Our 2011 Nissan Leaf is safely tucked away in the Edmunds, garage, but try as I might I was unable to make the 93.2-mile round trip on a single charge. After a series of unexpected events I had to stop short of my goal and duck into the Edmunds static test lab/photo studio for 90 minutes to add in enough juice to get me through the last 3.5 miles.
It started last night, when I completed my 46.6-mile commute home with 53 miles of additional range left on the meter. Getting back to work the next day on a single charge had seemed so easy, so possible, especially since I had done it previously over a longer distance in a less-sophisticated Mini E.
And then there was our experience running the Leaf on a closed course for 132 miles, in which the predictive powers of the range gauge had been spot-on. A 6.5-mile cushion seemed like more than enough to make it back this morning.
And it might have been, too, if only I hadn't gotten a little too eager/desperate to enter the carpool lane when the 405 freeway started to bunch up around Century Blvd.
Even though our Leaf has access stickers, I had been avoiding the carpool lane because it was moving too fast. Making it to work demanded that I keep my speed down in the 40s and 50s, just as traffic had done to the Leaf naturally last night. So I kept to the right lane, running with the trucks and the battered Toyota Hilux pickups full of lawnmowers.
Things were looking OK, and then traffic built to the point where the carpool lane was going slow enough for my purposes but faster than everyone else. I hopped in. Later on, when the carpool lane opened up, I got back into the regular lanes to soak in traffic and proceed at 30 or 40 mph with everyone else for awhile.
And so it went.
With the end in sight the 405 started to pack up solidly as I passed under the flight path at LAX. I started to ease back over to enter the carpool lane -- the entrance about a half mile ahead. I was getting nervous at this point, because my 6.5-mile surplus had shrunk to just under 2 miles. Only 11 miles showed on the range meter with 9 and-a-bit miles to go and I was anxious to keep moving at 25 mph -- the exact speed the carpool lane was now going.
With 200 yards to go I got impatient in the throes of a fully developed case of range anxiety. I could see the entrance signs, see cars ahead moving in, so I rationalized and did something I have never ever done: I entered the carpool lane a little ways before the official entrance point. It was safe, the Leaf had valid permission stickers, no one was barrelling up from behind (in fact someone three or four cars back did the same thing in a classic pick move), but none of that mattered to the CHP officer sitting about 10 cars ahead of me, obscured from my view by a truck until it was too late.
Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. The thing that sucks most is my local freeways, the 91 and 55 in Orange County, have recently introduced open access carpool lane controls, allowing motorists to enter and exit at any point. I would not have received this ticket 20 miles back down the road.
Incidentally, I've never seen any carpool lane pileups on those OC freeways, either. Quite the opposite, in fact, as drivers on my home turf no longer have to bunch up and make dubious lane changes in front of unsympathetic motorists in an attempt to get in or out of the small (and artificial) entry and exit ports they are forced to wait for in LA. In the land of Carmageddon traffic stacks up as concentrations of cars attempt to criss-cross in and out at the few designated choke points.
Instead the officer quoted the standard line that says getting in or out at points other than the designated points is "dangerous". The carpool lane policies in Northern California and on the 55 and 91 freeways suggest that this matter is currently up for debate within our state, but the fact remains that range anexiety got the better of me and I jumped about 150 or 200 yards too soon in a place where, for the time being, at least, they frown on that sort of thing.
And so, dear readers, I did not simply crap out on the side of the freeway, putting myself and others at risk in a stupid attempt to prove something about electric cars by, ironically, driving more conservatively than everyone else on the road. No, I got pulled over and was directed to the side of the road by a CHiP in a Crown Vic.
In the process of getting pulled over, the range meter dropped down to "---", meaning I no longer had any way to judge my remaining range or what this incident had cost me. I decided to punt. I asked the officer if he could also please summon a AAA tow truck.
He was a bit perplexed as I explained that I was in an electric car and had been attempting to keep moving in order to make it to my destination before I ... ended up on the side of the road like we were now. I showed him the range indication's "---" display and he saw the nav screen's Very Low Battery warning. Gazing back up at the stop-and go traffic inching past us, he understood. Nevertheless, he told me he could not unwrite the ticket at this point. He might have felt bad about it, but I don't really know what that emotion looks like on a patrol officer.
