*might* be getting an iMiev.......

[acmotor]

.....
I have been using as little regen as I need to slow down on the premise that utilising that kinetic energy to roll the car is more efficient than turning it to electricity and back into motion again...
....

There is a lot of truth in that (when driving conditions allow).
In the country I try to drive with more constant power than speed. i.e. let the speed ease back uphill and let it run downhill rather than regen. This is easy when there are passing lanes or no other traffic around but not friendly when there is only one lane and a double white line. Why put it back in the battery when you can use it !
City / close hilly driving is a different case as johny points out. Go the regen !

[carnut1100]

Got the RR meter down to zero last night....but we did do quite a long run with a mix of highway and quite a few hills....
Didn't get the turtle up though.

Drove to work this morning and heading into Hobart afterwards then Home...Should be 70-80km with a mix of highway city and back roads with a few hills...This Will be a good Test and rrepresents the biggest Use it will see fairly often.

[Johny]

Boy you didn't take long to start pushing the boundaries.

[carnut1100]

No point in it sitting there.......

[acmotor]

go for it !

Do keep a log of runs, temperature, headwind etc as it is interesting what things matter.
I'd like to fit a wind speed log since head wind is a downer. (another reason RR is the guessometer)
I've done country 70km runs into 40km/h headwind and used 11kWh then with the same wind as tail, come back using 7kWh.

[Johny]

No point in it sitting there.......

Nope - I agree! I'm probably coming from a DIY perspective where you build up your confidence slowly. Thinking back to the Leaf we had for 3 months I just assumed it'd do what the range indicator said.

[carnut1100]

Haven't logged yet....but I should.
I need that Bluetooth data thingy, I've got the app on my android phone....looks neat!

[offgridQLD]

One thing about that app. I am having all kinds of stability issues with it once it starts to log more than a few days data. Hanging up and so on along with bluetooth dropouts.

I am running powerful tablet nexus 7 v2 and a high quality reputable OBD scanner . I have mentioned the issues to the guy who made the app and see where things go with it.

Cant expect much for free I guess

Kurt.

[carnut1100]

Well I'm in town.
Topped off at work before leaving, had all bars on the gauge but hadn't shut off.
Headlights most of the way in (twilight and rain...) with wipers, stereo on, mix of 80km highway and about 10 km of 100kmh freeway then city Traffic.
Hit half on the gauge at around 45-46km on the trip meter.
Also had defrost on about a quarter of the way but turned down low.

[offgridQLD]

The heater - defrost unit can consume 5kw the AC unit uses under 1kw (AC defrosts well). To put that into perspective you can sit at 100kmh for around 10kw.

Today a drove to our offgrid house 104km I made it to the town just below the range on 1/2 a tank --battery at 75km distance. mix of mostly 60 - 80 and a little 100kmh . Because I had a lot of SOC remaining from taking it easy. I thought what the heck I have SOC to burn so I went silly up the hinterland range.

Traveling up the hill all the cars were keen to see the overtaking lane that sits 1/2 way up the range due to a slow ute blowing black smoke. The cars all hit the right lane though the ICE engines in them were all bogged down and in the wrong gear, scrambling for RPM and struggling to picking up speed on the 12% slope.

So after overtaking the slow ute in the left lane. I thought bugger this no one is gaining any speed they were all just making a lot of noise and blowing unburnt fuel at me. So I switched back to the left lane and planted it zooming past the entire convoy of cars that were in the fast lane at about 110kph and tucked back in front of the lot of them. It was so cheeky quite and effortless. Times like this is when the Imiev makes up for its ugly looks.

Kurt

[Monkeyboy]

G'day offgridQLD, your story makes me go hmmmm. I too am coming to appreciate how efficient this thing is. Licence may be at risk?

[carnut1100]

Hmmm....I tthought this thing might be a licence preserver.......
The speed limiter may or may not be 2kmh off published specs...

Anyhow, I came home in the pouring rain and at night, there is one-steep hill that pulled the juice a lot.
The battery gauge went to no bars at 81km exactly on the odometer and I got home at 82.6 but no turtle.

I'm wondering if perhaps my battery pack has been treated badly in the past....because I thinknmaybeni should be getting better than that.
If I ask for the results from the battery test done during service might that shed some light on it?

Also gotta chase the dealer for a jack....mine is missing!

[acmotor]

82.6km on a bad day, cold rain heater and probably a head wind etc.
Ok so you know what the number is now. Temperature can be a big factor. Kurt is probably doing his run at 20degC more than you.
Energy meter may still be calibrating itself after the long sleep.

Some checks...
16 bars showing can still be up to 1kW short of full charge.
I run 40psi in tyres and keep an eye on front wheel alignment. Exessive toe can be wasteful.
I noticed an increase in logged range for the first 20,000km of driving. Partly due to driver (!) and perhaps some due to battery pack settling in ?

Are you measuring recharge kW yet ? that is the most important information about battery pack capacity.

Battery pack test at service ? I wonder about that. They i checks the battery itself.
Can't wait to get that app running and view the SOC and voltage data.

Jack ? its in the little bottle under the back seat.

[carnut1100]

The owners handbook shows a jack behind a plastic cover in the back too...

Apparently at service the do a Test and full drain and charge.

I haven't got a meter to measure charge kWh yet but I plan to.

[offgridQLD]

The speed limiter is set at 135kmh though it lets you over run 140kmh (and its still pulling) Then it cuts the power and drops the speed to a steady 135. You can see the power gauge also drops so its defiantly electronic limiting not power limited top speed.

