Can we make it home?

[DaveinOlyWA]

lets review our options

1) yes you can make it EASILY. adjust your driving to fit your destination

2) No, you can EASILY be stranded, if unprepared to do what is necessary to make your "more than capable" vehicle succeed.

any question?

 

[kolmstead]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments! I can certainly drop to 55 mph for the drive; I've done that speed many times with the truck and trailer. I have asked the dealer to make sure the battery is topped off; hopefully he'll cooperate. I'll probably skip a demo drive just to save on juice.

If you're looking at a map, the route is Palmdale-Lancaster-Mojave-Inyokern, heading north on Highway 14. Two significant hills (several miles each), altitude gain maybe 1500 feet over the whole trip. There is one nice, long downhill near the end, the turnoff from Hwy 14 to Inyokern.

Lots of businesses and homes at the wrong end of the trip... the beginning. But the second half is extremely desolate; typical Mojave desert. I don't expect to need heater or a/c, though. No hope of finding a forum member on the critical part of the trip; no houses.

It's probably worth trying just for the adventure (and the story told here). If it goes badly, I won't be walking home, this will be a two-person operation, and we'll have a second vehicle.

Probably the most important thing is to have a plan. In this case, drive conservatively right from the start. You can't get back charge once you've squandered it.

Good to hear from Gudy, who had a touch of range anxiety himself. Tough to be nice when your car needs charging and people keep unplugging it!

Well, OK, you folks have pretty much convinced me to go for it. Thanks!

-Karl

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

great plan Karl!! we will of course need a full report!!

 

[stanley]

Does the section of Mojave you will be on have rest stops. They would have electricity and you could charge for an hour or so. That would eliminate anxiety.

 

[JasonT]

It's probably worth trying just for the adventure (and the story told here). If it goes badly, I won't be walking home, this will be a two-person operation, and we'll have a second vehicle.

On top of that, don't forget about the free roadside assistance.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I love this topic! Talk about a serious case of range anxiety! :~)

I've been driving one of those RAVs for 8 years now. We've got 27 kWh that takes us an easy 100, and with care, 120 miles. I have no hesitation taking it to under 1% as long as I know I'm within a mile of a charger.

The chargers we have available pale in comparison to what we'll have with the LEAF. We get access to about a billion L1 plugs, fer cryin' out loud!

Make this first trip memorable. Be brave! As the previous commenter suggests, err on the conservative side, use eco mode, and practice hypermiling. Once you've got a week of driving it, you'll be real comfortable with how far it'll go.

You'll be able to go 60-65 with no problem. That's how fast I drive.

In the RAV community, I don't know of anyone who ever ran out of juice. And with all those plugs out there, with more coming, this car will never run out of energy.

L1 is not exactly a opportunity charging option unless you have much time on your hands. I'm surprised you have not added a PFC to your car as many owners have for faster L2 and L1 use as well.

 

[Jimmydreams]

It's probably worth trying just for the adventure (and the story told here). If it goes badly, I won't be walking home, this will be a two-person operation, and we'll have a second vehicle.

Probably the most important thing is to have a plan. In this case, drive conservatively right from the start. You can't get back charge once you've squandered it.

-Karl

Just watch the "next exit" signs as compared to your range meter. IF, worst case, you actually ran out of charge, PLEASE pull off onto an exit as soon as the math tells you it won't work. Don't wait until you actually DO run out. The last thing "we" need are pics of an early adopter stranded on the side of a main highway!!!

 

[stanley]

The AAA idea is a good one. Ask your dealer to set it up that your Leaf would be flat beded for about 20 miles at the start.

 

[driveleaf]

LOL. I can't wait to "Go for it!"

Karl, I'd offer my assistance, but as you know, I'll be driving myself in the exact opposite direction, probably at the exact moment you leave as well.

(If two leafs leave the same dealer at the same speed, one with a head wind, and one with a tail wind...)

We can do it! I've already upped my AAA membership as a back up plan. And I'll be dropping into well populated areas, so I'm hoping to plan some opportunity charging as a back up plan.

-shannon

 

[PaulScott]

"L1 is not exactly a opportunity charging option unless you have much time on your hands. I'm surprised you have not added a PFC to your car as many owners have for faster L2 and L1 use as well."

What is a "PFC"?

The RAV I drive cannot use L1 anywhere, but I would have loved to have had access to it all these years. Even 5 miles per hour of charging would help. Sometimes, all you need is that little bit more to get where you want to go.

 

[driveleaf]

80.9 Miles for my drive home. But most of it downhill...

 

[Train]

Ok Train, what's wrong with driving 60-65? I drive 59-60 in the far right lane all the time. Gee, I get to my destination about five minutes later than someone driving 65 and get much better mileage! He'll have no trouble at all getting home despite your fud.

