Consumer Reports tests the Nissan Leaf

[Richard230]

In their November issue, Consumer Reports magazine has published their full test of the Nissan Leaf. While there are no surprises in their comments, there are a few interesting things that were mentioned:

In order to purchase the car they had to fly out to California to buy it, as the Leaf was not being sold on the East Coast at the time. Since it was not practical to drive it back to their Auto Test Center in Connecticut, they had it shipped across the country in a car carrier. Their normal procedure is to put 2000 miles on a new car to break it in before testing. Due to the Leaf's relatively short range and their regular drivers reluctance to push the range envelope, it took much longer than usual to get the 2K miles on the car.

The average range of the Leaf during their testing was 75 miles, with a high of 90 miles and a low of 60 miles during cold weather when the heater was being used. The car averaged 3.15 miles per kWh, or the equivalent of 106 mpg in mixed driving. That gave the Leaf a very low operating cost of 3.5 cents per mile.

A full charge of 22 kWh took about 6 hours using the extra-cost 240-volt charger. Using the standard 120-volt charger it took 16 hours to fully recharge the battery pack. They noted that 22 kWh from the wall socket amounted to 19 kWh into the battery pack, a charging efficiency of 85%. The car's electrical consumption was measured with a rented an on-board data logger.

0-60 mph takes10.3 seconds, passing from 45 to 65 mph takes 6.7 seconds and the quarter mile takes 17.8 seconds. Braking was deemed good with a stopping distance of 136 feet in the dry and 149 feet in the wet. Maximum load for the Leaf is 860 pounds and the car weighs 3,360 pounds, with a weight distribution of 56% front and 44% rear. The turning circle is 37 feet.

What they liked about the car was its running costs, ride, instant power delivery, quietness, access and turning circle. What they didn't like was its limited range, long charging times, high-pitched whine, no telescoping steering wheel and a lack of agility.

They particularly liked the transmission, which received a red dot, their highest rating. 

[protomech]

Sounds about right.

Is that range actual miles traveled under those conditions, or projected maximum range given the percentage SOC depletion? 60 miles in the cold weather with the heater on sounds pretty good. Was that a pre-heated battery?

85% charge efficiency is about right for 120v, I would have expected a little higher for 240v.

[Richard230]

That was the actual range under normal driving conditions, running the battery down to 80% of the battery's rated capacity, which is probably why they needed the data logger. However, my guess is that most of the driving was not done at freeway speeds.

There was no mention of pre-heating the battery.  I think most of the car's mileage was performed by various members of their staff during the car's "break-in" period. I doubt that most garages in Connecticut are heated, so the battery probably started out cold. I also gathered from reading the article that their staff daily testers had little knowledge about electric vehicles and probably drove the car with a light foot fearing running out of juice and being stranded. Still, that sounds like useful range to me and should work for most commuters and typical urban and suburban driving.