The transition to electrification is happening just a little more each day. One aspect of performance that electric cars are still trying to tackle is how they manage driving at high speeds for extended periods of time. Well, here’s a video of a used Nissan Leaf going as fast as it can for as long as it can before it runs itself empty.
Brought to us by the folks over at Autotrader, this Leaf is from the 2012 model year and has north of 71,500 miles (~115,000 km) on the odometer. Earlier this year, the team there determined that it still had about 66 miles (106 km) worth of range remaining from a full charge. Now though, they’re wondering just how far it’ll go when it’s pushed to its full speed continuously.
To find out, they’ve brought it to an oval track where they start out with what the car believes is 42 miles (67 km) of range. Did we mention that it’s cold outside during this test? One of the presenters says that it’s as low as minus 3 degrees outside at the time of filming. That estimate of 42 miles disappears quickly.
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The gents get up to 99 mph (159 km/h) and actually manage to stay there for 3.1 miles (4.9 km) before the range drops to 24 miles (39 km). At just 4.6 miles (7.4 km) into the test, the car reports only 3 miles (4.8 km) of range remaining and turns on the battery light. By 5.1 miles (8 km), the range has dropped to just a single mile but guess what… it’s wrong.
Instead of straight up dying that quickly, the Leaf begins to slow down a little. It drops to about 97 mph (156 km/h), then 95 and 94 (153 and 151 km/h). The guys actually turn on a number of features, the hazard lights, the wipers, the headlights, the heater, and more. By 16.9 miles (27 km) into the test, it’s still rocketing down the track at some 93 mph (150 km/h).
At 20.3 miles (32.6 km) in, a new message pops up that says “Motor power is limited” and the driver notices a big drop off in speed. From there, it’s only a matter of time before the car finally has to pull off the road. The grand total of range at full speed ends up being 21.6 miles (34.7 km).
In the past, it’s been said that a Bugatti could run through its entire tank of fuel in about 12 minutes at top speed. When we asked Kia how fast the EV6 GT would go flat if driven at top speed back in December, they didn’t know. Maybe it should be a new data point moving forward.