We take our 2019 Nissan Leaf on its first multi day road trip. We find out how well Nissans 62kw air cooled battery handles repeated DC fast charges in 90 plus degree temps, and made some decisions after the trip.
When you stay overnight thats when you should stay at a place that can give you the AC 6.6 kWh charge to 100%. Doesn't add to the Heat and you are good to go straight away.
I liked your video :) 2 years ago the Leaf+ was on our radar but "Rapid Gate" scared us away(Nissan Leaf could still be the #1 selling EV if they had BTM and CCS).We ended up getting a Tesla Model 3 SR+.Sure we live in Calgary Canada but during the summers we go to BC,The interior of BC can easily get up into the 40c+(104F+) temps and Calgary to Vancouver BC is 980 km(609 miles) The Tesla can do the trip with similar times of ICE.Yesterday we test drove a Tesla Model Y If the numbers work a Y is in our future :) Congratulations on the Bolt,We did test drive a Bolt but the Tesla won us over.
Love the color of the new Bolt you got, congrats. 100% agree that with the lack of thermal battery management the Leaf is not a road trip car (I remember thinking you were pushing it with the 500 mile trip that you had to drive at 15 mph under the speed limit).
Driving 55 is just a thing I do. I grew up in the Malaise Era and remember those days when 55 was the maximum speed limit. As time went by and the limits rose, I saw the fuel economy of my vehicles fall. Finally, when I had an extreme commute at my prior career (100 mile round trip), I saw the gas prices go nuts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I decided to slow down then, and watched my fuel economy instantly soar well above EPA ratings on my vehicles. It was a habit I got into, that paid me back in droves when oil went to nearly $150 per barrel not long thereafter. I find that it has little overall penalty in time as I watch the same cars pass me by repeatedly, driving much faster. It's a decent enough pace for me to cover a reasonable mount of ground every day, and maximize the efficiency of whatever I'm driving, regardless of it's means of propulsion. Our Bolt is already sitting at 4.9mi/kw, which is a pretty healthy bump over the LEAF.
We only use our Leaf as a commuter so it doesn't really see highway use. On our Niro EV however, I frequently drive it long distances (350 miles round trip in a day) and nearly all highway. I am getting 300+ miles to a charge at the posted speed limit (or just a little more) and given the EPA estimate is 239 miles, I highly doubt I would see much increase if I slowed down to 15 mph under the posted limit. Glad you are seeing a nice efficiency bump with the Bolt, it definitely took us a little bit of getting used to how different the efficiency is between our 2 EVs.
I have a 2015 Nissan LEAF (1st Gen) and my battery temperature goes into the red after the 2 DC fast charging sessions within 24 hours of each other if the air temperature is above 90°F. It takes forever for the battery to cool down after a level 3 fast charge during the summer. A good 2 to 3 days without fast charging for the battery to cool back down to the safe zone of 5 to 7 temperature bars. I just use my LEAF for local food deliveries around town and don't even dare to take any long distance road trips with it. I either have to rent a car or borrow a family member's ICE to go on any long trips of over 84 miles, which is the car's range on a single full charge. I am seriously considering trading it in for a Bolt EV like you did, but am unfortunately $3750 in negative equity with my loan.
I appreciate this video so much! We were debating taking my 2020 Bolt or my wife's 2020 Leaf Plus on a trip from NE to VA, about 1200 miles. We haven't done any long tips in the Leaf yet but glad to learn that it really isn't practical for those long trips due to the thermal throttling. Looking forward to more EV videos from you ^w^
Thanks for sharing your experience, I am also planning for 200 miles of road trip, I have 2021 SV that shows 150 miles limit , Hope it will not trouble me of over heating while charging on trip as battery will be hot. Please give some tips for smooth trip with my Leaf
If you're only looking at a 200 mile one way drive, you should be fine. You won't be traveling 150 miles before a charge stop, however. Plan for a stop someplace in between. your start and destination. I also recommend taking your portable charger. Use it where you are staying at night (assuming more than one day), and make use of L2 everywhere you can while at and running around your destination. Plan on a DC stop on the way home in roughly the same spot - again assuming you're able to begin your drive home with a full battery.