Charge the car up over night to be sure its full. Then drive it in D mode and do you best to keep the needle in the green zone and you should be able to get 100km from it. Though it is colder down there its about 30C day time temps this time of year in Brisbane. Rain on the road would add a lot of resistance and I also run 40psi all round. Motorway driving is the biggest energy hog. The 2012 cars don't have a jack just a little dc compressor and a bottle of gunk to put in. So you don't take the wheel off so no jack. It's under the rear seat the bottom part just lifts off.

My area of Brisbane has a lot of steep yet reasonably short hills the kind of terrain that's hell to ride a push bike around. In the first week I had the car I just drove around the local area taking it easy 60 - 80kmh zones and did just over 107km from memory with 2 bars on the gauge. 2 bars is 23% SOC. 100kmh. Two bars on the gauge 23% is my personal limit to how much I will take my battery down. At times I might go a km or two more but never under 20% soc.

I think the Imiev is a good car to keep you out of trouble as 99% of the time I drive it reasonably slow as I usually need a good range from it. If you do give it a bit of stick because it doesn't make a noise it so doesn't draw attention to its self though I find it really only shines up hills.

Kurt.

[Johny]

I haven't got a meter to measure charge kWh yet but I plan to.

Yes, that would be a good idea. It's starting to look like the pack may not be up to full spec.
I think it's MORE than reasonable to chase up the pack test results as well.

You probably need to eliminate driving style. Try nannying it for a complete pack cycle. Don't use mechanical brakes except in an emergency. Keep speeds under 60km/h - plan side roads etc. No heater - rug up. Gentle acceleration. I find the not using brakes as the critical part in getting best economy. It changes the way you drive to accomplish that.

[offgridQLD]

To get 100km from it with two bars remaining you shouldn't need to drive like a nanny. 60 and 80km zones and just drive with the traffic. Even 100kmh zones 100km shouldn't be a issue.On a flat road no wind you only use about 10kw - 12kw to travel at 100kmh.

I agree driving style can play a big part, as in not trying to blow everyone away at the lights and not screaming up to the lights and jabbing on the brakes.

If i was going to do a test (perhaps on the weekend when you have time)just drive around lots of small trips - no heater or motorway just drive it normally 80 - 60kmh zones, no rain or strong wind and try and get 100km out of it. If the battery is healthy it shouldn't be a issue at all.

I get 104km with two bars on the gauge and ai have done it several times in as cold at 16 deg C . Fully loaded up 3 people in the car at night, powering a car fridge and climbing a 550m high hill. That's a mix of 50,60,80 (mostly 60 and 80) and a little of 100kmh.

Kurt

[acmotor]

... have done it several times in as cold at 16 deg C ...

or in Horbart's case, as warm as 16 deg C !
Just noting that temperature has an effect. Summer is coming carnut !

Nice summary there Kurt. I agree with most of that. D rules most of the time. Yep, aim for 2 kWh ('2 bars') minimum.

I'd expand on 'motorway' though.
We have freeways here, despite the lady dash suggesting otherwise. I find if there are 3 lanes, travel in the centre, at the traffic speed and at reasonable but not too large following distance.
The air mass that is moved by the flowing traffic is benificial. Keep it steady though as on/off power and regen are not as good as smooth drive.
If find this can result in 100Wh/km at 100km/h.

Driving as lone vehicle on a country road with a headwind is the most hungry in power.

I keep saying that I don't believe that our batteries are cycled at service. There is no need and the service depts can't do it anyway. Nobody agrees ?

[carnut1100]

Dealer said that they did it and needed the car overnight to do so.......

[offgridQLD]

I wouldn't think they would have the gear to load test the car. My thought is all they would have at the most is something to plug into the obd port and check the balance/voltage of the cells to highlight a issue.

Actually I have a idea for a experiment to test you packs performance. I was given a link to a web page app that you can type a start and end destination in and it will work out how much energy you should consume over that trip. It has profiles for many EV's and has our Imiev. I find for my trips if I enter a average speed of 70kmh because it uses the elevation profile of the trip in its calculations is surprisingly accurate.

Give it a try

http://www.jurassictest.ch/GR/


Driving from Hobart to Oatlands in the north at a avarage of 70kmh (remember avarages are always lower than you think) It is showing you will climb a total over 500m and will have a 109km range in that terrain.

[whimpurinter]

Sorry boys, probably wrong place but I want to say that last night when I went back to my Mk6 Electron in the underground car park in Brisbane, I was about to get into the car when I noticed an unusually-shaped car beside me. It was in the style of an imiev (mad hatter's hat) so I had a look to see if there was a petrol version of the imiev. But it was an imiev. With Victorian plates. Must have got a tow   

[offgridQLD]

There is a petrol version of the Imiev its called the Icar. Perhaps trucked up or perhaps they were just taking there time and drove 100km early each morning then charged at a caravan park and drove another 100 late in the afternoon. At 200km a day It would take 9 days to get to Brisbane from Melbourne stopping at caravan parks.

Kurt

[acmotor]

Dealer said that they did it and needed the car overnight to do so.......

OK, so they charged the i.
... and just how did they discharge it ? dealers are always sparing with the truth... more so when they have no idea.

Just measure the recharge kWh with a meter. An Arlec from Bunnings will do.

[carnut1100]

Haven't found a power meter with 15A plug as yet....found a few 10A ones.

[offgridQLD]

Mine is just a 10A meter. I have a little pigs tail 100mm long 10-15a adapter.

Kurt