Long trip LEAF (2011-2017 models) success stories.

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IssacZachary

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Joined
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Messages
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Location
Gunnison, CO, USA
I had mentioned making this thread earlier, and in view of my 500 mile trip to and from Denver next week I guess I'll make this thread.

This is for all of you who have had or are planning to go an extra distance in your 2011-2017 LEAF to tell others how you did it or are planning to do it and what your general experience was. Generally the LEAF is considered a short distance or "limited range" vehicle. As such, most people are convinced that long trips in a LEAF are impractical or even impossible. Well here's your chance to prove that wrong.

This information will be helpful for other's who are thinking of doing road trips in their LEAFs. This may be because someone ends up or is planning on only owning a LEAF. Or maybe the ICEV broke down. Or perhaps they're doing it just for the fun of it.

If you know of long trip success stories in other Leafs, go ahead and post a link. Or add your own experience in this thread. I'll start here:

280-Mile Single Day Nissan Leaf Roadtrip.

1000-mile Nissan Leaf electric-car Road Trip in the Northeast: are we there yet?

1,500-Mile Nissan LEAF Zero-Emissions Road Trip: How We Charge On The Go

And here's my trip plan:
Any idea what it costs to charge at a CHAdeMO station at a Wal-Mart?

Well that's a start!
 
Thanks for getting this started!

I am here seeking advice or stories from folks making the run along the east coast of FL. I am trying to get down to Miami from Jax but plugshare comments raise concerns about many of the fast chargers along that route. I would be happy going through Orlando as well but it seems the linkage isn't any better.

Fwiw I've done two "road trips" with our 2012 Leaf. One when moving from DC down to Jax but that was cheating (Amtrak's auto train to Sanford and then a relatively short jaunt up to JAX with stops at Daytona and St Aug Nissans) Second road trip was from Jax to Tampa and back...it was relatively painless again as there were multiple options and backup stations, and every fast charger we did stop at was working.

Soooo, MIA to JAX. Any thoughts and comments are welcome, thanks!
 
From my signature, all the way back in 2012 when there were no DCQC's or even L2's between Pasco (SE) and Wenatchee (central) WA State. I did another trip from Pasco to Reedsport, OR the next summer which was much easier. Both trips required a significant 1st leg (85-120 mi) to reach the 1st DCQC station (against the wind and uphill). Both trips were about 800-900 mi RT.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=9946&hilit=+diagonal#p226115
 
Great comments!
Personally I have this desire to make the Leaf my only vehicle, even though that sounds very impractical. Yet practicality is subject to opinion. If one person might drive an ICEV from coast to coast whereas many would think such a drive is impractical, why can't someone drive from coast to coast in an EV even if everyone else thinks it's impractical? :mrgreen:

projectmaximus said:
Thanks for getting this started!

I am here seeking advice or stories from folks making the run along the east coast of FL. I am trying to get down to Miami from Jax but plugshare comments raise concerns about many of the fast chargers along that route. I would be happy going through Orlando as well but it seems the linkage isn't any better.

Fwiw I've done two "road trips" with our 2012 Leaf. One when moving from DC down to Jax but that was cheating (Amtrak's auto train to Sanford and then a relatively short jaunt up to JAX with stops at Daytona and St Aug Nissans) Second road trip was from Jax to Tampa and back...it was relatively painless again as there were multiple options and backup stations, and every fast charger we did stop at was working.

Soooo, MIA to JAX. Any thoughts and comments are welcome, thanks!

In doing a bit of lookin on PlugShare I set the chargers out farther than just 6 miles off course. Also I set the PlugShare rating to 9 and up. I got a couple sections where you'd only have J1772 chargers. So you're looking at a 5 hour drive or more plus 6 or more charging stops. If those are all 30 minutes that comes to 8 hours. But if you add a couple 3 hour charges you'd still make it in 14 hours. That's just a rough assumption. But anyhow, if you do it I suggest hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. If those couple CHAdeMO stations don't work then be prepared to spend the time at a level 2 station. In other words leave early.

