My Leaf allows guilt-free excursions like the ones I made in my Honda Civic 14 years ago, when gasoline was 99 cents per gallon. While the rules for using an EV are slightly different than the ones for gas power, the reward is worth the price in most cases. And since I have a gas-powered vehicle for the trips that require it, it becomes more of an adventure than a hassle to try longer trips in the BEV.
This weekend I drove to the quick charger at the VW ERL near Oracle campus, just to see where it was, and to try my first QC. On the way there I kept up with the 65 mph traffic on US 101, which drains power pretty rapidly. I kept an eye on the charge state so I could be sure of making it back home if the QC was still out of service. The only road to the facility is tricky to find! It is at the Ralston exit, at a stoplight in the middle of an overpass! Don't get fooled into re-entering the freeway like I did
. Even though the QC was marked as out of service on the plugshare app, both sides were working. Since no one was waiting to use it, I charged to 98% (which took about 30 minutes) and pushed on to one of my favorite restaurants near San Francisco, because I could
. Even though I could have limped home without more charge, I stopped at the QC again and charged to 80% (in 13 minutes.) The full trip was 86 miles, almost completely at 65mph, with 2 QC stops. It is obvious that L3 QC in the middle of an extended journey is far more useful for range extension than L2 chargers at either end. I have started carrying a couple of books to read while waiting for a L2 charge.
The next day I tried a trip to the Gilroy outlet stores. I avoided the freeway for 75% of the trip, and made a couple of small side trips. There was some difficulty finding the charger, since it wasn't where plugshare said it was. I asked a facilities guy for directions to the EV chargers (Thanks Anthony!). I also could have read the reviews in plugshare, which mention the Sony Store. I got an hour of free L2 charge at the Sony store, and bought some jelly bellies (there's a Jelly Belly outlet store?!). I made one last side trip near home in order to hear the low battery warning for the first time
. What did I gain? A scenic 95 mile drive in the country, and increased comfort level knowing what I can expect from the Leaf. There were a few other alternate locations nearby according to plugshare, including a Nissan dealer, and I could easily have made it back to the South Bay, so I had plenty of options if things didn't go as planned.
All this was done with zero gas and very low stress. I actually found it to be fun! And the fuel cost was zero, since I have some excess solar power. I am looking forward to maintaining the ability to go on excursions like this no matter what happens to oil prices.