driving range limits/warnings

[turtlebud]

I'm trying to find out what the different driving range states are. Unfortunately the manual and what i've looked up online so far hasn't been very definitive. Specifically, I'd like to know what happens when you reach certain remaining miles left on the battery. I just want to make sure that if I'm under 20 miles (for example) that I'm not limited on speed so I can still go on the freeway to get home or to my destination to charge.

When the dealer was going over this, he said that there is a default state at 30, 20, and 10 miles left where it goes into gradually more aggressive battery conservation modes, with the last one disabling climate control and only allowing you to go 35mph. Can someone help me understand the different states and what happens at each state?

 

[RonDawg]

At around 18 or so miles left, the car goes into Eco mode which somewhat limits HVAC output and limits pedal responsiveness. You'll see the "power" gauge in the bottom center of the left gauge pod start to move upward, meaning you have reduced power. I think it does limit top speed but I don't think that limit is below 70 MPH.

When the charge level gets closer to zero, it automatically puts the car on Eco+ mode. That limits the output of the HVAC system, and not only does it make the pedal less sensitive, but it also does limit your speed to I think 55 MPH.

 

[JoulesThief]

turtlebud, have you opened and read your Owners Manual? You might try reading it, you can learn a lot, all about your new car. In fact, you should read all of it.

 

[GadgetGav]

turtlebud, have you opened and read your Owners Manual? You might try reading it, you can learn a lot, all about your new car. In fact, you should read all of it.

He's already been given misleading information by the dealer, there's no need to be so sarcastic when he's coming on here to ask actual owners for real world experience. Yes, the owner's manual has information, but these forums are supposed to be a community that the members can turn to too. :roll:

 

[mfennell]

turtlebud, have you opened and read your Owners Manual? You might try reading it, you can learn a lot, all about your new car. In fact, you should read all of it.

Have you read turtlebud's post? You can learn a lot, all about what he's already done.

Unfortunately the manual and what i've looked up online so far hasn't been very definitive.

 

[turtlebud]

thanks all for the input - greatly appreciated.

@joules, yes, I did read the manual - probably more than I've read for any of my other cars and it was really hard to find out information about the question I asked. Even when I did find the few references in the manual, it was unclear what happens at what miles. They were buried in the driving mode and the high voltage battery sections.

The only reference to specific miles was at 20 miles, it would go into Eco driving profile - I assumed this was the Normal/Eco/Eco+, which means you're limited to 70mph. The other two references were just "Please charge battery" = Eco and "Battery almost drained" = Eco+. What miles are left at these two references, it does not say. This why I asked these questions on this forum.

 

[JoulesThief]

thanks all for the input - greatly appreciated.

@joules, yes, I did read the manual - probably more than I've read for any of my other cars and it was really hard to find out information about the question I asked. Even when I did find the few references in the manual, it was unclear what happens at what miles. They were buried in the driving mode and the high voltage battery sections.

The only reference to specific miles was at 20 miles, it would go into Eco driving profile - I assumed this was the Normal/Eco/Eco+, which means you're limited to 70mph. The other two references were just "Please charge battery" = Eco and "Battery almost drained" = Eco+. What miles are left at these two references, it does not say. This why I asked these questions on this forum.

In 2500 miles, and only when pushing it, I've only seen a warning come on, at 18 miles. This has happened two times. YMMV, it might come on sooner or later. Why don't you try it and see what comes up on your dash, and when /what mileage.

 

[REM]

I just got back from a long trip yesterday and experienced the various warnings for the first time. At 18 miles I received my first warning. It automatically switched the car into Eco mode; however, I overrode the change by manually switching it back into regular mode. At 12 miles I received yet another warning, which switched the mode back into Eco (not Eco+, so it must only move down one mode from the current mode at to warning. I noticed the power dial steadily tick down, but I didn't notice any considerable loss in performance (under normal driving conditions) after switching back into normal drive mode. I was traveling at normal expressway speeds (around 60 mph) after the first warning, so I'm not sure how it may have impacted the top speed. Acceleration seemed about where it always is (I stepped on it to see if I could notice a difference, but didn't notice much change. I ended up getting down to the red portion of the fuel gauge (barely), but never went below normal on the power dial. The power dial was dropping fast at the end, though. I got down to 10 miles.

 

[RonDawg]

thanks all for the input - greatly appreciated.

@joules, yes, I did read the manual - probably more than I've read for any of my other cars and it was really hard to find out information about the question I asked. Even when I did find the few references in the manual, it was unclear what happens at what miles. They were buried in the driving mode and the high voltage battery sections.

The only reference to specific miles was at 20 miles, it would go into Eco driving profile - I assumed this was the Normal/Eco/Eco+, which means you're limited to 70mph. The other two references were just "Please charge battery" = Eco and "Battery almost drained" = Eco+. What miles are left at these two references, it does not say. This why I asked these questions on this forum.

