Phoenix Range Test Sept 15, 2012 planning!

[TonyWilliams]

Just got off the phone with Scott. Here's my phone number for those who intend to participate:

1-858-245-8217
TonyWilliams -at- LoveMyLEAF -dot- com

We discussed locations, and it appears to me that 805 N. 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ is a good launch point for many reasons. It is centrally located in Phoenix, there are a gazillion other L2 chargers around the area, there is a BLINK quick charger, the freeway (10) is only .7 miles away, there is a 12.7 mile loop on the 10/17 freeways that returns us right back to the same location. From the start location, we travel first EAST on the freeway for clockwise loops.

A second loop starts and ends at the same location, via 10/202/143/10/17/10 for a total of 20.9 miles on this loop. The brand new LEAF can do this route exactly 4 times.

For Scott's car, let's just say that I don't believe that his car has an instrument error, therefore I can calculate that at 62mph (100kmh) that the car will travel 84 miles new, and now with a 33% reduction with 4 battery capacity bars missing, that leaves 56 miles of predicted range, or 4.75 laps of this course on the short course, and 2.7 laps on the big course.

Scott has an big pickup truck, and we will put a dolly on it to recover vehicles. I will rent a Uhaul truck and dolly to do the same. Every owner has the ability to call Nissan tow service, or AAA, etc. Perhaps others have big pickups to attach car dollies to.

We can dolly the cars from whatever charger they charged on overnight at or near 805 N. 2nd St to a predicted start point on the course that will have the car hitting VLB and turtle mode very near this starting location. Fortunately, everything is quite level.

We will use the US Government official wind, temperature and dew point that is broadcast every hour from PHX airport (ATIS).

 

[TonyWilliams]

dont forget to videotape the event, seeing is believing

Oh, I'm not only going to video tape it, I'm going to put the result of that video on YouTube for the world to determine if we just have an innocent oversight of a software glitch and an instrument error, or if the battery is toast like every battery expert predicted before this ill conceived battery design launch to the unsuspecting masses in Phoenix.

I just heard today that Nissan had done all their testing "on computers", instead of long term, actual road miles to dead, type tests (that are the industry norm). Nobody can argue that they had bad data on how hot it is in Phoenix... they have a laboratory there.

Somebody, somewhere in this big company overrode the engineers to produce and sell this car in Phoenix, or they have the lamest engineers anywhere.

 

[evnow]

Somebody, somewhere in this big company overrode the engineers to produce and sell this car in Phoenix, or they have the lamest engineers anywhere.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is.

 

[LEAFfan]

We discussed locations, and it appears to me that 805 N. 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ is a good launch point for many reasons. It is centrally located in Phoenix, there are a gazillion other L2 chargers around the area, there is a BLINK quick charger,

The QC is at the ECOtality building (3rd Ave. & Buchanan) and it's only open M-F, 8-5. So it wouldn't be able to be used at all. The PADT QC with 2 L2's is open 24/7.

 

[davewill]

1. Safety: you don't want to reach turtle on a freeway test. In Phoenix, being stranded on the freeway at turtle in the middle of the summer with no juice left to run AC and waiting for possibly an hour or more for a tow truck in 105 degree weather is not only not fun, but just plain unsafe.

Perhaps the testing should start EARLY, like 3-5AM. Lower temps and almost no traffic.

 

[shrink]

The QC is at the ECOtality building (3rd Ave. & Buchanan) and it's only open M-F, 8-5. So it wouldn't be able to be used at all. The PADT QC with 2 L2's is open 24/7.

Exactly. They lock the gates on weekends.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The QC is at the ECOtality building (3rd Ave. & Buchanan) and it's only open M-F, 8-5. So it wouldn't be able to be used at all. The PADT QC with 2 L2's is open 24/7.

Exactly. They lock the gates on weekends.

Does somebody have a contact that we might be able to beg to have it open?

