What is your previous EV experience?
- Thread starter EVDRIVER
- Start date
Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:
DaveinOlyWA
Well-known member
well, my first electric vehicle was actually a scooter. it had top speed of 15 mph and a range of (they said 12 miles) 6-8 miles. this was my first experience in "you really dont know sh** about how batteries really work. that was in 2002.
i drove it as a commuter for about 2 months before the range would not work anymore. i was close enough that i went to bicycle when the weather dried up and during that time, i went thru one experiment after another to extend the range and nothing worked. first i tried simply adding batteries. pack balancing was unknown to me and i did not bother to research. well then i went to the Lacey Alternative Fuel Fair and Electric Car Rally, met Joe the owner of www.pluginolympia.com who illustrated the error of my ways.
so then i went to a 2004 Prius. in 2006 i was literally hours away from buying a used RAV 4 EV for $56,000 from a place in Renton/Kirkland?? WA (they were in the middle of moving their showroom) i was on my way up to buy the car i had seen the week before when SO called to say she was pregnant. this was COMPLETELY unexpected. i decided that a $56,000 purchase was not in the cards and turned around.
unfortunately, a baby did very little to ease my EV withdrawal pain. living in an apartment converted from the Old St. Peters Hospital on the westside made it impossible for a DIY'er project despite being one of the 3 tenants to have a garage, so i decided to shop around for something already made.
eventually i landed on a Zenn from MC Electric in Seattle. i took it home Nov 8th, 2007. the first few months were awesome. at first, i just drove it back and forth from work (it was more than 5 months before i would gain permission to plug in).
on my days off, i would venture farther and farther from home. then one day, the motor lost power and i could smell something burning. i had gotten the upgraded battery pack (mistake) and 35 mph ~6 HP upgraded motor (aftermarket and NOT factory, also a mistake) i shut it down, went investigating and found the motor to be VERY hot. well, this was obvious. i sat and waited for it to cool. this was also one of the first warmer days of the year being early May 2008. now this had happened after about 17 miles of straight driving of dropping off various bills and such i did once a month. i was happy that i could do water, electric, cable and garbage all in one trip. so i thought, well maybe i just took it farther than i should have.
so, i let it go. but a few weeks later, the same thing happened and this time it was after only 10 miles and it was a warmer day but far cooler from what i could expect to see in the heat of summer. so call MC. they get some info from me. they come down, take car. its gone a week. comes back. issue, motor mounted not right. they shimmed it or something. it did not fix issue. i call them. they say ok, they call vendor where motor came from for exchange. after two months they call and say motor vendor "probably" out of business. they say they can reprogram car to do 35 mph by software, not as much power, but still same speed. i prefer power, i say i will wait since they hint another motor vendor might be possible. a few months after that, charger dies. they contract with local garage in Oly. i tow vehicle over to replace charger and say replace motor at same time...tired of waiting. charger, motor replace, i get back, range less than half of what it was and fading fast.
they say batts should have been replaced at same time since i ran SOC so low trying to get car to shop. shop on westside of Puget Sound. i live on Southeast side of Puget Sound (we had moved from Westside a few months earlier) now it only 6 miles but HUGE hill to navigate and i died on hill. so had to be towed last 2 miles. so range fades as batts on backorder. finally receive batts just before winter.
immediately i see something wrong. call them up. take to shop, they check (this is contracted shop and not EV specialist) they find nothing wrong. i tell them, not right. after investing info online, i realize that charger has multiple charge settings, i ask shop if they charged for upgraded batt pack. they say they only do what MC told them to do. i call MC, they say "oops". too late, batt pack ruined in less than 4 months. so batts on back order. less than 3 weeks later, charger dies. it sits for 5 weeks. everyone tells me i should have stayed with standard flooded batts instead of AGMs which were crap.
finally get batts and charger with correct algorithm. everything ok for a year or so then my charger balancer (forget who they were now) gets recalled so vendor GPEV (Grants Pass, OR) send recall. recommend i use other vendor they have. i decline option. was looking at $8,000 Lith upgrade which would have req. proprietary balancer.
i put down $1500. wait, wait wait. during time, batts starts to fail. i stop doing full charges. only use less than 35% range for daily commute so no biggie. but hard to control at work. (they dont let me just wander in and out as i please) but i do it anyway. but sometimes get stuck in project so not always possible. start getting the dreaded "3 red flashes" on charge indicator.
