Real-World Range vs. Nissan Route Planner

Nissan has some pretty cool online tools for the Leaf.  My favorite is the statistics...I love seeing how many miles I drove at what efficiency.  Of course the ability to turn on your heater or a/c before getting in your car is nice too.  One Nissan tool that I seldom use is called Route Planner.  Take a look.

You can see I am going to Canyon Ferry Lake and that the distance is 20.87 miles.  More interesting is that this tool estimates how much energy you'll need to get there.  Of my full twelve-bar charge, it says I'll use four bars.  Ok, so I need four bars to get to the lake.  How much to get back?

Another four bars.  So I'll need eight out of twelve bars to go to the lake and back.  I'll have about four bars at the end of the trip, right?

Of course not!  Here's how much I really had at the end of the trip:

One bar and the low battery warning after a total of 42 miles.  I believe the Leaf would have made 50 miles.  The Leaf was not driven hard (average speed about 45mph), but the a/c was run the whole time as the temperature was in the mid-80s.  

So for hilly Helena, Montana, the Leaf continues to be a reliable 50-mile car.  Some random guy on an EV forum once told me I was underestimating the Leaf's range when I said it's a 50-mile car, but he doesn't live in Montana.  

It's only for a handful of special trips that I'll charge to 100%.  I normally only charge to 80% for the purpose of battery longevity.  The reliable 40 miles that an 80% charge gets me is enough for my needs.