Recently the old family runabout came to the end of its life with us due to cam-belt failure. This is car number two and used for all the daily local trips, school runs, shopping trips and general duties so replacement priorities were: suitable for a life of short journeys (so no diesels), small enough for tight country lanes, reliable. The added complexity is that my wife only drives an automatic so it had to tick that box.
Enter stage left the Nissan Leaf, a 2013 model. An early EV has its compromises, mainly range, so this post is a summary of the most important things I learnt through the buying process and early stage of ownership. Hopefully to make it easier for anyone contemplating a similar decision.
Battery health – Priority #1
The range of the 24kW mk1. leaf was never strong. With ~22kW of usable capacity and an average of 4miles per kWh the simple maths gives a typical max range when new of 88miles. With this in mind when buying an early leaf unless you are happy with really limited range you need to try and buy the best battery you can find. Replacement is not very cost effective. We found a leaf with 11/12 bars which indicates 75-82% battery capacity remaining.
The battery health bar – The equivalent of the fuel guage on the leaf shows two sets of bars. The long bars show the current state of charge 1 bar empty, 12 bars full. The right hand side, slimmer bars give battery health. Again 12 bars for ~82-100% battery capacity. For a leaf up to 12 years old finding one with 12 bars is a push but 10 or 11 means you at least still have reasonable capacity.
How to prolong battery life – The two basic rules to keep the battery healthy and therefore maintain range are:
- Maintain the charge in the 20-80% range. There is an option button in the settings to stop charging at 80%. This will sacrifice a few miles of range but help maintain a healthy battery for more years. Avoid leaving the battery at 100% charge for prolonged periods but don’t worry too much if charge to 100% occasionally when you need the range and are about to use it.
- Slow charging is better for the battery. Fast charging of the type you find in motorway service stations and petrol stations degrades the battery more quickly. The granny lead that comes with the car and uses a 3 pin plug is ideal for day to day charging although at a rate of ~2kW per hour will take 8+ hrs to deliver a full charge.
Charging – How it works?
The Mk1. leaf offers two charge ports. A standard type 1 for slower charging. A Chademo port for fast charging. You can open the door to expose the ports from either the button in the car, or using the bottom button on the key fob. Hold it close to the hatch and give the button a long press until it pops open.
How to start the leaf
Going cold into my first viewing I realised I had no idea how to start the thing. Although there is an on off button if you press this nothing will happen, if you press it again the system will fire up but you will not be able to select drive. In order to drive the car you need to depress the brake pedal whilst pressing thestart button once. After about two seconds the car will be ready to drive with a little beepy fanfare and a green car picture on the dashboard.
The parking brake is foot operated (yes i realise that sounds contradictory). You operate it with your left foot as for a clutch with a push on and push off action. It’s that simple.
Drive is selected by moving the “gear knob” right and down. Reverse is right and up. Park by pressing the P button on the knob.
Maximising range
The driving experience, very smooth and relaxed, encourages economical driving. There are a few things you can do to eke out some extra miles.
- By pressing the eco button on the steering wheel, available power is reduced with the benefit of enhanced range. Eco-mode is plenty workable for day to day driving in eco mode so we leave it in that most of the time. It really pulls quickly from 0-30 in normal mode if you need a speedy getaway.
- B-mode. There is an additional drive mode call B mode selected by selecting drive again when already in drive. This B mode increases regenerative braking which captures more braking energy for the battery. This is best used on long downhills when frequent braking is required with normal D in eco mode best for normal driving.
- Keep the climate control switched off. Unless you really need it, e.g. a very hot day, the climate control, which is very effective, is quite power hungry. Using pre heating/cooling when plugged in and avoiding use unless you need it will help range. Remember to switch off the demister as well when it has done its job!
How much range is realistic?
As mentioned above for local driving at 30-50mph 4miles per kw/h of battery charge is quite normal. In colder weather 3.5 miles is probably more realistic and in warm 15C+ weather 4.5 kw/h is easily achievable. With a battery life of approximately 75-80% this translates as ~17 kw/h of remaining capacity for my car. 17kw/h therefore delivers a theoretical range of between 51 -> 76.5 (t to 4.5 miles per kw/h) Generally I generally don’t drive into the last bar and each bar is worth around 6 miles so, deducting that, we arrive at a rough 45 to 70 as a sensible and realistic assumption.