That's good to read. The best adventures usually happen to people who are mostly prepared for them.
Best route to get my LEAF home?
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Firetruck41
Well-known member
Congrats on your new car!
chooze
Member
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dhanson865
Well-known member
Nubo said:
That may be true for some versions of Chademo equipment but when I charged my 2012 SL in Asheville, NC it didn't stop at 80% and it was still charging above L2 speeds even when it hit 90%.
It was a greenlots charger, I'm not sure who makes it or what model it was but it charged me plenty fast.
Congratulations on your successful trip. I am looking forward to reading the final installment of your adventure.
Nubo
Well-known member
Congrats. Most of my driving is local but I always get a kick when taking a longer trip without a drop of gasoline.
chooze
Member
I wanted to give everyone a summary of my trip. I was planning to do this as one post but I appear to be rather long winded(I hope I don’t bore you all but it’s kind of fun documenting our adventure) so I’ll have to break it up into a few post.
My wife and I started off from Peoria at about 5:30 AM to get to St Louis by 9:00 when the dealer opens. It was a rather uneventful drive other than a little rain. We got to the dealer a little before 9:00. The dealer had 3 used 2013 LEAF SLs on the lot, a red one, a silver one, and a dark grey one. We spotted the silver one right as we pulled in, the red one was parked by the office, and right as we got out of the car our sales contact pulled the one we wanted (dark gray) around front. My fall back plan should something not check out with the dark gray one was to check out the others. I pulled up the dealer’s website on my phone to double check some things and discovered the red one was no longer listed. After sitting on the lot for 70+ days they were about to sell two in two days. I guess they can sell pretty quick when they offer a fair deal (they previously had been well over priced).
We introduced ourselves to our salesman and inspected the car. The first thing I did was check the state of the battery. I plugged in the OBDII adapter, fired up leaf spy, and was relieved to find it had SOH of 94% (I was hoping it would have over 95% but 94% was close enough). After inspecting it we took it for a quick test drive. I had to be pretty easy on it since I wanted to conserve as much of the charge as possible. At one point an alarm started going off, which was kind of funny since we couldn’t figure out what it was. Luckily my wife noticed that it was coming from my phone in the cupholder and not the car. LeafSpy was still running and had detected low tire pressure. Everything else checked out so we headed back to the dealer to finalize things. I asked the dealer to fill the tires and place it back on the charger while we worked on the paper work.
We had a pleasant surprise when he pulled out the EVSE as it distinctly had a pigtail adapter to a standard plug indicating that it was actually one that had been upgraded by evseupgrade. I had already gotten lucky with my garage as there is a 240V 30 amp outlet right in front of the cars (originally for some sort of shop equipment). A week ago I had replaced the old proprietary connector with an L6-30R in preparation for whatever home charging solution I decided to get. So for just the cost of that receptacle I now have L2 charging at home.
The paper work was rather routine since we had no trade in and we were paying cash. There was some waiting for the back office (apparently someone was on vacation that day) but everything was wrapped up by about 10:30 and the car was back to a full charge. I headed off to our first charging location in the leaf and my wife headed to a gas station to fill up our other car (gas was only $1.87/gal in St Louis, probably one of the reasons they were having issues selling the LEAFs) and then headed to the charging station as well.
Summary:
- Made it to dealer by open at 9:00AM
- 2013 SL w/ Premium - dark gray
- Car checked out 94% SOH
- Lucked out, car had EVSEUpgrade cable, already have 240V in garage
- On the road by 10:30
My wife and I started off from Peoria at about 5:30 AM to get to St Louis by 9:00 when the dealer opens. It was a rather uneventful drive other than a little rain. We got to the dealer a little before 9:00. The dealer had 3 used 2013 LEAF SLs on the lot, a red one, a silver one, and a dark grey one. We spotted the silver one right as we pulled in, the red one was parked by the office, and right as we got out of the car our sales contact pulled the one we wanted (dark gray) around front. My fall back plan should something not check out with the dark gray one was to check out the others. I pulled up the dealer’s website on my phone to double check some things and discovered the red one was no longer listed. After sitting on the lot for 70+ days they were about to sell two in two days. I guess they can sell pretty quick when they offer a fair deal (they previously had been well over priced).
