NC Leaf Owners

[OPECsux]

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.

The one in central Winston is just south of Old Salem and I believe you need a special card to get it to turn on, the other at Childress Winery is a standard wall outlet. The reason I ask is because I volunteer at the Transportation Museum from time to time but never take the Leaf cause it seems to be just out of range round trip for me (in King).

 

[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.

The one in central Winston is just south of Old Salem and I believe you need a special card to get it to turn on, the other at Childress Winery is a standard wall outlet. The reason I ask is because I volunteer at the Transportation Museum from time to time but never take the Leaf cause it seems to be just out of range round trip for me (in King).

Yeah, I think your trip may not be do-able at first glance. You will make it to Spencer from King (54 miles according to Google maps) with no problem but you're not going too far after that. Even if you used the L2 (240v) charging station at the Salisbury Nissan dealer, you'd have to charge for several hours for the return trip. My L2 charging station is still not yet installed so that isn't an option for you yet either. And of course there are no L3 (480v) stations in North Carolina at all. Any chance of talking the transportation museum into installing an L2 station? or even designating an L1 (120v) outlet for electric vehicle use. If you spent most of the day in Spencer with the car plugged in, you might get enough juice to get home, especially if you started out from home with a 100% charge and drove to maximize range.

Doing the math very roughly, starting from home with 100% should get you about 70 miles conservatively, maybe 10-15 more if you use aggressive hypermiling techniques and are good at it. Let's say you arrive in Spencer with 20 miles left, any more reduces the charging time needed for the return. Plugging into a normal 120v outlet gets you about 70 miles in 20 hours or about 3.5 miles per charging hour. For the return trip you have 20 miles left over, and need to add 34 miles of charge, or about 10 hours at 120v. That may be cutting things a tad close. You can use the same method to calculate the return charge needed using your own miles/kwh experiences and it may prove do-able. Certainly do-able with an L2 station somewhere at this end and 3-4 hours of charging.

Let us all know what you decide and how you came to the decision...helps all of us.

 

[OPECsux]

The museum is having some big financial issues right now and I wouldn't want to be a burden, also I will be trying to sell my Leaf, until then I think it will be easier to just ride my motorcycle to the museum.

 

[tt2007]

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

Would need to confirm both are open to the public and available on day of travel before setting out.

If you need a charge, and if you are close to Colfax NC, let me know. Got a L2 charger here in the garage.

Talos

 

[babynuke]

While waiting for my 2013 S to arrive in mid-September, I am becoming familiar with the stated range and where I should be able to go. Pulled this composite map from the Nissan website which shows a 75 mile radius circle of range from my zip code.

Ty

 

[dm33]

While waiting for my 2013 S to arrive in mid-September, I am becoming familiar with the stated range and where I should be able to go. Pulled this composite map from the Nissan website which shows a 75 mile radius circle of range from my zip code.
Ty

Have to be careful to note the Leafs range drops significantly at high speeds. I40, i540, route 1 have 70 mph sections. Leafs range best case at that speed is a little over 60 miles. Not 75. Throw in AC or heat, elevation change, and the fact that no roads go straight away from the center and your effective range is much less.
If you drive slow on back roads then 75 mile range is more realistic.

 

[SalisburySam]

Pulled this composite map from the Nissan website which shows a 75 mile radius circle of range from my zip code.

Ty

I agree with dm33's cautions in that you will likely not get anywhere near 75 miles at full Interstate speeds so I'd suggest a more realistic 50-60 miles one-way. That said, and as the Nissan map shows, all the charging stations are L2, not L3 quick charge stations. What that means is that you will need time at that station to "refill" the battery. Others in this forum have suggested that the L2 charging rate is about 12 miles per hour of charge for model years 2011 and 2012. Posts in the forum have suggested 20-25 miles per hour of charge for MY2013. Factor your necessary charging time into those longer trips you're likely to take.

 

[lpickup]

Posts in the forum have suggested 20-25 miles per hour of charge for MY2013. Factor your necessary charging time into those longer trips you're likely to take.

