Banding together against "range anxiety"

[garygid]

If one has little or no range "consciousness", they are unlikely to have range "anxiety". These people are likely to run out of "fuel".

Just because one has no range axniety does not mean that there are not range constraints, in most any vehicle.

But, some recognize the constraints and deal with it without too much "anxiety".

 

[EVDRIVER]

Just put a Xanax dispenser in each Leaf, problem solved.

 

[BetaMark]

At the risk of being OT, maybe the best solution to range anxiety would be better mass transit (especially high-speed rail) here in the U.S.

The range issue has been trotted out ad nauseum as one of the reasons we haven't had a mass market EV until now. And even if the Leaf proves to be a run-away success (let's hope!), there's no telling how long it will take for significant improvements to be made in range, or how many R&D $$ this will take.

In contrast, back around 1966 I took a trip to Japan and travelled at 130mph riding the Tokaido Express, an incredible experience I'll never forget. The point being this is mature technology that has been around for decades.

The standard joke between the wife and me is that whatever car we drive needs to be able to take us from L.A. to San Francisco or Las Vegas. But in fact we'd be thrilled to drive an EV to Union Station, hop on a bullet train, and if necessary, rent an EV at our destination. And if such existed, we'd probably take these trips more often than we do now. IIRC a bullet train to Vegas has been talked about for ages. So what are we waiting for?

 

[LEAFfan]

At the risk of being OT, maybe the best solution to range anxiety would be better mass transit (especially high-speed rail) here in the U.S.

The range issue has been trotted out ad nauseum as one of the reasons we haven't had a mass market EV until now. And even if the Leaf proves to be a run-away success (let's hope!), there's no telling how long it will take for significant improvements to be made in range, or how many R&D $$ this will take.

In contrast, back around 1966 I took a trip to Japan and travelled at 130mph riding the Tokaido Express, an incredible experience I'll never forget. The point being this is mature technology that has been around for decades.

The standard joke between the wife and me is that whatever car we drive needs to be able to take us from L.A. to San Francisco or Las Vegas. But in fact we'd be thrilled to drive an EV to Union Station, hop on a bullet train, and if necessary, rent an EV at our destination. And if such existed, we'd probably take these trips more often than we do now. IIRC a bullet train to Vegas has been talked about for ages. So what are we waiting for?

Do you have any idea how much that Japanese bullet train costs now like from Kyoto to Tokyo (almost 300 miles)? It's just under 300 hundred bucks (27,440 yen) one way. However, it does travel close to 200 mph now. I would rather charge my LEAF for free with our PVs. :mrgreen:

 

[Adrian]

Now I have a Honda Civic GX (cng) and when there is about 55 miles left an orange low fuel light comes on. MANY times I've taken it down to less than half that (and I have a range of over 500 miles). One time I obtained 58 miles after the light and still made it to the station. Oh, and there aren't very many stations around Phoenix so sometimes I would drive 28 miles to one. How many times in the almost 6 years I've had the car do you think I ran out of fuel/cng?...NOT ONCE. So the LEAF will be a piece of cake!

I'm currently a Civic GX driver as well. I added a second 6 GGE tank to a Civic that I recently sold, but even with that second tank that left no room in the tank I could not get more than 400 miles from a full slow fill. What kind of set up do you have on your Civic that gets you 500 miles?

:shock:

 

[Boomer23]

How about we apply some "social networking" to the range issue? If all of us Leaf owners, especially those who have 240v EVSEs, band together, we can provide quite a charging network, at least in case of emergencies, for fellow Leaf owners (maybe even extend the courtesy to other EV owners, if they stop calling the Leaf ugly.. )

If sales do as well as we expect, this would probably double or triple the charging network.

Just thinking...breaking the iron grip oil has on our economy will take some unorthodox approaches...

How about the OP's question? I don't think that anyone has addressed it. He's suggesting that we work together to help each other by offering our garages as charging stations when a fellow member is in need. When I first reserved my LEAF, I thought that kind of community would evolve, as some of the Mini E drivers have done, to help each other to travel outside of their home radius, and that would make EV ownership a fun, pioneering experience. Now I'm realizing that it might not be that simple.

The logistics of something like that might be challenging. I plan to charge midnight to 6 am to get off-peak rates. Do we want to have our fellow LEAFers showing up mid-day, on "e-fumes", needing to charge? (Maybe, it's only money and I'm sure we'd pay each other for the kWh). While they charge at L2, they'd need to hang out for several hours. Do we want to meet our online friends and hang out that way, or are our lives really too busy for that?