We introduced ourselves to our salesman and inspected the car. The first thing I did was check the state of the battery. I plugged in the OBDII adapter, fired up leaf spy, and was relieved to find it had SOH of 94% (I was hoping it would have over 95% but 94% was close enough). After inspecting it we took it for a quick test drive. I had to be pretty easy on it since I wanted to conserve as much of the charge as possible. At one point an alarm started going off, which was kind of funny since we couldn’t figure out what it was. Luckily my wife noticed that it was coming from my phone in the cupholder and not the car. LeafSpy was still running and had detected low tire pressure. Everything else checked out so we headed back to the dealer to finalize things. I asked the dealer to fill the tires and place it back on the charger while we worked on the paper work.
We had a pleasant surprise when he pulled out the EVSE as it distinctly had a pigtail adapter to a standard plug indicating that it was actually one that had been upgraded by evseupgrade. I had already gotten lucky with my garage as there is a 240V 30 amp outlet right in front of the cars (originally for some sort of shop equipment). A week ago I had replaced the old proprietary connector with an L6-30R in preparation for whatever home charging solution I decided to get. So for just the cost of that receptacle I now have L2 charging at home.
The paper work was rather routine since we had no trade in and we were paying cash. There was some waiting for the back office (apparently someone was on vacation that day) but everything was wrapped up by about 10:30 and the car was back to a full charge. I headed off to our first charging location in the leaf and my wife headed to a gas station to fill up our other car (gas was only $1.87/gal in St Louis, probably one of the reasons they were having issues selling the LEAFs) and then headed to the charging station as well.
Summary:
- Made it to dealer by open at 9:00AM
- 2013 SL w/ Premium - dark gray
- Car checked out 94% SOH
- Lucked out, car had EVSEUpgrade cable, already have 240V in garage
- On the road by 10:30
chooze
Member
There are only a few bridges across the Mississippi which meant I had to get on the interstate. I was trying to take to heart speedski97’s comment that “slower is faster” but there is only so much you can do safely on an interstate. I drove about 5 under the 60 mph speed limit. I did have an exciting moment where a semi tried to merge on top of me and I had to floor it to get out of the way. My reaction time was a little slower than normal as I was hesitant to burn the battery but then my better judgement took over and the leaf handled great. Once across the river I got on the back roads that I’d be traveling most of the rest of the day. As I mentioned before, all but the last leg of the trip would be on historic route 66. The first charging station was an L3 in Edwardsville, IL. I was using my phone to route me and everything was looking good, plugshare even notified me that a station was near by, and then Apple maps routed me into the middle of an old residential neighborhood with no charging station in sight. I tried Google maps and it had the correct location. Thankfully, I had only gone about 3 minutes out of the way.
The parking lot had a reserved for EV spot next to the EVSE and I pulled right in. The charging station was by City Hall and as I was getting out of the car one of the employees was leaving for lunch and stopped to talk. He mentioned he had never seen anyone use the charging station before and we had a pleasant conversation before he headed off. I called my wife and caught her just in time to tell her about the routing error. Not 15 seconds after we connected her car came into view and she was able to avoid the wrong turns.
The station was on the Greenlots network and I had downloaded the app and entered my credit car information the night before. A quick scan of the QR code was all it took for the app to bring up the station’s information and get started. However, I ran into a bit of a problem. The station has both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo options. They are in locked compartments that unlock when you pay through the app. The app gave me the option to select receptacle 1 or 2. However, the physical station has them labeled by name not number so there is no way to know which one is which. The CHAdeMO was on the right so I figured that would be number 2. I was wrong and the SAE side unlocked. I put it back away and tried again but it said the station was busy. I waited a few minutes, tried again, and it unlocked this time. I have since posted on PlugShare to let others know which is which. I took the cable out and discovered it was too short to reach the front of the car. This is an angled spot on the end of a row with the station by the back left. I might have been able to back out a bit but I didn’t want to stick into the aisle so I maneuvered the car around and backed in (rather crookedly). I then tried to start the charge and the station gave me an error. I figured it had timed out so I put it back. Waited some more and tried again. Still no luck as it gave both the same error as before and a new one about network connection. So I called the support number. The person picked right up and was very friendly. She thought there might be something wrong with my account so had me give her the information. At first she could not find me but that just turned out to be a side effect of trying to spell my user name over a cell phone in a windy parking lot. Everything looked in order with my account so she had me check some things on the station. It turned out the e-stop had been activated. She walked me through resetting it (pull and twist) and asked me to give it a try. This time everything worked and the first charge of our trip was underway.