For you and where you live, perhaps nothing is wrong going 60 mph. But here, where the speed limit is 75, driving 60 in a 75 is a) a hazard, b) likely to get you a ticket for obstructing the flow of traffic.

His concern is if the Leaf has the range to complete this trip. If you have to stop and plug in halfway there, it defeats the whole purpose of having an automobile. Also, plugging into 120V with the Versa is basically a trickle charge. Hours for few additional miles.

No FUD here. Just pointing out the realities. This is what people mean when they talk about range anxiety. Anyone can commute 25 miles in the Leaf. But can I take a fishing trip to the lake with the kids that's 50 miles away. Learning to live within the the limitations of this car will take some time and experience. I'm just stating that it's too bad that to make the drive home from his dealer he's got to go 55 in a 65 zone, with no climate control, and in econ mode.

 

[smkettner]

I thought LEAF came with three years roadside assistance.... this would be the time to drop AAA not increase coverage?
DW dropped AAA when she bought her Subaru with roadside coverage.

 

[garygid]

OR, for those that think an EV "never" runs "dry", tell the dealer to only charge the car to 80%, to simulate real-world (after a few years) use, and THEN let them be so sure that you can make the trip. :lol:

Another in-trip Charging Possibility:
Pre-arrange a "top-up" with the "last" charging location at the beginning (populated) end of the trip (maybe only 10 or 20 miles out?). Then, you can test drive at the dealer, show off your new LEAF at some pre-arranged spot, and have only 75 (or 65) miles remaining of the "barren" part of the trip. Just a thought.

 

[garygid]

What is "PFC"?

 

[driveleaf]

AAA Coverage was upped, because I figure like a lot of Nissan Leaf things, it will take some learning before it works right.

Do you really want to be counting on the roadside assistance team if you're the first one off the lot?

Besides, since I'm not spending another dime on maintaining my ICE car, so I'm sure it'll come in handy soon enough.

 

[kolmstead]

The objective here isn't to make it 90% of the way and then call roadside service; I can't imagine a less enjoyable first drive! I'll haul my Leaf on my flatbed if I have to, but it's not coming home on a wrecker.

I'm brainstorming with you guys, trying to figure out what the options are. I think there is one rest stop about mid-trip, don't know about availability of power there.

While driveleaf is heading toward high density population, my trip will be just the opposite. There are spots along the way where you can look ten or fifteen miles ahead or behind, and see nothing but creosote bushes and the highway.

Latest report seems to have a load of Leafs arriving in Long Beach on Dec. 23, so driveleaf and I are hoping to pick up our cars the last week of December. Odds were much better when the Dec. 20 date was in play.

-Karl

 

[mitch672]

"L1 is not exactly a opportunity charging option unless you have much time on your hands. I'm surprised you have not added a PFC to your car as many owners have for faster L2 and L1 use as well."

What is a "PFC"?

The RAV I drive cannot use L1 anywhere, but I would have loved to have had access to it all these years. Even 5 miles per hour of charging would help. Sometimes, all you need is that little bit more to get where you want to go.

"PFC" refering the the Manzanita Micro PFC series of chargers...

http://www.manzanitamicro.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=14&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=64&vmcchk=1&Itemid=64

These have been added to many, many RAV-4 EV's...

 

[wsbca]

His concern is if the Leaf has the range to complete this trip. If you have to stop and plug in halfway there, it defeats the whole purpose of having an automobile.

Your second sentence is a bit of a non-sequitur. He didn't buy the car to make this trip, he bought it to use in Ridgecrest. As far as I can tell he's just trying to get it home this one time without having to truck it there, and then have the truck drive back empty to Palmdale. By your logic, since a LEAF can't be driven here from Japan, that also defeats the purpose of owning one. If it was me (and I readily admit it's not, and my priorities and tolerances are my own and nobody else's), I would not mind spending a couple of hours in Mojave sipping coffee and surfing the net while topping up enough to complete my self-delivery. In the future presumably this would be a non-issue since there'd be L3 in, say, Mojave. There is a price to be paid for being an early adopter, and for living in a town that doesn't have a dealership. If that price is the cost of trucking a vehicle to get it to you, so be it. If on the other hand he wants to work out a different solution, great. None of that has anything to do with the viability of the vehicle once it's home.

 

[garygid]

Problems with the "PFC" approach:

1. The "PFC" is not yet available to work with the LEAF's L3 QC port.
2. You still need a "powerful" place to plug it in, still rarely found in public (outside of RV parks).
3. Most LEAF owners do not want to hack/modify their new EV to accomodate "unauthorized" charging connections.
4. Many LEAFs do not have a QC port to use.