He called AAA for me, apologized for the inconvenience and waded back out into traffic as I sat there and waited for the flatbed.
About 20 minutes later my tow truck passed by without stopping, apparently looking for some OTHER red Nissan Leaf on the side of the freeway.
At this point I was simmering. And then it dawned on me that our new static lab was a couple miles closer to my position than the office. Duh. A quick check of Google maps put it 5.8 miles away. I decided to go for it, figuring I wouldn't be any worse off than I was already. Traffic was moving along at a nice steady 25 mph at this point, so conditions looked perfect for clandestine hypermiling. As a bonus, the route to the lab included a couple miles on the deserted 90 freeway, meaning I'd be well out of harm's way with a couple of handy exits to bail out on if this didn't work.
In short, it did work, and the empty lanes of the 90 allowed me to proceed at a slow pace with the 4-ways on until I got to the final mile of surface streets.
With 89.9 miles on the clock I rolled in to the lab and plugged in for about 90 minutes to ensure I'd have enough to make the 3.5 mile final leg to the office.
Lessons learned:
You'd think an electric car's range meter would be hyper-accurate, but don't get sucked in. It was quite accurate in our closed course test at a steady 30 mph, but that was because of the steady 30 mph part. Despite by best efforts to duplicate yesterday's driving pattern, my 6.5-mile cushion evaporated quicker in the real world than I could ever have guessed.
46 miles away is too far away from work for a Leaf if, like most everyone, you can only plug in at one end of your commute. Based on this and other experiences I'd recommend no more than 35 miles, a 70-mile round trip, in order to keep a decent safety margin. Even at that distance it's best to stay out of the fast lane. 30 miles is probably a better maximum commute radius if you want to drive like a normal person.
Carpool lanes aren't really that great for electric cars -- my problem notwithstanding -- because going fast in an open lane does your range no favors. Carpool lanes work best for this car when traffic is impacted and the carpool lane is moving slower than the posted limit but faster than everyone else.
Finally, even though you may have sat idly by and watched hundreds get away with something for years and years that you're too afraid to try, don't think that you'll be able to get away with it "just this once". Chances are one Mr. Murphy will be waiting to smack you upside the wallet with one of his infamous laws. Ouch.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 3,447 miles
jeepsrt says:
03:44 PM, 08/ 3/11
That stinks about the ticket, all this to just see if you could make it on one charge. I've only used the carpool lane once in California, in a rental Viper, there were two of us in the car but I have never had so many dirty looks before in my life.
uncanny_man says:
03:49 PM, 08/ 3/11
Are they seriously charging you with a 341+ dollar ticket for that? If so, you probably would have a darn good shot contesting it in court if need be...
hb22 says:
03:58 PM, 08/ 3/11
Yeah this kinda puts a nail in the coffin for the leaf, at least for me
stovt001 says:
04:01 PM, 08/ 3/11
I absolutely get you on the carpool lane entrance thing. My wife is from Northern California and she couldn't believe we had limited carpool lane entrances and exits down here. Now that OC carpool lanes are open etrance/exit, I see that for once one of her Northern Californian oddities actually makes sense. It does work. No desperate swinging into or out of traffic just because your window opened. You simply move in and out as it is safe and prudent to do so. LA needs to get with the program.
For what its worth, I sometimes do what you did, but since I have to have someone with me when I use the carpool lane (shock!) I always call out for a "cop check" before making the move. Extra sets of eyes are nice.
schen72 says:
04:01 PM, 08/ 3/11
So this is why there are now Leafs in the carpool lane (SF bay area) driving like road boulders. Nothing pisses me off more than seeing someone in the carpool lane with open space to the horizon driving the same speed as the lane next to him.
06scooby says:
04:56 PM, 08/ 3/11
I would love to have one of these!!! I have an 11 mile commute to work and even to go to the complete opposite end of town it's maybe 20-25 miles. I rarely even approach 70 miles in one day even when I do a bunch of errands. And we have cheap electricity to boot!
But, since I only put about 10k miles a year on my car, I just can't justify spending 30k on one of these!
roar02ram says:
05:02 PM, 08/ 3/11
FANTASTIC post!
sharpend says:
05:08 PM, 08/ 3/11
Is it too much to ask for an electric car that can actually travel a solid 100 miles without fear of getting stranded?
