Minutes of SF BayLEAFs Gathering #7, Union City Library, September 10th, 2011
Many thanks to linkim, who graciously took such detailed notes. This was another successful meeting, with at least 38 LEAFs and their owners (panorama view at http://360.io/fsR287" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; from Tugrik) present. Several more LEAFs were being used by the significant others of attendees so the numbers could have been higher. Total official attendance was 46 (with 9 new members) though we may not have captured everyone. The tail-gate party before and after the indoor meeting was again well-received, with coffee and bagels and active discussion by attendees. A handout that summarizes upgrade of the some light bulbs with LEDs for the LEAF was distributed, as well as 240 V dryer cords and pigtails for the horn upgrade. Gasmiser1 received a free Nissan LEAF T-shirt for recording the highest number of LEAF miles (about 8100 miles) of the meeting attendees.
Some highlights of the meeting are summarized here:
Future Meetings
The next SF BayLEAFs meeting is scheduled, but not confirmed, for Oct. 1 at Luscious Garage in San Francisco. Other meetings of interest to LEAF owners are the Palo Alto EV Rally (Palo Alto High School) on Sept. 24, National Plug-in Day on Oct. 16, and Green Drive Expo (http://www.greendriveexpo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
in Richmond, CA on Sept. 17. This event hosted 4000 attendees last year. This year LEAF owners are encouraged to attend and display their vehicles, along with PHEV Priuses, RAV4s and other EVs. There will be 36 L2 charging docks available for EVs owners who register for the Expo for $15 (registration code: MyNissanLEAF).
Special visit by representative from Nissan Japan
Linkim led a discussion the visit of Nissan Chief Electric Vehicle Engineer. The meeting that was originally scheduled on October 8, 2011 with SF BayLEAFs was changed to December 3, 2011 because of scheduling difficulties. Linkim will coordinate with the local Nissan representative based in Mountain View to follow up with the new meeting date. There were several attendees at the LEAF meeting who have contacts with Nissan representatives in the US and Japan. Gascant and linkim will assemble a list of local LEAF owners who are currently in contact with Nissan. This will facilitate communication with Nissan Japan and the local Nissan office. A committee will be formed to work with Nissan on future interactions.
Charging/Infrastructure
This is a topic that attracts a lot of discussion at the LEAF meetings.
Gascant presented an update on the private charging network that is available for use by SF BayLEAFs members. The total number on the network has increased to 22. So far, no one has requested the use of the private charging facilities.
Phoenix led a discussion on the rollout of public L2 charging docks and L3 quick chargers in the Bay Area and Northern California has been frustrating for LEAF owners who would like to extend their driving experience to Tahoe and north of San Francisco. Even in the Bay area, park-and-ride locations such as at Page Mill Road and Woodside on I-280 should be considered for charging stations. Businesses can apply for grant funds for public charging stations, if they pay for the installation. However, this is occurring very slowly. In San Francisco, public parking garages are starting to convert their existing Avcon units to J1772. The Civic Center garage has already made the conversion. RV parks are good a source for opportunity charging. The website http://www.gocampingamerica.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a good reference for locating charging stations at the RV parks. A small committee was formed to investigate the possibility of a first grass-roots-funded L3 charging station in the Bay Area
Organizations such as 350green (http://350green.com/about-us/our_partners" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
are actively pursuing businesses to identify potential sites for Public charging stations. They are working with Walgreens to install stations in parking lots near their stores.
An idea for extending the driving range for EV drivers was discussed which has been used for car share, as described at http://www.getaround.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. One concept is for LEAF owners to pre-arrange charging at a location (plug share with another member of the private network) near the end of their LEAF driving range, to extend the total driving range. Other websites such as http://www.4evriders.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; provide further data on charging locators and information on EV-relevant topics.
ElectricVehicle described an electrical box and adapter to simultaneously charge 2 LEAFs using the modified EVSEs.
Primer on the LEAF Lithium-Ion Battery
Surfingslovak gave an overview (see presentation at https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=GSYITUXYDvH4EPENbJ4KjA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
of the lithium-ion battery technology used in the LEAF, Much of the specifications of the individual 192 cells and 48 modules in the battery pack are found at the Nissan website, but the presentation brought all the information together to easily understand the battery pack specification and performance. An interesting graph of the voltage-capacity profile for a cell showed the change in voltage as a function of state-of-charge (SOC) was presented. The voltage-capacity profile has a relatively flat discharge profile. The profile showed that when the “turtle” appears on the dashboard, the capacity is on the verge of rapid decrease (“edge of a cliff”). Thus, there is very little available energy in the battery when the rapid drop off occurs. A key point that was discussed is “How will Nissan replace a bad module in a battery pack?” Currently it appears that the whole battery pack will be removed and sent to a central site for repair, rather than replacing the bad module at the Nissan dealer.
SOC Meter
Squirrelmeat presented an update on the SOC meter that is available from garygid. The main component in the SOC meter and firmware features were described. The original meter displays the %SOC (based on 281 points) and the raw data (281 points). The updated firmware version includes a display of the current, voltage and power. Future improvements in the SOC meter include serial output for logging data; a larger display and monitoring of other CAN buses (e.g., audio/visual and EV information). The updates to the firmware are coordinated between garygid and squirrelmeat (Bay Area “flasher”).
Horn Clinic
OrientExpress again organized and led a clinic on the installation of upgraded horns in LEAFs. Two were done on the spot and another 4 pigtails were distributed.
Thanks to all who attended and participated in the discussions. Look for the announcement of Gathering #8 in San Francisco within a week.
