Thread: Nissan Leaf
View Single Post
Old 06-08-2015, 04:48 PM   #353 (permalink)
dhanson865
Prius/Leaf Guy
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: TN, USA
Posts: 21
Thanks: 1
Thanked 11 Times in 7 Posts
To give you another example of range and charging issues. I bought the car in Hickory, NC

https://evtripplanner.com/planner/2-5/?id=cc61 shows the path I took home.

I did the 60 or so miles from Hickory to Black mountain doing about 45 mph with 99% of the route uphill and rolled into the town with 3 miles on the GOM. I spent an hour charging here. I might have been able to limp to my next charging destination but I'm glad I didn't because

13 miles later when I got to Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College I couldn't charge there. I didn't have a chargepoint fob and the guy that answered the 800# couldn't start it remotely.

So I drove north to the next closest Chademo with little reserve left, and was greeted with a perfectly friendly Greenlots Chademo. I downloaded the app, gave it my credit card and charged 13.7 kWh for 34 minutes and $6.81

I drove west to Haywood college and tested their free L2 then south to Waynesville to Chademo again. Got another 9.0 kWh in 25 minutes for $5.15

Then I drove back to Haywood college to top off for free before going over the mountains. Nothing exiting but it was L2 so I was there longer for a top off than the entire fill on a Chademo.

I then drove west to TN. No more Chademo between there and my house so I drove 84 miles of the scariest driving I've ever done. Not fun to be doing 40 mph at midnight to 2am and have 18 wheelers running up your rear while you turn on the flashers and hope they don't rear end you.

Nothing but mountains and concrete barriers on either side. No turn offs, no shoulder, no where to go but faster if someone is coming. I did have to floor it once as a Rig came for me doing 70 or so vs my 40. It cost me 5 miles range just to get out of his way (had to accelerate up hill because other rigs were beside me).

I finally got tired of that and stopped for a L2 at a hotel that charged me way too much per 30 seconds (so I didn't stay for much charge), then crept home the rest of the way. I drove into my neighborhood with --- flashing instead of miles and never saw turtle.

I never ran out of juice and never got in an accident but it wasn't fun at all and the entire thing would have a been a 60+ mph fun ride had there been another ChaDemo between the NC border and Knoxville.

My entire trip from Knoxville to Hickory and back to Knoxville again took me from 7am to 2am or so. Easily 18 hours including meal breaks, car buying, car charging, and driving.

On a long range trip with L2 as the only option it's faster to get to the destination if you slow down instead of stopping to charge. 84 miles at 40 mph would have been 100+ miles at 35 mph. If I could have safely driven that slow it would have gotten me home faster than stopping to charge at 10 rated mph.

So in the end it isn't how far I can go on a charge that decided when I got home. It was how fast can I charge that decided it. In an L2 wasteland I could only charge 10 mph (3 KW per hour).

Last edited by dhanson865; 06-08-2015 at 05:59 PM..
  Reply With Quote