Nissan LEAF - General

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Circumspice
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#1627616 11-Sep-2016 22:25

SumnerBoy:

paulchinnz:

Cool - enjoy! What's the SOH on it? The range on mine in the past week feels like ~10-20% less with the cold weather (daily commute mostly on Wairakei Rd/Fendalton Ave), let us know if you notice a difference later this week when it's meant to be warmer.

My OBD dongle hasn't arrived yet. The dealer didn't have one either so we couldn't get the batteries but I was prepared to take a gamble since it is only a 2014 with 13K kms on the clock.

Will keep an eye out re. range improvements in warmer weather. I work from home however so I don't have a standard commute to make comparisons easy.

Fair enough, although it's probably the age that matters more than the kms e.g. the silver 2013 with only ~8000km on it may have been frequently sitting round with 100% SOC, which is meant to stress the battery.

Forgot to mention, if you haven't already, get an extension cable for the OBD dongle to minimise wear on the port (Flat+Thin As Noodle ELM327 Male To Female Elbow Car Connector Adapter 16 Pin OBDII OBD-II OBD 2 OBD2 Extension Cable) ~$NZ4 delivered.

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#1627619 11-Sep-2016 22:31

Ah yes I had read that somewhere, just ordered an extension cable now. Thanks for the tip!

Linuxluver

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#1627621 11-Sep-2016 22:36

Scott3:

Out of interest if such a service was available, would anybody pay say NZ$300 for it?

I just use Google translate on my phone. It works.

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#1627626 11-Sep-2016 22:47

SumnerBoy:

paulchinnz:

Cool - enjoy! What's the SOH on it? The range on mine in the past week feels like ~10-20% less with the cold weather (daily commute mostly on Wairakei Rd/Fendalton Ave), let us know if you notice a difference later this week when it's meant to be warmer.

My OBD dongle hasn't arrived yet. The dealer didn't have one either so we couldn't get the batteries but I was prepared to take a gamble since it is only a 2014 with 13K kms on the clock.

Will keep an eye out re. range improvements in warmer weather. I work from home however so I don't have a standard commute to make comparisons easy.

Try the "single dot" power conservation method. you accelerate slowly, but steadily up to the desired speed (eg: to 50-55kph in about 30 seconds), then ease off the accelerator and regen until it falls back to a lower speed you think of as the lower bound....then add one dot of power until the upper bound...and so on. On flat ground this can deliver amazing power efficiency. On gently rolling ground you can find yourself going faster and faster as the dips add more speed than you lose going over the next gentle rise.....so eventually you get to regen UP the rise and apply one dot of power down the rise.....and so on. Maximum benefit for minimum power.

On open road at highways speeds, you can single-dot up to the point where wind-resistance cancels out the additional power (usually around 75-80kph unless you have a headwind)...and you can then just ride there in light or no traffic or occasionally kick it up to two dots to maintain a higher speed. But at two dots - steady - your range "GOM" (Guess-o-Meter) on the dash will begin to slowly fall. Each additional dot sees it fall faster.

Terrain and wind and traffic conditions don't always make this method possible at one dot....but the same idea works at any number of dots in terms of minimising wasting power. This method works especially well when following large trucks on the highway at speeds over 80kph. Following at a safe distance (40m at 90-100kph = 9-10 car lengths), you're not "drafting" (where the truck would actually pull you along) but you are benefitting from the turbulence the truck creates ahead of you and breaks up the wall of air....reducing your own drag. It works. I've seen a consistent benefit on the order of 10% to 20% in terms of power savings, depending on the conditions. That's real range....and you can either go farther or spend less time charging. Behind the truck you'll see you can frequently single-dot even at 90-100kph when normally you've to use 2 or 3 dots to hold that speed if the truck wasn't there.

Always have ECO turned on. I hate giving away free power.

As I go along, I add together the actual distance travelled (set the trip-o-meter to 0 after each charge) and the GOM estimate to give me a rolling idea of my likely range.

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SumnerBoy

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#1627670 12-Sep-2016 08:43

I don't really intend to drive this too much on the open road. From ChCh there are not too many fast chargers within range in any direction (yet).