My wife and I had the picnic lunch we had brought with us and used the time to get carwings set up. This required a call to Nissan and I had to e-mail them a picture of the purchase order to prove that I was the new owner. This all went pretty smoothly and in 15 minutes or so was all set up. I didn’t write down the exact numbers but I think the car charge was in the low 70% when I arrived and it quickly charged back to 80% and beyond. In a shorter time than I would have expected we heard the fans go off in the station and the charge stopped. The car was only at 94%. This was before the longest leg of the trip so I tried to start the charge again. It would not charge anymore. This was exactly what Nubo warned about (although I did not see his/her comment until afterward) While planning I had researched to see if L3s would charge past 80% and what I found indicated that on a 2013 they would charge to 100%. That turned out to not be true, at least with this charging station. I pulled the GID information and Tony William's chart estimated that we should just make it.
So far our first couple hours as EV owners had been a little tough but it was definitely an adventure.
Summary:
- First charging spot in Edwardsville, IL
- Had to take interstate across the Mississippi river
- Apple Maps routed wrong
- Friendly person asked about electric cars
- Carwings transfer into my name
- All sorts of issues with charging
The parking lot had a reserved for EV spot next to the EVSE and I pulled right in. The charging station was by City Hall and as I was getting out of the car one of the employees was leaving for lunch and stopped to talk. He mentioned he had never seen anyone use the charging station before and we had a pleasant conversation before he headed off. I called my wife and caught her just in time to tell her about the routing error. Not 15 seconds after we connected her car came into view and she was able to avoid the wrong turns.
The station was on the Greenlots network and I had downloaded the app and entered my credit car information the night before. A quick scan of the QR code was all it took for the app to bring up the station’s information and get started. However, I ran into a bit of a problem. The station has both CHAdeMO and SAE Combo options. They are in locked compartments that unlock when you pay through the app. The app gave me the option to select receptacle 1 or 2. However, the physical station has them labeled by name not number so there is no way to know which one is which. The CHAdeMO was on the right so I figured that would be number 2. I was wrong and the SAE side unlocked. I put it back away and tried again but it said the station was busy. I waited a few minutes, tried again, and it unlocked this time. I have since posted on PlugShare to let others know which is which. I took the cable out and discovered it was too short to reach the front of the car. This is an angled spot on the end of a row with the station by the back left. I might have been able to back out a bit but I didn’t want to stick into the aisle so I maneuvered the car around and backed in (rather crookedly). I then tried to start the charge and the station gave me an error. I figured it had timed out so I put it back. Waited some more and tried again. Still no luck as it gave both the same error as before and a new one about network connection. So I called the support number. The person picked right up and was very friendly. She thought there might be something wrong with my account so had me give her the information. At first she could not find me but that just turned out to be a side effect of trying to spell my user name over a cell phone in a windy parking lot. Everything looked in order with my account so she had me check some things on the station. It turned out the e-stop had been activated. She walked me through resetting it (pull and twist) and asked me to give it a try. This time everything worked and the first charge of our trip was underway.
My wife and I had the picnic lunch we had brought with us and used the time to get carwings set up. This required a call to Nissan and I had to e-mail them a picture of the purchase order to prove that I was the new owner. This all went pretty smoothly and in 15 minutes or so was all set up. I didn’t write down the exact numbers but I think the car charge was in the low 70% when I arrived and it quickly charged back to 80% and beyond. In a shorter time than I would have expected we heard the fans go off in the station and the charge stopped. The car was only at 94%. This was before the longest leg of the trip so I tried to start the charge again. It would not charge anymore. This was exactly what Nubo warned about (although I did not see his/her comment until afterward) While planning I had researched to see if L3s would charge past 80% and what I found indicated that on a 2013 they would charge to 100%. That turned out to not be true, at least with this charging station. I pulled the GID information and Tony William's chart estimated that we should just make it.