Keep in mind that this is for full 30A L2 charging. Not that we have a lot of ECOtality (Blink) hardware in the state, but a recent news item indicated that ECOtality was limiting their L2 charging to 16A due to equipment failures (shortcomings) that couldn't handle the higher charging rates. So just be careful not to necessarily assume that you'll get the full 6.6kW out of every charging station until you actually verify that it works.

Having said that, to the orginal poster, I wouldn't sweat it much anyway. For most people driving the LEAF is not about trying to figure out how you can get everywhere. You'll probably have a usual set of destinations that you'll go to 90-95% of the time and you'll know how to get there. Once you have the car for awhile and get to know exactly what your range is for your driving style and roads you travel on, you can get more adventurous and push the limits a bit. But in my experience anyway, that hasn't happened a whole lot. Most of the time I've been just fine with driving around to my usual destinations.

 

[harryjpowell]

Can anyone verify where this DC quick charge is at NCSU? I haven't seen it on Plugshare but I'll go roaming tomorrow and see if I can find it.

http://www.wral.com/ncsu-leads-the-charge-for-plug-in-cars/12859789/

 

[babynuke]

The video said Centennial Campus. Looks like you have a few parking decks to visit.



Ty

 

[MTNRanger]

If you watch the video at 52 seconds, there is an existing L2 station next to it. I found it here: http://api.plugshare.com/view/location/8676

1791 Varsity Drive, Raleigh NC, 27695
"Enter Keystone parking (behind building) from Varsity Dr. Parking permits are required campus wide."

 

[lpickup]

Can anyone verify where this DC quick charge is at NCSU? I haven't seen it on Plugshare but I'll go roaming tomorrow and see if I can find it.

http://www.wral.com/ncsu-leads-the-charge-for-plug-in-cars/12859789/

Be aware that as far as I know this charger is not publicly accessible. It is for a study at NC State on reducing the impact to the grid of DC FC (I think they are probably hooking some kind of battery backup to it and trickle charging the battery and using the battery to quick charge). At least that was the status a month or two ago. They were not allowing public charging due to liability concerns and also because it is a privately funded study.

Having said that, I'm not necessarily saying things haven't changed either. I had a chance to talk to Dr. Pritchard awhile back and he confirmed what I said above. I also have a first hand report from someone that participates on the RTP EV Fan Club Facebook page that used it when it first came online, but he said it was since put on access restriction (I assume you need some kind of card/code/key or something to get it to work).

Yes, I do find it odd that if it is not publicly accessible that Dr. Pritchard would have mentioned that to Brian Schraeder and they would've reported the story appropriately (or at least mentioned that it was not open to the public). However, the point of the story could just be that DC FC stations are expected here soon. The Tesla Supercharger station in Burlington will be opening soon and I have it on fairly good authority that one of the Nissan dealers in Raleigh (but only Raleigh within NC) will be getting a DC FC station (I'm guessing Leith).

Another related tidbit is this release from Advanced Energy today:
http://www.advancedenergy.org/transportation/docs/Project%20Description_DCFC_2013-09-07.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[MTNRanger]

I just got this email from Advanced Energy regarding DCFC for NC.

http://www.advancedenergy.org/transportation/ncpev/blog/news/?p=227

More detail here:
http://www.advancedenergy.org/Transportation/docs/Project Description_DCFC_2013-09-07.pdf

 

[harryjpowell]

So we found the DCQC at NCSU..

There's no problem getting to the DCQC no gates or any access problem.. A sign about permit parking but hey I'm going to sit there with it charging not parking...

Really?
ICED By another leaf not plugged in!!!

For the techies

Should fit

YEA It connected

Awe crap you have to have some RFID card.. The unit is from ABB. I'm not going to put it on plugshare until someone figures out what card to get. Obviously I tried my chargepoint card to no avail...ugg.

 

[TomT]

I'm going to guess, based on the plate, that it is owned by the Advanced Energy folks...

Really?
ICED By another leaf not plugged in!!!

 

[dm33]

Really?
ICED By another leaf not plugged in!!!

