The Nissan symbols page is now the second to be aligned by color. We started what is big change on the site with Infiniti, and thought it would be most appropriate to finish the “family”.
The Nissan page features over 90 entries, about 20 more the Infiniti page. This added a degree of difficulty in the change, but we see paths to simplifying a difficult transition.
Returning to the idea that Nissan uses more indicators than its higher end brand, it is certainly not what we expect. High end brands in general feature more advanced technology, resulting in additional symbols. We anticipate the brand will catch its sibling when the new line line of electric vehicles is introduced in the coming years, as we discussed here.
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Our update of the Infiniti dashboard symbols page resulted in a single change. Not only is there very little to report, the one actual change was nothing more than a color swap.
The Pop-up Hood indicator may now ne seen in red. The pop-up hood system is designed as a pedestrian safety system akin to the interior air bags. The symbol warns that the system is not available, either due to a malfunction or because it has already been used. The light appears as the front of a vehicle with the hood separated or broken from the windshield.
The pop up hood is used – that is, blown open by explosives – if a front impact is detected that is equal to or greater than that of a pedestrian and between about 16 to 34 mph (25 to 55 km/h) or curb or hole, etc. If the system has not been activated, have a qualified service shop or your dealer repair the system. If it has been used, it will need to be reset by the shop or dealer.
All that said, we believe the real reason behind the dearth of new symbols is a lack of new technology currently being employed by the company. In fact, the current Infiniti line up lacks even a single electrified vehicle. This despite the fact that parent company Nissan has been and continues to be at the forefront of electric vehicles (EVs) among Japanese car makers.
Vision Qe
Signaling a change in the near future at Infiniti is the Vision Qe, a concept EV likely to hit the market in calendar 2025 as the company’s first pure EV and the first of a new line of EVs.
Infiniti‘s website says “These new models embody our evolved design language. Inspired by Japanese design philosophies, they deliver artistry in motion and pave the way for us to achieve our goal of an electrified range by 2030.”
The last few words strike us as a bit of mistranslation, but there is no question that the car’s design is a radical departure from past models.
Infiniti‘s dashboard symbols page is here, likely to see its own radical departures as the new models come to market.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Our recent Nissan dashboard symbols update added only a handful of indicators to the list, but one of the new entries truly stood out.
It is a Pop Up Hood Warning Indicator symbol (below right) found in the 2023 Z Coupe — we missed it last year! We’ve only seen this symbol in high-performance Lexus and Infiniti models and may constitute a safety system insisted upon by the Japanese government. We have no confirmation of that however.
The pop up hood system is a pedestrian safety system akin to the interior air bags. The symbol warns that the system is not available, either due to a malfunction or because it has already been used. The light appears as the front of a vehicle with the hood separated or broken from the windshield.
The pop up hood is used – that is, blown open by explosives – if a front impact is detected that is equal to or greater than that of a pedestrian and between about 16 to 34 mph (25 to 55 km/h). The system may also activate when colliding with a curb, falling into a deep hole landing hard, or hitting the slope of a parking lot, an undulating road, a protruding object or falling object.
If the system has not been activated, have a qualified service shop or your dealer repair the system. If it has been used, it will need to be reset and rearmed by the shop or dealer.
You can find more about the pop up hood system at this page and you can see all of the nearly 100 Nissan warning lights and indicators here.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
We recently added a new video replacing a Nissan key fob battery, the three-button fob version. That video is here.
The process is nearly identical to the four-button fob version, but deserves its own treatment.
The video has been added to our Nissan and Infinitipage here. Overall, we now have a seven videos that help Nissan and Infiniti drivers in the event that the battery in the key fob dies. These videos will help you get in and start the vehicle even if it is not responding to the key fob.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Typically at the beginning of the year, we take a look at the most visited pages and posts from the previous year — 2023 in this case.
However, Google Analytics made a major swap in August leaving us with with only five months of data, so that’s all we can report on. In truth, what we see over that period looks an awful lot like what we’ve seen in the past.
Top Pages and Posts
Of the over 1.5 million pages and posts visited, the top spot goes to a page dedicated to Jeep warning lights and symbols. And its been the top viewed page for several years running. Clearly a brand throwing too many problems at its owners 56,000 of you.
Another 40,000+ Ram owners found themselves on the site searching our Ram warning lights and symbols page, which came in at #4. Clearly FCA or Stellantis or whatever they are calling themselves these days have some work to do to improve vehicle reliability.
