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Tomasz said:
brianchi73 said:
Tomasz said:
I loose up to 4 GIDs initially when I turn the preheat on while plugged in to 120V (don't have 240V yet) in my garage, but then the heater load goes down and the charger is able to restore the charge level within 45 minutes with heater still on.

Do you find that the GID meter helps when you get down to the last couple of kw? It seems like a more accurate measure.
The lowest I've seen so far was 53 GIDS, never needed more. But having them displayed elevated my range anxiety, now I know how many GIDs does it take to get to some of the most frequent destinations (e.g. 18-19 GIDs to get to work, about 35 GIDs to get to the airport etc.) So now I almost never look at the GOM, I just look at GIDs and see if I can make whatever I have planned.

Thanks. Where did you get your GID meter, and will it work on a 2012 Leaf?
 
brianchi73 said:
Tomasz said:
The lowest I've seen so far was 53 GIDS, never needed more. But having them displayed elevated my range anxiety, now I know how many GIDs does it take to get to some of the most frequent destinations (e.g. 18-19 GIDs to get to work, about 35 GIDs to get to the airport etc.) So now I almost never look at the GOM, I just look at GIDs and see if I can make whatever I have planned.

Thanks. Where did you get your GID meter, and will it work on a 2012 Leaf?
I got LeafDD using this link: http://leafdd.com/. I'm an iPhone user, somehow I did not feel like buying Android device just for the purpose of running battery app (although that might have been cheaper solution overall).
 
Will post this here as a subsnippet to another post.

Made the trek from Skokie to Waukesha yesteday. 80+ miles in 2F weather. Charged from 80 to 100% at the new Skokie station, then topped off 8% at Willow Road Walgreens while getting a coffee. Then added about 20% at the Kenosha Gateway college stop (off of 158 about 10 miles north of the border) to ensure I could make the final 40 miles.

Interesting aspect is that the Skokie stop had two EV's (a Ford Focus electric, and a Volt) and the Willow road had a Volt parked. Thankfully I could still charge in both locations. In the last 6 months the number of EV's in the area seems to have really taken off comparatively.

Need more Level 2 stations now I guess.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
Will post this here as a subsnippet to another post.

Made the trek from Skokie to Waukesha yesteday. 80+ miles in 2F weather. Charged from 80 to 100% at the new Skokie station, then topped off 8% at Willow Road Walgreens while getting a coffee. Then added about 20% at the Kenosha Gateway college stop (off of 158 about 10 miles north of the border) to ensure I could make the final 40 miles.

Interesting aspect is that the Skokie stop had two EV's (a Ford Focus electric, and a Volt) and the Willow road had a Volt parked. Thankfully I could still charge in both locations. In the last 6 months the number of EV's in the area seems to have really taken off comparatively.

Need more Level 2 stations now I guess.

Thanks for the info! I'm glad to know that the Kenosha Gateway college stop is an L2 charger. Did you have any contingency plans in case a charger was down? Until these chargers are more available and more reliable I like to have a backup (maybe Gurnee Outlet Mall?). Also I noticed that there is a Tesla SuperCharger station planned for Pleasant Prairie, WI. I hope Tesla has something that I can afford in 2 years when my lease is up.
 
Rosen just west of the mall has an l2 and they are putting in a chademco. They said the priority are their cars, then people who bought from them and then everyone else.
 
73
My backup plan was to either find an outlet, venture into Kenosha, or call family. I did still have 45% when reading Kenosha, so I had a good 30 miles I could have traveled if needed.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
73
My backup plan was to either find an outlet, venture into Kenosha, or call family. I did still have 45% when reading Kenosha, so I had a good 30 miles I could have traveled if needed.

I have a feeling that this trip would have been different in my 2012 Leaf. :) I am glad that we are in a cooler environment so that we're not losing bars on our capacity, but I bet your Leaf pulls a lot less to heat the car than mine does. When it's 5 degrees out and I put the heat on 69 or 70 in Eco mode...it draws between 2 and 3 on that little gauge (or maybe it's .2 and .3). It rarely falls down to the 1.5 or 1 range. Can you tell me what yours says? I wonder what innovation they made to the heating system in the 2013 to make it more efficient. I struggle to get 3 m/kwh in this weather, and that is just what the car says on the gauge. The reality is less than that (based on what my charger reports putting out).
 
Phatcat73 said:
gurnee outlet mall charges .49 per kwh. at 4 miles per kWh, it'd cost $4 to travel 16 miles. At that rate, gas is cheaper.

I'm not sure anyone can justify owning an electric car because it's lower in overall cost. I decided when I got mine that having lower "fuel" costs is a nice to have, but I would pay the same price for it as I did for gas. My reasons (in order) were:

1. Environmental
2. Fun to drive
3. Cost (can't really break even or save $, based on the premium and infrastructure investment, until after 5 years maybe?).
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
73

Heat does run between 1 and 3 kwh. I preheated the cabin after each charge and ran no heat, just the seat warmers.