So far our first couple hours as EV owners had been a little tough but it was definitely an adventure.
Summary:
- First charging spot in Edwardsville, IL
- Had to take interstate across the Mississippi river
- Apple Maps routed wrong
- Friendly person asked about electric cars
- Carwings transfer into my name
- All sorts of issues with charging
- - Cables not labeled
- Error codes
- Tripped e-stop
- Cable not long enough
- Had to call support
- Charge stopped at 94%
dhanson865
Well-known member
chooze said:
I think you'll find that when you charge at home with the L2 on your 30A socket it'll stop around 94% for full as well.
On my 2012 SL I've never seen more than 93% no matter if I charged on L1, L2, or Chademo no matter how many times I've tried charger overides or telling it to charge again or just leaving it plugged in overnight with no timers or correct timers set.
Firetruck41
Well-known member
I have charged to 100% several times on level 2 chargers in the past month I have owned the car, and 90% and 98% with chademo quick chargers, both times they were still charging and I voluntarily terminated the charge. I charge to 100% pretty much every night on my level 1 charger. (I am talking about indicated percent on dash ”gauges”)
cwerdna
Well-known member
CHAdeMO stations can be configured to stop at 80% or not, at least the Nissan-branded can be (https://web.archive.org/web/20150626012204/http://nissanqc.com/). I don't know the full set of settings available.chooze said:
On '13+ Leafs, the car's on-board % SoC display does not stop at 94%. It will go all the way to 100%. (And yes, this differs from the type of % values reported by Leaf Spy.).dhanson865 said:
If the car is in its battery bounce phase (last part of http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=338038#p338038), the display will be at 98% and unplugging at that point will often cause that display to jump to 100%.
TimLee
Well-known member
The confusion is the OP is apparently referring to the LEAF Spy SOC indication.Firetruck41 said:
That is based on maximum voltage the LEAF battery could operate at.
But Nissan doesn't let the LEAF charge that high to help limit capacity degradation.
The 2013 dash SOC # is just the decimal % that correlates with the fuel bars.
It will always read 100% when the LEAF has finished charging to 100%.
TimLee
Well-known member
2011 and 2012 DCQC behaviour is different than 2013 forward.dhanson865 said:
2011 does not charge all the way to 100% fully charged on any DCQC.
It stops just a bit short, often stopping with only eleven fuel bars.
2011 and 2012 only have 3.3 kW on board charger, so DCQC charges faster than L2 until close to the automatic DCQC shutdown.
But even on 2011 or 2012 it is faster to stop the DCQC five to ten minutes before the automatic DCQC shutdown and switch to L2.
For 2013 SL that has 6 kW on board charger that quicker to move to L2 happens much earlier than it does for a LEAF with 3.3 kW on board charger.
Note that for 2011 and 2012 if battery charge is less than 50% when you start DCQC it will automatically stop around 80% and you have to restart DCQC to charge to the maximum it will do with DCQC.
dhanson865
Well-known member
Firetruck41 said:
Understood, I'm talking about leafspy %SOC.
The dash may show a different %SOC than leafspy.
I am enjoying your narrative of your trip. Looking forward to the next episode tomorrow morning.
