New Nissan LEAF Owners Eke Out 111 Miles at 55 MPH on Way Back From Dealer

Wow, 111mi at 55mph is impressive! In moderate traffic, and in the RH lane, we've driven down the 15 freeway to San Diego at 55mph in our Prius (attempting to hyper-mile). It's quite doable. We didn't hold anyone up. San Diego is one destination to which we'd like to be able to drive an EV, as charge points should become plentiful down there. This tells me that, even with the current range, we could probably make it from our home to San Diego in a LEAF! (Given our mountain location, returning home would be another story...)

What this exercise shows is that real world drivers can achieve over 100 miles in a LEAF. Perhaps not everyone will be willing to drive 55 mph, but then again, most people will not need to go 111 miles every day. And as surprising as this may seem, on the freeways of Southern California, more people drive at 60 mph (or less) than is generally realized. I drive all over SoCal, and see it routinely. Certainly, it should not be cause for concern if you own a LEAF.

Welcome, Randy! Both to PLUG In CARS and to the greater EV community.

Nick - yes when I hear "When I pulled into the driveway last night, I had one bar left (above the two lit red bars)" it makes me cringe too! In fact your article really drives home the uselessness of the range meter and the need for a real SOC gage.

Darell,
EVnut.com

Hi Nick,

You are right, it is probably splitting hairs in this case. However, it might be that they added 16% and had 15% at the end, or with the way the estimated miles can vary, maybe they put in 30% and had 7% left.

Using estimated miles as a measure of SOC has lead to some pretty ludicrous statements, including statements from multiple Nissan people at the Seattle test drive event telling us about how they drove 15 miles to the event but only used 3 miles of range. That's absurd, and impossible on level roads, unless the parameters of the estimated range also vary greatly.

I want to get numbers from real drivers but we need to get away from using estimated miles as a measure of SOC.

@darelldd, Can you point me to any research on subsidies for our oil infrastructure? That question came up from my carpool partner yesterday.

Some of it is amorphous and hard to quantify, such as our very expensive wars in the Middle East. But how about specifics such as the oil depletion allowance, and the like? And how does one put a dollar cost on the health effects of smog and other pollution such as oil spills? Someone has probably made a stab at trying to calculate those numbers.

@Voltfan, Some things you might not have considered:

A lot of us already have ICE cars, no need to manufacture a new one, just keep the old one running as a second car.

Yes, for those who want just one car a PHEV like the Volt might make more sense than a BEV like the Leaf. But another alternative would be to rent a regular car for the occasional long trip. And it is likely that BEVs will have considerably increased range (150-300 miles) in the next few years, along with improved fast charging infrastructure in many areas. For now they are only suitable for local trips, which comprises the great majority of miles driven by VAST majority of drivers. Perhaps you are one of the minority that needs a longer range car, as you suggest.

The Volt has one big upside over a BEV: unlimited range given the existing infrastructure of gas stations. It has many downsides:

• Price. You have to really want one to pay that much for one.

• Mediocre mileage for a car of the size and class. The equivalent Chevy Cruze gets better mileage unless nearly all the miles driven are very short trips (at which point a BEV becomes a better option).

• It uses oil, which means sending dollars overseas to the petro-dictators, with resulting harm to the national trade deficit. BEVs use American generated electricity to get around.

• Complexity. In addition to the battery and electric motor, the Volt has an ICE with all its myriad parts and peripherals.

• Maintenance. Like any conventional ICE car the Volt will need oil changes, radiator flushes, tune-ups, mufflers replaced, and on and on. By contrast what does an EV need? Battery cell replacement every five to ten years? Brushes on the motor every ten years?

The cynic in me believes that the drastically higher maintenance needs is the real reason GM designed the Volt and refuses to make BEVs: they know that their dealers make much of their profit on car repair.

@ex-EV1 driver, I was wondering about the motors (you can see how "old-school" I am).

I didn't mention tires and brakes because there won't be much difference between PHEVs and BEVs for those maintenance items.

My guess is that the biggest maintenance item, especially on new models, would be electrical system malfunctions, since the cars are pretty much computers on wheels. But, again, that's the same for both PHEVs and BEVs.

@darelldd, To your list I'd have to add 1 windshield. They generally need to be replaced every five to seven years around here, depending on how long one can stand driving with damage (both cracks and "frosting" from tiny chips that contribute to glare and eye fatigue) and/or when one gets pulled over by the state patrol.

And possibly a second set of tires, they don't last as long on rough roads. I've even had to replace wheel bearings, but that was more like twenty years, not eight.

But your experience validates the point I was trying to make to "Voltfan".

I tried to put together a list of the many things that the Volt has that the Leaf doesn't, for example motor oil, radiator, water pump, pistons, valves, crankshaft, spark plugs, fuel pump, gasoline, exhaust pipe, muffler, and so forth. But the list was so long that the Plugincars.com spam filter won't let me post it!

Clearly one gets a lot more "stuff" with a Volt than a Leaf. No wonder it costs so much more!