No heat certainly helps with the range. For the record you can probably set it to 62 or 63 in eco mode or 61 in non-eco mode, and it should settle in around .5 to 1 kwh just to keep it "tepid". :) Of course...if you're concerned about range it's better to just do seat and steering wheel heaters and make it to your destination.

Thanks for the info.
 
Phatcat73 said:
gurnee outlet mall charges .49 per kwh. at 4 miles per kWh, it'd cost $4 to travel 16 miles. At that rate, gas is cheaper.
$2, not $4. 16 miles / (4 miles/kWh) = 4 kWh * $0.49/kWh = $1.96. But I agree that at $0.49/kWh, the economic advantage argument compared to a high mileage hybrid is difficult if not impossible to make, especially in winter when you're probably going to get a lot less than 4 miles/kWh, or else freeze.
 
r1234567 said:
Rosen just west of the mall has an l2 and they are putting in a chademco. They said the priority are their cars, then people who bought from them and then everyone else.


I saw the CHAdeMO listed on PlugShare and posted on the Rosen dealership Facebook page inquiring if they indeed had one. I wonder if they do yet?
 
I believe it's up and working. I had my heater replaced and when I dropped the Leaf off they said it would be a few days. When I picked up my car, I forgot to ask but my husband thinks he saw it.
 
r1234567 said:
I believe it's up and working. I had my heater replaced and when I dropped the Leaf off they said it would be a few days. When I picked up my car, I forgot to ask but my husband thinks he saw it.

According to their reply to my facebook post on their page, it IS up and running! They said to "stop by next time I drive by" and that it's in a "super secret spot for Nissan owners only!" Sounds like they will be cool to let all use it!
 
Anyone know if there are any Chicagoland area EV Facebook groups? I was thinking of starting a page where we LEAF owners could discuss issues, chat, share etc with each other but also with those that have other EVs. I know, it's kinda like starting a Cubs/Sox shared page but together we could work to share ideas, get things done, meet up/rally, etc.

If one exists, just direct me... if not, what do you think? Yay/Nay?
 
djkjmuoh said:
Anyone know if there are any Chicagoland area EV Facebook groups? I was thinking of starting a page where we LEAF owners could discuss issues, chat, share etc with each other but also with those that have other EVs. I know, it's kinda like starting a Cubs/Sox shared page but together we could work to share ideas, get things done, meet up/rally, etc.

If one exists, just direct me... if not, what do you think? Yay/Nay?

I don't know of one, and I vote yay!
 
A sad day for those who are doing something about not polluting the environment by driving electric cars.

Not here, that is, at Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL

Perhaps it's their new jingle.." Shop at Whole Foods and there will be no charge for you."
 

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greengate said:
A sad day for those who are doing something about not polluting the environment by driving electric cars.

Not here, that is, at Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL

Perhaps it's their new jingle.." Shop at Whole Foods and there will be no charge for you."

That is sad. I wish we could post big signs like this at every Nissan dealer in the city and suburbs, so they would get some skin in the game on this. It's so opposite of Tesla's model of providing the entire infrastructure and making sure it works. Grrrrr.

This would be a great picture for the paper. I was quoted in an article by Julie Wernau from the Trib, and I think I still have her contact info. I should forward these pictures to her. I also have been in touch with Brian Howe of JNS Holdings, and it sounds like they will gain control of the chargers AND systems soon. I hope so but that was kind of the news about a year ago and everything's been tied up in litigation.

I did successfully use my Charjit card recently (Walgreens at Broadway and Ridge), but I have no way to add charges or see how many I have left. I was kind of surprised that it worked at all. I know that people have not been able to get those cards for over a year, and now if you had one it would be pretty much useless anyway.

Also I like the name of your photo files. :)
 
brianchi73 said:
greengate said:
A sad day for those who are doing something about not polluting the environment by driving electric cars.

Not here, that is, at Whole Foods in Northbrook, IL

Perhaps it's their new jingle.." Shop at Whole Foods and there will be no charge for you."

That is sad. I wish we could post big signs like this at every Nissan dealer in the city and suburbs, so they would get some skin in the game on this. It's so opposite of Tesla's model of providing the entire infrastructure and making sure it works. Grrrrr.

This would be a great picture for the paper. I was quoted in an article by Julie Wernau from the Trib, and I think I still have her contact info. I should forward these pictures to her. I also have been in touch with Brian Howe of JNS Holdings, and it sounds like they will gain control of the chargers AND systems soon. I hope so but that was kind of the news about a year ago and everything's been tied up in litigation.

I did successfully use my Charjit card recently (Walgreens at Broadway and Ridge), but I have no way to add charges or see how many I have left. I was kind of surprised that it worked at all. I know that people have not been able to get those cards for over a year, and now if you had one it would be pretty much useless anyway.

Also I like the name of your photo files. :)

Thanks.

Send it along to the Tribune. Good idea. Glad you have the contact.

Maybe they will do an investigation on the issue and bring it to the public's attention. :D
 
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