Drained it –One Leaf Owner's Experience

[friendnumber1]

I think I'll have a bumper sticker made up that says " I'm not driving slow. I'm extending my range!".

LIKE!!

+1

And...You can sell it to all drivers along the EV spectrum, not just Leafers.

 

[Herm]

Sunday night I had a similar experience only with a slightly different outcome. My wife and I had headed south for an outing and just before we left, there was a slight change in plans that required that we run south about another ten miles before returning home. It wasn't an option, we had to do it.

How did you find a outlet for the L1 charge?.. was your wife upset at you the whole time this was happening/

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

this is interesting. most dealers have the ability to lock off part of the dealership at night. just wondering what would be accessible during off business hours.

i am thinking i will be taking a run by the dealership in Oly tonight.

 

[Bud]

Then I must be nuts. I drive from Oceanside to Mirimar every day, in the right lane, doing between 55 and 65 with no problems. I would say my range is around 80-85. (my roundtrip is 63.5 miles and I have anywhere from 20-30 miles est. range when I get home.) It continues to amaze me how people say you can't drive at or just under the speed limit on the highways.....I do it every day.

Thankfully you are at least in the right lane, unlike here in Seattle where the left lane is the preferred slow lane for the designated traffic cop. Which leads me to a question.

Has anyone determined what type of radar signature the Leaf has? How well does it show up on speed traps and monitors? I thought I read an article a few years ago that determined that the radiator was the biggest radar reflector and made most cars visible a long way off. The Corvette was the least visible due to a slanting radiator, or I might be full of it.

I forgot to add, I can't stop smiling every time I get into the Leaf!

 

[TomT]

I just walked around the dealership public access area until I found an utility outlet in the open parking area and then went for it. The first outlet I found gave a fault on the EVSE (blinking green) and I had to find a second one, by the way...

My wife took it all in stride and napped while we were charging for the 2.5 hours or so. I read my Kindle.

Sunday night I had a similar experience only with a slightly different outcome. My wife and I had headed south for an outing and just before we left, there was a slight change in plans that required that we run south about another ten miles before returning home. It wasn't an option, we had to do it.

How did you find a outlet for the L1 charge?.. was your wife upset at you the whole time this was happening/

 

[TomT]

The Leaf has a radiator assembly too so I doubt it would be too much different...

Has anyone determined what type of radar signature the Leaf has? How well does it show up on speed traps and monitors? I thought I read an article a few years ago that determined that the radiator was the biggest radar reflector and made most cars visible a long way off. The Corvette was the least visible due to a slanting radiator, or I might be full of it.

 

[planet4ever]

3)Driving thru one of the most heavily populated areas of the country and not stopping at a Nissan dealer for a boost charge?? sounds like a perfect time to express your concerns

One correction, Dave. I-280 up the Peninsula is not exactly a heavily populated area. It is near the top of the (admittedly not too high) Coast Range, and most of the way there is not a building in sight. Sure, you are only a few miles from the continuous band of cities that hug the west side of the bay, but to get there you have to drop out of the mountains, and if you can't find a dealer with an open charging station you will have wasted a bunch of miles.

Yes, once he got past I-380 he could have tried Colma, and that probably would have been wise.

Ray

 

[Rake]

Has anyone determined what type of radar signature the Leaf has? How well does it show up on speed traps and monitors? I thought I read an article a few years ago that determined that the radiator was the biggest radar reflector and made most cars visible a long way off. The Corvette was the least visible due to a slanting radiator, or I might be full of it.

There is some truth to the corvette having a reduced signature, because there is a smaller flat (perpendicular) surface on the nose of the car to reflect the radar, reducing detection range.
(had a '80 stingray for several years, and never did get a ticket). Sort of in the same way a F-117A Stealth works. Also most police agencies train their troopers to use their lidar by aiming between the headlights, which on the vette puts the lidar beam on the steeply sloping hood. (Dad was a state trooper)

A great site is: www.radartest.com
Lots of solid info there.

One possible way to stealth any vehicle ... paint it with bridge paint. The paint used on steel bridges is very heavily loaded with lead, so that ships can see what is on the other side. They cant use it on aircraft, it's simply too heavy ... but on a car...

 

[friendnumber1]

Yes, once he got past I-380 he could have tried Colma, and that probably would have been wise.

Ray

I take it that you have never been to Serramonte Nissan in Colma.

Seriously, I could have done that, but at that point my expected range and what I had left to travel were very close, so we chose to go for it.

Admittedly, a mistake ON MY PART.

I thought perhaps the expected range might be conservative, or turtle mode might last longer, or I would some how find a 1-up easter egg on the GPS screen.

As it was, two blocks from home it was game over.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Seriously, I could have done that, but at that point my expected range and what I had left to travel were very close, so we chose to go for it.

Admittedly, a MISTAKE ON MY PART.

sure, not the right decision, but was it really that wrong? we all make mistakes and we do it all day long. most are easy to fix, many are simply slightly less than the greater of two evils or the lesser of two umm...ahhh... "goodies?"

i judge mistakes on the magnitude of the consequences. i guess my other post was not clear on that part, but you were two blocks short of looking like a genius. what was your other decision? stay and charge for how long? 30 minutes? it took you 5 minutes to push the car home. you pulled no muscles, your daughter had fun... i mean, how bad was it really?

the way i see it, the "right" decision would have mostly likely gotten you home later (which in itself is a bit of a fail) and left you without the knowledge you now have.

 

[Boomer23]

and if you can't find a dealer with an open charging station you will have wasted a bunch of miles.

I've probably missed this on another thread, but are we going to get all LEAF dealers shown on a future update of our range maps for just this purpose?

 

[BlueSL]

and if you can't find a dealer with an open charging station you will have wasted a bunch of miles.

I've probably missed this on another thread, but are we going to get all LEAF dealers shown on a future update of our range maps for just this purpose?

I am pretty sure this general topic (EVSE location updating through the nav system) made it to "Top 5" question status.

 

[Randy]

Don't know about you guys, but I was able to force a download of chargers "in my area" and the Nissan dealers within a few miles all showed up. So I think that function is working. There's also a way to tell it to download chargers "near your destination" so you could program something into the GPS and do that download as well....

 

[Herm]

I just walked around the dealership public access area until I found an utility outlet in the open parking area and then went for it. The first outlet I found gave a fault on the EVSE (blinking green) and I had to find a second one, by the way...
My wife took it all in stride and napped while we were charging for the 2.5 hours or so. I read my Kindle.

Lucky guy, I can imagine the screaming in my case..