CMYK4Life
Well-known member
I am totally geeked about my two out of town Leaf trips this weekend.
Trip 1:
Family and I are traveling from Lansing MI to the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak MI. 82 miles each way. L1 charge at the park, L2 charging in Royal Oak during dinner.
Trip 2:
I am going to attend an EV car show and rally in Livonia MI! 76 miles away. I will charge as I attend the show. The show is on the campus of a community college that has 4 L2 chargers. I hope these statons are not all taken... if they are I am sure given the context of the event people will be willing to help me out if I need it.
I am really excited to see all the differnt EV and hybrids in one place and EV projects from different schools. There will also be test drives of some EV's They didnt say which ones. I was nevera car guy, this is my first 'car event' outside the Detroit Auto Show when I was 12 that I have ever attended.
*** UPDATE ***
Thanks for the good luck wishes and pointing out my 'futuristic' delivery date! I had the month and date mixed up.
I encourage everyone to plan trips that depend on destination charging. It takes planning, maybe some phone calls to zero in on details. At the very least it requires driving discipline and a plan A,B,C,D.
Trip 1: Zoo
-I called the zoo ahead of time because the review on PlugShare noted that two ICE's were blocking the spaces advertized by the zoo when they visited.
-I ended up talking to a customer service person or HR person at the zoo. They agreed that those spaces often get 'ICE'd' and said she would personally place cones on those spaces for me.
-She followed through and our family had reserved parking on a busy Friday!
-We avoided freeway and arrived at the Zoo with ~12% SOC; L1 charging for ~6 hrs as we visited.
-We had ~45% when we plugged in at L2 EVSE in parking structure.
-We had 98% ~1:45 min later (we met with friends and socialized at dinner, my wife used the smartphone app at the end of dinner and ... it read 94 miles.
-I used many "~" because these are approximations. I didnt take photos or write it down.
My wife gave me crap all day that avoiding the highway on the way out took WAAAYYY too long. So I said 'fine' and we took the highway home from dinner (~77miles). Drove 63mph almost the entire time. Made it home with 2 bars, cant remember the SOC%. We only heard the 'low battery charge' audio warning 1 mile from our freeway exit. Weather was cool and dry (below 70F all day). It wasn't a bad drive. No one tried to run me over on highway either lol.
Trip 2:EV Rally
-I contacted the organizers ahead of time. They assured me there was sufficient charging.
-When I arrived there was an open L2 EVSE. I arrived with ~10% SOC. Charged at L2 for ~2:40 mins. Leaving with ~83% charge.
-I took the freeway there and back, driving 62-65.
-I played it safe on the way there and went 62 most of the time.
-On the way home I went 65 most of the time. I hit "---%" with ~6 miles to go and 2 bars showing. These last 6 miles were all on surface streets with speed limits of 40MPH - no sweat.
It was really neat to see all the EV's and PHEV's in person and talk to other enthusiasts. At least 10 Leafs present, 4 Tesla Model S's, and 20 Volts. Many others I cant even remember.
I also enjoyed the panel discussion/breakout session. There were two Nissan dealer people there, Clipper Creek EVSE sales rep, EV owners, EV conversion business owner, and vocational school instructors of Leaf, Volt, and general Hybrid technicians. Really good discussion. Small crowd, 'small picture' questions. The guys from this forum could have really made these people work...
Trip 1:
Family and I are traveling from Lansing MI to the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak MI. 82 miles each way. L1 charge at the park, L2 charging in Royal Oak during dinner.
Trip 2:
I am going to attend an EV car show and rally in Livonia MI! 76 miles away. I will charge as I attend the show. The show is on the campus of a community college that has 4 L2 chargers. I hope these statons are not all taken... if they are I am sure given the context of the event people will be willing to help me out if I need it.
I am really excited to see all the differnt EV and hybrids in one place and EV projects from different schools. There will also be test drives of some EV's They didnt say which ones. I was nevera car guy, this is my first 'car event' outside the Detroit Auto Show when I was 12 that I have ever attended.
*** UPDATE ***
Thanks for the good luck wishes and pointing out my 'futuristic' delivery date! I had the month and date mixed up.
I encourage everyone to plan trips that depend on destination charging. It takes planning, maybe some phone calls to zero in on details. At the very least it requires driving discipline and a plan A,B,C,D.
Trip 1: Zoo
-I called the zoo ahead of time because the review on PlugShare noted that two ICE's were blocking the spaces advertized by the zoo when they visited.
-I ended up talking to a customer service person or HR person at the zoo. They agreed that those spaces often get 'ICE'd' and said she would personally place cones on those spaces for me.
-She followed through and our family had reserved parking on a busy Friday!
-We avoided freeway and arrived at the Zoo with ~12% SOC; L1 charging for ~6 hrs as we visited.
-We had ~45% when we plugged in at L2 EVSE in parking structure.
-We had 98% ~1:45 min later (we met with friends and socialized at dinner, my wife used the smartphone app at the end of dinner and ... it read 94 miles.
-I used many "~" because these are approximations. I didnt take photos or write it down.
My wife gave me crap all day that avoiding the highway on the way out took WAAAYYY too long. So I said 'fine' and we took the highway home from dinner (~77miles). Drove 63mph almost the entire time. Made it home with 2 bars, cant remember the SOC%. We only heard the 'low battery charge' audio warning 1 mile from our freeway exit. Weather was cool and dry (below 70F all day). It wasn't a bad drive. No one tried to run me over on highway either lol.
Trip 2:EV Rally
-I contacted the organizers ahead of time. They assured me there was sufficient charging.
-When I arrived there was an open L2 EVSE. I arrived with ~10% SOC. Charged at L2 for ~2:40 mins. Leaving with ~83% charge.
-I took the freeway there and back, driving 62-65.
-I played it safe on the way there and went 62 most of the time.
-On the way home I went 65 most of the time. I hit "---%" with ~6 miles to go and 2 bars showing. These last 6 miles were all on surface streets with speed limits of 40MPH - no sweat.
It was really neat to see all the EV's and PHEV's in person and talk to other enthusiasts. At least 10 Leafs present, 4 Tesla Model S's, and 20 Volts. Many others I cant even remember.
I also enjoyed the panel discussion/breakout session. There were two Nissan dealer people there, Clipper Creek EVSE sales rep, EV owners, EV conversion business owner, and vocational school instructors of Leaf, Volt, and general Hybrid technicians. Really good discussion. Small crowd, 'small picture' questions. The guys from this forum could have really made these people work...
