Driving my Leaf

fcdub

Hi all, Im new to this, and bought a 142 Leaf last month.

I am wondering how it should be driven. I am driving it everywhere in B ECO, is this okay? I only flick off ECO occasionally when someone is tailgating me or I want to pull out from a busy junction or overtake.

Any pointers?


Love the leaf btw!!! Why did I drive petrol so long? What a waste!

Gumbo

I drive in D all day long. Never use eco, hate it!
Hardly use B.

cros13

Eco doesn't do anything much beyond what a disciplined driver could already do... it just remaps the accelerator (also some minor increase to regen in B and limits climate control peak power).

I'd advise against using eco in day-to-day driving.

fcdub

Does it not affect the range significantly?

goz83

fcdub wrote: »

Does it not affect the range significantly?

If I feel I really need to stretch the range, I use B. It feels very numb and takes the joy out of driving, so I much prefer to use D. We are talking a few extra kilometres and zero saving on motorways.

Gumbo

fcdub wrote: »

Does it not affect the range significantly?

I left work today with 127km range on the GOM, When I pressed eco it added 6km to the 'GOM' range. It's very restricted while taking off and entering traffic.

You might put it on if you were doing a trip and the trip was at the edges of the cars max range in normal driving.

Thing is the Eco makes it easier to drive economically because it basically stiffens up the accelerator to make it harder to press.

D is a lot more tempting to put the foot down and have fun so if you don't need the range just have fun.

Yes you can drive economically in D but Eco makes it easier to if you need to.

n97 mini

kceire wrote: »

I drive in D all day long. Never use eco, hate it!
Hardly use B.

You were saying on FB your consumption is on the high side. There's your answer! I would imagine you've a fairly heavy right foot, which gets dampened significantly by Eco mode.

Years of driving hybrids has given me a light foot and the Leaf typically hovers now around 13kw/100km

n97 mini

kceire wrote: »

I left work today with 127km range on the GOM, When I pressed eco it added 6km to the 'GOM' range. It's very restricted while taking off and entering traffic.

You might put it on if you were doing a trip and the trip was at the edges of the cars max range in normal driving.

You might not know this, but there is a switch on the floor underneath the accelerator that over rides Eco. If you floor it literally you will get full power. You can feel the switch click.

n97 mini

cros13 wrote: »

Eco doesn't do anything much beyond what a disciplined driver could already do... it just remaps the accelerator (also some minor increase to regen in B and limits climate control peak power).

I'd advise against using eco in day-to-day driving.

If you're not a disciplined driver and range is important I would recommend leaving Eco permanently on. The car is still as responsive as an average Irish car of its size.

You can get the "kick down" when you floor it but D is far better for pulling out of junctions.

Remember, from a complete stop the leaf is severely restricted but once rolling it takes off like a bat out of hell.

For instance, stopped at a roundabout , see a gap and hit the throttle it takes too long to pick up speed, now roll into the roundabout, see a gap ,hit the throttle and you're gone like a rocket.

Electrics need to be rear wheel drive like the I3.

Gumbo

n97 mini wrote: »

You were saying on FB your consumption is on the high side. There's your answer! I would imagine you've a fairly heavy right foot, which gets dampened significantly by Eco mode.

Years of driving hybrids has given me a light foot and the Leaf typically hovers now around 13kw/100km

I'm currently sitting at 17kwh/100km since the warmer weather came in, but yeah I figured it was a mixture of my driving style, route and maybe non eco ev orientated tyres on the car.
I wouldn't say a heavy foot, as I would generally be within limits with regards to speed, but I wouldn't be hanging around or driving miss daisy.

Currently have no concerns with range as I'm only 1km from a FCP and have regular access to a SCP in work but I can see the appeal of reducing the kWh used if I had to travel to a charge point or indeed cover a long distance.
I was quite reserved on my trip to Cavan so I can be economical when required

I'll be driving foot to the floor everywhere when I get my home charger installed

n97 mini wrote: »

You might not know this, but there is a switch on the floor underneath the accelerator that over rides Eco. If you floor it literally you will get full power. You can feel the switch click.

I was aware of this before, but I completely forgot about it until now thanks.