finally realize Lith not happening. it takes more than a year to get $1500 back. down to 7-8 miles of range before turtle mode...now not so bad if Zenn turtle like Leaf turtle... but it not. it more like 10 mph, so i pretty much went to turtle mode 2 blocks from work. then it 3 blocks. go back to full charging which only gives me a month before i am turtle modeing again. i begin to pray that light on the corner is green so i dont have to limp the last 150 feet into parking lot where turtle mode can be disguised as "sensible parking lot etiquette."
having gotten rid of Corolla a few months back, no longer have extra car to drive so it Zenn or nothing. i get desperate and more bad news. SO dept moving from St. Petes Oly to St. Petes Centralia 30 miles away. she no longer "Zenn-able"
knowing i am not driving reliable car, i decide to get Prius, buy it for out of town trips. (i put exactly 8100 miles on it in the first year. most of which was 4 RT trips to Salem along with the Olympic Circle Cruise (if u live here you know what i mean)
so in Feb 2010. have long planned vaca with nothing really planned. (they change companies when Xerox took over and the vaca policy with it so could no longer store up what i had so it was take or lose it) for two weeks. we did do 3 3 day trips but SO could not get time off and we had less than 30 days to plan so i decide time to get Zenn rectified. so i decide to get new batts. have 10,000 miles on it so out of warranty. first i decide get Trojans. batts specifically designed EV ops, etc. so call around. they out of stock.
so i ended up going to local battery shop getting best batts they had that would fit. deep cycle marine batts. i hope they last a year actually only did it because 100% replacement policy for first year which i needed. batts not designed for EVs and it shows. first one failed in less than 3 months. ended up getting 14 batts for price of 6. after everything said and done. i sell Zenn to Seattelite with range of about 4-5 miles on it in Dec. and here i am.
i drove it as a commuter for about 2 months before the range would not work anymore. i was close enough that i went to bicycle when the weather dried up and during that time, i went thru one experiment after another to extend the range and nothing worked. first i tried simply adding batteries. pack balancing was unknown to me and i did not bother to research. well then i went to the Lacey Alternative Fuel Fair and Electric Car Rally, met Joe the owner of www.pluginolympia.com who illustrated the error of my ways.
so then i went to a 2004 Prius. in 2006 i was literally hours away from buying a used RAV 4 EV for $56,000 from a place in Renton/Kirkland?? WA (they were in the middle of moving their showroom) i was on my way up to buy the car i had seen the week before when SO called to say she was pregnant. this was COMPLETELY unexpected. i decided that a $56,000 purchase was not in the cards and turned around.
unfortunately, a baby did very little to ease my EV withdrawal pain. living in an apartment converted from the Old St. Peters Hospital on the westside made it impossible for a DIY'er project despite being one of the 3 tenants to have a garage, so i decided to shop around for something already made.
eventually i landed on a Zenn from MC Electric in Seattle. i took it home Nov 8th, 2007. the first few months were awesome. at first, i just drove it back and forth from work (it was more than 5 months before i would gain permission to plug in).
on my days off, i would venture farther and farther from home. then one day, the motor lost power and i could smell something burning. i had gotten the upgraded battery pack (mistake) and 35 mph ~6 HP upgraded motor (aftermarket and NOT factory, also a mistake) i shut it down, went investigating and found the motor to be VERY hot. well, this was obvious. i sat and waited for it to cool. this was also one of the first warmer days of the year being early May 2008. now this had happened after about 17 miles of straight driving of dropping off various bills and such i did once a month. i was happy that i could do water, electric, cable and garbage all in one trip. so i thought, well maybe i just took it farther than i should have.
so, i let it go. but a few weeks later, the same thing happened and this time it was after only 10 miles and it was a warmer day but far cooler from what i could expect to see in the heat of summer. so call MC. they get some info from me. they come down, take car. its gone a week. comes back. issue, motor mounted not right. they shimmed it or something. it did not fix issue. i call them. they say ok, they call vendor where motor came from for exchange. after two months they call and say motor vendor "probably" out of business. they say they can reprogram car to do 35 mph by software, not as much power, but still same speed. i prefer power, i say i will wait since they hint another motor vendor might be possible. a few months after that, charger dies. they contract with local garage in Oly. i tow vehicle over to replace charger and say replace motor at same time...tired of waiting. charger, motor replace, i get back, range less than half of what it was and fading fast.
