Round trip Boulder to Nederland

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goldbrick

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2017
Messages
2,105
Location
Boulder, CO
Just thought I'd throw this out there for anyone wondering what it is like to drive a Leaf up the hill from Boulder. Last night I made my first mountain trip in my 2017 Leaf S and here are the results.

There were 2 adults in the car, heat was on (ECO mode) drove in a line of traffic most of the way so normal speeds. From Boulder to Ned proper took 36% of charge (probably about 12kWh on my car). The ride home took -1% charge (left at 51% hit Boulder with 52%).

All in all I was really pleased with the performance of the car. At least on a 30kWh battery that is fairly new, I think I could do 2 round trips from Boulder to Ned without charging. Just FYI in case you were hesitant to try it. I saw a Leaf at Brainard Lake one day and was always wondering....
 
Thanks for the link. That looks like a very useful app. I'll have to play with it some to get calibrated to my car and driving style.
 
The neighbors one house away in our townhome complex in Boulder have an older Leaf, probably 2014 or so. They have property in Nederland and drive there almost daily all year. I suggested they buy a dedicated charger from COSTCO but they said they decided to stick with 110V when they bought the car.
 
I charge for free at work (L2) but if I didn't have that I still don't think I'd bother to get a 240 EVSE at home. A Leaf works great within its limitations and if you never need to drive farther than 1 'chargeful' in a single day, L2 and L3 are unnecessary.

Doing a round trip to DIA would be at the limit of my car's capacity and I wouldn't try it without some sort of quick charge mid-trip but that is just another reason to take the bus IMHO. There is nothing wrong with public transportation, especially when it is as convenient as the AB bus.

My biggest surprise about the trip to Ned was that it only took about 1.5x the amount of power it would have it the route was flat. I didn't know what to expect and was even planning charge spots there if I was low. Then the ride down the hill was 'free' which wasn't too big of a surprise but still a little unexpected.
 
goldbrick said:
A Leaf works great within its limitations and if you never need to drive farther than 1 'chargeful' in a single day, L2 and L3 are unnecessary.

We installed a L2 at our house because we couldn't charge enough if we went from here to Denver 3 days in a row. We wouldn't get the battery back to 100% at night (e.g. 7pm to 7am) after a full day of use. ... Having the L2 at home is great, but some folks certainly don't need it.

goldbrick said:
Doing a round trip to DIA would be at the limit of my car's capacity and I wouldn't try it without some sort of quick charge mid-trip but that is just another reason to take the bus IMHO.

Same, we've done it, but it's a stretch, and I certainly didn't go 80 MPH. We've sat at the chargers at DIA for a while to charge back up, then came home. Lately, all the chargers (east and west) have been 100% full, so we've taken to charging up at the L3 at the Walmart just south of DIA. Only a few minutes out of the way, and there is a home depot and some food options there too,

goldbrick said:
I think I could do 2 round trips from Boulder to Ned without charging
Same, used less power than I'd expected. Great for zipping up for a day of skiing!
 
sendmeonmyway said:
so we've taken to charging up at the L3 at the Walmart just south of DIA. Only a few minutes out of the way, and there is a home depot and some food options there too

I was thinking of doing that too if I ever need to do an airport run. Thanks for the info that there really is a (free?) L3 at the Wallmart. Seems almost too good to be true.

I'm thinking of installing L2 at home also. I just bought a used 120/240 Nissan EVSE from a 2018 Leaf and I plan to start using that at home. I need to increase my electrical usage so I can install a reasonable number of solar panels at the house. Right now our usage is so low that Excel will only let me put up about 6 panels due to the 120% rules. I can charge at work for free but having L2 at home will let me charge about an hour or two every day to meet my normal needs.