I can get 13 Kwh/100 kms to 23 Kwh/100 kms.

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

I can get 13 Kwh/100 kms to 23 Kwh/100 kms.

I had it down at 15ish during one long trip but it quickly jumps back up once I get in and around town etc

n97 mini

kceire wrote: »

I had it down at 15ish during one long trip but it quickly jumps back up once I get in and around town etc

No offence intended but you sound like you have the same right foot as my wife has! She doesn't anticipate traffic at all, so she accelerates up to the next red light and jams on the brakes... I see a red light ahead and I will coast to a stop. I get my best around town, probably as low as 10kw/100km. I don't drive like a granny either or hold up traffic, I've just become used to a driving style where the only time I use the brake (in urban driving) is to bring the car to a full stop.

n97 mini

Deleted User wrote: »

You can get the "kick down" when you floor it but D is far better for pulling out of junctions.

Remember, from a complete stop the leaf is severely restricted but once rolling it takes off like a bat out of hell.

For instance, stopped at a roundabout , see a gap and hit the throttle it takes too long to pick up speed, now roll into the roundabout, see a gap ,hit the throttle and you're gone like a rocket.

Electrics need to be rear wheel drive like the I3.

The 1.0 Leaf is better off the line than the 1.5. I was told torque from a standstill is limited even more in the 1.5 to avoid damaging the reduction gearbox.

While I'm somewhat of a fan of RWD I've never been in a FWD car that has done a 180 spin, but I was in a BMW that did one and it was terrifying. FWD doesn't do that, so while FWD might be slower off the line, it is safer for the average driver.

It's not safer if you want to pull out of a junction in damp conditions and have no traction.

Torque was reduced on the 1.5 simply because it was lighter and it wouldn't have made a difference.

ELM327

Deleted User wrote: »

I can get 13 Kwh/100 kms to 23 Kwh/100 kms.

Same here. I use ECO always though. It's easy to drive fast with the Eco mode on if needed, with the "kickdown". Not so easy to avoid the torque and save range in the non eco.

Gumbo

n97 mini wrote: »

No offence intended but you sound like you have the same right foot as my wife has! She doesn't anticipate traffic at all, so she accelerates up to the next red light and jams on the brakes... I see a red light ahead and I will coast to a stop. I get my best around town, probably as low as 10kw/100km. I don't drive like a granny either or hold up traffic, I've just become used to a driving style where the only time I use the brake (in urban driving) is to bring the car to a full stop.

No offence taken, I don't buy into this anticipation etc I just drive the car normally. I charge when required.

When the day comes that the EV cant do that for me I will
Swap if required.

There are times you need to drive slower for more range.

Today for instance, I got 21.2 Kwh/100 Kms driving 130 Km/h for roughly 65 Kms and the rest 60-100.

Drive at 100 Km/h and I'd get about 15-16 Kwh/100 Kms.

So, with about 21 Kwh available capacity that would get me roughly 4.71 Kms per Kwh at 130 ish Kph = 99 Kms.

Drive at 100 Km/h and get say 15.5 Kwh/100 Kms = 6.45 Km/Kwh = 135 Kms all distances to empty and you'd most likely be getting to a charge point 10-20 Kms earlier.

What's interesting about that now that I see it written down , the Zoe 40 Kwh should get 200 Kms at 130 Kph and 270 Kms at 100 Kph all given the same efficiency. 200 Kms at 130 Kph, I'll that that !

BoatMad

Both my wife and I drive religiously in the eco-mode and in drive mode B.

Average summer efficiency 14.5 kw/100km typical annual mileage is around 50.000 km

( 30 kWh leaf )
I only need to press the eco-button to overtake in certain cases the leaf is more than fast enough for general driving

Do any of you guys who average at less than 15 kWh/100 km have 17 inch tyres? I reckon Acenta/SV is considerably more efficient than Tekna/SVE due to more efficient narrower tyres.

I have the SVE on 17" Tyres , my average is about 19 Kwh/100 Kms simply because most of my driving is at 120-130 Kph. But that's also mixed with some off motorway and town driving.

The wider tyres will probably only make a small difference.