How do I know this?  Nissan created “carwings” a very high-tech website that allows Leaf drivers to compare their driving style and eco competence.  Carwings computes Number of Trips, Regenerated Energy, Electricity Consumed by Accessories, Distance Traveled, Eco Tree, and Energy Economy.  By the way, there’s a driver in Japan who’s regenerated energy is 275.2kWh.  I bet he gets out and pushes his Leaf up Mount Fuji.

The drive down to the shores of Malibu is a snap with energy regeneration going full blast.  When I pull into the parking lot of the Malibu Inn my range computer displays 7 bars and 82 miles.  It’s a 12 mile trip remember.  105 - 12 = 83.  Hey, this computer works pretty good.  It’s only off by one mile.

Maybe I ate too many pancakes, but the return 12 mile drive doesn’t work out so good.  Turns out that the climb up Kanan road is longer and steeper.  This time when I get to the top the range display is down to 28 miles.  The downhill regeneration is good, but when I pull into my garage having covered 24 real world miles my display reads 56 miles.  Remember that 105 in eco mode?  Minus 24 miles is 81.  

How can the computer now give me a measly 56 as though I’ve driven 49 miles?  It was close to noon and the drive home to Agoura was much hotter than the early morning drive to Malibu.  I turned on the air conditioner for part of the trip home.  Next to climbing mountains, the Leaf’s second biggest enemy is air conditioning.

As a footnote, the remainder of my mostly flat terrain and non air conditioning driving for the rest of the day amounted to 35 additional real world miles.  A total of 59 miles.  That evening when I plugged Greenfoot in to recharge the range display remaining -- 26.  

59 + 26 = 85 miles.  But the range computer claimed 105.  The damn air conditioner stole my 20 miles.     

So how accurate is the Leaf’s range computer?  It’s like a good marriage: the better you treat your partner, the more you’ll feel like coming home for a full charge.



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Comment (1)

  1. DOSTEIN avatar DOUGLAS STEINBERG Posted: 7/28/2011 2:33pm PDT

    I love this review. It's informative, honest and bears the right sense of humor necessary to actually appraise a new vehicle for normal human beings. Four stars to Mr. Schwartz and his "electric" acumen. He got it right. If the Leaf's price is anything like its battery range -- limited but within reason -- I'd buy this car in a jiff.

    Dostein
     
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