forums energies: society, ecology and clean technologies

Gilles Chartray lives in Saint-Maurice, Mauricie, about 15 minutes by car from my home. Since May 1, 2013, He has a Nissan LEAF 2012 with 13 KM on the odometer

So, he experiences his first winter with his 100% electric car and of course, he gets to know the limits of his car, especially with the rigorous and exceptional winter that we are currently experiencing in the context of global warming.

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The 1er January, going to my brother-in-law for the New Year's Day dinner, SURPRISE from my home to 17: 00, the Leaf is not reloaded more than 80% even after 2 full day connect to its terminal 220v. Well must say that is -25 ° C and that seems that the bibitte fret and she must probably preserve its battery or I do not know what!

Embark in the car, SURPRISE AGAIN! the autonomy in D mode for drive displays a lean 77km and in eco mode it goes up to 96km.

We still decide to take the Leaf because the brother-in-law remains about 20km so 40km round trip is still not the sea to drink!

So we leave! WOWWW, we're going to put the heater on because it's really very cold and I and my spouse are dressed in the right clothes so do not really dress up to go to Siberia!
SURPRISE, The autonomy now displays a lean 72 km in eco mode and we have just left!
Well I tell my spouse, we will warm up a little inside the car and then we will turn it off to save the battery!
Well let me tell you that we turned off the heating quickly thank you!

We therefore continue the journey without heating to get to our destination! The journey involves around 15 km of motorway and 5 km of town!
On the highway once again, in order to save battery, we drove at 85km / h and I remind you that it is without heating!
So we arrive at a frozen destination but still not so bad and we park the car which has 55km of reserve left!

Beautiful New Years and good food, thank you Richard and Katy!

5 hours later, around 22:30 p.m., so we decide to leave at a temperature indicated in the dash of -32 ° C! Wowwwwww this is fret but no problem I tell myself, there remains a good 55km of battery

HORROR, 2 minutes after we left, still in eco mode and the heating turned on because it's still -32 ° C, the autonomy displays 32km and once on the highway, the kilometers displayed in the dash also decrease faster than the seconds of a clock. PANIC ON BOARD WE WILL CRUSH seems to say my wife's face! So we stop the heating now -33 ° C! The kilometers drop a little slower but it's still maddening! There are now less than 17km to display and we haven't even half the journey done! So we decide to leave the highway to get around town because in town it requires less energy at 40km / h than at 85km / h like on the highway! I see remember that it is -33 ° C and that there we are frozen like droppings!

Quesqu'un done that I ask my spouse, do we stop at my sister in disaster to recharge the car on the 120v which by the way will take more than 24 hours because of the freezing cold or we take the chance to continue home! Well we took the chance and at a speed of 30km / h without heating, we finally managed to go with a remaining autonomy of 5km !!!

Even the little female voice that warns that we are going to break down was like jelly!

NOW THE CONCLUSION:

Yes, the Nissan Leaf is a very good car but at temperatures above - 20 ° C, do not expect to go far!

In winter on average do not expect to make more than 70km of maximum autonomy by using the “ECO” mode and by controlling the heating!

For a user who lives in the city, we can add a few kilometers to the autonomy

The highway eats the autonomy of the car at an incredible speed especially in winter!

YES, the Nissan Leaf remains to this day THE BEST CAR FOR LIFE I HAVE OWNED despite the fact that we almost died frozen on the night of January 1! Imagine breaking down on January 1st at -33 ° C!

The car behaves exactly like in summer with regard to road handling except for the ice in the wings! No suspicious noise in the passenger compartment!

The 160km announced by the company is probably on the Moon which carried out the tests, even in summer! Never have I ever managed to do so long even in eco mode!

The mileage indicator is very imprecise, there are too many factors that vary, such as the heating, the outside temperature, the number of occupants on board, etc.… .. You really have to get to know the car and sometimes depend on it!

The fact of having connected the car to my brother-in-law would at best heat the battery and add a few kilometers to the meter but nothing more!

A battery on a Nissan Leaf loses a certain percentage of capacity to recharge after a few years, so imagine the autonomy at -25 ° C in a few years!

Currently a battery on a Nissan Leaf costs $ 9999 and has a limited lifespan! Will really have to happen a few things on this side!

How much will a Leaf be worth after 10 years if the battery is completely finished! Who will buy a used Leaf at an “X” cost to which must be added the amount of the battery?

Be very careful, there is a lot of misinformation on the websites!

Fortunately I rented the said car, in 3 years I will reassess the market, and probably get another full electric but probably better autonomy at that time!

I'm waiting for a new cold spell to film my words!

Excuse the mistakes I'm not the best in French!

I would like to thank my spouse for her patience in the city at -33 ° C at 30 km / h, it's a long time!

Gilles Chartray

Grelinette wrote:2) The manufacturers' data, in particular in terms of autonomy, is not reliable, even misleading

Gaston wrote:

Grelinette wrote:2) The manufacturers' data, in particular in terms of autonomy, is not reliable, even misleading

No autonomy data can be considered reliable (like the standard consumption data for thermal vehicles) because it varies according to each journey and each driver.
The "manufacturer" data only allow comparison between different models under identical conditions of use.
We cannot say that these data are dishonest or false, we must only avoid making them say what they cannot say ...

Finally, to put the performance of the batteries in perspective with such cold temperatures, remember that in France "very cold" diesel operates down to -20 ° C.

dirk pitt wrote:... I did not see the zoop but I amused myself by turning the figures a little in all directions to see what was below:

battery: 370V 70Ah or 25.9kwh, it's half the capacity of the Tesla Roadster. it's about the same capacity as a nissan leaf. this battery weighs supposedly 100kg or about 260Wh / kg, it is in the standard for techno li-ion

The car weighs 690kg, that's where it is strong. it's about half as much as a leaf or a tesla roadster. well, there is not the same equipment either nor the same comfort.

autonomy announced: 450km, hum hum! it’s there as always. to be able to make 450kms with 25.9kwh, the consumption should be 57Wh / km! 2.4 times less than a Tesla roadster whose SCx is however in my opinion much better despite the so-called aerodynamic performance of the zoop.
to give you an idea, 57Wh / km, it is the consumption of the lumeneo smera which is a narrow vehicle less than 90cm wide.
this autonomy is therefore in my opinion a smokehouse either estimated by calculation or carried out on a circuit at a stabilized speed of 50km / h
If we consider a more realistic consumption around 100Wh / km, the real autonomy would probably be around 260kms.

here is. nothing new under the sun.
we have known for a few years now that we can make a powerful EV that starts strong, that we know how to make a VE that goes far, but not both at the same time and not cheap because it requires a large battery capacity which it's expensive.

Grelinette wrote:For example :

dirk pitt wrote:... I did not see the zoop but I amused myself by turning the figures a little in all directions to see what was below:

Gaston wrote: Nissan wrote in the owner's manual: "To prevent the Li-ion battery from freezing, do not leave the vehicle in an environment where the temperature may drop below -20 ° C unless the vehicle is connected to a charger."

dirk pitt wrote:I cannot incriminate my lawn rotofil if I try to clear the scrub with it.

Grelinette wrote:[size = 9] PS (hs): tell me dirk pitt, are you at the origin of the name given to the Dirk storm which raged on France lately? .

Grelinette wrote:Admittedly, this is how we also discover that equipment is very effective for unintended use!