On my trip to Denver I plan on spending the night half way in between and charging over level 1. If you have a friend somewhere in the middle maybe you could spend the night at his place and do the same. That way you get two shorter routes.
 
This Spring and Summer, I have experimented with long distance driving up the Hudson River Valley from New York City.. I have made numerous trips (each about 250 miles round trip), using different strategies.. Some strategies worked better than others.. I hope that the following descriptions are helpful.

Starting from Long Island, NY. Using the chargepoint or plugshare system, I decided to slowly leave the safety of my range distance and explore as many chargepoint "stations" as possible to see if I could rely on them to power me so that I could get back home. With a full charge, I drove from Long Island to the Bronx and Westchester, and almost up to Albany, and visited as many stations as possible on the chargepoint map...

Strategy (1) - USING CHARGEPOINT STATIONS - In my limited experience, chargepoint stations had a more than 50% failure rate. I found working chargepoint stations that were inaccessible for many reasons, like - (1) Charger was in a gated community where you needed a key to get in, (2) Charger was on a VA hospital (federal land) and guarded by a gun-toting Federal officer that was ready to plug me if I trespassed, (3) Charger was "free", but located in a "paid" parking lot and you had to pay $10 to get in, 4) Charger was located in a parking lot of a Zoo, and you could only use them after you "paid" admission to the Zoo, (5) Charger was part of a "pay for service" network that I could not access, and finally (6) Charger was present, but I was ICED out and unusable. VERDICT - on Percent of success of chargepoint stations - FAIL... Although chargepoint stations are found on the website map, there really is no screening on how accessible they are to a long distance traveler. Success stories - I found a great chargepoint free station in a hospital parking lot supervised by a parking attendant, and found several great Chargepoint "paid" stations in the college at New Paltz, and only paid $0.67 to charge up!! PS - CHADEMO stations which are highly publicized on the New York Throughway on the "I LOVE NY" website are a rip-off, as they charge $8.00 to plug in!!

Strategy 2 - USING NISSAN, FORD, CHEVROLET, VW, AND BMW DEALERS AS FUELING STATIONS. This was the BEST, and most reliable way to travel. When planning a trip, make a map of all the car dealers addresses and phone numbers, AND CALL AHEAD. Visiting Car dealers, I unfortunately found THREE Nissan dealers that I visited that were OUT OF BUSINESS! When calling, Ask for the service department and ask if they have a "working, outdoor" charger in their parking lot. If they ask you why, do not explain, (because they may want to only service their customers). Just say, "I would like to charge there", say thank you, and hang up.... Tips for charging - 1) Plan your charging during business hours for several reasons. First, many dealerships turn off power to the chargers when they are closed. Secondly, they can move cars if you get ICED... Thirdly (and most important) while you are waiting to charge, you can innocently mingle with customers in the dealer waiting room, use their WIFI, drink their free coffee and bagels, watch TV, and use the restrooms... ***NOTE: Several Nissan dealers have a CHADEMO charger, and you can be on your way in as little as 40 minutes!!

Overall long distance tips - 1) call ahead, and find good, reliable places to stop.. With a reliable place to charge, you can push your car to its maximum range without worry, and save ALOT OF TIME in finding, and waiting in deserted places, with nothing to do. 2) Invest in a J1772 extension cord (20+ feet long) so that you will never be ICED, or not be able to reach the charger because the Car Dealer parks cars all around the charging station. 3) Without CHADEMO, charging Level 2 on a long trip is... TIME CONSUMING due to having to wait about 1 hour of charging for every 30 miles of driving... HOWEVER, it was the MOST FUN driving to distant places with my little leaf... AND IT WAS ALL FREE!! And you can catch up on watching movies on your Ipad while you wait... 4) ALWAYS ASK THE DEALER IF THEY HAVE CHADEMO CHARGERS!!

I hope write-up this helps long distance wannabees in the future!!
 
IssacZachary said:
Great comments!
Personally I have this desire to make the Leaf my only vehicle, even though that sounds very impractical. Yet practicality is subject to opinion. If one person might drive an ICEV from coast to coast whereas many would think such a drive is impractical, why can't someone drive from coast to coast in an EV even if everyone else thinks it's impractical? :mrgreen:

In doing a bit of lookin on PlugShare I set the chargers out farther than just 6 miles off course. Also I set the PlugShare rating to 9 and up. I got a couple sections where you'd only have J1772 chargers. So you're looking at a 5 hour drive or more plus 6 or more charging stops. If those are all 30 minutes that comes to 8 hours. But if you add a couple 3 hour charges you'd still make it in 14 hours. That's just a rough assumption. But anyhow, if you do it I suggest hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. If those couple CHAdeMO stations don't work then be prepared to spend the time at a level 2 station. In other words leave early.

On my trip to Denver I plan on spending the night half way in between and charging over level 1. If you have a friend somewhere in the middle maybe you could spend the night at his place and do the same. That way you get two shorter routes.

Haha re: practicality, my first Leaf road trip was practical as it was a move from DC to JAX. The second road trip was for fun although imo it was pretty practical lol. This next one from JAX-MIA is practical cause it's another move!!

Yeah I think I just might do that. Stop overnight on the way (probably Port St Lucie area) and just be prepared to use level 2s a few times.

Thanks!!
 
General How-To plan for a long trip

First figure out how far you can go on a charge. This is a combination of battery health and driving conditions. The easiest way to monitor your battery health is by means of the battery capacity bars just right of the battery state-of-charge meter. But if you want a better idea you can get Leaf Spy and an appropriate OBD2 to bluetooth/Wi-Fi reader.

Driving conditions will really change how far you can go. Things such as speed, altitude change, weather and heater/AC use have a direct effect on range. A great tool for calculating this out are >>TONY WILLIAM'S RANGE CHARTS<<. Google Maps with the Bike selection will tell you changes in altitude. If you aren't good with math you can use >>EV TRIP PLANNER<< With EV Trip Planner the only thing you'll have to figure out is how to compare the kWh's mentioned there with your kWh's available in your car.

Next you have to figure out where the charging stations are at. >>PLUGSHARE<< is a great resource for finding those stations. Don't forget to check out the comments, some stations are problematic. PlugShare also shows where regular 120V and RV type 240V outlets are, which is great if you have a portable EVSE that can handle those. Don't forget to check with friends and family. Even spending the night using a 120V outlet can be a great help. It also allows you to spend time with people you may have been neglecting, so order a pizza and have fun!

Now you have to connect the dots and see if you can make it from station to station. Plan out each leg. Charging to 100% can waste time since the last few percent are the slowest, so if you can make it between charging stations using only 80%, then do so. And don't forget to give yourself a margin of error. I set 20% as my margin. If I can't make it and end up with 20% I chose another route or don't do it. Some feel confortable with 10%.

Another factor to calculate is time. What kind of charging is available. You could drive 60 miles or more each day and then charge all night off of 120V at a hotel. Level 2, aka J1772, will take a few hours. CHAdeMO is usually under 30 minutes for an 80% charge. What you don't want to do is exhaust yourself charging and driving during the night, unless you can get enough sleep for a three hour Level 2 charge. I personally like to charge off of 120V all night and get my beauty sleep. :lol:

What if you can't make it on a particular leg? Maybe you could try a an alternative route. Or try seeing if you can drive slower and then recalculate. On some stretches you can get there going 35mph on the shoulder with your flashers on. This might be ok every once in a while, but if you have to do it regularly you might consider a different vehicle or get your degraded battery replaced. And what if you still can't make it? Then your only choices may be to carry a generator, build some sort of range extender, get towed or give up going in your Leaf.

Well, best wishes on your next adventure!
 
I don't if you would call what we do a tip or trick for longer range travel. We just set the cruise to whatever the speed limit is. But I think this is the key. Here in BC the speed limits are low. 80 90 or occasionally 100 km/h. At these speeds a trip in these parts almost always guarantees range of greater than 200 km even with the AC set at 24. Our GOM always under estimates our range. When we start with the AC on we usually see 194 or so on the GOM. But buy the time we are half way through the battery we usually have 105 or more left on the GOM. This is on a fairly routine run between Vernon and Revelstoke. We have good DCFC coverage in this area so it's not much of a concern anyway. But for us it just comes down to speed. A good portion of that trip is 80 km/h with the rest ar 90 and 100. Overall our range is higher than what we expected when we bought the car and definetly higher than the EPA rating.
 
webeleafowners said:
I don't if you would call what we do a tip or trick for longer range travel. We just set the cruise to whatever the speed limit is. But I think this is the key. Here in BC the speed limits are low. 80 90 or occasionally 100 km/h. At these speeds a trip in these parts almost always guarantees range of greater than 200 km even with the AC set at 24. Our GOM always under estimates our range. When we start with the AC on we usually see 194 or so on the GOM. But buy the time we are half way through the battery we usually have 105 or more left on the GOM. This is on a fairly routine run between Vernon and Revelstoke. We have good DCFC coverage in this area so it's not much of a concern anyway. But for us it just comes down to speed. A good portion of that trip is 80 km/h with the rest ar 90 and 100. Overall our range is higher than what we expected when we bought the car and definetly higher than the EPA rating.
In other words, don't rely on the GOM. It can indicate much more or much less than your actual range.
 
IssacZachary said:
webeleafowners said:
I don't if you would call what we do a tip or trick for longer range travel. We just set the cruise to whatever the speed limit is. But I think this is the key. Here in BC the speed limits are low. 80 90 or occasionally 100 km/h. At these speeds a trip in these parts almost always guarantees range of greater than 200 km even with the AC set at 24. Our GOM always under estimates our range. When we start with the AC on we usually see 194 or so on the GOM. But buy the time we are half way through the battery we usually have 105 or more left on the GOM. This is on a fairly routine run between Vernon and Revelstoke. We have good DCFC coverage in this area so it's not much of a concern anyway. But for us it just comes down to speed. A good portion of that trip is 80 km/h with the rest ar 90 and 100. Overall our range is higher than what we expected when we bought the car and definetly higher than the EPA rating.
In other words, don't rely on the GOM. It can indicate much more or much less than your actual range.

Yah I suppose you could sum it up that way. It seems to be 5 percent either side of reality which really isn't that bad. In our situation and at the speeds we travel on our regular route it always seems to slightly underestimate. But from what I can see that is probably because our speed limits on the routes we commonly travel are lower than maybe what the average north American route is.
 
webeleafowners said:
Yah I suppose you could sum it up that way. It seems to be 5 percent either side of reality which really isn't that bad. In our situation and at the speeds we travel on our regular route it always seems to slightly underestimate. But from what I can see that is probably because our speed limits on the routes we commonly travel are lower than maybe what the average north American route is.
Living here in the mountains means the GOM is practically useless. I got this reading after coming down Cerro Summit at 65mph. On the way back I did mostly 35mph and only got 65miles with around 10% left. I other words the GOM showed about double what it should. And every time I set the GPS on the Leaf it always says I probably won't make it on the first hill climb showing as los as 30miles when I still have nearly 50miles left.

WP_20170319_10_56_26_Pro_zpsttjbd2od.jpg
 
IssacZachary said:
Great comments!
Personally I have this desire to make the Leaf my only vehicle, even though that sounds very impractical. Yet practicality is subject to opinion. If one person might drive an ICEV from coast to coast whereas many would think such a drive is impractical, why can't someone drive from coast to coast in an EV even if everyone else thinks it's impractical?

There are a large number of people who have no personal powered vehicle and make do with public transit, rental cars, a bicycle, friends, and what have you. Surely having only an EV gives you much more flexibility than that.

And people have driven an EV from coast to coast. More a demonstration than a practical way to cross the country, but definitely doable.

http://ridethefuturetour.com/
 
With my 2011 Leaf SL, I drove an average close to 11,000 miles/yr. Most work days typically driving 30-45 miles a day. Sometime driving my son to school, then heading to work. Sometimes shopping on the way home.

Thought about driving to Los Angeles from home in National City (Southern San Diego area), but didn't have a strong reason to go, and in the early years the quick charging infrastructure was not that extensive.

I did take one longer trip that was about 50+ miles one way up north of Escondido and into Valley Center hills for an organic farm event. I was testing some newly installed D.C. QCs along I-15, not necessarily charging up all the way, but just getting a quick booster charge. I made it to the farm, but had misjudged/didn't properly think about the drain on the battery from the hills. Wasn't sure I would have enough to drive back to the Escondido DC QC. Luckily there were some easily accessible 120 V socket and they let me plugging an hour or two during the event, which was enough to eliminate the concern for the trip leg back to the D.C. QC station..

With my recently purchased 2017 SV, I took my first "long" trip totaling 344 miles. From National City (Southern San Diego) to Riverside for a 3-day Convention, then to Sherman Oaks (toward east Los Angeles) for an event, then back to San Diego after stopping by some relatives. I had a longer range EV with 107 miles (and much quicker to charge up to 85%). A much more extensive D.C. QC infrastructure than years before and the excellent PlugShare App to research each charging station in advance. Was a little conservative on the first leg to Riverside ( driving slowly and probably stopping and charging a little more frequently than needed.). Then stretching the range with less stops on the second leg. The final leg back to San Diego was okay, but headed home a little later than planned and when it got dark was a little harder to find some of the charging stations and one shopping mall actually closed the entrance gate (it was late Sunday night), but did get a charge at the next stop and made it home around 11pm. All in all a good learning trip experience.
 
I just made it back from Montrose. About 65 miles with about 6,000ft total climb and about 4,000ft fall and lots of wind. I made it back home with 10%. Last week I did it and got back with 18%, but I think the wind really makes it difficult.
 
EV Trip Reports Posted to MyNissanLeaf.com by Paul Gipe

Below is a short summary of the EV Trip Reports I’ve posted to MyNissanLeaf.com. They can also be found on my web site www.wind-works.org under EV Trip Reports. There’s more commentary both on my web site and on MyNissanLeaf.com about driving and living with an EV, but these are the main trip reports. There may be a few on my web site that were never posted to the forum.

EV Trip Report: Tehachapi Revisited
by paulgipe » Tue Jun 09, 2015 11:08 am » in Pacific USA

I-5 Over the Tejon Pass with EV Express DC Fast Chargers
by paulgipe » Mon Sep 19, 2016 3:17 pm » in Pacific USA

Bakersfield to Grover Beach Using Only DCFC
by paulgipe » Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:45 pm » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Palm Springs
by paulgipe » Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:17 pm » in Pacific USA

Stats on a Star-Crossed Trip: Bakersfield to LAX & Return
by paulgipe » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:14 am » in Pacific USA

Star-Crossed Trip: Bakersfield to LAX & Return
by paulgipe » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:10 am » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Ridgecrest via Mountain Mesa
by paulgipe » Wed Jun 17, 2015 11:04 am » in Pacific USA

Bakersfield to Ridgecrest: Anyone Done It?
by paulgipe » Fri May 15, 2015 3:16 pm » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Los Angeles & Return
by paulgipe » Wed May 27, 2015 4:25 pm » in Pacific USA

Trip Report: Bakersfield to Tehachapi, California
by paulgipe » Mon Feb 23, 2015 11:31 am » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Kernville
by paulgipe » Wed May 13, 2015 12:58 pm » in Pacific USA

500 Miles in an EV—Some Observations
by paulgipe » Tue Mar 17, 2015 3:07 pm » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Grover Beach and SLO--550 mi.
by paulgipe » Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:21 am » in Pacific USA

EV Trip Report: Bakersfield to Lebec and the Grapevine
by paulgipe » Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:20 am » in Pacific USA

I hope this is helpful. In short they describe the fun but also the difficulty of driving a limited range EV in California's Central Valley.

Paul Gipe
 
Yesterday, I drove from Seaside, Oregon to Bandon, Oregon down Highway 101 on the Oregon coast in my 2016 Leaf (with 30 kWh battery). Total distance was 240+ miles in about 7 hours, 30 min.

Here are my observations.

1. Make a list of charging stations, their address, and distance between stations before you start. This really helps when deciding whether to stop at a station or now (you can glance at the list and see the next charging station is only 39 miles so you can "go for it".
2. Check each station in Plugshare before the journey to weed out any that are known not to work.
3. Have a backup plan in case you get stuck somewhere with a broken charger and not enough charge to get to the next charger.
4. Route the car Navigation to the business if you can rather than the address because it can be confusing to find the charger. I use my phone to run Leaf Spy Pro so I don't use it for Google Maps which probably does a better job of Nav than the car.
5. It is nice to know which stations have an available bathroom nearby and if food is available. In my case the Fred Meyers locations had both and the Newport station has a nice public restroom in the same lot.

Note: I only planned on using CHAdeMO fast chargers and because I have a NCTC card, all my charging was free.

I only saw one other EV on the trip and it was a Leaf stopping at the Coos Bay charger just as I was leaving. I had no waiting at the chargers and the rate the 30 kWh pack accepts charge is outstanding. I tried to stop charging between 80 and 90% to minimize battery heating and did keep the battery out of the red although I did see a high of 118 degree F when I let it charge to 93% (got distracted in the Casino). The cool weather (62 degrees F) on the coast, quickly cooled the battery down despite my driving. Based on the range I have (>100 miles), my strategy was to hit every other charger while keeping the battery between 20 and 80 %. It worked well.

In all it was an uneventful, pleasant drive and shows it is possible to go on trips today without huge effort or huge battery packs.
 
webfootguy said:
Yesterday, I drove from Seaside, Oregon to Bandon, Oregon down Highway 101 on the Oregon coast in my 2016 Leaf (with 30 kWh battery). Total distance was 240+ miles in about 7 hours, 30 min.

Here are my observations.

1. Make a list of charging stations, their address, and distance between stations before you start. This really helps when deciding whether to stop at a station or now (you can glance at the list and see the next charging station is only 39 miles so you can "go for it".
2. Check each station in Plugshare before the journey to weed out any that are known not to work.
3. Have a backup plan in case you get stuck somewhere with a broken charger and not enough charge to get to the next charger.
4. Route the car Navigation to the business if you can rather than the address because it can be confusing to find the charger. I use my phone to run Leaf Spy Pro so I don't use it for Google Maps which probably does a better job of Nav than the car.
5. It is nice to know which stations have an available bathroom nearby and if food is available. In my case the Fred Meyers locations had both and the Newport station has a nice public restroom in the same lot.

Note: I only planned on using CHAdeMO fast chargers and because I have a NCTC card, all my charging was free.

I only saw one other EV on the trip and it was a Leaf stopping at the Coos Bay charger just as I was leaving. I had no waiting at the chargers and the rate the 30 kWh pack accepts charge is outstanding. I tried to stop charging between 80 and 90% to minimize battery heating and did keep the battery out of the red although I did see a high of 118 degree F when I let it charge to 93% (got distracted in the Casino). The cool weather (62 degrees F) on the coast, quickly cooled the battery down despite my driving. Based on the range I have (>100 miles), my strategy was to hit every other charger while keeping the battery between 20 and 80 %. It worked well.

In all it was an uneventful, pleasant drive and shows it is possible to go on trips today without huge effort or huge battery packs.
Was 7:30 your minimum en-route time (driving + charging) or your total time, including all stop time unrelated to the above? 240 miles / 7.5 hours is an average speed of advance of 32 mph, which most people who just wanted to drive to get to their destination as quickly as possible would consider onerous. Hwy 1 is often driven more leisurely owing to its scenic qualities, so that doesn't necessarily apply here.
 
That was wall time. This is an interesting aspect of EV driving. Highway 101 is littered by curves and towns with 25 to 45 speed limits and stretches of 55 mph speed limits. Ideal for EV driving. I averaged 4.8 miles per kWh for the whole trip (and entire stretches of 5.2 m/kWh). If I had taken a high speed highway (65 to 70 mph), my time would be less but I would have had to charge more.
 
webfootguy said:
In all it was an uneventful, pleasant drive and shows it is possible to go on trips today without huge effort or huge battery packs.
This is what happens with a series of well-placed DCQCs. I've done this drive as well and the WA-OR AV network is very well done, especially considering that it was put in place in 6-7 years ago.
 
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