CMYK4Life
Well-known member
I know for some veteran Leaf owners on here this trip is no sweat. You guys have probably done this many times. However, I am a n00b, and so are the people around me; so this is to prove to myself and others what we can do in this car (I am surrounded by skeptics!)
Ever since our son was born we find ourselves driving these mid to long distances (55 to 98 miles) to the grandparents on weekends. The gas bill was really hurting with our aging ICE cars. One major reason I got the Leaf.
This weekend we want to visit my in-laws which live 98 miles away. We plan on avoiding the 70pmh highway and will travel via 55mph secondary highways that cut through the country and pretty much parallel the 70MPH highway.
We plan on stopping for lunch in a town with free level 2 public charging to pick up a little more juice along the way. My wife is counting this as a date/family time! Because, it is a cute town with shops and parks within walking distance we can take our son to. I estimate we will only need an hour or two to pick up enough juice to complete the 98 mile journey (13’ Leaf SV 6.6kw).
Once we arrive at Grandmas house I plan on level 1 charging at Grandmas whenever the car is parked. Brothers, sisters, and cousins are coming over for dinner. I am sure I am going to be going out on some 'joy rides' with the guys.
We are spending the night (like we normally do); level 1 as we sleep. I estimate by morning we will have enough energy to make it back to the same little town we visited on the way out with the free level 2 charging, shops, and parks. We plan on having lunch once again and walking around for an hour or two.
I know this isnt an extreme challenge for EV enthusiasts or this car. But it will challenge the assumptions and misconceptions of family, friends, and peers have about this car and EV's in general. They just cant wrap their head around how you can travel mid to long distances and how ‘normal’ it can feel. Aside from avoiding the 70MPH highways and visiting a small town along the way this is trip is 100% normal for us (even the sleep over part). Travel to Grandma's on Sat, enjoy a large family meal, spend the night, Go home Sunday around lunch time.
I am actually looking forward to driving out to the in-laws for the first time in years...
*update*
Thanks all for your advice and kind words.
I followed the plan in my original post. Programmed my route using the 2013 SV on-board navigation 'eco route'. Left Saturday PM at 100%, got to our charge point ~30%. We ate lunch (1 hour), hit a few shops (45 min). Charging for 1:45 total. Had something like 68% charge, more than needed to get to our final destination. Gave 1 test drive to family when I arrived, level 1 charging when parked.
Later that night, once the little guy was in bed, we drove 18 miles or so (round trip) to the local bar that had live music (no charging). Home by midnight; level 1 charging.
We Left grandmas around 11:30am SUN. I think we had something like 70%; more than we needed to make it to the planned charging/lunch stop in the 'cute town'. We walked to a park after lunch; and before we knew it we had been charging for level 2 charging for 2 hours! This gave me 78% charge! WAY more than I needed to get 55miles back home!
So -about 20 miles away from our chargepoint the eco route crossed the freeway. I had plenty of charge so I took the last 25 miles on the freeway. I drove aggressive; I hit 91 in the car WHILE MY FAMILY WAS SLEEPING. This thing is a flying carpet on the freeway!
I drove at least 80MPH the last 30 miles home on the highway. I coasted into the driveway wth ~12% or so. Never sweated it. What a fun road trip it was!
Ever since our son was born we find ourselves driving these mid to long distances (55 to 98 miles) to the grandparents on weekends. The gas bill was really hurting with our aging ICE cars. One major reason I got the Leaf.
This weekend we want to visit my in-laws which live 98 miles away. We plan on avoiding the 70pmh highway and will travel via 55mph secondary highways that cut through the country and pretty much parallel the 70MPH highway.
We plan on stopping for lunch in a town with free level 2 public charging to pick up a little more juice along the way. My wife is counting this as a date/family time! Because, it is a cute town with shops and parks within walking distance we can take our son to. I estimate we will only need an hour or two to pick up enough juice to complete the 98 mile journey (13’ Leaf SV 6.6kw).
Once we arrive at Grandmas house I plan on level 1 charging at Grandmas whenever the car is parked. Brothers, sisters, and cousins are coming over for dinner. I am sure I am going to be going out on some 'joy rides' with the guys.
We are spending the night (like we normally do); level 1 as we sleep. I estimate by morning we will have enough energy to make it back to the same little town we visited on the way out with the free level 2 charging, shops, and parks. We plan on having lunch once again and walking around for an hour or two.
I know this isnt an extreme challenge for EV enthusiasts or this car. But it will challenge the assumptions and misconceptions of family, friends, and peers have about this car and EV's in general. They just cant wrap their head around how you can travel mid to long distances and how ‘normal’ it can feel. Aside from avoiding the 70MPH highways and visiting a small town along the way this is trip is 100% normal for us (even the sleep over part). Travel to Grandma's on Sat, enjoy a large family meal, spend the night, Go home Sunday around lunch time.
I am actually looking forward to driving out to the in-laws for the first time in years...
*update*
Thanks all for your advice and kind words.
I followed the plan in my original post. Programmed my route using the 2013 SV on-board navigation 'eco route'. Left Saturday PM at 100%, got to our charge point ~30%. We ate lunch (1 hour), hit a few shops (45 min). Charging for 1:45 total. Had something like 68% charge, more than needed to get to our final destination. Gave 1 test drive to family when I arrived, level 1 charging when parked.
Later that night, once the little guy was in bed, we drove 18 miles or so (round trip) to the local bar that had live music (no charging). Home by midnight; level 1 charging.
We Left grandmas around 11:30am SUN. I think we had something like 70%; more than we needed to make it to the planned charging/lunch stop in the 'cute town'. We walked to a park after lunch; and before we knew it we had been charging for level 2 charging for 2 hours! This gave me 78% charge! WAY more than I needed to get 55miles back home!
So -about 20 miles away from our chargepoint the eco route crossed the freeway. I had plenty of charge so I took the last 25 miles on the freeway. I drove aggressive; I hit 91 in the car WHILE MY FAMILY WAS SLEEPING. This thing is a flying carpet on the freeway!
I drove at least 80MPH the last 30 miles home on the highway. I coasted into the driveway wth ~12% or so. Never sweated it. What a fun road trip it was!