Jumping back to #2, we find the Check Engine Light page, representing one of the few remaining symbols that’s actually nearly universal across brands. One version is on the upper right of this article. The symbol pops up generally when an emissions control issue rears its head, as it did for nearly 50,000 of our visitors over the last five months of 2023.
Our overall Symbols page comes in at #3 with 45,000 visits. The page leads to some 800 image style symbols to search for a match.
Our Home page is at #5 with 34,500 visits. It of course, links to everything on the site.
Our pages holding Suzuki and Nissan warning lights and symbols come in at numbers 6 and 7, both with about 30,000 visits. And a symbol commonly seen in these vehicles, the Slip Indicator, comes in at #8. Models built in Japan are notorious for throwing this light when a gas cap is left loose!
Finally at #9 is the Electronic Throttle Control trouble indicator with over 27,000 visits. It gets to stand in for the myriad of newer electronic systems giving drivers newer headaches!
A final note — when an electronic system throws a light, it can often be resolved by simply restarting the vehicle. At that point its just like rebooting a computer. Exactly like rebooting a computer…
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Most commonly any talk about EVs is about range. And while that’s certainly important, we want to shift the focus to fuel efficiency. And yes, there is such a thing! Click here for charging speed information.
The industry talks about kilowatts used per 100 miles, which is just so far from anyone’s experience and difficult to truly understand, unless maybe you’re an electrical engineer.
We use miles per gallon when talking about internal combustion engine or ICE cars, so how about miles per kilowatt?
We offer this as part of our continuing efforts to simplify the latest in automotive technology as much as possible. And yes, we in turn are choosing to ignore miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent (MPGe). It is a tortured stat meant to compare EVs to vehicles run on liquid fuels. It will be extinct soon enough.
The chart below is a translation primarily but not exclusively of work from ev-database.org, and I’ve linked their chart here. It’s in kilometers and the twisty kW per 100. I did a video as well that is also posted below, but here can be updated easily as improvements are made and new models are introduced. Note that our chart focuses on EVs available in North America while ev-database goes world wide and that the it can be expanded to show all entries.
Manufacturer
Model
Battery (kWh)
Range (mi)
Miles per kW (m/kW)
Fleet Ave. m/kW
Renault
R5
52 kWh
249
4.8
4.8
Lucid
Air Pure / Touring
88
336-348
3.8-4.0
3.8
Air Dream
112
405-419
3.6-3.7
Tesla
Model 3
58
252
4.3
3.7
“
75
286-301
3.8-4.0
Model S
95
348-357
3.7-3.8
Model Y
58
218
3.8
“
75
258-270
3.4-3.6
Model X
95
283-295
3.0-3.1
Hyundai
Ioniq 6
54
227
4.2
3.7
“
74
273-308
3.7-4.2
Kona
48
186
3.9
“
65
248
3.8
Ioniq 5
54
183
3.4
“
74
239-242
3.2-3.3
Lexus
RZ300e
71
266
3.7
3.6
RZ450e
63
200
3.5
Volkswagen
ID.7
86
323
3.8
3.5
ID.7
77
292
3.8
ID.4
52
177
3.4
ID.4
77
249-255
3.2-3.3
Honda
Prologue
85
273-296
3.2-3.5
3.4
BMW
i4
81
280-320
3.5-4.0
3.4
“
67
267
4.0
i5
81
264-295
3.3-3.6
iX
65
230-236
3.5
“
71-74
224-239
3.2
i7
102
314-323
3.1-3.2
iX
105
301-314
2.9-3.0
Polestar
4
94
348-372
3.7-4.0
3.4
2
78
255-273
3.3-3.5
3
107
292-305
2.7-2.9
Chevrolet
Bolt
65
259
4.0
3.4
Bolt EUV
65
247
3.8
Silverado
200
450
2.3
Kia
Niro
65
239
3.7
3.3
e-Soul
39
143
3.7
“
64
230
3.6
EV6
74
224-255
3.0-3.5
“
54
190
-3.5
EV9
100
280-286
2.8-2.9
Nissan
Leaf
39
146
3.7
3.3
Leaf e+
59
211
3.6
Ariya
63
208
3.3
“
87
252-280
2.9-3.2
Porsche
Taycan models
84
236-286
2.8-3.4
3.3
“
71
230-236
