madbrain
Well-known member
I got my blue 2012 SL on saturday. Trickled charged it to 100% .
I had a number of errands to run on sunday.
I started the day around 1:30pm from 12 bars and 100% charge.
I reset the trip meter. The GOM was showing 74 miles. I put the car in eco mode, it showed about 88.
1) My first errand one was for a haircut. I drove the car downhill from the very steep road near my home, half a mile down and about 600ft elevation. At the bottom the GOM was up from 88 to 91, which is was nice.
On my way back home, that same half mile drive uphill caused the GOM to go from 88 to 71. I did not put the car to charge again, since the battery was still mostly full and I had only driven about 4 miles from full charge.
2) Next errand was a medical appointment in Cupertino. 17 miles away, 80% of it freeway. I was quite late. I drove downhill in ECO mode again and on city streets as well, but on the freeway was driving a little past the speed limit, between 65 and 80. By the time I arrived the GOM was at 45 (ECO mode stat).
3) After that I did not go back home, but made two grocery trips at Costco in Santa Clara and Trader Joe's nearby on Coleman. I was driving the speed limit on the freeway, probably about 10 miles. Then I went back to east SJ, another 10 miles or so. The GOM (ECO mode) was at 18 miles. I put the car to trickle charge again.
4) After about 1h30 of trickle charging, the car was showing about 27 miles, I went to pick up a friend in downtown San Jose and to have dinner at a restaurant also in downtown.
5) After dinner we drove to my home in east SJ to play the piano. Don't remember the exact GOM. I put the car to trickle charge again.
6) Once we were done playing, after about 2 hours of trickle charging, I drove my friend back to his home in downtown. The GOM was showing 29 miles in ECO at this point. His home is about 5 miles away from mine, so 10 miles roundtrip. It was starting to rain, and a bit cold on the way back, so I turned up the heater for a few minutes. The GOM went down very rapidly from 19 to 12.
By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, the GOM was at 10. 0.5 mile later, on top of the hill, and safe at home around midnight, the car was displaying the first low battery warning, and I had one bar left, and 5 miles blinking. I put the car to trickle charge again.
Stats for the day from the car :
- According to the trip meter, I drove it 76.9 miles today.
- Average speed 15.9 mph
- I don't quite understand yet why I get a different display for miles per kWh on the dashboard and on the screen.
I think perhaps the one on the dashboard is lifetime and the one on the screen is for the trip. The former says 3.4, and the later 3.6 .
Again this was from 100% charge and 12 bars, plus about 3 to 4 hours of trickle charge.
I drove very conservatively in ECO mode the entire time for all the trips above, except for the second errand as I was late, where I may have driven perhaps 10 miles between 75 and 80mph on the freeway.
AC was on most of the day on low setting.
It is a little bit scary to me to think what would have happened if I charged the car to 80% only, or if I didn't plug it back in to trickle charges throughout the day at almost every occasion I had (except after the first errand).
Given that I had 5 miles and 1 bar at the end, how much did the car really have left in it ?
I fear that in the not too distant future, I will be stuck very close to home in the middle of that very steep uphill road on the way home given how much the car seems to hate it - that half mile has taken between 5 and 17 miles off the estimate between the 4 times I drove it today.
I should probably program the Nissan road assistance number into my cell phone ASAP, as I foresee having to ask them to tow me home in the future on more than one occasion.
I will apply to get the L2 charger with Ecotality as soon as possible.
I will be doing L2 charging at work also from tomorrow on.
I knew the limitations of the car in terms of range when I bought it so the above doesn't entirely surprise me, but still can't say this is going to alleviate any range anxiety I thought I might encounter.
Range awareness is more like it, at this point.
I only wish Ecotality could put a CHAdeMO while they are at it instead of an L2. There is triphase power at the pole that serves my house due to the city water tank right behind my home, I guess their pumps need a lot of juice. I don't know if it runs on 440V.
I had a number of errands to run on sunday.
I started the day around 1:30pm from 12 bars and 100% charge.
I reset the trip meter. The GOM was showing 74 miles. I put the car in eco mode, it showed about 88.
1) My first errand one was for a haircut. I drove the car downhill from the very steep road near my home, half a mile down and about 600ft elevation. At the bottom the GOM was up from 88 to 91, which is was nice.
On my way back home, that same half mile drive uphill caused the GOM to go from 88 to 71. I did not put the car to charge again, since the battery was still mostly full and I had only driven about 4 miles from full charge.
2) Next errand was a medical appointment in Cupertino. 17 miles away, 80% of it freeway. I was quite late. I drove downhill in ECO mode again and on city streets as well, but on the freeway was driving a little past the speed limit, between 65 and 80. By the time I arrived the GOM was at 45 (ECO mode stat).
3) After that I did not go back home, but made two grocery trips at Costco in Santa Clara and Trader Joe's nearby on Coleman. I was driving the speed limit on the freeway, probably about 10 miles. Then I went back to east SJ, another 10 miles or so. The GOM (ECO mode) was at 18 miles. I put the car to trickle charge again.
4) After about 1h30 of trickle charging, the car was showing about 27 miles, I went to pick up a friend in downtown San Jose and to have dinner at a restaurant also in downtown.
5) After dinner we drove to my home in east SJ to play the piano. Don't remember the exact GOM. I put the car to trickle charge again.
6) Once we were done playing, after about 2 hours of trickle charging, I drove my friend back to his home in downtown. The GOM was showing 29 miles in ECO at this point. His home is about 5 miles away from mine, so 10 miles roundtrip. It was starting to rain, and a bit cold on the way back, so I turned up the heater for a few minutes. The GOM went down very rapidly from 19 to 12.
By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, the GOM was at 10. 0.5 mile later, on top of the hill, and safe at home around midnight, the car was displaying the first low battery warning, and I had one bar left, and 5 miles blinking. I put the car to trickle charge again.
Stats for the day from the car :
- According to the trip meter, I drove it 76.9 miles today.
- Average speed 15.9 mph
- I don't quite understand yet why I get a different display for miles per kWh on the dashboard and on the screen.
I think perhaps the one on the dashboard is lifetime and the one on the screen is for the trip. The former says 3.4, and the later 3.6 .
Again this was from 100% charge and 12 bars, plus about 3 to 4 hours of trickle charge.
I drove very conservatively in ECO mode the entire time for all the trips above, except for the second errand as I was late, where I may have driven perhaps 10 miles between 75 and 80mph on the freeway.
AC was on most of the day on low setting.
It is a little bit scary to me to think what would have happened if I charged the car to 80% only, or if I didn't plug it back in to trickle charges throughout the day at almost every occasion I had (except after the first errand).
Given that I had 5 miles and 1 bar at the end, how much did the car really have left in it ?
I fear that in the not too distant future, I will be stuck very close to home in the middle of that very steep uphill road on the way home given how much the car seems to hate it - that half mile has taken between 5 and 17 miles off the estimate between the 4 times I drove it today.
I should probably program the Nissan road assistance number into my cell phone ASAP, as I foresee having to ask them to tow me home in the future on more than one occasion.
I will apply to get the L2 charger with Ecotality as soon as possible.
I will be doing L2 charging at work also from tomorrow on.
I knew the limitations of the car in terms of range when I bought it so the above doesn't entirely surprise me, but still can't say this is going to alleviate any range anxiety I thought I might encounter.
Range awareness is more like it, at this point.
I only wish Ecotality could put a CHAdeMO while they are at it instead of an L2. There is triphase power at the pole that serves my house due to the city water tank right behind my home, I guess their pumps need a lot of juice. I don't know if it runs on 440V.