NC Leaf Owners

[lpickup]

Only viewing your state and its politics from afar, I would agree that it's punitive.

I'm trying to keep an open-mind...although I am biased!

 

[lpickup]

There will be a meeting of the Commerce committee to discuss the bill TOMORROW, May 7 at 11:00am in room 1027 of the legislative building.

I just received notification that SB 327 has been dropped from today's agenda. That's all I have at this point.

This is now on the agenda for the THURSDAY MAY 9 committee meeting, same time and place.

 

[greengate]

There will be a meeting of the Commerce committee to discuss the bill TOMORROW, May 7 at 11:00am in room 1027 of the legislative building.

I just received notification that SB 327 has been dropped from today's agenda. That's all I have at this point.

This is now on the agenda for the THURSDAY MAY 9 committee meeting, same time and place.

It's good that you are on top of this and posting the information on this site as it effects all EV owners as well as people of like consciousness...who someday may also be EV owners.

It's also been said that "this is our government," even though we didn't pay for it. We will however be paying for it out of a different pocket if we just "let it slide."

 

[pclifton]

Only viewing your state and its politics from afar, I would agree that it's punitive.

+1

The current legislative environment (for the environment) in NC is the worst I have ever seen. In a few short months they have:
1) Removed public charging stations from the rest areas
2) Proposed to roll back or get rid of the Renewable Energy Portfolio
3) Tax Electric Vehicles (as Lance stated, unfairly)
4) Prevent Tesla from selling vehicles in NC
5) Just heard today, NC HB-201 is in committee to roll back energy efficency codes to 2009 levels.

You be the judge, is NC regressive (and agressive)?

 

[greengate]

Only viewing your state and its politics from afar, I would agree that it's punitive.

+1

The current legislative environment (for the environment) in NC is the worst I have ever seen. In a few short months they have:
1) Removed public charging stations from the rest areas
2) Proposed to roll back or get rid of the Renewable Energy Portfolio
3) Tax Electric Vehicles (as Lance stated, unfairly)
4) Prevent Tesla from selling vehicles in NC
5) Just heard today, NC HB-201 is in committee to roll back energy efficency codes to 2009 levels.

You be the judge, is NC regressive (and agressive)?

There are those who want to "bomb them back to the stone age," and there are others who just want to stay in the stone age.

 

[OPECsux]

The cavemen here are hostile towards anything that's not powered by a big block. We are lucky enough to work for a company that supports green initiatives and has 120v outlets in the far side of parking lot so we can charge. We planned on placing them far from the building so we won't get iced and there are a couple of guys that go out of their way to block the outlets.

 

[lpickup]

there are a couple of guys that go out of their way to block the outlets.

Seriously? Not that I'm suggesting upping an arms race, but is it feasible for you to park behind them so you can get a charge and they then have to come find you to move their car before they can move theirs?

I've come SO close to doing this at Whole Foods that is notoriously always ICEd. I parked right behind an ICE parked in the EVSE spot once (my wife was still in the car) so I could go ask the manager if they would page the owner (they never do, and I knew they wouldn't, but I still ask every time and let them know about the Raleigh ordinance that makes it illegal for them to park there). Apparently while I was in the store one, the owner came out and gave my wife a hard time even though she politely explained that she was blocking the charging station and that I had gone inside the store to see if I could have the owner paged. If I'm there myself sometime I really think I'm going to plug in anyway and let the ICE owner come find me.

 

[greengate]

there are a couple of guys that go out of their way to block the outlets.

Seriously? Not that I'm suggesting upping an arms race, but is it feasible for you to park behind them so you can get a charge and they then have to come find you to move their car before they can move theirs?

I've come SO close to doing this at Whole Foods that is notoriously always ICEd. I parked right behind an ICE parked in the EVSE spot once (my wife was still in the car) so I could go ask the manager if they would page the owner (they never do, and I knew they wouldn't, but I still ask every time and let them know about the Raleigh ordinance that makes it illegal for them to park there). Apparently while I was in the store one, the owner came out and gave my wife a hard time even though she politely explained that she was blocking the charging station and that I had gone inside the store to see if I could have the owner paged. If I'm there myself sometime I really think I'm going to plug in anyway and let the ICE owner come find me.

