How Much Nissan Leaf Mileage Drops When You Turn on AC

It seems that if you drive your Nissan Leaf in average cool weather your mile will drop about 3 miles. This is what many Nissan Leaf owners write on various Leaf discussion boards.

However, one person, who also said he had that 3-5 mile range drop when turning on AC, recently saw a sudden drop. "That was our normal drop until yesterday,now it suddenly dropped to 14 miles. We live in Florida and no other problems are noticed. I just wonder why the sudden change," he writes.

Other people say they also see a drop of 15 to 20 percent. I think this is also dependent on the weather and how hard your AC must work to cool the interior of your Nissan Leaf. One particular person wrote that she would normally lose 20 miles of range. She says she would be at 100 and as soon as I switch the AC on, it drops to 80.

Apparently newer cars drop almost nothing. I don't know how they do it, but one person wrote this. "My 2015 Nissan Leaf S AC drops the mileage almost nothing compare with heating," writes a person named Ricardo.

But I just read this. "Our 2016 the car reports 5-10 mile range drop. We have found how you drive has more affect than AC." So as you can see it's not only the weather conditions, but also how you drive that determines how much mileage will drop when you turn on the AC or the heat.

Another Nissan Leaf driver wrote that with ECO, it drops 14.When the ECO is Off it's 18. everything else is good.

Remember, the AC power use is highly variable based on outside temperature and your driving habits. You can see actual usage by hitting the "blue e" menu/energy info. AC will use from 0.5-3 KW, depending on heat load. (Heat will use up to 6 KW).

How about you? How much does your range drop when turning on AC or heating on your Nissan Leaf? By the way, here are several ways you can improve your Nissan Leaf's abilities.