chooze
Member
The next segment of the trip was from Edwardsville to the Nissan dealer in Springfield. Based on feedback from all of you we had already decided we would stop half way through this 75 mile segment and try to find a 120V outlet to give us a little margin of error and some peace of mind. We decided Carlinville would be the place to do that. This was the first extended portion on back roads and I did what I could to conserve power, driving about 49 mph in a 55 if there were cars behind me and low 40s if there were no cars. It was a little stressful to be causing a bit of a build up behind me. I also had a complete reversal of attitudes toward speed zones in small towns and school zones. They now came as a pleasant way to conserve power rather than an annoyance that slowed me down. I parked on the main square in Carlinville and we started looking for businesses that had out door outlets. We didn’t find anything in the area that had outlets close enough to a parking spot. We were about to head further out of town when we decided to look in the park in the middle of the square. It turns out every single one of the ornate lamp posts has a 120V outlet in it. I called up the information number off the Cities web site and explained the situation to the person that answered. She was extremely kind, courteous, and responsive and did not think they had ever had such a request before. She tried to transfer me to a couple departments that she thought could give me permission but it was Friday afternoon and nobody answered. She took my phone number and promised she would call back with an answer soon. In just a few minutes she called back and said she had spoken with the mayor and I was welcome to use the outlets and just asked that I call back and let her know if it worked. You have to love small towns. We lucked out and right as I was getting ready to move the car a motorcycle pulled out of a spot right next to a lamp post and I was able to file in. I plugged in the EVSE and sure enough a light came on so I plugged in the car. I also used this opportunity to figure out how to lock the plug to the car (not that anyone would steal it in a town like this). I called back to let them know everything was working and we set out to explore the town.
Carlinville is a small little town with a lot of charm and some local attractions like “the million dollar court house”, an old jail, and more Sears house that anywhere else. There was a festival in town that evening so there was lots of extra hustle and bustle. We stopped in a gift shop that had lots of route 66 souvenirs and local information. We spent quite a while talking to the owner. He was very curious about the car and proud to tell us about his town. We got an ice cream from the coffee shop and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the town on a beautiful cool late summer day. When I get a chance I would like to write a thank you letter to the mayor and suggest they formally allow EV charging on the square or maybe even install an L2 charging station. There probably is not much EV traffic but this is on route 66 and is in a location where there are no other stations. It’s also a good way to maybe have some people spend an hour or two in the town.
We stayed as long as we could but wanted to be in Springfield by 4:00 to see Lincoln’s tomb before it closed at 5:00. Again I did not record the exact numbers but the trickle charge gave us between 5 and 10 more miles of range. We headed out and again I did all I could to drive slow without completely frustrating the other drivers. There were a lot more drivers as it was approaching the end of the day. Most had no difficulty passing me but a few refused to do so. I pulled over once to let a long train of cars and a semi pass. Again speed and school zones felt like a blessing. Then I hit a detour, there was construction on a railroad crossing and the road was closed. The detour was 2-3 miles out of the way and I started to worry more about range. Then I hit a big hill and the car gave me a warning and I really started to worry. Both my estimate and the GOM still had me making it alright but it was stressful. Also, adding to the discomfort was that the temperature in the car was getting uncomfortably hot (since I didn’t want to lose range for climate control). In general we had lucked out with the weather, a week ago it was in the 90s but the high on Friday was in the low 70s. The car was still hot in the afternoon sun but it would have been unbearable had it been warmer outside. The traffic lightened and I slowed some more and as each mile passed I got a little more confident I’d make it. I’ve never been so happy to see a car dealership than when I saw that Nissan sign! My wife had gone ahead and let them know I was coming. Apparently, they don’t get many LEAFs around there (the employee talking to her had never had anyone ask to charge there before). They had to move a couple of cars out of the way but they were waiting for me when I got there with an open spot. If I remember correctly I had 38 GIDs left when I parked. They had two EVSEs on the side of the building with breakers right next to them. The breaker was off so I turned it on and thankfully the device came to life. I plugged the car in and it informed me that it would be 5 hours to a full charge.
We made it to Lincoln’s tomb before it closed and then had a leisurely dinner. I was feeling pretty worn out by this time. We’d been on the road for over 14 hours. We discovered that there was a drive in theater in town but unfortunately the show started too late to work with our schedule. We decided fresh air would do us good and went to a park we had explored on a previous trip. A charity race was happening but it was still open to the public and we walked the course for an hour or so. We both felt much better after that. We headed back to the dealer and discovered that the car would be at 100% half an hour earlier than expecting.
Summary:
- Took your advice and stopped to trickle charge in the middle of the 75 mile segment
- Driving slow on back roads was good except when cars got stuck behind me
- Mayor of Carlinville gave us permission to charge in town square
- Carlinville is a cool little town and everyone was super friendly
- More traffic on way into springfield, evening commute
- Stressful: hot car, detours, big hills, and warning
- Began to really appreciate speed zones for small towns and school zones
- Made it with 38 GIDs left (I think)
- Nissan dealer in Springfield does not see many LEAFs. Had to move cars to clear a spot at the charging station. Super friendly.