See if there is a state statute or local ordnance so the violators can be ticketed.

If there is none, writhe to your state rep requesting the need for one.

I put this out as the OP because it happened here in IL. While the police in this circumstance seemed to be unaware of the fact there is a state statute in IL, (IVC 625 ILCS 5-11 1301.9, ) they are know having researched it themselves bringing it to my attention. Here the fine is $250.

I look at it this way: If your package is big enough to park there when you shouldn't, then your wallet should be big enough to pay the fine and suffer the consequences..which in CA could also result in the offender's vehicle being towed. Some local ordnances will have variations on the general statute, like if an EV is parked for more than 4 hours, it too can also be towed.

 

[lpickup]

See if there is a state statute or local ordnance so the violators can be ticketed.

There is a local ordinance. Whether it applies to privately owned parking lots, however, is unclear, or I would even say it appears to NOT apply. Here's a link to the city's FAQ and text of the applicable text of the ordinance: http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PWksParkingMgmt/Documents/ParkLink/EVParkingFAQ's.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As for taking it to the state level, I think the recent posts here illustrate what we would be up against!

 

[greengate]

See if there is a state statute or local ordnance so the violators can be ticketed.

There is a local ordinance. Whether it applies to privately owned parking lots, however, is unclear, or I would even say it appears to NOT apply. Here's a link to the city's FAQ and text of the applicable text of the ordinance: http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PWksParkingMgmt/Documents/ParkLink/EVParkingFAQ's.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As for taking it to the state level, I think the recent posts here illustrate what we would be up against!

Good for Raleigh as they seem have the correct intention.

One way to test the interpretation would be for a policeman to write a ticket to an offender on private property. First time you see this, give the police a call.

There may already be a state law as frequently cities make their own version of the already existing state law...(probably cuts down their chance of having it overturned and the revenue from the violators fine might flow directly the municipality as opposed to the state. Would be interesting to find out. At some point I will look into that here in IL.

If it's not a state law, one way to sell it would be as a "revenue generator," which usually gets their attention.

 

[OPECsux]

The only problem is that the company has not marked any spots as EV only, they just put 3 outlets on a post so me and 2 other guys could charge. I really don't want to stir things up now, cause we all know it's very easy for a place to say no more charging allowed and the party is over. You know what they say beggers can't be choosers.

 

[greengate]

The only problem is that the company has not marked any spots as EV only, they just put 3 outlets on a post so me and 2 other guys could charge. I really don't want to stir things up now, cause we all know it's very easy for a place to say no more charging allowed and the party is over. You know what they say beggers can't be choosers.

Identifying them a places for EV's might solve the problem.

Maybe the ICE drivers think it is for winter time diesel cars!!

(You do have winter there????)

 

[lpickup]

(You do have winter there????)

Not the kind of winter that requires block warmers!

 

[OPECsux]

The only problem is that the company has not marked any spots as EV only, they just put 3 outlets on a post so me and 2 other guys could charge. I really don't want to stir things up now, cause we all know it's very easy for a place to say no more charging allowed and the party is over. You know what they say beggers can't be choosers.

Identifying them a places for EV's might solve the problem.

Maybe the ICE drivers think it is for winter time diesel cars!!

(You do have winter there????)

Seems like we just got outta winter, to the other NC people, does the weather in NC get hot enough to cause battery damage? We don't have shade in the parking lot and I have a carport at home.

 

[lpickup]

Seems like we just got outta winter, to the other NC people, does the weather in NC get hot enough to cause battery damage? We don't have shade in the parking lot and I have a carport at home.

Depends on who you ask. My battery is doing just fine. 22000 miles. Garaged at night, but my wife parks out in the open during the day. Others have reported what they feel like is a range loss. Personally I don't think we have nearly the same worries that the AZ folks do.

 

[pclifton]

Seems like we just got outta winter, to the other NC people, does the weather in NC get hot enough to cause battery damage? We don't have shade in the parking lot and I have a carport at home.

