count your bars

My first post to the forum:

I have used Tony's chart to help navigate my way with the Leaf (thanks Tony!). But a problem I have is not being able to count the bars. More than 3 bars and less than 9 and I have the hardest time seeing how many are there, and certainly not while moving (perhaps I have the graphical equivalent of dyslexia). This is probably not a problem for those with GID or other meters. But I don't have a meter, and I decided to go low tech and made a png file that can be printed on a transparency (remember those), cut to fit, and slid into a little gap between the dash and the console. So no tape, no glue, easy to undo.

One winkle is that it turns out the plastic that covers the console isn't flat (surprised me). Because of this the numbers don't lie directly on top of the bars, so the exact placement of the transparency will differ depending on driver's height and seat position. So if you share your leaf with a significantly different sized person, this might not work out for you. On the plus side, if you adjust it so the numbers align when sitting up straight, you will recogonize right away when you are slouching . I thought I would share it in case anybody else has my same problem of counting.

To install, print the png file onto a transparency. When you print, make sure any auto rotation or auto scaling is turned off, and the manual scaling is set to 100%. On a Mac, I use the "Preview" app, I'm not sure what to suggest for PC users. I would guess that transparency film for laser printers would work best -- but that assumes you have access to a laser printer. I actually used a transparency for an ink jet printer and it seems to be alright.

To begin with, I would cut just outside the redlines (1/8 inch), and then slide it in between the console "glass" and the plastic dash. It should settle in and stay in place via gravity. Try it out, and then make small adjustments to get the numbers to align for you in your normal seating position. For perfectionists, remember that there are three degrees of freedom (right/left, up/down, and rotation).

I tried taking a picture, but it is surprisingly hard to have the numbers show up against the bright bars (for the same reason the moon landings were not hoaxes).

visualize the top of the place where the white bars cut in to get past the "charger" as halfway.
if you see that as 6 above and 6 below, you have a halfway mark and everything else, in terms of bars, is allot easier to count.

tstorm said:

My first post to the forum: I thought I would share it in case anybody else has my same problem of counting.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing, I know somebody that will be interested.

I've been thinking of doing this since before I got the car! I was discouraged once I got the car and saw that the plastic in front of the dash was on an angle, just as you noticed. I'll still definitely print it out and try it though. Thanks!

I prefer this one:

https://docs.google.com/a/betak.net...ujUGa4gWdFN0NEYzRllFSlU2OEh1ZmRFMDRjRXc#gid=0

thankyouOB said:

visualize the top of the place where the white bars cut in to get past the "charger" as halfway.
if you see that as 6 above and 6 below, you have a halfway mark and everything else, in terms of bars, is allot easier to count.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's my key too, though I think of it a bit differently. If the top of the "electric gas pump" is even with the top bar, you are at 6 bars. When it pokes its top above the top bar, you are at 5 bars, which is really about half a tank, and if it is mostly exposed you are at 4 bars. On the top end of the scale, count the long bars and add 6.

Ray

Agreed, and it is the one that I use. But it IS a lot of data to try to digest while driving... I edited it to keep just the fields that I need for routine use.

trentr said:

I prefer this one:https://docs.google.com/a/betak.net...ujUGa4gWdFN0NEYzRllFSlU2OEh1ZmRFMDRjRXc#gid=0

Click to expand...

planet4ever said:

thankyouOB said:

visualize the top of the place where the white bars cut in to get past the "charger" as halfway.
if you see that as 6 above and 6 below, you have a halfway mark and everything else, in terms of bars, is allot easier to count.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's my key too, though I think of it a bit differently. If the top of the "electric gas pump" is even with the top bar, you are at 6 bars. When it pokes its top above the top bar, you are at 5 bars, which is really about half a tank, and if it is mostly exposed you are at 4 bars. On the top end of the scale, count the long bars and add 6.

Ray

Click to expand...

+1 on this technique.

I usually have no problem with 12 and 0 (obviously), 11/1, 10/2 and 9/3 bars.

I can visualize the half-way point, so that gives me 6. If it looks close to halfway but I can tell it's not exactly half, I can determine 7/5.

That leaves 8 and 4 as the toughest ones to make out. I think 4 is fairly easy. 8 is a little more difficult, but at the same time probably a little less critical.