Electra, my 2012 Nissan Leaf, is gulping. And her distance math is challenging my best geometry. Let me explain. Temperatures have dropped here in Denver, and I'm finding the many ways to warm myself in her presence. Of course, the more I warm myself, the faster the battery drains.
Electra has several ways to warm her passengers. There's the regular way--through the vents--and she also heats up her steering wheel, which I am finding an absolute pleasure. The third way is via the individual seat warmers, which can be turned on for each front seat and/or the rear bench seat.
The more heat I have on, the shorter the range. Whereas in the summer with the air conditioner on, Electra ranges about 90 miles. But in the winter with the vent and one or two seats on, her range is 68. But, I am not quite sure about her winter range. It is Leaf Math...and since I generally no longer drive a full range at once, I frankly am not sure if 68 really means 68. Regardless, there is a difference on winter range, and I cannot confidently state what is is.
I do positively want to state that Electra keeps me toasty. I can usually get by with just using the steering wheel heat and the vent directed at my feet. Occasionally, I turn on the seats. I'm still very happy with my Nissan Leaf, but I am wishing for a better indicator about range. In addition, I do wish the buttons to turn on the different heating options turned back to off when turning the car off. I often find that the rear seat is on unnecessarily because I did not manually turn it off from the last use, thus making Electra unnecessarily gulp precious battery time.
