Nissan Leaf

[P-hack]

had an interesting experience yesterday, was out with the fam with %50 charge, needed to go get something for em that was ~17 miles away, so left em at the mall, went and got it and picked em up and went home. Only had 9 miles left on the battery when we got home, but made it all the same (it really seemed to like a constant 45mph). Doing the 240v/juicebox today, might get it done even before it is done recharging on 120

Only one breaker slot open, so gonna have to move the disposal to the washer breaker with instructions not to do both at the same time maybe, but otherwise should be no big deal.

[freebeard]

You could ensure that with a DPDT knife switch:

[P-hack]

nah, I just didn't charge it before we left.

But I am putting one of these on the front of the juicebox (and a 120 outlet, that turns off when it is charging):
GE 60-Amp 240-Volt Non-Fuse Metallic AC Disconnect-TFN60RCP - The Home Depot

And this might be handy for making just enough space in the panel (make sure the circuits you combine are already on the same pole)
Square D QO 2-20 Amp Single-Pole Tandem Circuit Breaker-QO2020C - The Home Depot

still futzing with the juicebox kit. Will add one of these eventually:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181333015622...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[NeilBlanchard]

We have had Forest for exactly 3 months now, and we have drove it ~4480 miles (by the odometer, anyway), so that puts us nearly on a pace to hit 18,000 this year.

Oh, and I have purchased just 1 tank of gas for Mica Blue, in those 3 months, and my spouse has put only 2 tanks in her xD.

[P-hack]

fyi, got the juicebox basic kit plugged in and working on 240v, much better, less trip planning required. @$200 for the kit and $180 for a 20 foot js1772 probably not the best deal in town, but it works, and it looks like the kit was pulled from their store. Looks like openevse next time. OpenEV Store

[sendler]

Does anyone here know offhand how the EPA determines the energy efficiency numbers for EV's. Is it an extrapolation based soely on the capacity spec that the Manufacturer states? Or do they actually charge the car to ful, drive the test loop, and measure the power as they charge to full again?
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It seems unlikely to me that the Spark EV would beat the Leaf by 8% on the highway as the EPA specs show. Manufacturers are famous for figuring out how to cheat the test.
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Compare Side-by-Side
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[NeilBlanchard]

They test it like any other car, and convert the Wh consumption to MPGe with a factor of 33.7kWh / gallon of gasoline (E10 presumably). So, it is measured performance.

[sendler]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

They test it like any other car, and convert the Wh consumption to MPGe with a factor of 33.7kWh / gallon of gasoline (E10 presumably). So, it is measured performance.

Wh consumption as determined by what? The optimistic (or pessimistic in the case of the MB) meter in the car?
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That is my point. That makes just as much sense as the guys we talk to that compute their fuel economy by looking at the half full gas gauge as saying they used half of 14 gallons because that is what the book says the tank holds and the gauge says half.
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The only way to know the energy consumption of an electric is to fill and then top off after driving the same as with a gas car. But they probably do just read off of the onboard gauge which means that the auto makers can fudge the numbers any way they want.

[P-hack]

well mpge is kinda silly to begin with (I mean really silly), but also different charging methods have different efficiencies as well. But with a 240v supply, it is in the 90% efficient range. Any comparative perspective on it will be kinda arbitrary, you can do well to wheels, you can do costs (including taxes/subsidies), or "environmental" costs, you can pretend the charger is the "gas pump" and ignore losses there (like you do in the gasoline supply line), you can look at kwh, there are a lot of ways to look at it. I have no idea what the EPA is doing, and I probably wouldn't like it if I did, since they are going to try to dumb it down with some rediculous unit like mpge.

But for the most part I'm interested in the efficiency of the vehicle, not necessarily the charger, because the vehicle efficiency determines range and performance. And you can fudge in %10 for charging overhead if necessary for cost comparisons. There are more efficient chargers, but they probably won't pay for themselves in a resonable amount of time. I expect they will become commonplace eventually.


here are some leaf specifics, I think most folks are going to go with 240v charging, or at least they should. (and short of a complete diy, the openevse kit looks like the best bargain currently)
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8583

[sendler]

I don't really care what unit the EPA converts the data to. MPGe, Wh/ mile, Mile/ kWh. I easily understand them all. I happen to think MPGe is the best since non scientific people will immediately be able to see the advantage that electric motors have. My hope is that the testing agencies will realize that they cannot just use the in dash read out, or percentage of specified capacity, to base the consumption on because the automakers can set this to any side of reality they want. The only way to measure the consumption is to fill up, drive, and top up again to take the reading from the fill station.