- Relaxing evening in Springfield
Carlinville is a small little town with a lot of charm and some local attractions like “the million dollar court house”, an old jail, and more Sears house that anywhere else. There was a festival in town that evening so there was lots of extra hustle and bustle. We stopped in a gift shop that had lots of route 66 souvenirs and local information. We spent quite a while talking to the owner. He was very curious about the car and proud to tell us about his town. We got an ice cream from the coffee shop and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the town on a beautiful cool late summer day. When I get a chance I would like to write a thank you letter to the mayor and suggest they formally allow EV charging on the square or maybe even install an L2 charging station. There probably is not much EV traffic but this is on route 66 and is in a location where there are no other stations. It’s also a good way to maybe have some people spend an hour or two in the town.
We stayed as long as we could but wanted to be in Springfield by 4:00 to see Lincoln’s tomb before it closed at 5:00. Again I did not record the exact numbers but the trickle charge gave us between 5 and 10 more miles of range. We headed out and again I did all I could to drive slow without completely frustrating the other drivers. There were a lot more drivers as it was approaching the end of the day. Most had no difficulty passing me but a few refused to do so. I pulled over once to let a long train of cars and a semi pass. Again speed and school zones felt like a blessing. Then I hit a detour, there was construction on a railroad crossing and the road was closed. The detour was 2-3 miles out of the way and I started to worry more about range. Then I hit a big hill and the car gave me a warning and I really started to worry. Both my estimate and the GOM still had me making it alright but it was stressful. Also, adding to the discomfort was that the temperature in the car was getting uncomfortably hot (since I didn’t want to lose range for climate control). In general we had lucked out with the weather, a week ago it was in the 90s but the high on Friday was in the low 70s. The car was still hot in the afternoon sun but it would have been unbearable had it been warmer outside. The traffic lightened and I slowed some more and as each mile passed I got a little more confident I’d make it. I’ve never been so happy to see a car dealership than when I saw that Nissan sign! My wife had gone ahead and let them know I was coming. Apparently, they don’t get many LEAFs around there (the employee talking to her had never had anyone ask to charge there before). They had to move a couple of cars out of the way but they were waiting for me when I got there with an open spot. If I remember correctly I had 38 GIDs left when I parked. They had two EVSEs on the side of the building with breakers right next to them. The breaker was off so I turned it on and thankfully the device came to life. I plugged the car in and it informed me that it would be 5 hours to a full charge.
We made it to Lincoln’s tomb before it closed and then had a leisurely dinner. I was feeling pretty worn out by this time. We’d been on the road for over 14 hours. We discovered that there was a drive in theater in town but unfortunately the show started too late to work with our schedule. We decided fresh air would do us good and went to a park we had explored on a previous trip. A charity race was happening but it was still open to the public and we walked the course for an hour or so. We both felt much better after that. We headed back to the dealer and discovered that the car would be at 100% half an hour earlier than expecting.
Summary:
- Took your advice and stopped to trickle charge in the middle of the 75 mile segment
- Driving slow on back roads was good except when cars got stuck behind me
- Mayor of Carlinville gave us permission to charge in town square
- Carlinville is a cool little town and everyone was super friendly
- More traffic on way into springfield, evening commute
- Stressful: hot car, detours, big hills, and warning
- Began to really appreciate speed zones for small towns and school zones
- Made it with 38 GIDs left (I think)
- Nissan dealer in Springfield does not see many LEAFs. Had to move cars to clear a spot at the charging station. Super friendly.
- Relaxing evening in Springfield
chooze
Member
Our next charging spot was going to be Atlanta, IL but we decided to charge in Lincoln, IL instead. We had originally chosen Atlanta because there was more to do around the station since it was at a touristy stop on route 66. There is a diner there and we were going to get some dessert as we topped off the car. We were now just far enough behind schedule that the restaurant would be closed. The station in Lincoln was a little less out of the way so we decided to go there instead. The station is at a Best Western so I called them up to make sure everything was working. I spoke to a very eccentric front desk person who knew very little about the charging station and wondered why no one had told her about it. She assumed it was not hooked up yet. People had reported success on PlugShare so I asked if I could come and try anyway, she said I was welcome to.
