Winter Range at 80% Charge

I normally charge my 2011 Leaf to only 80%.  Why?  Because always charging to 100% reduces the useful battery life by quite a bit.  Nissan estimates that losing as much as 25% of your battery capacity is normal within the first five years.  That's a pretty big loss!  I still have twelve bars (full capacity) showing on my dashboard and would like to keep them as long as possible.

Between my 80% charging habit and cold, hilly driving conditions, my winter range is pretty low. How low, you ask?  Consider yesterday's drive.

According to Google Maps I put exactly 26.5 miles on my Leaf yesterday.  A few blocks from home I only had one bar of charge and a low battery warning.  Please understand that I had another 8 miles or so that I could have driven-- it's not like my range is only 26.5 miles total.

What this means for Helena, Montana, in the winter, charging to 80%, is that I can expect about 35-40 miles of range.  A problem Leaf drivers face is that range anxiety tends to kick in during those last few miles.

The more I am able to think about range in mathematical terms the less anxious I feel about range.  One key emotional realization I have made is this: I can be anywhere in town with a low battery warning and I'll always get home.  As a more extreme example of this, I was South of town in Montana City with a low battery warning and made it home just fine.  My emotional perspective is that the low battery warning is simply my reminder to return to the barn.

Interestingly, Chevy Volt owners drive darned near as many miles in electric-only mode as Leaf owners, despite the Volt's smaller battery.  The obvious reason for this is because the Volt driver has no anxiety about running out of charge and will effortlessly run the battery down without concern.  On the other hand, the Leaf owner is more prone to gnashing of teeth and spontaneous devotion to God when he sees how low his charge has become.

The moral of the story is that winter range is reduced, but range anxiety is more of an emotional problem than a physical one.

Leaving Great Divide Ski Area

Great Divide Ski Area

Skiing at the Great Divide is a great way to get out of the house during the long winter months.  Getting there and back for virtually free in a Nissan Leaf is even better.  I'm happy to report that I drove to Great Divide and back on a single charge.

Another Helena Leaf owner once told me that he would love to go up to the ski hill but was afraid he would run out of charge.  If we consider that the trip is about fifty miles round-trip, and if we believe the published 70-mile range, then what's the problem?

The problems are cold temperatures and steep climbs.  Ski hills tend to be located on, well, hills, so there's going to be uphill driving.  And of course the cold temps of winter steal range from electric cars like the Leaf.  These two factors combine to bring the real-world range of a Nissan Leaf down to about fifty miles.  Yes, I made it, but I wasn't as comfortable as someone in a gas-burning car.

One source of discomfort was my speed-- I drove really slow on the way up.  I cruised the whole way at a whopping 38 mph.  I was passed a lot.  

Worse than driving slow was not using the heater.  Brrr.  Using the heater drains the battery and I didn't want to find out I was a mile or two short.  To make the cold even worse, I had to crack a window in order to keep the windshield from fogging up.

What I learned was that my fully-charged 2011 Nissan Leaf can make the round-trip to the Great Divide.  On the return trip I increased my speed to 50 mph and turned on my seat heater...ahhh.

I arrived back home with one bar of charge and a range estimate of six miles remaining.  The low battery warning turned on as I was pulling into my driveway.

Based on my experience I have the following tentative guidelines for getting there and back on a single charge:

1. Maximum speed is 50mph
2. Heated seats are ok but no cabin heat

Now if only my lift tickets were as cheap as my transportation...

A full charge to start

Range at start while going downhill

First time out this season!

In the parking lot