In a totally unrealistic scenario
Sorry… but we just don’t get it. Set the cruise at 35 miles per hour and drive it in circles until it won’t go anymore? With the air conditioning off on an 80 degree day and the windows just cracked open? As my son says – “Come onnnnnn!”
These kinds of tests have absolutely no meaning to anyone but the individuals that design them. The only useful bit of data provided is that the LEAF took just over 26 kilowatt hours of juice to recharge the totally used up battery. But they could have found that out just by depleting the battery going in a circle at 90 miles per hour. They would have been done a lot sooner. And likely had a lot more fun.
Edmunds said that LEAF drivers might actually average 35 miles per hour in a suburban setting. They were comparing themselves to a Tesla Roadster test that was conducted at 17 miles per hour, which they thought was ridiculous. There is a huge difference between averaging 35 miles per hour in suburban driving, and driving at a continuous 35 miles per hour with no braking or accelerating (except for three stops for driver changes, so their drivers didn’t die of boredom). I don’t like to guarantee many things, but I will guarantee this – we can drive our LEAF, average 35 miles per hour, and get significantly less range than 132 miles. It’s not about the average speed. It is all about the way (and the terrain) in which the car was driven. If you mean to provide useful data, please do it a meaningful way.
I agree, Ernie; this was a useless effort, which really doesn’t accomplish anything.
I was probably inappropriately harsh on the article. But, in my view it served no practical purpose. If one is going to create an exercise, there should be some real-world benefit as a result. Otherwise, it becomes an exercise in futility.
Actually I found the test extremely interesting. For one we see the actual sequence of messages, warning indicators, and alarms which occur as the LEAFs batteries are being depleted. Then exactly what happens at the very end. This all reinforces my belief that if you run the LEAFs charge to zero, you likely actually wanted to.
Second, we have a metric for the high water mark for the range of the LEAF. That’s interesting as well. At the end of the day the LEAF has been driven by thousands of reporters. What’s left for Edmunds to report on? Would you rather read yet another, “hey it’s quiet”, “V6 acceleration”, “polarizing design”, etc, etc, etc.
Indy – You’re right. I hadn’t thought about the indications provided as the LEAF runs low. In that sense, it did provide some information for those (like us) that have not yet experienced any of those “low juice” points. That said, I still take issue with their statement that their test equates to a suburban driver driving their LEAF an average 35 miles per hour.
One of the most often asked questions that I’ve heard is “Will it do my XX mile commute back and forth to work?”. As you know, there are so many variables to consider, it is difficult to answer that particular question with any degree of accuracy. That is where we find the mynissanleaf.com site helpful.