After Over 5K Miles My Wife Had A Range Anxiety Episode

[Volusiano]

I know in this case it was a Nissan Dealership employee plugging the car in, but I would have personally walked over to where ever they had it plugged in and checked that the charge indicators were flashing.

My understanding is that they had to take the car to the back of the service area to use the charge station there, and that area is off limit to customer.

 

[Leafittome]

I know in this case it was a Nissan Dealership employee plugging the car in, but I would have personally walked over to where ever they had it plugged in and checked that the charge indicators were flashing.

My understanding is that they had to take the car to the back of the service area to use the charge station there, and that area is off limit to customer.

That's correct, they wouldn't allow my wife to enter the service bay area. She doesn't currently have an iPhone, so that has to be addressed promptly.

 

[planet4ever]

Yesterday my wife deviated beyond her normal route/range and found herself on the other side of the SF Bay with only two white bars remaining.
<snip>
45 minutes later, the car hadn't been charged, although plugged in, car was left on the whole time, she lost another bar(was down to two red bars when she arrived).

There are no red bars on the Available Charge Gauge, only blue and white bars. The red bars you are seeing apply only to the Battery Capacity gauge. You need to reassure yourself and your wife that all twelve Available Charge bars are safe and normal to use. There is quite a bit of reserve remaining after all 12 bars have disappeared. The car will warn you when the battery is low, and you still have 15-20 miles you can go after that, if you drive prudently. With two bars showing before power down and one after powering back up, she probably had 5-10 miles yet before even getting the low battery warning.

Was she really more than 25 miles from home before she detoured to the Nissan dealer? If not, she wouldn't have needed to stop at all.

Ray

 

[smkettner]

+1 planet4ever, especially considering the clowns at the dealer did not even know how to charge the vehicle and wasted another 45 minutes. May as well drive until it quits and call for a tow. Then at least she would have been home. May as well use the included service.

 

[Leafittome]

Yesterday my wife deviated beyond her normal route/range and found herself on the other side of the SF Bay with only two white bars remaining.
<snip>
45 minutes later, the car hadn't been charged, although plugged in, car was left on the whole time, she lost another bar(was down to two red bars when she arrived).

There are no red bars on the Available Charge Gauge, only blue and white bars. The red bars you are seeing apply only to the Battery Capacity gauge. You need to reassure yourself and your wife that all twelve Available Charge bars are safe and normal to use. There is quite a bit of reserve remaining after all 12 bars have disappeared. The car will warn you when the battery is low, and you still have 15-20 miles you can go after that, if you drive prudently. With two bars showing before power down and one after powering back up, she probably had 5-10 miles yet before even getting the low battery warning.

Was she really more than 25 miles from home before she detoured to the Nissan dealer? If not, she wouldn't have needed to stop at all.

Ray

No, she was no more than 25 miles out and the dealer is 6 miles away. I told her she could make it home, but if it made feel better, I would call the dealer to setup a charging appointment. We've never explored the depths of a charge, never heard any warnings or seen any low battery warnings.

Maybe I need to really run the battery down and show her how far she can still go to reassure her. The dealer 30-minute charge idea was to make her feel better, but it had the opposite result.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Maybe I need to really run the battery down and show her how far she can still go to reassure her. The dealer 30-minute charge idea was to make her feel better, but it had the opposite result.

Good idea. You might also print out a copy of this range chart and show her how the car's performance matches the printed data.

Great confidence builder, enhances the utility of the car, and eliminates useless visits to the car dealer.

 

[davewill]

... She doesn't currently have an iPhone, so that has to be addressed promptly.

There's also an Android app, plus the mobile web site works pretty well. Blackberry is the only platform I've heard problems about on here.

 

[fooljoe]

... She doesn't currently have an iPhone, so that has to be addressed promptly.

There's also an Android app, plus the mobile web site works pretty well. Blackberry is the only platform I've heard problems about on here.

And now there's also haykinson's text service, Autoflugel.

 

[LindaK]

...... I easily get 100 miles from 80% charges.

Wow...really? Do you not use freeways at all? Lucky you!

 

[LEAFfan]

I easily get 100 miles from 80% charges.

Wow...really? Do you not use freeways at all? Lucky you!

Yes Linda, it's amazing that I can go anywhere in the Phoenix area without using the freeways, and I've only used the freeway/Interstate/HOV twice since I've had the car. I love the frontage roads that parallel the freeways (speed limit 45). Since I've stopped using A/C now this month (my wife had to have it), my ave. is 6.2m/kW h so far. I only charge to 100% now once a month to balance the cells.

 

[thankyouOB]

i think it is an entirely bad idea to have the car's regular driver not in charge of the charging modality.
she ia using it, she should be responsible. this babying of someone for whatever reason -- sexist or not, techno averse or not -- cannot have a good outcome.
the driver should take responsibility for working the vehicle, understanding range and speed as it relates to battery-consuumption issues.
It is commendable that you"helped" by calling the dealer, but shouldnt your wife have taken charge once there to see that things were done right?

 

[Caracalover]

Maybe I need to really run the battery down and show her how far she can still go to reassure her. The dealer 30-minute charge idea was to make her feel better, but it had the opposite result.

No maybe about it - do this now and get it to the low battery warning, just so she understands she will never be stranded. This is the hardest car to be stranded by, if you know how it works. Going downhill increases the charge, so in most places you can simply go the other way and use the elevation loss to get you to a charge. Unlike a gas engine - when you are out you are out - thie Leaf gives you a turtle mode to limp for some distance long before you will be dead. If you have enough downhill, you can gain bars - I love to see this happen.