How can I be sure the leaf will make my 72 mile LA commute?

[planet4ever]

The Grapevine is a horrendous hill. 110 degree summertime temps, mile after mile of uphill, often at full freeway speeds. It is well known as a killer of cars. You have the worst case scenario... you'll be going down those steep hills when your battery is already full so regeneration won't be possible, and you'll be climbing them in the afternoon when it's hot and you've already used up 55 miles of your range.

Look at the bright side - at least he's not commuting to Bakersfield. The Grapevine is even worse on that side, and I'm pretty sure the temperatures are even hotter in the summer.

 

[derkraut]

Some people get anxious when they see someone gaining quickly on their tail.. they feel as they will be rammed and ran off the road, they get intimidated. A good training tool is to cover up the rear windshield of the car, put a large cardboard box in the hatch or on the shelf of the sedan and you wont see these people.. just make sure you have sideview mirrors on both sides of the car for safety. A couple of weeks of driving like this at 55mph and you will be fully trained. BTW, its legal to do this.

In preparation for my Leaf, I began driving in the right lane at 60-65mph here in San Diego. Yes, there is the occasional crazy SOB who wants to use the right lane as a high-speed passing lane. But aside from watching them be a moron, I've run into exactly zero problems in the past 4-6 months of commuting 63 miles on I5, the 806 and the 52. I now actually ENJOY my drive. It's truly Zen.

I think the "I can't POSSIBLY drive at or just below the posted speed limit" idea is all in your head.

I agree with you, Jimmy; I always drive around 60-65, in the right or #2 lanes on I-15/I-5/I-805/SR52/SR78 freeways here in the SAN area. No problems at all. And, I haven't had a speeding ticket in over 30yrs.

 

[Gonewild]

derkraut - So driving on flat level roads with light trafic I should be able to drive 76 miles with a full charge not 80%? Right.

 

[evnow]

derkraut - So driving on flat level roads with light trafic I should be able to drive 76 miles with a full charge not 80%? Right.

And low enough speed (65 or less).

 

[kolmstead]

Gonewild, for the kind of driving you are describing, 55 mph, flat land, ECO mode, using heater in the morning, I've been averaging 50% battery usage for 45-50 miles driven. So if I were doing 76 miles of similar driving, I'd definitely use 100% charge. I think that sound energy management dictates that you try and keep 20% of the battery in reserve... for when you need to make a side trip. It WILL happen!

I wouldn't hesitate to tell our Santa Clarita friend that he'd be okay if it weren't for the details; his love of the (fast) HOV lane and the fact that he'll be climbing the Grapevine.

-Karl

 

[leafme]

My take is you are too marginal to attempt it. You will not be satisfied. I've got a 1,000+ mi on mine in the last 28 days and I drive San Diego freeways. Just about got hit today by some hot shot @%^#* sob who thought 67-68 mph was not fast enough for him at 8:50am while I was on the right hand lane headed south on I-5 just south of Del Mar Heights Rd on the I-56 connector to I-805 south. I'm thinking I need to be at the speed of traffic 70-75 mph all the way until I get south of Miserable Mesa BL (aka Mira Mesa BL) on 805 south. It's quite dangerous going slow as I see it. Ok, so you need to go fast enough to keep up with folks. Speed is a major battery drain. If you charge only at home and want to run your climate control regularly I'd say you will be disappointed buying this car. Oh, and don't even think about going out to lunch with it.

I pitch this car like this: If you drive mostly freeway with the climate control on you need to drive less than 70 mi/day for this car to suit you.... and that ignores the capacity loss that is inevitable in time.

Can you go further? Sure. Will it be a constant headache remembering all the attention you need to pay trying to slow down all the time and hope you don't get run off the road. You bet. Will you have to shut off the climate control at times as range anxiety creeps over you? Yes. What a pain.

Just my 28 day experience. Now if you can charge mid day EVERY day the equation is tipping more into your favor. I wish you the best.

Malcolm

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

It just doesn't sound like a fit to me. Even if you *could* eek out the miles, with slow-lane driving and miserly climate control, would you want to do it daily? It can't be easy on the battery, going to the Turtle day in and day out.

What happens when you want to drive to lunch mid-day, or stop by an out of the way store on the way home? Or you forget something in the morning and have to turn around to go back and get it.

Naw, for me, if I was planning to put more than 40 or 50 miles on a day, without office charging, I'd be looking at a different car. I want some margin to just go without worrying about if I'll make it.

 

[hobbyguy]

He lives in Santa Clarita, he won't be on the grapevine. I live in Castaic which is at the base of the Grapevine. Anyhow, I am driving 64 miles round trip, pretty much the same drive he is going to be taking, if I charge to 100% and do not charge at work, I am in the first red line and car announces low battery right as I drive into the driveway.
I have been trickle charging at work, get the battery back to 80% and drive home is fine.
I agree , you will have to trickle at work, especially because of two things, one being the range decreasing over the life of the car and two, the carpool lane. You will not be in much stop and go traffic in that lane, so you will use lot of power. The drive up to the 14 /5 merge takes alot of power, but just stay in the right lanes, keep with the trucks and you will do ok there, the ride down that hill is great, regan all the way, then the 405 carpool lanes will use up power, and then the hill at the 101/405 not only will you be on a steep hill, you will be in the carpool lane. The ride down that hill should help alot and then it all flat from there. Trickle while you work!
Just my two cents

 

[malloryk]

JD, with some planning and patience, I think you can make it. Like the others have suggested, see if you can charge at work. Plus there's Level 2 chargers at Santa Monica Nissan, Santa Monica Toyota, and at the Civic Center depending on where you are in Santa Monica. I think there's a few more that have been upgraded to J1772, I need to check the new map. And there's still more to come!

 

[Electric4Me]

Plus there's Level 2 chargers at Santa Monica Nissan, Santa Monica Toyota, and at the Civic Center depending on where you are in Santa Monica.
_________________
Red Leaf SL w/QC Owner
Santa Monica

And don't forget the charger at malloryk's house while he's at work! :lol:

 

[hobbyguy]

If you want to see the car and take a drive on the 5, PM me and we can arrange. I am only a few exits above you on the 5. Would be happy to discuss my real time experiences in person. No problem.Take my daughter to West Ranch HS every morning, love going up the hill in stop and go and re-gen all the way down!

 

[sparky]

I think this sort of topic is extremely important to the folks like EVProject who are trying to figure out where to put L3 stations around metro areas. I wish I knew a more efficient way for them to gather that info than just a website asking people to stick icons on the map where they want an L2 or L3 station.

For SoCal commuters, the elevation change from home to work is a significant issue and I'll bet the majority have it working against them like hobbyguy and jdsantaclarita. Also, the importance of charging access at work cannot be understated and will, if widely implemented, greatly enhance the utility of BEVs like the LEAF. Seeing more BEV commuters in the HOV lanes can only accelerate the adoption of these cars as it did for Prius and Insight in years past.

More on topic, as others stated, I think relying on just home charging for jdsantaclaritas commute is bad strategy if he/she considers the normal battery degradation over 4-5 years. There just isn't enough margin for the occasional detour, extreme hot/cold/rainy weather. Last night I made another commute to LAX to pick up some family. I got 30 mins of L2 in the EV lot while I waited for the flight (yet another Volt--CAB member came in to hook up!). But on my drive home, no traffic, I was detoured about 4 miles due to a stalled vehicle in the HOV connector from 105/110. That 4 mile detour resulted in a low charge warning light about 3 miles from my house. Usually I make it with 3 bars remaining.