they say batts should have been replaced at same time since i ran SOC so low trying to get car to shop. shop on westside of Puget Sound. i live on Southeast side of Puget Sound (we had moved from Westside a few months earlier) now it only 6 miles but HUGE hill to navigate and i died on hill. so had to be towed last 2 miles. so range fades as batts on backorder. finally receive batts just before winter.
immediately i see something wrong. call them up. take to shop, they check (this is contracted shop and not EV specialist) they find nothing wrong. i tell them, not right. after investing info online, i realize that charger has multiple charge settings, i ask shop if they charged for upgraded batt pack. they say they only do what MC told them to do. i call MC, they say "oops". too late, batt pack ruined in less than 4 months. so batts on back order. less than 3 weeks later, charger dies. it sits for 5 weeks. everyone tells me i should have stayed with standard flooded batts instead of AGMs which were crap.
finally get batts and charger with correct algorithm. everything ok for a year or so then my charger balancer (forget who they were now) gets recalled so vendor GPEV (Grants Pass, OR) send recall. recommend i use other vendor they have. i decline option. was looking at $8,000 Lith upgrade which would have req. proprietary balancer.
i put down $1500. wait, wait wait. during time, batts starts to fail. i stop doing full charges. only use less than 35% range for daily commute so no biggie. but hard to control at work. (they dont let me just wander in and out as i please) but i do it anyway. but sometimes get stuck in project so not always possible. start getting the dreaded "3 red flashes" on charge indicator.
finally realize Lith not happening. it takes more than a year to get $1500 back. down to 7-8 miles of range before turtle mode...now not so bad if Zenn turtle like Leaf turtle... but it not. it more like 10 mph, so i pretty much went to turtle mode 2 blocks from work. then it 3 blocks. go back to full charging which only gives me a month before i am turtle modeing again. i begin to pray that light on the corner is green so i dont have to limp the last 150 feet into parking lot where turtle mode can be disguised as "sensible parking lot etiquette."
having gotten rid of Corolla a few months back, no longer have extra car to drive so it Zenn or nothing. i get desperate and more bad news. SO dept moving from St. Petes Oly to St. Petes Centralia 30 miles away. she no longer "Zenn-able"
knowing i am not driving reliable car, i decide to get Prius, buy it for out of town trips. (i put exactly 8100 miles on it in the first year. most of which was 4 RT trips to Salem along with the Olympic Circle Cruise (if u live here you know what i mean)
so in Feb 2010. have long planned vaca with nothing really planned. (they change companies when Xerox took over and the vaca policy with it so could no longer store up what i had so it was take or lose it) for two weeks. we did do 3 3 day trips but SO could not get time off and we had less than 30 days to plan so i decide time to get Zenn rectified. so i decide to get new batts. have 10,000 miles on it so out of warranty. first i decide get Trojans. batts specifically designed EV ops, etc. so call around. they out of stock.
so i ended up going to local battery shop getting best batts they had that would fit. deep cycle marine batts. i hope they last a year actually only did it because 100% replacement policy for first year which i needed. batts not designed for EVs and it shows. first one failed in less than 3 months. ended up getting 14 batts for price of 6. after everything said and done. i sell Zenn to Seattelite with range of about 4-5 miles on it in Dec. and here i am.
EVDRIVER said:
Yes, they use the Siemens inverters. And they are pretty good, considering their age.
In some ways, the EVs from 1995 and the EVs from 2011 are not so different. I take that as a good sign - the motor, inverter, charger, and battery management are just improvements on known technology. I know one of the guys from Siemens, and he says that he has never seen a broken EV motor. They seem to go on forever.
The new development are new types of batteries. Conseptually they are just improved batteries, but of course the technology is differentl, and there will be much to learn during the next years.
I had a junky electric scooter first, about a dozen GEM cars, two Ford Th!nk Neighbors, but the most interesting one is my 1992 Saturn SC conversion.
I started converting it in High School, family funding left it sitting with a motor installed for several years and finally during college I was able to complete it. It started with 12 flooded 12 volt batteries, which gave only about six months of service and not a whole lot of miles. The second iteration was with 18 eight volt golf car batteries which it still has. The batteries are three years old now and I have at least four dead cells in the pack so my range is only a couple of miles and as a result I haven't been using it much in the last six months. I'm waiting for my Leaf.
