Sacramento area meeting at Nissan facility

[Phoenix]

eMaS:
Great get on being able to use the Vacaville QC. Now, can you also get PG&E to post a schedule for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays when the QC can be used? ; ) Or, the QC at Nissan Technical Center? Impatient LEAFers need to go places (and help publicize their LEAF for Nissan's well being).

 

[eMaS]

Hello Phoenix,
the PG&E ev rep will be there - so it is up to you

don't forget to bring a chair
and
some donuts - the last three lines are for everyone

 

[Phoenix]

To all who will be using the Vacaville QC on Oct. 22nd:

Please ask PG&E (Vivek) to also set up a QC charging schedule for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

I already made plans to go up a day in advance, not realizing that the Vacaville QC would be useable. It would be nice to try out this QC during my 2011 lifetime.

 

[Clippy]

To all who will be using the Vacaville QC on Oct. 22nd:

Please ask PG&E (Vivek) to also set up a QC charging schedule for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season.

I already made plans to go up a day in advance, not realizing that the Vacaville QC would be useable. It would be nice to try out this QC during my 2011 lifetime.

Someone should suggest that PG&E set up a "certification" program for civilians who wish to man the quick charger on weekends. I'd be glad to offer a few hours of lawn chair time during Christmastide. I have a tetherable cellphone, a tablet and no life.

 

[detlefo]

My schedule has cleared and I will be able to attend this event. Driving down from Grass Valley should be no problem, but, with over 2000 feet of climbing I am going to need a charge to get home.

 

[Ingineer]

Who here is interested in getting the QC in Vacaville?

Please post choose your desired arrival time, name, and min miles needed in this Spreadsheet.

-Phil

 

[Ingineer]

Who here is interested in getting the QC at the Nissan Tech Center?

Please post choose your desired arrival time, name, destination, and min miles needed in this Spreadsheet.

-Phil

 

[Ingineer]

And a QC should only happen once a day.

If you do a small QC in the morning at 7:30am, then do another several hours later, it's probably BETTER for your pack then one large QC. It basically allows a cool-down period in the middle. QC stress on the pack is directly related to heat in the pack. And luckily, we have an easy to see temp gauge on the dash.

BTW: Here's the pack Fahrenheit temp numbers the battery has to hit to show the bars on the display:
12 bars: 140
11 bars: 135.5
10 bars: 131
9 bars: 126.5
8 bars: 122
7 bars: 98.2
6 bars: 74.3
5 bars: 50.5
4 bars: 26.6
3 bars: 21.2
2 bars: 15.8
1 bar: 10.4

-Phil

 

[GeekEV]

I see you're planning on coming, Phil. I look forward to meeting you for the first time!

 

[edatoakrun]

And a QC should only happen once a day.

If you do a small QC in the morning at 7:30am, then do another several hours later, it's probably BETTER for your pack then one large QC. It basically allows a cool-down period in the middle. QC stress on the pack is directly related to heat in the pack. And luckily, we have an easy to see temp gauge on the dash...
-Phil

I'm sorry I won't be making it to this event. I would have had to hit the road by about 1:00 this AM, and waited for a 4-5 hour L2 in Chico to make the 190+ mile drive.

Please report battery temp experiences, for those of you doing 1 or 2 DC charges.

I wish now I'd been watching this more carefully over my 4,000 LEAF miles, but I believe I only got to seven bars a few times over the (central valley) summer, and IIRC, first saw 4 bars on 1 or 2 mornings during that cold snap a few weeks ago. I'm not sure If I've ever seen more than 1 bar increase (maybe from 4 to 6?) daily, while driving and recharging on L2.

 

[rawhog]

At the Vacaville QC on their way to Sac. Thanks out to Vivek from PG&E for treking to the QC to turn it on.

 

[MaryC]

How many Leafs got to use the Vacaville QC? Any problems?

 

[Spies]

Awesome! Thanks for posting the pictures!

 

[GoingGreener]

Yes, thanks for posting and PG&E for sharing! Look at the smiles that CHAdeMO L3 charging brings!!!

Lol, maybe one day we can check if our Quick Charge port actually works.

How long did you guys charge?

 

[rawhog]

Only two charged while I was there. I live down the street so did not need any. Eugen said he might top off later. Note to the curious. Ingineer just got his LEAF the other day. That is the white one with Boardwalk on it we are all standing in front of. He was hooked up when I left.

 

[eMaS]

It was disappointing that only 2 cars charged at Vacaville last Saturday morning. From all the responses I had expected more like 6 to 8.
The Sacramento event turnout was great.

and this was only one side of the line up

QC charging is easy

 

[GeekEV]

QC charging is easy

Actually, having had the opportunity to try it now, I can understand why the SAE wants to propose a different standard. The plug itself is fine, but there's an intricate locking mechanism that isn't obvious to the first time user. You have to push this lever on the left to release it, then when you're pushing it in you have to pull a handle up to lock it in. Even after trying to describe it, it doesn't sound that bad - the J plug also has a locking mechanism and, heck, even a gas pump has a locking mechanism. I guess we're all used to the gas pump mechanisms so they don't seem that hard (but I have seen new drivers struggle with them), but the J plug method is vastly simpler than the chademo system! An earlier thread suggested the SAE was concerned about handicap accessibility, which some had suggested was due to weight. After having done my first L3 charge, I now believe the concern is really the manual dexterity required. Easy enough for us able bodies people once you figure out how it works, but I could indeed see it being a problem for a newbie or a disabled person.

 

[palmermd]

... I look forward to the transcript of this meeting.

anybody take minutes? seems like everyone liked trying the dcqc, but no word on any of the other discussions.

 

[GeekEV]

anybody take minutes? seems like everyone liked trying the dcqc, but no word on any of the other discussions.

Minutes? We don't need no stinkin' minutes!

Um, nope, not me.