3.2-3.3
Macan
100
310-381
3.1-3.8
Genesis
G80
83
274
3.3
3.2
GV60
74
227-242
3.1-3.3
GV70
74
218
2.9
Volvo
EX30
49
174
3.6
3.2
“
64
224-230
3.5-3.6
C40
66
221
3.4
“
79
249-261
3.2-3.3
XC40
66
214
3.2
“
79
242-252
3.1-3.2
EX90
107
280-289
2.6-2.7
Lotus
Eletre
112
354
3.2
3.2
Audi
Q4 e-tron
52
239-264
3.4-3.5
3.1
“
77
177-183
3.1-3.4
e-tron GT
85
252-261
3.0-3.1
Q8 e-tron
89
261-277
2.9-3.1
“
106
283-326
2.7-3.1
Fisker
Ocean
105
326
3.1
3.1
“
75
236
3.1
Acura
ZDX
102
288-325
2.8-3.2
3.0
Mercedes
EQS Sedans
108
336-395
3.1-3.7
2.9
EQS SUVs
108
301-311
2.8-2.9
G-Wagon
116
250
2.2
Ford
Mach-e
91
264-298
2.9-3.3
2.9
“
70
233
3.3
Lightning
98
230
2.4
“
131
320
2.4
Vinfast
VF 8
88
264
3.0
2.8
VF 9
123
323
2.6
Rolls Royce
Spectra
102
260
2.6
2.6
The Rankings
So, I’ve ranked manufacturers by efficiency, based on the fleet average miles per kW. This is exactly what we’re used to using in ICE vehicles — fleet average miles per gallon. The miles/kW figures are derived simply by taking a vehicles range and dividing by the battery’s kWh size. Note that the numbers are rather small, which may be what drives the use of kilowatts per 100 miles, but they are still very telling.
Few models reach or exceed an efficiency of 4 miles per kilowatt. Further, those numbers are nearly all associated with smaller models and often with smaller batteries! For instance, the industry leader is Tesla’s Model 3 with the 58 kWh battery! A smaller battery weighs less and is thus more efficient, while lacking some range. The higher range Model 3 features a 75 kW battery.
*In fact a May, 2024 update finds a Renault R5, available only in Europe, a small car with a small battery, comes in at 4.8 m/kW! It now leads the list!
Overall, Lucid, Tesla and Hyundai lead with the most efficient fleets. Oddly, Kia in particular and Genesis as well fall short of their Hyundai cousins. Kia’s smaller vehicles should have it neck and neck with Hyundai, who’s offerings tend to be smaller as well.
Bigger batteries, while offering more range generally, are not a guarantee. Note that Vinfast’s VF 9 models holds a whopping 123 kWh battery, but only 323 miles in range and lands at the bottom of our list at 2.6 miles per kilowatt. This is a full 40% less efficient than the 58 kWh Tesla Model 3.
Speaking of big batteries, battery power trains are already heavier than their ICE counterparts. For example the Ford F150 Lightning weighs in at 2500 lbs more than the gas powered version. The battery alone in the upcoming Hummer is said to weigh 2900 lbs.
The hyphenated ranges and efficiencies are identical models most often with single vs dual motors. Single motor variants are always more efficient. In some cases there are adjustments that up the horse power as well, which then cuts into efficiency.
Note who’s missing from this list: Toyota/Lexus (since added)! Honda/Acura (since added). Mazda. Subaru (missed this one)! Stellantis (at work in Europe). Even those we’ve added remain well behind a changing landscape…
So we’ll keep an eye on that landscape. Expect to see battery chemistries get more efficient and to see weight reductions, also adding efficiency.
We also expect to see faster and faster charge rates — which is also an upcoming topic.
Updates:
8/21/23, Acura introduces a ZDX EV, but comes in near the bottom. Big battery, low average efficiency.
12/21/23, Rolls Royce Spectra added. Also a big battery and landed at the very bottom of the list…
1/21/24, Two Lexus models added. Just above the middle on the list.
2/3/24, Porsche Macan added, which moved the brand average from 3.2 to 3.3 m/kW.
5/21/24, Renault R5, available only in Europe, a small car with a small battery, comes in at 4.8 m/kW!
5/21/24, Honda intros the Prologue with an 85 kWh battery and nearly 300 miles of range.
