Nissan Leaf

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

ALL the EPA testing is done by the manufacturers, on the honor system.
In warmer weather, I have greatly exceeded the EPA rating - and I am measuring it at the plug. Initially, I used a Kill-A-Watt on the factory Level 1 EVSE, and now I am using the JuiceBox Premium. And I am correcting for the known odometer inaccuracy, too.

I think you can trust the EPA Combined rating on EV's to be almost a minimum.

The volt is arguably not very impressive when the temperature creeps below 25 degrees F.

The battery heater chips away at the range quite massively.

Generally 40 degrees out I get 50 miles on a charge
Below 25 it creeps toward 31 miles (but I can usually eek 40 if its not too cold and if I can avoid erdtt)

[NeilBlanchard]

Our Leaf S has a battery heater, too. Which has to run both when driving the car - and even more so when the battery is being charged.

That is included in my energy log. 2015 Nissan Leaf S Gas Mileage (Forest) - EcoModder.com

[Astro]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Our Leaf S has a battery heater, too. Which has to run both when driving the car - and even more so when the battery is being charged.

That is included in my energy log. 2015 Nissan Leaf S Gas Mileage (Forest) - EcoModder.com

A quick Google search found this paper which has several charts relating to temperature affects on the discharge capacity of LiFePo4 cells. http://ecst.ecsdl.org/content/3/36/3.full.pdf
Discharging at a high rate (eg. EVs) and low temperatures significantly decreases the amount of energy the cell will deliver. Even at room temperature the cells capacity takes a big hit compared to a cell discharging at 60 degrees C.
I wonder how much energy is used to heat the cells versus the increased capacity this gives. If the manufacturer is adding the cell heaters then total energy delivered must be higher.

[Frank Lee]

Need solar battery heating system...

[sendler]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

That is included in my energy log. l

Are you logging from the wall now or from the car? Nevermind. I read your log and see it is wall to wheels. These electric cars really bounce efficiency all over the place.

[P-hack]

my juicebox is acting up, shuts down charging after a minute. 120v and j1772 at dealer both work fine. I didn't get the "post your EVSE relay status and failure code to twitter" option, and a $0.07 LED blinky status is asking too much.

Would not recommend. For several hundred dollars for a relay and an arduino and spaz level version changes, I don't want to be a gunea pig.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by sendler

Are you logging from the wall now or from the car? Nevermind. I read your log and see it is wall to wheels. These electric cars really bounce efficiency all over the place.

The variation in EV efficiency is almost entirely based on how much you have to use the heater.

I am very sorry to hear about you JuiceBox problem. Was it factory assembled, or was it a kit?

[sendler]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

The variation in EV efficiency is almost entirely based on how much you have to use the heater.

There have been a few buy backs of Mercedes B Class already due to the cold NE USA winter. Cars that are stuck in traffic for three hours coming into NYC have seen their range reduced to 40 miles.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by P-hack

Would not recommend. For several hundred dollars for a relay and an arduino and spaz level version changes, I don't want to be a gunea pig.

That's how I feel. Why so much for a semi-intelligent switch?

I wonder why the charge cable even needs intelligence. Most other electronic devices simply need to be supplied with power, and the on-board charger decides if the conditions to charge are adequate.

[sendler]

The protocol requires the car and the charger to talk it over before anything can happen. The car has to know what is the maximum it can take from the wall without blowing the breaker and the charger has to "know" that there is a system lock before it will close the relay so no one gets shocked.