Sheesh.
throwback says:
05:23 PM, 08/ 3/11
The ticket stinks. On the other hand I'm sure your Governor appreciates your contribution to the state budget.
bkapps says:
05:29 PM, 08/ 3/11
Team Edmunds for giving it a shot. Without a doubt I am glad I can sit here and read (as well as others) the high and low points of adopting a new way of commuting before jumping aboard to see your real world applications where they be good or bad.
Not just limited to the Leaf, being able to sit on this end of the screen to see your LT fleet get put through tests from bike fitment to battery life (even a few fender benders) Im glad you chanced it and found out what would happen. Good work!
pisswilly says:
06:38 PM, 08/ 3/11
you da man Dan! I guess if this teaches us anything,it's not to buy a Leaf.
bodyblue says:
06:50 PM, 08/ 3/11
"you da man Dan! I guess if this teaches us anything,it's not to buy a Leaf."
More like it teaches us that your posts are a complete waste of time.
igeekone says:
07:00 PM, 08/ 3/11
What's worse is the battery only lasting ~ 7 years, at optimal capacity. The total range over the years will plummet big time. It's too expensive for me to buy. Leasing is the best option. It was a great venture Dan, and so is the LEAF, just have to charge on each end of the journey.
hermperez says:
08:43 PM, 08/ 3/11
Dan you need to learn a bit more how the charge indicator on the Leaf works, assuming your car has the latest firmware update once all 12 bars disappear, the numbers will be replaced by dashes and you will have about 20 miles of range remaining.. once that is gone you will get the dreaded reduced power turtle sign and that means pull over NOW!, range can be 1/2 a mile to nothing with the turtle. Basically the last firmware update put some "hidden" miles under the last bar.. sort of a fake emergency reserve.
Basically you panicked.
buzzzz says:
09:39 PM, 08/ 3/11
Jeez Dan,
You might consider stopping posting about this incident; you just look dumber the more I read. Nissan has posted plenty about what range to expect with freeway driving.
"Highway driving in the summer: 70 miles"
"EPA range: 73 mi"
You know, if the first half of your drive is downhill, you'll get much better range than the return.
Seems like mostly a case of RTFM. No way I would assume +90 mi was anything but a test of AAA response time.
I really have to wonder what us readers learn from this nonsense.
You said it best yourself; "dumb dumb dumb...."
hermperez says:
09:39 PM, 08/ 3/11
Correction!
Last two bars, the red ones, is 20 miles remaining (10 miles per bar). Once the last bar goes away and you get the dashes then you have about 8 miles, then turtle.
ricerocketeer says:
11:59 PM, 08/ 3/11
Range anxiety megafail.
The sad thing is that the Leaf might make sense for me -- 10 mile commute to work against traffic, all friends within a 25 mile radius. But in the vast suburban utopia (harharhar) that is SoCal ... you better hope your routine doesn't take you too far from a charging station.
mjonell says:
05:01 AM, 08/ 4/11
@HB22 - This post was about her getting a ticket. What new information put the 'nail in the coffin' about the Leaf? Anyone could have been pulled over, anyone can miss a tow truck, and anyone can run out of 'gas'.
Electric cars are wonderful, but the 90's and Tesla notwithstanding this is first-gen tech. First-gen will have its adopters, but they aren't for everyone. They WILL improve. They WILL get cheaper. The infrastructure WILL improvie.
Give it time.
mikes12 says:
05:49 AM, 08/ 4/11
+1 mjonell.
I like the Leaf AND Volt. Both Nissan and GM (with different approaches) have gone a great job on a Gen I car. These aren't some pieces of junk rolling down the road. Neither the Leaf or the Volt are "Fails". They might not work for some people (less for the Leaf), but for some they do. Guess what, me buying a V10 F350 is a fail. I don't tow and I usually drive alone. That doesn't make it a bad vehicle.
