Came back with more than I left with!

Today I decided to run a little experiment.  I was traveling about 12 miles to the local Walmart.  I wanted to see if I could use as little of the mileage that the car's estimate gave me as I could.  This meant that I would have to take it slow.  Luckily I travel mostly back roads, so there wasn't a lot of traffic to contend with (ie. make angry at me for going so slow). 

When I turned on the car, it said I had about 91 miles on my battery.  With the magic of driving in the eco mode, it automatically recalculated itself to 101 before I left my driveway.  Now my goal was to keep the mileage left at the end of the trip as close to 100 miles as I could.  A challenge, but doable, I thought.

The trip to Walmart was slow but steady, averaging speeds around 30 mph.  I pulled over to the side of the road twice to allow cars to get by so they wouldn't become angry with me.  It was almost seamless and I don't think either of them even really had to slow down in the process.  As I drove, I noticed that my miles actually were increasing instead of decreasing, so I am already on the way to my goal!  The most miles that it showed me I could achieve was 111!  I actually gave myself 10 more miles on my estimate when I drove 12 miles away from my starting point!  Cool!  When I pulled in to the parking space the miles left said 110.  Now I wonder how many I can have when I pull in to my driveway after the return trip?

After shopping, my passengers and I were on our way back home.  Starting with 110 miles, we were already up 9 miles from our starting point, so I had a few miles to blow.  However, I didn't want to change anything up, so I kept the speed to around 30 mph.  I did drive through towns and around turns that made me slow down to 25 mph at times, but all of that slowing down actually helps to regenerate power and thus add miles to my estimated miles available.  On the return trip, I never once went below 105 miles left.  I was feeling pretty good when I pulled into my garage and the meter told me I could still go another 108 miles!  I had achieved my goal and then some!

So to recap: I started with 101 estimated miles, drove about 24 miles round trip, and ended with 108 estimated miles left!  Where else does 101-24 =108 I ask you?

Is it possible to go somewhat long distances in a Nissan Leaf?  It sure it, if you know how to drive and have the right conditions to go with (temperature, use of climate control, wind resistance, speed, and terrain, to name a few).