Maybe we'd have degrees of willingness to host a stranded LEAFer. Some might say "Sure, call me any time, even if you just want to say hi". Others might say "Call me only in an emergency." Some might say "Call Nissan, that's what your roadside assistance plan is for."

Or we could even organize longer trips by agreeing with out-of-area online friends to provide charging stops until public charging stations are more available.

Any thoughts? I'm not sure how I feel about the idea yet.

 

[LEAFer]

Maybe we'd have degrees of willingness to host a stranded LEAFer. Some might say "Sure, call me any time, even if you just want to say hi". Others might say "Call me only in an emergency." Some might say "Call Nissan, that's what your roadside assistance plan is for."

Right; any of those might apply.

If only the LEAF had 6.6 or 7.2kW charging ... that would also significantly help.

I live somewhat out in the boonies; 10 miles from the freeway. So that's almost 2 hours of charging to make up for the 20 mile (most likely) "detour". But I'd be willing to list a phone number (plus zip code for location) in an owners-only database for emergency contact. If you can reach me (when you need that boost) ... your chances are pretty good I can help.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

If EV Project comes through with the 1,200+ San Diego public L2 chargers, that's bound to be much more convenient and close than an outdated list of willing residences. That, and they're already in your nav system.

 

[garygid]

It is the areas where there are few available "public" chargers (some stores are planning to turn their e-stations OFF at night!) that "e-friend locations" will be most helpful.

As I develop e-friends, I usually offer an email address, and then later a "your-use-only" phone number.

But, with SPAM and phone "marketing" being so profuse, it is hard to find a way to administer a "secure" list.

Maybe a "locked" application and POI list that would only work on the LEAF?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

A bullet train may seem to cost more but if it runs from city center to city center what r u saving in taxi.. shuttles etc?

 

[lne937s]

A bullet train may seem to cost more but if it runs from city center to city center what r u saving in taxi.. shuttles etc?

An even bigger issue is time. Even here in NYC with Acella (which is very slow) people take it for time savings to DC. Once you figure in the hour minimum to the airport during rush hour, security, boarding, taxi, waiting to take off, delays, landing, wait for a gate, another taxi, it is faster to take the train... and you are able to stay connected through internet and cell phone.

A 300 mph train from DC to NYC to Boston would make those trips less than an hour city center to city center.

 

[Yodrak]

In my area, I optimistically expect that I would have to go further out of my way to get to a 'social network' (or public) charger than the charge would last to get me back on route. Interesting idea, but where I live I'll be 'tethered' to home.

How about we apply some "social networking" to the range issue? If all of us Leaf owners, especially those who have 240v EVSEs, band together, we can provide quite a charging network, at least in case of emergencies, for fellow Leaf owners (maybe even extend the courtesy to other EV owners, if they stop calling the Leaf ugly.. )

If sales do as well as we expect, this would probably double or triple the charging network.

Just thinking...breaking the iron grip oil has on our economy will take some unorthodox approaches...

 

[garygid]

Right, going 10 miles off route (20 RT) to get an extra 10-miles of range to get home means a 30-mile re-charge, taking about 2.5 hours at L2 rates, plus the time to drive the extra 20 miles.

Often, that would be an "inconvenient" solution.

 

[tps]

A 300 mph train from DC to NYC to Boston would make those trips less than an hour city center to city center.

Wow, think of the wind a train would create on the platform at Princeton Junction when it goes whooshing through at 300 mph...

 

[LEAFfan]

Now I have a Honda Civic GX (cng) and when there is about 55 miles left an orange low fuel light comes on. MANY times I've taken it down to less than half that (and I have a range of over 500 miles). One time I obtained 58 miles after the light and still made it to the station. Oh, and there aren't very many stations around Phoenix so sometimes I would drive 28 miles to one. How many times in the almost 6 years I've had the car do you think I ran out of fuel/cng?...NOT ONCE. So the LEAF will be a piece of cake!

I'm currently a Civic GX driver as well. I added a second 6 GGE tank to a Civic that I recently sold, but even with that second tank that left no room in the tank I could not get more than 400 miles from a full slow fill. What kind of set up do you have on your Civic that gets you 500 miles?

:shock:

My second tank is larger than the original, so I often can obtain a 12/gge fill at 3600-3900 psi. I use my ScanGauge II to achieve the best mileage. It's really easy now to hit over 50 mpg hwy and in the 40's city. After a valve adjustment last year, my mileage increased 4-5 mpg. It also has much more pep/acceleration than it had even when I first bought it.