Nissan Leaf Crowdsources Fuel Economy

With the purchase of a 2010 Prius I quickly morphed from a speed demon to a hypermiler, complaining anytime the car’s gas mileage dips below 50 MPG. Toyota’s simple energy monitor with instant fuel consumption metering and fuel consumption history has changed the way I drive, gently incentivizing greater fuel efficiency.

But that Toyota Multi-Information Display has been around for nearly a decade. Now Nissan is upping the ante, using crowdsourcing to enhance the fuel economy of the Leaf:

Nissan’s Carwings system connects all Nissan Leafs to a network, wirelessly feeding their energy economy statistics to a central server. The “Regional Rankings” system compares the driver’s energy economy to other Leaf drivers in the region, and the winner receives a nifty gold trophy icon on the Carwings dashboard control center. The second, third and fourth place winners can also win a place on the graphical podium, receiving icons depicting gold, silver and bronze medals. Originally available in Japan, the Carwings connected system uses crowdsourcing to enhance fuel economy, displaying real-time traffic predictions using data compiled from other Carwings users…

The Leaf is the first mass-produced electric car for sale from a major manufacturer. On sale beginning this month for a list price of $32,780, it gets an EPA fuel economy rating of 99 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent and a range of 73 to 110 miles.