OK it took some searching through the absolutely horrible owners manual, but I think I found the info. For the 2015 models, it's found on pages 223 and 225 of the main owners manual.

On page 223, when the remaining range is "approximately 20 miles" (it seems to kick on at 18 miles for me), "the Eco driving profile is automatically activated." As you continue to drive the warning "Please charge battery! Limited conv. funct." comes on the display, meaning "the power is reduced and if necessary electrical consumers are shut down." The next stage is "Battery almost drained" Limited function." which activates the Eco+ profile. The last stage is "Battery drained! Speed restricted." in which your top speed is limited to 50 MPH.

You are correct, other than the 20 mile reference, there is no reference as to what miles these warnings come on. FWIW Nissan doesn't even state at what miles these warnings come on in the Leaf either, as it's fully based on charge level.

As far as to what the different driving profiles mean, from page 225:

Normal: top speed 85 MPH, normal Climatronic functions, full power of the electric motor is available
Eco: top speed 70 MPH, "consumption-optimized" Climatronic mode, reduced power availability from the electric motor
Eco+: top speed 55 MPH, Climatronic switched off, severely reduced power availability from the electric motor

 

[GadgetGav]

I've had the first warning and switch to Eco mode at 18 miles estimated range a few times. Normally I'm within a few miles of home so I just over ride it and go back to Normal. I haven't seen that it will do it again at 12 miles estimated range because I'm usually home by then.
The one time I let it stay in Eco mode below 18 miles I did see it change to Eco+ and I'm pretty sure that didn't happen until 5 miles estimated range. By that time I was really close to home, so I just left it but it was noticeably down on power and the interior got noticeably colder quickly.

 

[turtlebud]

Thanks for the input all. And thanks Ron for combing through that manual and making it something useful

I plan to try this out myself, but the experiences shared have definitely put my mind at ease. My wife may be driving the e-Golf to work some days and she has a 25mi/each way commute. I wanted to make sure there was enough charge on the battery that she wasn't stuck on the freeway going 35mph. Thankfully, this doesn't seem like it'll happen until you're pretty close to empty (not at 20 or 30 miles like I had originally thought). I think as long as she has at least 40 miles left (she has a level 2 charger at work), then she should be good.

 

[JoulesThief]

Thanks for the input all. And thanks Ron for combing through that manual and making it something useful

I plan to try this out myself, but the experiences shared have definitely put my mind at ease. My wife may be driving the e-Golf to work some days and she has a 25mi/each way commute. I wanted to make sure there was enough charge on the battery that she wasn't stuck on the freeway going 35mph. Thankfully, this doesn't seem like it'll happen until you're pretty close to empty (not at 20 or 30 miles like I had originally thought). I think as long as she has at least 40 miles left (she has a level 2 charger at work), then she should be good.

turtlebud, as an aside, your wife should read the owners manual too, cover to cover, if she operates the e-Golf too. There really is no substitution for it, it needs to be done.

I'm not trying to be a butthole or a smartass here... there's just a lot of truth in this information age when RTFM has been an acronym since IBM came out with the personal computer. It's an obligation that comes with owning any car, new or used, and being an operator of said vehicle.

Other than being lazy, there is no excuse for not reading it, IMHO.

 

[mfennell]

I've had the first warning and switch to Eco mode at 18 miles estimated range a few times. Normally I'm within a few miles of home so I just over ride it and go back to Normal. I haven't seen that it will do it again at 12 miles estimated range because I'm usually home by then.

I got the 18 mile warning last night for the first time. I was driving fast-for-an-e-golf in 23F weather with the heat on so it happened with 1/4 battery remaining. I arrived home with 9 miles indicated without receiving any additional warnings.

 

[turtlebud]

some anecdotal information from my wife's experience:

she got 3 warnings. 18 miles, 10 miles, and 5 miles. In all 3 instances it said that functionality would be decreased, but was able to continue driving with no problems. 18 & 10, she was still on freeway and didn't notice a cap on max speed or power. at 5 she was pulling into the parking lot so she couldn't tell if the max speed was capped, but it drove normally.

 

[JoulesThief]

some anecdotal information from my wife's experience:

she got 3 warnings. 18 miles, 10 miles, and 5 miles. In all 3 instances it said that functionality would be decreased, but was able to continue driving with no problems. 18 & 10, she was still on freeway and didn't notice a cap on max speed or power. at 5 she was pulling into the parking lot so she couldn't tell if the max speed was capped, but it drove normally.

As a general rule of thumb, and this includes the traction battery in your car, on any German branded car, it's a really bad idea to operate any gauge on the car in the "red" zone. That includes the full tank gauge for the battery on your e-Golf. Pretty important, unless it's an absolute emergency, to not run the battery that low. Keep it charged all all times so it stays out of the red zone. Red means "what ever you are doing to this car right now, stop doing it, it's verboten". Just like a stop sign is red, and means stop.