I also work at Elite Power Solutions which sells lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. Ironically I think I'm going to end up getting my lithium batteries for the Saturn about the same time as the Leaf comes in. Right now the only justification I can come up with in my mind to keep the Saturn and the Leaf is to turn the Saturn in to a racing car.
More pictures here:
http://www.evalbum.com/667
I started converting it in High School, family funding left it sitting with a motor installed for several years and finally during college I was able to complete it. It started with 12 flooded 12 volt batteries, which gave only about six months of service and not a whole lot of miles. The second iteration was with 18 eight volt golf car batteries which it still has. The batteries are three years old now and I have at least four dead cells in the pack so my range is only a couple of miles and as a result I haven't been using it much in the last six months. I'm waiting for my Leaf.
I also work at Elite Power Solutions which sells lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. Ironically I think I'm going to end up getting my lithium batteries for the Saturn about the same time as the Leaf comes in. Right now the only justification I can come up with in my mind to keep the Saturn and the Leaf is to turn the Saturn in to a racing car.
More pictures here:
http://www.evalbum.com/667
EricH
Well-known member
EVDRIVER said:
We also had a Think City from November 2001 to September 2004. My wife cried when Ford sent the flatbed to pick it up (late enough that we think it went back to Europe instead of to a shredder in the desert).
It had a range of 40 miles, top speed of 55, hand-crank windows, and no A/C. We loved it.
You can pretty much guess how we feel about the LEAF!
We also borrowed an EV-1 from work for one weekend, back in the day. Wow.
lisaleaf
Well-known member
Back in 1997 and 8 months pregnant with our third child, my husband suggested we get an EV1. Since it was a two-seater, I wasn't going to be easily persuaded to lease it. I was finally convinced and we got the car. The car was so low and compact, I could barely get in it. I have to confess range anxiety because it did strand me a couple of times. Many times I came home from work at a very LOW speed because it was running out of juice. I can't tell you how many people stopped me and asked me questions about the car and how they could get one. I loved the space-like sound upon acceleration! My husband, Darrell drove it from Sacramento to Vegas for his class reunion, I thought he was insane. We charged it using electricity from our PV solar panels (usually overnight). I ended up loving that car despite being stranded because of my inexperience. We had the EV1 for 6 years before it was taken away on a tow truck with my bummed out husband watching.
We also have an electric motorcycle that accelerates so fast it almost threw me off once-oops! My husband used it to commute to a part time job.
The Leaf is my new baby. This feels like the longest pregnancy I've had to date! Induce labor already and deliver our car! I will be able to fit my four kids and myself in this car though, but will have to leave the hubby behind
Lisa and Darrell Singleton
Res. 4/20/10
Ord. 10/30/10
Del. May(be) 2011
I can't wait for the Leaf so that I can tell some more funny stories about our adventures.
The Leaf has been my baby this time around.
We also have an electric motorcycle that accelerates so fast it almost threw me off once-oops! My husband used it to commute to a part time job.
The Leaf is my new baby. This feels like the longest pregnancy I've had to date! Induce labor already and deliver our car! I will be able to fit my four kids and myself in this car though, but will have to leave the hubby behind
Lisa and Darrell Singleton
Res. 4/20/10
Ord. 10/30/10
Del. May(be) 2011
I can't wait for the Leaf so that I can tell some more funny stories about our adventures.
The Leaf has been my baby this time around.
EVDrive
Well-known member
Wanting an EV but not having an EV. Dreams do come true!
highcountryrider
Well-known member
I had one of these for a short while.
lisaleaf said:
This is another Darell! Spelled wrong, of course. Hi Lisa... I don't believe that we have met. I've known your husband (my other brother Darrell) since our EV1 days. Congratulations on the LEAF. I know it has been a long, dry spell!
walterbays
Well-known member
My previous EV experience:
I find the LEAF to be quieter and to have much more power and better handling.
I find the LEAF to be quieter and to have much more power and better handling.
highcountryrider
Well-known member
:lol:
keydiver
Well-known member
I don't know if this counts, but I have a PHEV Prius, and I try to drive it as much as possible on battery power only. Did ~150 mpg today. I have exceeded 100 mpg on several tanks of gas. I also bought a lithium-powered bicycle for my wife a couple years ago, which is fun to ride. Sometimes I take it to the Publix grocery store or Post Office for the fun of it.
