TimLee
Well-known member
Welcome to having a LEAF.DVCRobin said:While I bought my Leaf primarily for driving the 6 miles to and from work. I was worried about giving up a long distance car. We have another car, but what if I had to drive to my mom's house 180 miles away at the drop of a hat. Well I looked at the Blink stations between Nashville and Knoxville and there are 3 evenly spaced DCFC stations between approximately 50 miles apart. I guess I am lucky. Now if I tried to head in any other direction from Nashville, I am out of luck. None to be found. Looks like they are starting to put some charging stations in a few areas. Good luck, I hope they add some to your area soon.
BTW I just bought it this weekend and am so happy with it.
You can also make it to Chattanooga.
Ecotality installed Blink DCFC units along the interstates at Cracker Barrels between Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga under the eV Project funding.
But note that they are a bit far apart.
The spacing is OK in the summer if they are all working.
But in the winter, the distance between the Athens, TN and Farragut, TN is nearly too much for a 2 year old LEAF with some battery degradation while running the heater. When I did only an 80% charge at Athens in 40F weather with a 21 month old 2011 LEAF in 40F ambient; I found that I had to turn the heater off half way to the next station, and I just barely made it with Guess-O-Meter showing 1 mile left and Low Battery Warning on.
And note that it is a slow trip. From my house in Ooltewah, TN to downtown Knoxville my overall speed for the one way trip was 38 mph. And the battery was low when I got there. Overall average speed for the round trip was more like 30 mph.
I'm glad the stations are there so I could go to Knoxville or Nashville, but they will be of limited infrequent use.
And to be confidently reliable for making the trip, there needs to be about twice as many minimum.
Please add your location in your profile, as it helps people in easily understanding your future posts.