I would imagine an aggressive refresh of both the leaf and volt. If Gen I Leaf's go 75 real world miles I'd bet the next gen goes 100-125 real world miles. That would be a huge jump and allow that many more folks a viable option.
wizard8873 says:
06:05 AM, 08/ 4/11
I've actually seen a Leaf here in Chicago recently, not really great looking but nothing that's hideous, and was curious if there are charging stations here. My drive would be about 35 miles, lots of traffic in the later part of the day, and this would be great to have in case I need to drive downtown. currently, commuting puts me at about 250 miles every two weeks or so, not counting weekends as that's a different car, but that's only to the train station, ~14 mile round trip. Rather than have people just jump at it saying the lack of range is a no go, I think they should watch their driving habits over a few weeks time and see how they drive. I would still need two cars, as I go to Wisconsin from time to time and drive over 100 miles in a day some weekends, but for straight commuting this would be perfect.
viss1 says:
06:05 AM, 08/ 4/11
I'm enjoying these range/economy record attempts. Keep up the good work.
stovt001 says:
08:08 AM, 08/ 4/11
Hey buzzzz just a quick question: if you met Dan in person, say at a Cars and Coffee or something, would you call him dumb to his face? Can we all try a new thing around here where we communicate with each other in the same tone and content we'd use if we were speaking face-to-face? Thanks.
fordson1 says:
08:08 AM, 08/ 4/11
"And so, dear readers, I did not simply crap out on the side of the freeway, putting myself and others at risk in a stupid attempt to prove something about electric cars by, ironically, driving more conservatively than everyone else on the road. No, I got pulled over and was directed to the side of the road by a CHiP in a Crown Vic."
"In the process of getting pulled over, the range meter dropped down to "---", meaning I no longer had any way to judge my remaining range or what this incident had cost me."
Huh? Nothing about the act of being pulled over is going to have the slightest impact on your remaining battery charge, unless you think the four-way flashers killed the battery.
"I explained that I was in an electric car and had been attempting to keep moving in order to make it to my destination before I ... ended up on the side of the road like we were now."
Really? What is there about keeping moving that would have prevented the meter from doing what it did right then? Keeping moving is what MADE the meter do what it did right then. "...before I..." What does "before" have to do with it? The Leaf's drivetrain is not on a timer, you know. Sitting on the side of the road should have played to one of the strengths of a pure EV like this - if it's not moving, it's using no energy at all except for the flashers, if you're smart enough to roll the windows down and shut off the A/C.
Once EVs become more popular, I imagine cops are going to start hearing this "have to keep moving" excuse more often, much as they now hear from ICE speeders that they were almost out of gas and were speeding to get to a gas station. It's basically the same brand of "logic."
Your drive, to that point, entering and leaving the carpool lane to maintain the speeds you had anticipated you would have to go to make it to your destination, had depleted your "cushion" faster than you thought it would, as you admit. Your estimate of battery life at those speeds was just that - an estimate, and you were wrong. At around 9 miles out, the meter went to "---" - and it would have at that point even if you had not been pulled over. All the cop did was give you what I rate an implausible excuse. You ended up on the shoulder as a result of your actions - just as you would have if there had been no cop. Just admit it.
I would not go on at length over something like this, but I get pissed when I can see someone is trying to BS me and thinks I won't pick up on it.
One other thing - once the range estimate gets down that low, the responsible thing to do is pull off the freeway and use surface streets - that way, if it craps out before you get where you're going, the yank up onto the flatbed can happen in the relative safety of a stripmall parking lot.
juan_mx says:
08:33 AM, 08/ 4/11
It happens!, I remember running out of gas trying to do the same in a gas car (long time ago).
The only difference with a gas car (besides the range) is that in a gas car you carry one of these red containers and walk to the nearest gas station to fill it (I wonder if it is still permitted in the US). Then you get a few more miles.
In an electric car you will need a portable generator (that is a problem in CA) in addition to the red container, oh ..... and you have to wait at least half an hour to get a few more miles.
That is the real problem, you have to wait. Fast charging in not a good solution since you require large amounts of power (40-80kW), the losses are very high, and the battery life shortens.
We have yet to see new technologies for batteries that allow "instant" recharging and hopefully greater energy density that remains constant during the life of the battery.
eniac says:
09:13 AM, 08/ 4/11
URL
Remember personal info?
Dan you say, "And so, dear readers, I did not simply crap out on the side of the freeway, putting myself and others at risk in a stupid attempt to prove something about electric cars..." So then how do you explain this photo, from the mynissanleaf message board, of your LEAF abandoned on the 405 with a CHP tag on the back window? http://www.anguish.org/bytre/leaf405.jpg
bimmerjay says:
12:28 PM, 08/ 4/11
+1 stovt001. It's amazing how rude and childish people can be when protected by the anonymity of the internet.
f1mom says:
03:09 PM, 08/ 4/11
@eniac: Look in the left side mirror. He's sitting in the car waiting for the tow truck.
cr_driver says:
09:16 AM, 08/ 5/11
Sorry Dan you had to go thru this at the end.