 

[shrink]

The QC is at the ECOtality building (3rd Ave. & Buchanan) and it's only open M-F, 8-5. So it wouldn't be able to be used at all. The PADT QC with 2 L2's is open 24/7.

Exactly. They lock the gates on weekends.

Does somebody have a contact that we might be able to beg to have it open?

Actually, I met a few of the guys there about a year ago, but I doubt they remember me. I'll PM you some info if you're willing send an email or make a call.

I doubt they'd unlock the gates - its in an odd part of town - but maybe an employee would be interested in witnessing or participating. A few of them drive LEAF's.

PM-ing you now.

 

[TonyWilliams]

This is exciting. Please keep this thread updated when the actual event starts. I'm sure Nissan will be grateful too

You guys want the Spot Tracker on Scott's car, and follow it's position live on the Internet?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I show that the other Blink quick charger is only 1.2 miles away. Is that right? If so, car's can easily be dolly'd there. Remember, every car that participates will get hauled, and it doesn't make much difference if it's that close to our starting point. Just confirm that this one is open on Saturday morning.

845 N 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ

1.2 miles

430 S. 2nd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

 

[LEAFfan]

I show that the other Blink quick charger is only 1.2 miles away. Is that right? If so, car's can easily be dolly'd there. Remember, every car that participates will get hauled, and it doesn't make much difference if it's that close to our starting point. Just confirm that this one is open on Saturday morning.

845 N 2nd St, Phoenix, AZ

1.2 miles

430 S. 2nd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

There is no QC at the 2nd St. charging station location. They only have 3 L2s. The one 1.2 miles away is the ECOtality one that is closed on Saturdays.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I show that the other Blink quick charger is only 1.2 miles away.

There is no QC at the 2nd St. charging station location. They only have 3 L2s. The one 1.2 miles away is the ECOtality one that is closed on Saturdays.

Ok, a bit confusing, but I think I have it sorted:

430 S. 2nd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (only 1.2 miles away, Blink DC charger, we have requested permission to use on Saturday)

1550 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85014 (about 5 miles away, Blink DC charger at Toyota dealer)

 

[EricBayArea]

This is exciting. Please keep this thread updated when the actual event starts. I'm sure Nissan will be grateful too

You guys want the Spot Tracker on Scott's car, and follow it's position live on the Internet?

Meh... Spot Tracker isn't a horrible idea... but how about someone running a USTREAM (http://www.ustream.tv" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false broadcast from their mobile phone or laptop! Then people can log in and watch what's going on. You can give it to people in cars for the laps or keep it at "home base" and dictate what's going on.

 

[shrink]

430 S. 2nd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003 (only 1.2 miles away, Blink DC charger, we have requested permission to use on Saturday)

1550 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85014 (about 5 miles away, Blink DC charger at Toyota dealer)

That's correct, but I just saw something odd. At the Ecotality location on 2nd Ave with the QC, using my iPhone Blink app, there is a lock icon at that location and the QC is not listed. I've used that QC before - not sure why it isn't listed. Only two L2's are listed and I know they have many more.

I've also used the Camelback Toyota QC. There are also two L2's as well. However, I'm not sure if that dealer locks the gates at night, though that might not matter if that's an end point only, not a start point. Might also be poor form for 10 LEAF's taking up space at a Toyota dealer on a busy Sat.

 

[EricBayArea]

Might also be poor form for 10 LEAF's taking up space at a Toyota dealer on a busy Sat.

Maybe I have a poor memory, but remind me which Toyota can accept a Blink DC QC?

 

[Volusiano]

I'm not sure why there's a preference to go to a QC location that's locked up at night like Ecotality or Toyota dealership, where the PADT location is open 24/7 with no lock gate and plenty of parking space to accomodate dozens of LEAF if needed. PADT is a company location where the parking lot should be empty Friday night and all of Saturday morning. I hear that they build the Blink units for Ecotality there.

 

[shrink]

Might also be poor form for 10 LEAF's taking up space at a Toyota dealer on a busy Sat.

