Luft
Well-known member
A couple of days ago I decided to take a trip that was farther than my LEAF could travel on its charge. I normally charge to 80% and wanted to make the extended trip with this amount of charge. It just makes sense to me to use the 80% level because when DC quick chargers do become available that's what I'll probably be charging to anyway.
So, I fired up my laptop and went to Google maps. I requested a route from Tenino Washington to Elma. This leg was only 34.8 miles. No problem. From there I planned to go to Olympia so I plugged in Elma to Olympia. Only 29.7 miles giving me a total of 64.5 miles. The final leg would be the return from Olympia to Tenino. Google maps told me that the trip was 14.2 miles.
Time to break out TonyWilliams' chart and do some number crunching. I planned on travelling at 50 MPH and the temperature was 50F. I preheated the LEAF for almost an hour so I had 11 fuel bars showing and my GreenCharge app was showing 84%.
First I calculated my range loss due to the cold. (70 – 50)/2 = 10% loss.
Next I looked up my range without any losses. At 50 MPH and only 10 fuel bars I should be able to go between 78 and 85 miles. Because I had 11 fuel bars showing I decided to use the higher number of 85.
Subtracting 10% I figured that I could travel 85 – 8.5 = 76.5 miles. The first two legs of my trip added up to less than 65 miles so I figured I would arrive in Olympia with around 10 or 11 miles remaining. I would plug in at one of the many charging stations, slurp up enough electrons to make it home and finish up my trip. Sounds like a plan, right?
The Trip:
After importing the Elma destination into my GPS, I plugged in my iPod and turned on some classical music put the LEAF in ECO mode and gently rolled out of Tenino. After I got onto HWY 12 I set my cruise control to 50. It was raining but my windshield wasn't fogging and I kept the climate control off.
The speed limit changed from 50 to 55 but I stubbornly stayed at 50. A couple of cars were behind me but only one decided that I was worth passing. I looked at my outside temperature reading and noticed it had fallen to 48F. By the time I arrived in Elma with 4 bars showing, the temperature was 47F.
I requested a list of charging stations near my location. I chose the Olympia charging station on Adams street and set off. Almost immediately my navigation system, in a very pleasant voice, informed me that my destination may be out of my car's range. I felt an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. Olympia was the closest city with a charging station and the temperature was now 46F.
Cars started backing up behind me. The speed limit was now 60 MPH. I reluctantly increased my speed to 55 MPH. Bad mistake! As I reached Highway 101 my navigation system told me that I didn't have enough power to reach my destination!! I had been driving on the last two bars for a while now and the GOM said I could only go another 8 miles!
Screw the 60 MPH speed limit! I slowed to 50. Traffic was light and there was another lane. They could go around. Again requested charging stations near me. This time a chose the nearest one which was a Nissan Dealership. I lost another fuel bar and my GOM was now flashing at me. 4, 4, 4...
Up ahead I saw a white car on the side of the road. It was a State Patrol vehicle. There were two cars behind me and I saw the officer pull out onto the highway after we went by. Just as the two cars changed lanes to pass my navigation system told me to exit the highway. The patrolman didn't follow.
I felt much better now that I was able to do 38 MPH. It wasn't long and I was turning into the Nissan dealership with 3 miles showing on the GOM. They were happy to help me out and in a few hours with 4 bars showing I travelled home. The only trouble I had on the way home was that now my windshield was fogging badly and I refused to turn on the defogger.
Whew! What a trip.
So, I fired up my laptop and went to Google maps. I requested a route from Tenino Washington to Elma. This leg was only 34.8 miles. No problem. From there I planned to go to Olympia so I plugged in Elma to Olympia. Only 29.7 miles giving me a total of 64.5 miles. The final leg would be the return from Olympia to Tenino. Google maps told me that the trip was 14.2 miles.
Time to break out TonyWilliams' chart and do some number crunching. I planned on travelling at 50 MPH and the temperature was 50F. I preheated the LEAF for almost an hour so I had 11 fuel bars showing and my GreenCharge app was showing 84%.
First I calculated my range loss due to the cold. (70 – 50)/2 = 10% loss.
Next I looked up my range without any losses. At 50 MPH and only 10 fuel bars I should be able to go between 78 and 85 miles. Because I had 11 fuel bars showing I decided to use the higher number of 85.
Subtracting 10% I figured that I could travel 85 – 8.5 = 76.5 miles. The first two legs of my trip added up to less than 65 miles so I figured I would arrive in Olympia with around 10 or 11 miles remaining. I would plug in at one of the many charging stations, slurp up enough electrons to make it home and finish up my trip. Sounds like a plan, right?
The Trip:
After importing the Elma destination into my GPS, I plugged in my iPod and turned on some classical music put the LEAF in ECO mode and gently rolled out of Tenino. After I got onto HWY 12 I set my cruise control to 50. It was raining but my windshield wasn't fogging and I kept the climate control off.
The speed limit changed from 50 to 55 but I stubbornly stayed at 50. A couple of cars were behind me but only one decided that I was worth passing. I looked at my outside temperature reading and noticed it had fallen to 48F. By the time I arrived in Elma with 4 bars showing, the temperature was 47F.
I requested a list of charging stations near my location. I chose the Olympia charging station on Adams street and set off. Almost immediately my navigation system, in a very pleasant voice, informed me that my destination may be out of my car's range. I felt an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. Olympia was the closest city with a charging station and the temperature was now 46F.
Cars started backing up behind me. The speed limit was now 60 MPH. I reluctantly increased my speed to 55 MPH. Bad mistake! As I reached Highway 101 my navigation system told me that I didn't have enough power to reach my destination!! I had been driving on the last two bars for a while now and the GOM said I could only go another 8 miles!
Screw the 60 MPH speed limit! I slowed to 50. Traffic was light and there was another lane. They could go around. Again requested charging stations near me. This time a chose the nearest one which was a Nissan Dealership. I lost another fuel bar and my GOM was now flashing at me. 4, 4, 4...
Up ahead I saw a white car on the side of the road. It was a State Patrol vehicle. There were two cars behind me and I saw the officer pull out onto the highway after we went by. Just as the two cars changed lanes to pass my navigation system told me to exit the highway. The patrolman didn't follow.
I felt much better now that I was able to do 38 MPH. It wasn't long and I was turning into the Nissan dealership with 3 miles showing on the GOM. They were happy to help me out and in a few hours with 4 bars showing I travelled home. The only trouble I had on the way home was that now my windshield was fogging badly and I refused to turn on the defogger.
Whew! What a trip.