Its good for the blog, thou.
esoterica says:
09:20 AM, 08/ 5/11
Going from displaying a specific DTE to "---" is a psychological trick to try to convince the driver to not push the limit. GM does this in many cars by switching to displaying "low range" when the DTE clicks below about 45 miles (though having said that, I've found even 45 miles to be remarkably conservative for how much fuel is left in the tank). What it really comes down to is that no manufacturer wants anyone to see its cars stranded on the side of the road, doubly so if the manufacturer has to provide free towing (which it was my understanding that Nissan provides for the Leaf).
I have yet to hear a compelling explanation of why SoCal arbitrarily limits HOV access. IMO it makes things MUCH more dangerous (and makes traffic flow much worse), if for no other reason than the people who will exit the HOV lane way too late to make it across several lanes of traffic for an exit, who in turn cause multiple lanes to slam on brakes and therefore cascading delays. But then again, for an area that relies so heavily on cars, LA has mindbogglingly bad civil engineering in general. Phoenix, for all its problems, learned from all the mistakes of SoCal freeways.
jpwhitehome says:
06:04 PM, 08/18/11
I'd say your 30 mile radius to be a good rule of thumb. I drive 15 Miles each way and drive 'normally', 70 on the highway 45-55 on the main roads, 30-35 side streets. I use about 48% of a charge doing so. A/C in Tennessee heat must draw some extra as well.
steve386 says:
07:51 PM, 08/20/11
I agree with the author. After one month of using this car, when driving on a highway at 70 mph occasional speed, I can get no more than 50 miles range in the ECO mode, w/o air-condition and in the perfect weather, 72F. I think the safe radius is 20-25 miles when driving on a highway. Frankly, I find this range ridiculous. What you should not do with this car:
* you should not drive on a highway (carpool privilege is useless)
* you should not drive when it is too cold or too hot
* you should not use air-condition, heater or open windows (aerodynamic drag)
* you should not drive more than 25 miles one way per day
* you should not make an navigational mistakes, take u-turns, etc.
What you should do when purchasing Leaf:
* you should have another backup car
* you should get an extended AAA towing service
* you should always carry a folded bicycle on the back seat
And one more observation. I thought my driveway was 65 feet long? Wrong, driving this distance in a fully charged Leaf costs 20 "nissan miles", it takes additional 10 "nissan miles" miles to reach the first stop sign a few blocks away.
Is this car good for anything? Yes, you can get to your local supermarket on a single change. I wish I could use "this thing" as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for my computer.
littlegreenman says:
10:55 PM, 09/11/11
Steve386,
Obviously the way we might each drive our LEAFs and the road conditions etc. might lead to different results or mileage. I have put 1900+ miles on my LEAF since receiving it July. I live in the Seattle area and currently drive 23 miles each way to work 5 days a week (so 46 miles roundtrip). Speed limits here are 60 mph, so I pretty much drive no faster than a few miles over (both because of traffic, and because I am trying to maximize my range), and on the trip home each day, at least 1/3 of the drive is in heavy traffic. Every day when I get home from work after driving 46 miles, I have between 30 - 38 miles of range estimated remaining - I don't generally use the carpool lane (unless I have a passenger - we don't qualify for carpool lane access in WA in an electric car a single occupant). I ONLY charge to 80% each day (as Nissan recommends unless you actually need 100% range). If you can only go about 50 miles on a charge (I assume 80%, not 100%) I can pretty much guarantee you if you slow down a little bit, you'll get well over 50 miles.
As far as the advice you give, a lot of it sounds pretty snarky and I can't take you seriously, though I agree you probably should have another car as backup unless you almost never drive more than 70-80 miles from where you live. You are probably better off with a garage where you can install a 240v charger too (or at least a carport). I suggest, if the LEAF doesn't work for you, you sell it to someone who it WILL work for and try driving something else you will be happier with (Volt, Prius, TDI, Tesla, electric bicycle???).