Nice to see you are here too Darell! We haven't talked since Priuschat many years ago, when I was first showing you how to hack the MFD for video. I see you still have my pictures (and fingers) on your website.
darelldd said:
Nice to see you are here too Darell! We haven't talked since Priuschat many years ago, when I was first showing you how to hack the MFD for video. I see you still have my pictures (and fingers) on your website.
keydiver said:Nice to see you are here too Darell! We haven't talked since Priuschat many years ago, when I was first showing you how to hack the MFD for video. I see you still have my pictures (and fingers) on your website.
Indeed! It is a small world... and getting bigger quickly!
TomT
Well-known member
I never had one before and was never particularly interested in owning one until the Leaf was announced a couple of years back. I've owned sports cars of one type or another for most of my life and the available EVs at the time just did not interest me for one reason or another (at least, not at a reasonable price, as in the case of the Tesla)...
EVDRIVER said:
Drivesolo
Well-known member
Made my first EV back when I was in highschool in 1991. Was pretty much a frame made from extruded aluminum and golf kart parts. Did Formula SAE and Mini-Baja in college always asking the question if those cars could use electricity. Attempted an electric FSAE car on my own after I got out but scrapped it in-lieu-of converting a cadet kart using a Etek motor and an Alltrax controller. Worked great but was limited to four 12v Hawker Genesis 13Ahr batts. A few year later after scrapping the cadet kart, I picked up a KT100 sprint kart and converted that w/ the same motor but w/ a 400amp Alltrax controller using twice the amount of batts. It was intended to exceed the performance of the original kart in an autoX applications, it did. Still have the kart but it's wall art now for the most part. I take it down a couple of times a year when friends are over that want to see what electric drive is capable of.
Several years ago I took a class at a local community college where we converted an ICE car to electric. My plan was to do it to a Nissan 240SX to make it a commuter but balked at the cost since the car had to be highway capable. I've owned and messed around w/ several scooters (24V, 36V & 48V), Mini-moto karts, and RC cars. Most recently, I've worked w/ my 4 year old daughter to modify her 12V Powerwheel to run off of 18V power tool batteries, the 2nd one I've done but this time she got to help out.
Several years ago I took a class at a local community college where we converted an ICE car to electric. My plan was to do it to a Nissan 240SX to make it a commuter but balked at the cost since the car had to be highway capable. I've owned and messed around w/ several scooters (24V, 36V & 48V), Mini-moto karts, and RC cars. Most recently, I've worked w/ my 4 year old daughter to modify her 12V Powerwheel to run off of 18V power tool batteries, the 2nd one I've done but this time she got to help out.
lisaleaf
Well-known member
Haha Darell! No, we haven't met yet, I'm sure we will. It sounds like we have a lot in common. We love our Leaf and it won't be towed awaydarelldd said:
We also have a "Kira"! I'm sure we will meet sometime at a local EV meeting.Lisa the other Darrell's wife
lkkms2
Well-known member
Ron Larea (Past President of San Diego EV Club/Association) converted a diesel Ford Escort wagon to electric for me in 1993. It had 18-6V deep cycle leadacid batteries which gave me a range of 40-50 miles, and was freeway capable with 5-gears and a flexible coupler for the clutch shifter.
My commute to work was about 12-13 miles. I was allowed to do "opportunity charging" at work which really made it more viable for various other activites after work. About every 3 years I swapped out the battery pack as the range deteriorated. Cost about $1000 at the time. Total distance traveled over 8-9 years was 68,000 gas-free miles.
Later I purchased a Prius in 2002, and am happy to (make that "very" happy to) be driving a Leaf since June this year.
Thanks "Ron" for being an early leader for EVs in the '90s in San Deigo and helping me and other to become EV drivers! (Have lost track of Ron's whereabouts - anyone seen him lately?)
My commute to work was about 12-13 miles. I was allowed to do "opportunity charging" at work which really made it more viable for various other activites after work. About every 3 years I swapped out the battery pack as the range deteriorated. Cost about $1000 at the time. Total distance traveled over 8-9 years was 68,000 gas-free miles.
Later I purchased a Prius in 2002, and am happy to (make that "very" happy to) be driving a Leaf since June this year.
Thanks "Ron" for being an early leader for EVs in the '90s in San Deigo and helping me and other to become EV drivers! (Have lost track of Ron's whereabouts - anyone seen him lately?)
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
The battery replacement/buyback thread.
- Latest: ElectricToolbox
-