NC is a big State. Some parts get a lot warmer than others. The answer is it depends, and maybe on more than just the average temps... You should look at Sloaty's battery model, I think that will give you your best answer.

Not to disagree with Lance, but without putting a GID meter on the LEAF it is real hard to say how much degradation there is. Since the first capacity bar represents a wide range a LEAF could be pretty close to losing the first bar and there is not a good way to know...

I have a GID meter. My wife and I both purchased 2012 LEAFs about 3 months apart. Her car was delivered in November 2011, and mine in January 2012. The production dates were about 2 months apart.

At 16K miles her Cayenne Red LEAF is showing about 5 percent degradation. Before I traded my Ocean Blue LEAF at 7K miles I was down 9 percent. We both drive very conservative, both parked in the sun during the day. I babied my LEAF much more than she does. I mostly charged to 80 percent except when I was running battery tests and trying to get the cells to equalize. She almost always charges to 100 percent.

Why the difference? My best guess is quality control, since both cars were in the same environment. I can only say that given my experience a car with a TMS for the battery is a safer bet where I live.

Ken Clifton

 

[lpickup]

Not to disagree with Lance, but without putting a GID meter on the LEAF it is real hard to say how much degradation there is. Since the first capacity bar represents a wide range a LEAF could be pretty close to losing the first bar and there is not a good way to know...

True. For the record, my unscientific method is based on a trip I take every 3-4 weeks that's just over 70 miles (i.e. enough distance to use a good portion of the full battery). I charge to 100% on those days. I'm not in any rush hour, so traffic is consistent. A good portion of it is on highway and I use cruise control so the driving is pretty consistent. Weather is a variable I can't control, so I pretty much throw out my winter trips and only pay attention to the summer trips. What I've found (now that it's warming up again), is that I'm arriving home with about one bar less than last year (last year I arrived at home with 2 bars, this year 1 bar--during the winter I was down to LBW and one time down to VLBW). Not the perfect measuring stick, but not bad either. I figure that I'm down about 7-10 miles of range.

However someone else I've talked to was pretty sure they lost significant capacity early last summer. I don't know if a GIDmeter was ever hooked up. My theory was this though (because this happened to us): my wife's normal commute is fairly regular as well and she always paid attention to how many bars were left when she got to work, and where she was when the first bar dropped, etc. Once the weather started warming up she complained that the first bar was dropping really quickly and she was down one more bar than normal when she arrived at work. At first this was disconcerting, but I figured out that what had happened was that we had turned off the climate timer (pre-heat). The effect was this: when pre-heat was enabled, it takes about 5 minutes to get the cabin up to temp, and for the remaining 15-20 minutes (the climate timer usually came on at either 20 or 25 minutes before scheduled departure time), the excess power coming from the EVSE went into the battery. So rather than being at 80% at the start of her trip, it hwas more like 85% or so. When we turned off the climate timer, she started off with a true 80% charge. The net effect is that it APPEARED to her that she had less range, but not really.

 

[SalisburySam]

Hello NC LEAF Owners,

I just moved into North Carolina from Central Ohio and would like to hear from others about LEAF groups or activities. I live in Salisbury, about half way between Greensboro and Charlotte just off I-85. I've had my 2012SL LEAF for almost a year and a half and like the vehicle very, very much. I did get the AeroVironment L2 charging station installed with my LEAF purchase and brought it down with me.

I noticed the nearest L2 station is at the local Nissan dealer: Ben Mynatt Nissan. No L3 quick charging station anywhere near here that I could find.

If you're in town, PM me and let's share a cup 'o joe and some LEAF stories.

 

[OPECsux]

Can you make it from Salisbury to Winston in the Leaf?

 

[SalisburySam]

Can you make it from Salisbury to Winston in the Leaf?

Easy answer is "Yes...but". I map that as about 40 miles which is well within range one-way. I won't make it back however unless there is a charging station somewhere. There is supposed to be one near the center of W-S, and another on the way back in Lexington at Childress Racing. Would need to confirm both are open to the public and available on day of travel before setting out.