Maybe I have a poor memory, but remind me which Toyota can accept a Blink DC QC?

None that I know of, but oddly in Phoenix, two QC's are at Toyota dealerships, one QC is at a Ford dealership, and the other QC is at Ecotality.

Zero QC's at Nissan dealerships.

The Tesla store has their own thing going on.

 

[shrink]

I'm not sure why there's a preference to go to a QC location that's locked up at night like Ecotality or Toyota dealership, where the PADT location is open 24/7 with no lock gate and plenty of parking space to accomodate dozens of LEAF if needed. PADT is a company location where the parking lot should be empty Friday night and all of Saturday morning. I hear that they build the Blink units for Ecotality there.

Agreed. I think PADT is ideal - a big empty lot with a QC and L2's. Only thing is the location is not ideal for our West and Northwest Valley friends. However, as I mentioned, people can also hit the Riverview or Camelback QC's on the way back. Maybe a quick 30-50% charge at PADT and so others can charge up and then people who need it can top off at the other QC locations. Neither are too far out of the way en route to West side.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I'm not sure why there's a preference to go to a QC location that's locked up at night like Ecotality or Toyota dealership, where the PADT location is open 24/7 with no lock gate and plenty of parking space to accomodate dozens of LEAF if needed. PADT is a company location where the parking lot should be empty Friday night and all of Saturday morning. I hear that they build the Blink units for Ecotality there.

I thought I listed all the reasons. Feel free to correct any I have wrong.

1. We don't need QC overnight; we need it in the morning, after the test. Every car will get towed back to a charger, so as long as a QC is nearby (2 of them within 5 miles), that will work way better than one.

2. Isn't this site central to PHX? I know Scott is coming from the west, TickTock from the east. Isn't the other proposed site well east?

3. This site has two loops. That may be needed to split the difference on calculating ending points. For instance, perhaps one car can do three 20.9 mile loops and one 12.7.

4. The launch point has 6 L2's, and there are tons more nearby.

5. The launch point is 0.7 miles from the freeway.

 

[Volusiano]

I'm not sure why there's a preference to go to a QC location that's locked up at night like Ecotality or Toyota dealership, where the PADT location is open 24/7 with no lock gate and plenty of parking space to accomodate dozens of LEAF if needed. PADT is a company location where the parking lot should be empty Friday night and all of Saturday morning. I hear that they build the Blink units for Ecotality there.

I thought I listed all the reasons. Feel free to correct any I have wrong.

1. We don't need QC overnight; we need it in the morning, after the test. Every car will get towed back to a charger, so as long as a QC is nearby (2 of them within 5 miles), that will work way better than one.

This was all assuming that the Ecotality site is available on Saturday and is not locked up. But if the location is locked up starting Friday night and all weekend then this plan is no longer valid. This is my key contention here. Why still stick with such a location after knowing that it's locked up at night and on weekends? Just because somebody said they know somebody who may be willing to open the gate doesn't guarantee that it's going to happen.

2. Isn't this site central to PHX? I know Scott is coming from the west, TickTock from the east. Isn't the other proposed site well east?

The PADT site is not well east like you think. It's in Tempe which is just east of Phoenix, bordering Phoenix. I would consider it to be fairly central as well. If you pick the airport as THE central location for the whole valley, the Ecotality site is west of the airport and the PADT site is only a little further off south east of the airport, not terribly too far off like you think.

3. This site has two loops. That may be needed to split the difference on calculating ending points. For instance, perhaps one car can do three 20.9 mile loops and one 12.7.

Loops can be easily designated. I'm not sure what the big deal is.

4. The launch point has 6 L2's, and there are tons more nearby.

The PADT site also has 2 L2 there, and the antique mall about 3 miles away has 6 L2's. Regardless, 6 L2s at Ecotality is no good anyway if they're locked out on Friday and Saturday.

5. The launch point is 0.7 miles from the freeway.

The PADT launch point is RIGHT NEXT to the freeway (maybe 0.1 mile).