My first charge last night (after picking up the car on Friday) took 13kWh. That was after a trip out to the airport and back (out Sat morning, back Sun morning after a boozy night in Queenstown), and a trip out to the Palms shopping center Sun arvo by the wife to catch a movie. About $1.80 for all that driving. Amazing. And so much fun to drive. Even the wife was very impressed with how *peppy* it was.

I just love the simplicity of the car. Just knowing there are so few moving parts and things to go wrong. As you have said, just need to get used to plugging it in at night and get our head around what it can/can't do in terms of range etc.

We have a family bach over on the peninsular (Port Levy) which is 52km from where we live. It is quite a hilly drive but I can't wait to take the Leaf over the see what state the batteries are when we arrive...

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#1627740 12-Sep-2016 09:34

SumnerBoy:

....

I just love the simplicity of the car. Just knowing there are so few moving parts and things to go wrong. ...

I love everything electric/electronic. Being an EE I have came across all sorts of electronics operating on batteries, from DC sources or AC mains...

EV is an electronic device, and similarly to many other electronic devices there so many things could go wrong.

I have dismantled Nissan Leaf and scrutinised it's guts in my LAB.

I have dismantled numerous failed electronic devices:

Flat screen TVs, HI-End Amplifiers, Microwave Owens, Dehumidifiers, Industrial UPSs, Laptops, PCs, Switched Mode Power Supplies and much much more.

These mentioned above are way simpler devices from the engineering point of view then EV, have less moving parts but failed after just 3-5-6 years of being in operation and not necessarily operated every day on the bumpy roads - i.e. subject to vibration, moisture etc.

The latest blown one is a perfect example - DELL 2700W UPS with only few hours of operation high-end spectacularly blown yesterday (beyond repair) during normal power-on :-(

That is UPS inverter inside... Nissan Leaf has one as well, made by Panasonic...

Hybrid car inverters are also known to be blown from overheat, just to mention one part from many.

When somebody says "so few things to go wrong" I accept to hear that ONLY from the person who had never ever had mobile phone or personal computer in there life.

FYI: the best Jet planes are made in Russia ages ago with NO computers on board - still flying... Literally so few things to go wrong....

Welcome to the IT World in cars, baby!....No different from any other IT in terms of reliability...

SumnerBoy

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#1627749 12-Sep-2016 09:50

Yes I take your point - I am also an EE (although mainly work in software these days) - I guess I should have qualified that with "compared to a typical ICE vehicle". Every car these days has a multitude of electronic devices and systems so that risk is there regardless. The difference is all the mechanical stuff, which in reality are the things more likely to fail. Fuel pumps, power steering, transmissions, coolant pumps, the list goes on.

Solid state electronics are pretty reliable. It is only when you start introducing moving parts that you typically get problems, i.e. laptop HDDs. This is not always the case of course.

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Linuxluver

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#1627758 12-Sep-2016 10:15

SumnerBoy:

I don't really intend to drive this too much on the open road. From ChCh there are not too many fast chargers within range in any direction (yet).

My first charge last night (after picking up the car on Friday) took 13kWh. That was after a trip out to the airport and back (out Sat morning, back Sun morning after a boozy night in Queenstown), and a trip out to the Palms shopping center Sun arvo by the wife to catch a movie. About $1.80 for all that driving. Amazing. And so much fun to drive. Even the wife was very impressed with how *peppy* it was.

I just love the simplicity of the car. Just knowing there are so few moving parts and things to go wrong. As you have said, just need to get used to plugging it in at night and get our head around what it can/can't do in terms of range etc.

We have a family bach over on the peninsular (Port Levy) which is 52km from where we live. It is quite a hilly drive but I can't wait to take the Leaf over the see what state the batteries are when we arrive...

As long as you also get to go down the hills you should roughly break even, less the energy required to traverse the distance. :-)

But if the starting point is sea level and the destination point is 500m above sea level......you'd have to factor that in. Though you'd get it back if you return the same way.....next day or whenever.

