Forecasting range

[MarkC]

Has anyone been able to find an independent app that monitors battery conditions, forecasts available range independent of the GOM, provides useful can/OBDII data, etc, etc. Having owned 2 Nissan Leafs for almost 7 years, the LeafSpy Pro app has been invaluable in understanding how to predict range under most user conditions based on actual experience of your particular situation. It monitors battery conditions so that you can tell if particular "cells" are causing issues AND shows how it is degrading over time. Much useful (nerdy?) information also.

It appears from posts about GOM/range "surprises", that something similar would be very useful to reduce "range anxiety" - especially when used for towing time after time.

 

[ICED Lightning]

I find that nothing short of simply paying attention to your 'Miles per KWH' calculation is going to help you 'forecast' your long-range miles available, and even then, the miles ahead of you can also impact that either way...
historically, if you average something like 2.5m/kwh, then use that as your starting assumption, expecting, though, that negative conditions can bring that down, as you travel.
My battery pack is 'roughly' 100kwh, so at 2.5m/kwh, I 'assume' at the start that I could possibly drive as much as 250 miles, to 'totally empty'.... although I will never PLAN to drive that far, but it's a good starting point to planning the travel day. Stopping to fast charge between 200 and 225 miles is probably a good plan.

 

[MarkC]

One of the great features of the app I mentioned is the ability to:

1. At any battery SOC, input the best estimate of miles/kWh for remaining trip
2. Input a minimum % battery SOC you are willing to accept
3. Output the remaining estimated miles

Even the latest Leaf's GOM does not allow such important variables to be inputted, that results in sometimes a highly accurate remaining miles, but often, when most needed, does a really cr**** job.

 

[MR Fiso]

Yeah, it is more of a 'brain' job to make you best guesses. As a Leaf owner, you have learned to drive like no other internal combustion engine (ICE) driver has. As a near 20 year hybrid owner, I too took it seriously in changing my driving style.
Okay, sure, in my hybrids I could get well over 500 miles range on a tank. But I learned not to 'hammer it' when driving.

I have a lot more to learn now that it is pure electric. But the biggest thing I came to realize is if I just take it a bit slower, the range goes up (** I hit 3.0+ kWh on back roads today). So, I don't think there really is going to be a simple app to use that can give you a better range idea than your own brain and little smarts (which you obviously gained as a Leaf owner).

Old ICE drivers are the ones who have the hardest time with RANGE Anxiety while they race 80 miles an hour wherever they can. Seriously, this thing is a brick. You have to change your style.

But, lets hope someone out there is thinking a bit like you and comes up with a more realistic app that can take the 4 models and two battery sizes into account and make best guess estimates.

Now that I think of it (and I have thought variations of this before): The best estimator would take terrain data from your GPS (and/or others) and estimate how that impacts range to make a better guess. (and maybe account for your real world driving style too).