I am interested in a Leaf for in-town use and home charging, especially with the $7,500 tax incentive and the $7,500 Nissan discount. I think the Nissan discount just barely offsets the overpriced MSRP. We are retired and would just use it for 20-40 miles a day, so the SV 40KWH seems most appropriate. We also do long Interstate trips in our 18 Odyssey and think your turtle pace is a hazard and extremely discourteous. You should exercise your freedom on non-Interstate roads. Other than the turtle pace it was an informative video.
The minimum speed limit on the U.S. Interstate highway system is actually 45 mph. I recommend you stay out of every state with a split speed limit on the Interstate. California for example has a 55nph speed limit for trucks,cand 70 for cars on their interstates and major state highways. Sounds like the state is too dangerous and duscourteous for you to drive in.
I have had problems initiating with EVgo with my Leaf. I don’t know if it is the CHAdeMO or that the chargers are very picky about the sequence that is used to start the charge. But each time I call their customer services and they get me charging. But it does cause that moment of anxiety.
If I am buying ev I would buy 40kwh leaf.I also like the passive cooled battery longer trips couple of time of the year use a different car or deal with little inconvenience.
Hello, I think it is possible to get around the problem of battery heating on successive loads, by limiting the speed to 65 miles / h max, having 16 "rims and inflating to 2.8 bars. which significantly reduces consumption. and therefore the traction of the battery causing it to heat up.It is then possible to do 2 rapid charges per day before being too impacted by the rapidgate. Another solution would be a hack by putting a sealed fan at the level of the front deck under the floor, in front of the battery connector to create forced air ventilation. Which could slightly improve the inertial cooling of the leaf battery. Cordially.
How many times did you have to call EA chargers ? I just completed a road trip with my 2019 Nissan Leaf, love my car. Yet love to hate EA. planning more trips! Hope you take another trip! more the better right? Will watch til the end 😂👋🏻🔌🚗💜Hello from Colorado Leaf spy app "lite" is free
@@wolfman9999999 I had multiple calls to all different locations on EA chargers at least there was only one that suggested using a diff network, and said to check on plug share. I was surprised to hear they know how help people
? So for a lot of major cities in the SouthWest from May until September, (Palm Springs, Las Vegas, much of New Mexico, and Arizona, and quite a bit of Texas here and there) even the 2019 Nissan Leaf SL won't be a good experience if they want to drive as low as 30 miles a day in 105 temperatures commuting or doing errands ? If the car was experiencing severe delay with public charging in these more mild temperatures, how is the car going to handle evening charges at home when it's still over 85% degrees all night long ?
Recently went from Sacramento to Oxnard (400ish miles each way). I did this in a 2020 SV (40Kwh). In an ICE car it’s a 6.5hr drive. In the Leaf the trip down took 10 hours, the trip back took 18. Between Throttlegate and dead Chademo chargers (both EA) it was a pretty miserable experience. It’s a great car but a lousy EV. Nissan just made maddeningly bad choices with this car. Looking to trade it in for pretty much anything else.
I wouldn't think it would do much. There is plastic underbody panels underneath the car for aerodynamic aid. A quick car wash isn't going to do any measurable difference.
@@wolfman9999999there must be an after market way to cool.it down. If it is air cooled then are there vents? If there are vents then engineering a temp controlled fan would be easy .
@@Fraiyia there is. O aftermarket cooling solution for the Nissan LEAF battery. Liquid cooled EV batteries have internal ducting to flow a coolant solution inside the case. Cases are sealed to keep contaminants out of them.
@@Fraiyia sorry, but I did not realize my phone rewrote my reply. There are no aftermarket cooling solutions, and was what I had attempted to say in my previous post
@@wolfman9999999 I have never seen 100kw, have you? 77KW is the most i have seen, EA has the best powered chademos. I sometimes ope. My hood while DC charging as it works like an air scoop to get a little better cooling. I haven't needed to do more than 500 miles in a day (combination Dzcand L2 charging). We didnt hit charge throttling, but, a few drivers have posted similar videos. We have an S+ and a SV+. The S+ because it is a bit more efficient tends to run a bit cooler.
@@douglasalanthompson You're correct. EA is the only one to offer charging stations for CHAdeMO chargers over 50 KW. They're running 75kw at their stations. Still, 11 - 14 KW is simply not something that is reasonable.
