Running Out of Juice

[TonyWilliams]

As for your comment about 24 kWh capacity, the majority opinion here seems now to be that the LEAF won't let us use that much capacity.......

Given that he only had 21.7 kWh - it's not a leap to assume he had 2-3 kWh left which would give him about 10-15 miles range.

It's a leap to assume anything. The advertised value is indeed 24kWh total capacity, and I am strongly in the belief that not all that capacity is available. What is available is NOT measured by a Blink unless you believe its numbers, and can accurately calculate the charging efficiency.

Without real measurements, that to my knowledge, nobody has done, we can only guess and assume, as you have done (and to some extent, I have, too).

We do have reasonable data to support miles to go from Battery Low and Very Low. You don't need to even know what a kilowatt is, or how many you've got.

 

[adric22]

A couple of lessons learned:
1) If you go the route of getting your cord modified, buy an extra cord so you will not forget one at home.
2) Add an electricity sniffer or meter to your bag of goodies in the back. It is as good or better than an air pressure gauge in this car.
3) Throw some jumper cables in your car, so if you can ground the generator if you need one to recharge you in a jam.
4) Obviously know your route better. I am sure I passed more than 1 RV park that could hae worked for me (if I had the cord - see #1)
5) It may make a good country and western song when everyone is driving EV cars. I just need something about momma getting out of prison added to the story.

The only thing I don't understand is how you could have plugged your leaf in at the supermarket and not realize it was a hot plug. I mean, the leaf will click, beep, and show the charging indicators on the dash. I'm pretty sure if I ever plugged in my leaf and didn't see/hear these things I would notice something wrong.

I also wonder if you might have made it home had it not been for all of the detours of trying to find a place to charge?

But I'd say the biggest lesson is to know up front some places you can charge before making such a trip, rather than trying to find some place.

 

[DarkStar]

As for your comment about 24 kWh capacity, the majority opinion here seems now to be that the LEAF won't let us use that much capacity...

Per Nissan and EPA testing, the "customer usable" capacity is 24 kWh. No need for opinion, those are the facts. Otherwise, the EPA would need to test the car all over again since their fuel economy numbers are based on what they got from a production vehicle.

 

[DaveEV]

As for your comment about 24 kWh capacity, the majority opinion here seems now to be that the LEAF won't let us use that much capacity...

Per Nissan and EPA testing, the "customer usable" capacity is 24 kWh. No need for opinion, those are the facts. Otherwise, the EPA would need to test the car all over again since their fuel economy numbers are based on what they got from a production vehicle.

Slight correction - the EPA is using "from the wall" numbers. Using their numbers of 34 kWh / 100 miles and 73 miles estimated range, that comes to 24.8 kWh from the wall, which matches up very closely with what others have reported from their blink after getting down to turtle.

 

[luchaks]

Thanks for everyone offering suggestions.

I wanted to offer a couple of bits of insight based upon some of the replies:
- Speed is definitely a factor from a usage standpoint. However, like the Prius before, one of the main factors of having an electric car work for me (and I believe the majority of car buyers), is that it has to drive like a normal car. I actually find the Leaf peppier than a comparable car of its size. In the exercise described, I went the legal speed limit throughout the drive. For instance, I would not want to drive 35 on a highway with posted speeds of 60.
- Another thought is that I should have had no A/C running in either direction. I only turned it off on the way home. A/C running for almost 45 miles of the trip, definitely had an impact to my range. Once again, in a gas car, I would never turn off the A/C. I live in Houston and it has been super hot this year.
- I definitely agree that I would have made it home if it had not been for that detour of looking for electricity. The big thing here is knowing where you can charge in a jam. My father reminds me that when gas engines were new, folks carried gas cans because there was no place to get gas. The infrastructure just needs time to catch up in this regard. In the meantime, we have to plan ahead a bit. I've made contact with an RV park in Brookshire TX (Houston West RV Park, in case you are curious)to see if I can charge there. I had to wait 30-45 mins on my father to show up since he was caught in traffic. I could have been charging that whole time. I will also be contacting restaurants in Brookshire as we frequently grab a bite and visit for a while.
- Waiting out the infrastructure is the hard part. I see the quick charge ports being installed at one the close by Walgreens (wrong direction to help me with this trip). Although I think it is odd to charge at Walgreens, I hope demand works out for them so that it works. With two small kids onboard most of the time, and an air conditioned playground, c'mon charge points at McD's!
- Until then, I've added my A/C ground tester to the bag in the back of the car. I'll also be putting together one of those ground/common plugs for any generator that I may need to use.

Oh, the car beeps when plugging in even if there is no power. I haven't paid attention if the number of beeps is the same or not. I'm assuming it is somehow different. Also, I couldn't see the lights but I thought that was because of the blazing sun in my eyes. Lesson learned there.

Also, I was just too close for roadside assistance. They might have been quick, but I was home in no time and my experience with tow trucks in the past was they were slow to respond.

Finally, I will be driving all the way to my father's house in Weimar, TX August 4 or 5. His house is right at 100 miles. Hopefully, I will have worked out the charge in Brookshire. If not, I'll need to find one in Sealy or Columbus. There will be a good long stretch of 70 mph and temperatures are still hot, so I'm not sure if I can make it to Columbus. If any of you are from Houston and have worked out charging spots on I-10 (besides Nissan dealerships), please let me know. If the trip turns into another adventure, I'll make sure and write it up to let you all know.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Per Nissan and EPA testing, the "customer usable" capacity is 24 kWh. No need for opinion, those are the facts. Otherwise, the EPA would need to test the car all over again since their fuel economy numbers are based on what they got from a production vehicle.

Yes, Nissan claims 24kw. But, I just doubt that EPA tested that capacity. They measured energy consumption, and if I were a betting man, they stipulated what Nissan claimed as to capacity.

The good news is we will figure it out and be able to measure it ourselves.