I've seem the GOM in some US LEAFs that charge up at high altitude then drive down to a much lower altitude. You'd think power was infinite. :-)

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Linuxluver

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#1627759 12-Sep-2016 10:20

Noticed yesterday a growing crack in my windscreen at far upper left. Last Sunday a passing car on SH25 tossed something at the LEAF and there was a big noise, but I couldn't see any damage at the time. I guess my long drive on Thursday stressed the glass and grew the cracks.

I called AA Glass this morning. They have a windscreen and will come to the house on Thursday morning to install a replacement. $640 discounted for an AA member.

I didn't have the glass cover on my AA Insurance policy. It's now been added effective from Friday for $51.

So assuming all goes well, this wasn't a major.

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SumnerBoy

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#1627760 12-Sep-2016 10:21

Yep - sea level to sea level - I don't intend to try there-and-back without re-charging (via slow portable 8A charger) but it would be interesting to see if it could be done - my guess is yes, quite easily in fact.

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#1627765 12-Sep-2016 10:26

SumnerBoy:

Yep - sea level to sea level - I don't intend to try there-and-back without re-charging (via slow portable 8A charger) but it would be interesting to see if it could be done - my guess is yes, quite easily in fact.

If the return is 106km, you'd probably be fine..... Depends on how high and steep the hills are. Going up the Kaimai hill northbound toward Tauranga can take 20% of your battery in 6km.....but you get most of that back on the other side. You just have to make it to the top to be ABLE to regen....that's all. :-)

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paulchinnz

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#1627810 12-Sep-2016 11:46

Linuxluver:

SumnerBoy:

Yep - sea level to sea level - I don't intend to try there-and-back without re-charging (via slow portable 8A charger) but it would be interesting to see if it could be done - my guess is yes, quite easily in fact.

If the return is 106km, you'd probably be fine..... Depends on how high and steep the hills are. Going up the Kaimai hill northbound toward Tauranga can take 20% of your battery in 6km.....but you get most of that back on the other side. You just have to make it to the top to be ABLE to regen....that's all. :-)

Went to the end of Kennedys Bush Road other day from Chch city centre, used about 20%, but returning to town gained 1% i.e. ~10% each way.

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#1627813 12-Sep-2016 11:49

Nice - I am looking forward to doing a bit more exploring in this car. Just knowing it is all-but free travel and not causing any pollution makes for a more enjoyable experience somehow ;).

Linuxluver

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#1628955 13-Sep-2016 21:51

SumnerBoy:

Nice - I am looking forward to doing a bit more exploring in this car. Just knowing it is all-but free travel and not causing any pollution makes for a more enjoyable experience somehow ;).

Agreed. I was emissions-free from Auckland to Rawene (Hokianga) and back today. About 580km all up. Paid for some the power (Kaiwaka, Whangarei and Kawakawa), but it's cheap.

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#1630387 14-Sep-2016 17:05

Yesterday I drove from Auckland to Rawene (on the Hokianga) and back. That's 580-ish kms.

From Greenlane, we charged up at Kaiwaka, then Paradise Mall in Tikipunga, Whangarei, then at Kawakawa.

We took our time along the way, including late breakfast in Whangarei. At each stop we also had a wee walk around to see the local sights, including the Hundertwasser public toilets in Kawakawa. I'd always just raced through the place before. They are really cool. All public toilets should be like that. Awesome.

We were slowed down by a lumber gang blocking the Rawene Rd for a while, but we got to Rawene by lunch time. It's 72km from Kawakawa and there are some big hills in there so I can't do a return trip to Kawakawa in my 24kw LEAF, but probably could in my soon-to-arrive 30kw LEAF.

I'd arranged to charge the LEAF at Rawene Holiday Camp. They have over a dozen 16amp caravan plugins. They charge $2 / hour. I paid for 3 hours in advance. We left the LEAF charging there (we arrived on 47% - not quite enough to a return without charging) and went for a walk around town and had lunch. We had a reason to go there, so we took care of that, too. It's a beautiful, remote spot. After 3 hours, the LEAF was on 86% - more than enough! - and we drove back to Kawakawa when we were ready. Then back to Whangarei and then to Kaiwaka and then home. On the way back we didn't mess about and charged just enough to make the next leg. It took 4.5-5.0 hours to get from Rawene to Greenlane, Auckland, including charging time. (I'm not exactly sure when we left Rawene.....)

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