I just wish the EVSE could be set to 24A since I have an unused 30A circuit in the garage. Instead, I'll upgrade that as it shouldn't be too much extra effort since I already need to replace the current breaker box :shock: It's a split-bus panel and I don't know if that can be used with grid-tie solar. In any event, it's 40+ years old and I'm going to do the work myself so out it goes.
 
goldbrick said:
Thanks for the info that there really is a (free?) L3 at the Wallmart. Seems almost too good to be true.
Per Plugshare it is part of the EVgo network. I think there is one plug. One user posted
Total duration was 29 minutes and 25 seconds and energy charged was 8.380 kWh. Total session cost is $6.61.
That fellow managed a whopping 16.75 kW average charging rate from a 'DCFC' and paid 80 cents a kWh for the privilege. What can I say -- compared to being stranded with a depleted battery it seems like an OK deal ;-)
It might be free if you have the NCTC Nissan deal
Otherwise https://www.evgo.com/charging-plans/
 
Hmmm, I don't see the free charger at Walmart anymore. I wonder if it has changed or if I was just imagining things.... There are still the 2 free CHAdeMO chargers at the E-470 Public Highway Authority building.

It's been a long time since I've driven to the airport but maybe I'll give it a go someday if they are still open and free. Or not. RTD is so convenient for me it's hard to pass it up.
 
Thanks for including the charge percentages! I haven't LEAFed to Ned yet, but next time I visit friends near Pinecliffe, I'll go to Ned first and catch some L2.

Brainard is also on my list!
 
PrairieLEAF said:
Ned first and catch some L2.

Just FYI....the Boulder Nissan dealer on 28th St has a free CHAdeMO if you ever need that. It gets a lot of use but I'd imagine wait times would be short since almost all the cars using it are Leaf's.
 
Just FYI....the Boulder Nissan dealer on 28th St has a free CHAdeMO if you ever need that. It gets a lot of use but I'd imagine wait times would be short since almost all the cars using it are Leaf's.

Thanks--I'll have to keep Boulder Nissan (the LEAF pile?) in mind. Boulder is about 30 miles from me, so it'd be a good idea to get some more charge before climbing into the hills!

I usually enjoy the sightseeing opportunities that come with level-2 charging, but I suppose I've done plenty of that in Boulder already.
 
Finally did the Brainard trip! It worked out great!

30 kWh version in summer, no A/C, ECO mode, two adults, small dog and inflatable SUP board.

Charged to 96% on Davidson Mesa in Louisville. Got to the Brainard Lake parking lot with 42% (after a fun drive over Lee Hill). Soaked up the cool air and the green vegetation, and came down in the evening. Rolled into Boulder with 60% (yay gravity!) and back to Louisville with 52%--more than enough to get back to Fort Lupton.

It seemed like quite an excursion for 44% net charge (from Louisville)!

Total for the day (from Fort Lupton) was 88% (acquired 25% from Louisville L2).
 
You should try a plus. This last weekend with went to Staunton state park charged about 30 minutes at the visitor center then over the guanella pass to Georgetown and down I-70 and then back over to Roxborough Park area (where we live) had 48% when we got home starting at 98% charging in the morning. The car does not care about altitude unlike my old Honda did as it does not require oxygen to operate so it is a joy in the mountains.
 
Wow, yes, you have all kinds of kWhs! A friend was telling me about the Staunton charging station as a way to get these shorter-range EVs to Alma. Maybe I'll try it sometime.
 
I find several state parks now how these l2 chargepoints (free with state park admission).
EA takes care of me on I-25 and I-70 which is nice. While I can get to Arches in Utah getting to Great Sand Dunes is a bit of a stretch that Lizard park nearby has an l2 or I might try an RV camp site if I go for that one.
I was noticing this Bolt going all over the place and saw he shared a home charger down the road from me and we talked about some long distance stuff, there is a guy with a Kona from Denver who met in Arches as well. Basically we can get around in the newer EVs, the corridors for along some highways are pretty great. power cruise control is a bit helpful it uses the OBDII dongle you may already have to get data on usage, sorta like a batter route planner but with updates on how far you will make it based on what you are doing. The plus really made a huge difference in what you can do, as did the Bolt and other EVs with similar range.
 
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