We left the dealership around 8:30pm. My wife headed to Lincoln via the interstate while I continued along historic 66. Traffic in Springfield was heavy but cleared up on the outskirts. There was a good section of 4 lane highway with a 55 mph speed limit so I could stay in the slow lane and any traffic could pass on the left. This is also where the car passed the 15,000 mile mark. I didn’t really need to worry about range for this segment but I wanted to conserve power to have a shorter charge and get home earlier. There was a couple mile segment where I had to take the interstate from Sherman to Williamsville but it was late and there was almost no traffic. The road from Williamsville to Lincoln was deserted. I think I encountered maybe 3 other cars the whole way. It runs parallel to I55 maybe 100-200 ft off to the side. It seemed fitting to have the world wiz by while I leisurely drove along the historic road.
My wife had gotten to the hotel and there was a bit of an issue. Cars were already parked in the four spots directly in front of the charging stations. She ask the front desk if they might be staff but was informed that they were guests’. It turns out there is a back door to the hotel and those are the closest spots. We still had Atlanta as a back up plan but my wife decided to try to see how far the cable would reach. She discovered it might just reach the next empty spot.
I got to the hotel a few minutes later and discovered it would not reach if I parked normally. I was able to maneuver a bit, came in a little crooked and a little closer to the parked car and we could just make it work. The car reported it would be 2 hours until full. This was the last charge and we had made it through all the risky portions so my wife headed home. I relaxed, got a 15 minute nap (my wife had packed a blanket and pillow) and posted the update to the forum. The hotel was by a race track and to the sound of thundering V8s and in a half state of slumber I reflected on the day’s drive on the “mother road.” I couldn’t help but romanticize about how it must have been when the road was first opened and how it ushered in a new form of transportation. Sitting in an electric car just tied it all together.
I found the restroom in the hotel to freshen up and thanked the front desk person. They must have had a shift change since it was not the lady I spoke with on the phone. I got back to the car and checked the charge. It still had an hour to go to 100% but it was already at 93%. I checked the GIDs and the chart and I had plenty of charge to make it home even driving at 70 mph. I took a few pictures, put away the cable, and headed off for the final segment.
This was the first segment where I didn’t need to conserve power so I got on the interstate. About a mile north of Lincoln is where I155 breaks away from I55. All the traffic stayed on 55 toward Chicago and Bloomington and I headed off on the lonely road to Peoria. I still could not quite let myself not care about conserving power so I drove about 5 under the 70 mph limit. Construction slowed me to 45 and 55 for a good portion of the trip as well. After one final detour I was back on familiar roads as I74 took me across the Illinois river into Peoria. 15 minutes later I was pulling into my drive way where my wife had thoughtfully turned on the out door lights for me. The final challenge was maneuvering around my old car in the drive way and pulling into the garage.
I got the ESVE out of the trunk. Removed the 120V pig tail. Plugged it into my L6-30R outlet, was happy to see the lights come on confirming I had wired the plug correctly, and started charging the car.
With the LEAF pulsing blue in the darkened garage I closed the door behind me and happened to notice it was 12:01 AM. A new day had begun.
Summary:
- Changed plans from charging in Atlanta to charging in Lincoln since it was late and Lincoln was closer
- Car passed 15,000 miles
- Lincoln station was at a hotel, staff was not sure it was working.
- Turned out it was working fine but cars were parked in front of it
- Managed to just get the cable to reach
- Drove highway speeds home
- Got a little philosophical about the whole trip on the “mother road”
We left the dealership around 8:30pm. My wife headed to Lincoln via the interstate while I continued along historic 66. Traffic in Springfield was heavy but cleared up on the outskirts. There was a good section of 4 lane highway with a 55 mph speed limit so I could stay in the slow lane and any traffic could pass on the left. This is also where the car passed the 15,000 mile mark. I didn’t really need to worry about range for this segment but I wanted to conserve power to have a shorter charge and get home earlier. There was a couple mile segment where I had to take the interstate from Sherman to Williamsville but it was late and there was almost no traffic. The road from Williamsville to Lincoln was deserted. I think I encountered maybe 3 other cars the whole way. It runs parallel to I55 maybe 100-200 ft off to the side. It seemed fitting to have the world wiz by while I leisurely drove along the historic road.