5/22/25, the Mercedes adds the G-Wagon and drops fleet efficiency from 3.1 to 2.9.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
We’ve done a couple of owner’s manual rants and got to thinking about where the average driver might look in their respective manual if they ran into trouble, specifically with dead or dying key fobs.
So, we examined a sampling of owner’s manuals from BMW and Mini, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, including Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, Honda and Acura, Kia and Hyundai, Land Rover and Jaguar, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Infiniti, Subaru, Toyota and Lexus, Volkswagen and Audi and Volvo. And since we are adding this commentary, you can probably guess the results.
So lets set some parameters. Our first thought is to look for Troubleshooting chapter. So, result #1 is that not a single one of these 25 manufacturers have a chapter with this title. Only 3, Mazda (right), Toyota and Lexus, even use the word Trouble. Emergency, Roadside or Breakdown are most likely to be found, and this is a pretty short hurdle. VW raises the hurdle, with a Do It Yourself chapter that includes flat tires and dead batteries, etc. that tend to be found in the Breakdown chapters from other manufacturers.
To Index or Not to Index
Next, we looked to see if there was an index to resort to. Several, BMW, Land Rover, and Ford, for instance, have no indexes at all. So if someone out there is from these companies, please consider adding that in. On the other hand, the indexes we did find were no help at all with dead key fobs.
So, back to the our troubleshooting-like chapters. Once inside, only Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus and Subaru got this right! Setting aside for a moment the fact that the owner’s manual is most likely inside the car and the driver locked outside, at least if the driver manages to get the car open, he or she will be able to get started.
The Honda and Acura chapters point to an issue with the key fob being weak. This may not be immediately obvious to the operator, but it would be a likely spot to check out if the car wasn’t responding.
Subaru (right), Lexus and Toyota chapters point directly to pages with solutions to issues with the electronic keys. Again, it may not be obvious to the driver that the key fob is the problem, but these manufacturers come the closest to nailing the problem. Titling the sections using something like what to do if the car does not respond to the electronic key would come closest to replicating exactly what the driver is experiencing.
Absolutely none of the other manufacturers point directly to the electronic keys in anything remotely like a troubleshooting chapter. To be clear, they all have the solutions shown, but the driver is left to contend with 400, 500 or 600 pages of information to get to what they need.
So for all of them, walk a mile in your customers shoes and try to think like someone who simply doesn’t understand what is wrong. Then make a Troubleshooting chapter and forget the clever titles like Handling the Unexpected or Volkswagens do it yourself chapter, which is where they keep breakdown assistance.
The closer your cars get to being rolling computers, the more relevant an actual Troubleshooting chapter will be to your customers.
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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Infiniti dashboard symbols page gets a single change
Infiniti dashboard symbols
Our update of the Infiniti dashboard symbols page resulted in a single change. Not only is there very little to report, the one actual change was nothing more than a color swap.
The Pop-up Hood indicator may now ne seen in red. The pop-up hood system is designed as a pedestrian safety system akin to the interior air bags. The symbol warns that the system is not available, either due to a malfunction or because it has already been used. The light appears as the front of a vehicle with the hood separated or broken from the windshield.
The pop up hood is used – that is, blown open by explosives – if a front impact is detected that is equal to or greater than that of a pedestrian and between about 16 to 34 mph (25 to 55 km/h) or curb or hole, etc. If the system has not been activated, have a qualified service shop or your dealer repair the system. If it has been used, it will need to be reset by the shop or dealer.
All that said, we believe the real reason behind the dearth of new symbols is a lack of new technology currently being employed by the company. In fact, the current Infiniti line up lacks even a single electrified vehicle. This despite the fact that parent company Nissan has been and continues to be at the forefront of electric vehicles (EVs) among Japanese car makers.
Vision Qe
Signaling a change in the near future at Infiniti is the Vision Qe, a concept EV likely to hit the market in calendar 2025 as the company’s first pure EV and the first of a new line of EVs.
Infiniti‘s website says “These new models embody our evolved design language. Inspired by Japanese design philosophies, they deliver artistry in motion and pave the way for us to achieve our goal of an electrified range by 2030.”
The last few words strike us as a bit of mistranslation, but there is no question that the car’s design is a radical departure from past models.
Infiniti‘s dashboard symbols page is here, likely to see its own radical departures as the new models come to market.
——————————————————————-
Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.
These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.
Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.
The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY