Leafs in New Mexico

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solartarzan

New member
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
4
Any fellow Leaf Owners in New Mexico?

_____________________
Jim MacFarlane
Albuquerque
2012 Nissan Leaf SL
Delivered 6/4/12
Melloy Nissan
 
Welcome! I'd be happy with a few more public charging stations in the Albuquerque metro.
I would love to see the casinos (Hollywood, Sandia, Isleta, and Route 66) install a station. They would come in handy for those trips to Santa Fe, West, and South.
 
Thanks! Were you the blue one that I saw on the road yesterday?

I second putting them at the casinos - I don't mind spending some time there. :)
 
Just bought a 2011 Leaf from M&F Auto. Let me know if y'all want to meet up at some point for a coffee or adult beverage.
 
Check plugshare. It's saying 4 Chademo chargers are going to be installed throughout the city. Pretty exciting if going to be true.
 
I saw! I was pretty excited about it.

I'm hoping they're free/easy to use. I guess a company called GreenLots is putting them in - I couldn't find out much about them other than that they help companies/cities expand their charging infrastructure.
 
1 more in NM. I just purchased a 2016 S from Melloy last weekend. I drive from East Mountains to downtown daily - 53 miles. First 2 days have been a success. I can charge up enough at work during the day to make it home, and then it's a free ride back downhill the following morning.

I also used the greenlots charger at Dave and Buster's over the weekend. 20 minutes for a full charge (well an 80% charge anyway....). Worked great. I saw a red leaf circling around waiting for me to leave, though, made me feel a little weird!
 
I bought a used 2011 Nissan Leaf yesterday but the wife already wants to give it back due to her range anxiety. After getting up to 80 percent capacity at Dave and busters charger, the ride home to Tijeras (uphill 20 miles on south 14) scared her. We didn't use the Ac due to anxiety but made it home with 4 miles to spare. I know part of the issue is I only have 9 cells left. Anyone else have a hard time driving up the mountain on less than full charge? I want to give the car a chance and just get good at hypermiling but unless I can get a new battery from Nissan (I'm still under warranty) than this problem may only get worse. Any suggestions?
 
The slower you drive uphill, the better. Go as slowly as conditions permit, down to 15MPH anyway. Where you have to go faster, accelerate even more gently than on level ground. On level ground, try to limit your speed to 45-50MPH, and wherever you can safely go slower, do so. Speed kills range, as does accelerating hard, especially uphill. Remember that slowing down actually gets you home faster than stopping to recharge after going faster. Don't worry about accessories like the lights, radio or blower, though, just the A/C and heater.
 
Also forget looking at the GOM(guess-o-meter). Being a '11 it will lack the SOC(state of charge) % gauge, much better to get a $15 OBDII adapter(Amazon or Ebay are great places to purchase) and with LeafSpy(either the free version or for $15 you get a much more deluxe version) from your phone App store(personally I'd suggest not Amazon for the app unless you don't mine also having to have Amazon on your phone and being constantly logged onto it).
The GOM is extremely pessimistic about range, the SOC(or one of the many other displays) in Leafspy gives you a much better idea of the state of the battery, it's the best $15-30 you can spend for your Leaf. And as Leftie Biker said, the only real usage to worry about is the actual motor and heater, the A/C just a tad and other things like lights, radio, charging your cell phone, basically nothing in the scheme of things :)
 
Danielwbryant said:
I bought a used 2011 Nissan Leaf yesterday but the wife already wants to give it back due to her range anxiety. After getting up to 80 percent capacity at Dave and busters charger, the ride home to Tijeras (uphill 20 miles on south 14) scared her. We didn't use the Ac due to anxiety but made it home with 4 miles to spare. I know part of the issue is I only have 9 cells left. Anyone else have a hard time driving up the mountain on less than full charge? I want to give the car a chance and just get good at hypermiling but unless I can get a new battery from Nissan (I'm still under warranty) than this problem may only get worse. Any suggestions?

If you had 4 miles left on the DTE (Distance To Empty is what Nissan calls it--we call it the Guess-O-Meter) or GOM display on the dash, you probably had a little more than that. The DTE starts flashing when you get the first low battery warning and changes to --- (3 dashes) when you get very low battery warning (usually at about 3 miles on DTE with 2011).

Check the original in service date for warranty coverage--powertrain and battery capacity are covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. The 8-year, 100,000 mile battery warranty only covers defects and not gradual capacity loss.

Edited to add: Since you charged at a DCQC, the car may not have been at 80% SOC (state of charge). If the charger indicated 80%, the car may have been closer to 60% charged. My 2011 always stopped charging at a lower SOC than indicated by the DCQC display (usually about 20% less! although it depended upon how low the battery was when starting the quick charge). This is a known issue for 2011 and 2012 Leafs.

Gerry
 
FYI... I emailed PNM earlier this week asking if any more DC fast chargers were planned in the PNM area. They replied this afternoon two were planned "within a couple of months"! One will be placed between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the other within Santa Fe itself.

I'm quite excited about the one between Albuquerque and Santa Fe! Can anyone say road trip with no worries! The email asked where I'd recommend placing it. I suggested here https://goo.gl/maps/RzSPUEQk4422

I think this is the perfect spot because it allows easy access to Cochiti Lake, optimizes the time for charging at the gas station which would host it (captive audiance for at least 20 minutes to buy something), and provides more than enough charge to get up the final hill at highway speeds to cruise into Santa Fe.

As an alternative location I suggested San Felipe Casino, but I don't think that'd be quite as useful since most Leaf probably wouldn't have drained their batteries down enough by then to make the time worth it to the casino.

Anyway I'm excited. I think with the addition of this fast charger, it's now possible to make it all the way to Los Alamos, charge there, and come back within a days drive.

What do you think?

Tim
 
I'll add my Silver 2012 to the Albuquerque owners list. Bought mine a year ago this November from the Mannheim auction in Los Angeles. I have a friend here who is a dealer and I worked with him. It was a lease return. Bought it with 10 bars and within about 4 months it lost another so I am down to 9 bars. I expect to loose the 9th bar before I reach the end of the battery warranty so I should be able to score a 'Lizard' battery gratis from Nissan.
I'd be interested in getting together over coffee or other beverages to talk LEAF. Has anyone done any upgrades or hacks?

Ed K
 
Concerning chargers. There was an article in the Journal this week

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge approved the largest auto-scandal settlement in U.S. history Tuesday, giving nearly half a million Volkswagen owners the choice between selling their cars back or having them repaired so they don’t cheat on emissions tests and spew excess pollution.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said the nearly $15 billion deal “adequately and fairly” compensates consumers and gets the polluting vehicles off the road as soon as possible.

New Mexico could get up to nearly $17 million from the settlement, the state Attorney General’s Office confirmed Tuesday. The state’s share would come from $2.7 billion in the settlement for unspecified environmental mitigation and $2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles.

The environmental mitigation fund is set aside for states to invest in clean air measures intended to reduce damage to air quality caused by vehicles and machinery, the AG’s Office said. The EPA has provided suggestions on possible uses, but the state has not yet determined how it would spend the money.

The State of New Mexico still has a separate action pending against Volkswagen.

Volkswagen acknowledged last year that about 475,000 Volkswagens and Audis with 2-liter, four-cylinder diesel engines were programmed to cheat on emissions tests. >>>>>>>

MAybe we'll get charging stations out of this!
 
Hi all. I do not own a Leaf yet. While I know it would suffice during my daily commute, what about frequent weekend trips from Albuquerque to Santa Fe? Has anyone taken the trip between the two cities in either direction? Thanks for any stories or feedback!
 
lylebeck said:
Hi all. I do not own a Leaf yet. While I know it would suffice during my daily commute, what about frequent weekend trips from Albuquerque to Santa Fe? Has anyone taken the trip between the two cities in either direction? Thanks for any stories or feedback!

You're covered. There's a DC fast charger at the Phillips 66 gas station near Budaghers. A 20 minute charge there would more than adequately get you up the hill into Santa Fe at highway speeds. Coming back, I'd really be surprised if you had to charge, considering the almost 2,500 elevation foot drop.

I commuted from Montono and Unser to base and back every day, and hardly ever needed to charge. So if you're still waiting, I'd say pull the trigger. Excellent commuter car.
 
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