My wife had gotten to the hotel and there was a bit of an issue. Cars were already parked in the four spots directly in front of the charging stations. She ask the front desk if they might be staff but was informed that they were guests’. It turns out there is a back door to the hotel and those are the closest spots. We still had Atlanta as a back up plan but my wife decided to try to see how far the cable would reach. She discovered it might just reach the next empty spot.
I got to the hotel a few minutes later and discovered it would not reach if I parked normally. I was able to maneuver a bit, came in a little crooked and a little closer to the parked car and we could just make it work. The car reported it would be 2 hours until full. This was the last charge and we had made it through all the risky portions so my wife headed home. I relaxed, got a 15 minute nap (my wife had packed a blanket and pillow) and posted the update to the forum. The hotel was by a race track and to the sound of thundering V8s and in a half state of slumber I reflected on the day’s drive on the “mother road.” I couldn’t help but romanticize about how it must have been when the road was first opened and how it ushered in a new form of transportation. Sitting in an electric car just tied it all together.
I found the restroom in the hotel to freshen up and thanked the front desk person. They must have had a shift change since it was not the lady I spoke with on the phone. I got back to the car and checked the charge. It still had an hour to go to 100% but it was already at 93%. I checked the GIDs and the chart and I had plenty of charge to make it home even driving at 70 mph. I took a few pictures, put away the cable, and headed off for the final segment.
This was the first segment where I didn’t need to conserve power so I got on the interstate. About a mile north of Lincoln is where I155 breaks away from I55. All the traffic stayed on 55 toward Chicago and Bloomington and I headed off on the lonely road to Peoria. I still could not quite let myself not care about conserving power so I drove about 5 under the 70 mph limit. Construction slowed me to 45 and 55 for a good portion of the trip as well. After one final detour I was back on familiar roads as I74 took me across the Illinois river into Peoria. 15 minutes later I was pulling into my drive way where my wife had thoughtfully turned on the out door lights for me. The final challenge was maneuvering around my old car in the drive way and pulling into the garage.
I got the ESVE out of the trunk. Removed the 120V pig tail. Plugged it into my L6-30R outlet, was happy to see the lights come on confirming I had wired the plug correctly, and started charging the car.
With the LEAF pulsing blue in the darkened garage I closed the door behind me and happened to notice it was 12:01 AM. A new day had begun.
Summary:
- Changed plans from charging in Atlanta to charging in Lincoln since it was late and Lincoln was closer
- Car passed 15,000 miles
- Lincoln station was at a hotel, staff was not sure it was working.
- Turned out it was working fine but cars were parked in front of it
- Managed to just get the cable to reach
- Drove highway speeds home
- Got a little philosophical about the whole trip on the “mother road”
chooze
Member
For those of you that might be interested in some of the details of the trip but would prefer not to read the whole narrative I have added summaries to the bottom of each post.
Peoria - St Louis http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=20#p436682
St Louis - Edwardsville http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=20#p436685
Edwardsville - Carlinville - Springfield http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=30#p436732
Springfield - Lincoln - Peoria http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=30#p436733
Peoria - St Louis http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=20#p436682
St Louis - Edwardsville http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=20#p436685
Edwardsville - Carlinville - Springfield http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=30#p436732
Springfield - Lincoln - Peoria http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20530&start=30#p436733
Congratulations on arriving home safely. Thanks again for the interesting story. I know you will enjoy your LEAF on a daily basis. I am still loving mine 3 years after purchase.
tigger
Member
What a great story! I'm sure we would have had a similar saga trying to go from St. Louis to Champaign. Even though I'm still cranky that you stole the car out from under me 
I hope you enjoy it!!!!
Tigger
I hope you enjoy it!!!!Tigger
