Drove a Leaf today - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Old Mechanic · 12-13-2011, 03:09 PM

I was at the Nissan dealership today looking at the Versa since they advertise the stripped model at under 11k. I know the President well having worked with his father decades ago. They had a Leaf demo (marked demo on the window sticker) sitting there. Mr. Ayers (the President) suggested I take it for a ride. Went close to 5 miles. When I started it said distance to empty was 83 miles. When I finished it said DTE was 88 miles. Guess I created energy, LOL!

Shut off everything and the salesman riding with me was surprised that I could get the reading to actually rise 1 mile for every mile I drove. I love the car and could actually afford to buy one, but when you do the math and include total cost of ownership, it just can't come close to the Maxima when you count all costs. The property taxes would probably eat up the fuel cost savings.

It's a shame that I don't think the wife would drive it to work and her local jaunts, which burn about 8 gallons of fuel a week, or probably 3 recharges total. Stated fuel cost was $581 a year while we spend about $200 a month on fuel. I even have 220 in the garage already.

The old Maxima is pushing 29 MPG and will probably take about $1500 in repairs to reach 200k miles, when the current set of tires wears out. Another 2000 gallons of gas and you are at say $10,500 without insurance. Of course insurance would be higher and the property taxes would be at least 10 times as much.

Property taxes on the almost 13 year old Maxima are a joke.

I told them I might be interested in the demo when they got finished with it.

regards
Mech

California98Civic · 12-13-2011, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

When I started it said distance to empty was 83 miles. When I finished it said DTE was 88 miles. Guess I created energy, LOL! Shut off everything and the salesman riding with me was surprised that I could get the reading to actually rise 1 mile for every mile I drove.

I love imagining the saleman's expression when you boosted the charge while driving. But how did you explain it to him? I also don't know the leaf very well... I assume it has regen braking.

Diesel_Dave · 12-13-2011, 03:32 PM

Interesting. I think a lot of people are in the same boat. I was an interview with a CEO of a big car dealership network (might have been Carmax, I don't remember). If I remember the statistics right he said around 70% of people who walk onto the lot say they might be interested in a hybrid. 2% of people actually buy one.

I think hybrids (and EV's for that matter) are cool, but with today's technology & cost, I think it doesn't make sense for most people from a dollars & cents perspective.

Daox · 12-13-2011, 03:47 PM

Buying a new car never makes sense from a cost perspective.

bandit86 · 12-13-2011, 06:43 PM

Using a battery warms it up. After the trip the warm. After the drive it gave a different reading once it cools it will show 78ish

Old Mechanic · 12-13-2011, 06:51 PM

The battery was fully charged and the DTE calculation was based on the projected range (83 miles). Driving to minimise energy consumption extends the DTE range calculation. It's nothing exceptional, just energy conscious driving which I have seen on other cars. Most with a DTE figure start out at the calculated DTE then modify it based on actual distance versus energy use.

I'll bet on my local route driven properly you could get to 120 miles on a full charge. I think my old 08 Altima started out at something like 444 miles on the tank. My best was over 600. Seen the DTE calculation go up many times. A cold start would nail it, then as I cruised at 47 in a 55 zone for 7 miles on a warm engine it would rise considerably.

regards
Mech

NeilBlanchard · 12-14-2011, 08:20 AM

You drove it more efficiently than the previous person, and this changes the estimate on the dash. I drove a Leaf at a demonstration event, and it said 87 miles when I started and about 91 when I finished. I drove it about 2-3 miles.

drees · 01-03-2012, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

You drove it more efficiently than the previous person, and this changes the estimate on the dash. I drove a Leaf at a demonstration event, and it said 87 miles when I started and about 91 when I finished. I drove it about 2-3 miles.

Yep. The DTE indicator (affectionately called the "Guess-O-Meter" or GOM on the mynissanleaf forum) can fluctuate wildly based on how efficiently you've driven over the last few miles.

I'm getting about 3.8 mi / kWh out of mine as measured from the wall compared to 23 mpg at best in the car it replaced. Saves me about $3/day for my daily commute in gas and costs about half what my 46 mpg Prius costs in fuel so the Prius now gets driven less.

NeilBlanchard · 01-03-2012, 06:41 AM

My brother and sister-in-law will take delivery of their Leaf later today or tomorrow. :-)

drees · 01-03-2012, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

My brother and sister-in-law will take delivery of their Leaf later today or tomorrow. :-)

Congrats!

I'm still a bit surprised we haven't seen any real aero mods for the LEAF yet - one could probably easily pick up 20% highway range with a boat-tail mod or similar.