I hate that. Its looks like the same Leaf I've seen blocking charge stations at NCSU. I left them a note complaining. They obviously don't care because next time I went, they were parked there again not plugged in. Empty parking lot yet they insist on blocking the charge station. I feel sorry for people who need to feel blocking a charge station is some sort of privilege or special right. Makes them feel important.

I complained to NCSU parking enforcement. They said the way rules are written at NC State, those parking spaces are only for electric vehicles but the rule doesn't say anything about charging or not.

Raleigh has a law on the books that says there's a $50 fine to park in an EV spot unless your an EV AND plugged in. It still doesn't require to be charging unfortunately. However I believe its considered a private lot owned by NCSU so the city ordinance doesn't apply.

Even worse, at the nearby building on Capability Drive also on Centennial Campus, there's the office of NCGreenPower. They parked a Leaf in a charge station spot, plugged it in, but never bothered to even have it start charging. Chargepoint station waiting to start a session. Why someone would do this is beyond me. Almost like a demonstration of what it would look like if someone were to plugin. But why block it from someone who does want to charge? Other spot was blocked by a Prius. As far as I could tell it was not a plug in prius, just a regular prius.

Very sad the NCSU won't do anything about it and that there are EV users there who insist on blocking these spots to feel important or some such thing. The experience at NCSU has soured me on public charging stations overall. Just can't rely on the public to be remotely considerate.

 

[dm33]

Plug in America event scheduled for September 28th, 12 noon-2pm via the RTP EV meetup group. Location TBD.
Register at pluginday.org

 

[wferrell]

My old car finally died and I am seriously considering leasing a Leaf. However my problem is in the RTP area I can't get any dealership to return emails or my calls. I had a test drive, loved the car, starting talking about a two year lease and then nothing from that dealership. Calls and emails to two others dealers have gone unanswered as well. Anyone have any recommendations on who to lease from in the RTP area? Especially interested in working with a salesman who returns my calls and doesn't make me beg to give them business. Are Leafs in RTP that popular?

Thanks, Wray

 

[babynuke]

Hello Wray,
I have no information on the dealership, but tonight I saw that Fred Anderson Nissan has opened on Wake Forest Road across from the Bali Hai restaurant and beside Southern States Nissan!?!. My wife and I rode through the parking lot and counted six LEAFs! Their website is so new they have no inventory posted. But, there were salesmen in the showroom.
Maybe.....
I am currently waiting for my lease LEAF to arrive next week at Lee Nissan in Wilson. I am their very first LEAF customer!!
Ty

 

[lpickup]

Anyone have any recommendations on who to lease from in the RTP area?

I don't have any first-hand information on this dealer in particular, but most of the people I know that have/leased LEAFs got them through Leith Nissan. I think they probably do the largest volume of any dealer in the Triangle (they supplied most of the original 40 Advanced Energy program LEAFs).

I got mine through Crossroads Nissan in Wake Forest. I can't really enthusiastically recommend them as I got mine the first month they sold them and they didn't really know what they were doing, but at the same time I don't have any problems with them either.

I think in general, when it comes to the LEAF, here's what you're up against: most salesman just don't get the car. To them it's just another model and they have no incentive to put you in one. Worse still, since dealerships have a LEAF specialist or two that have been specifically trained to sell the LEAF, the non-LEAF specialists probably see the LEAF more as a threat because if you go to the dealer and say to one of them you want a LEAF, they have to hand you off to the guy that does LEAFs and they don't get the sale. And the dealership themselves don't like it much because there is practically no maintenance on the thing so you won't be into the shop every 3000 miles for an oil change.

So that's the bad news. But that doesn't mean your stuck.

What you need to do is call up the dealer you want to work with. Ask the receptionist to tell you what day(s) the LEAF specialist is in and then physically go to the dealer when they are in. Unfortunately if there is only one specialist, there are probably going to be 2 days out of each week that they are not there. So you need to avoid those days. Once you make direct contact with the LEAF specialist and get their card, you should have a great experience. Keep trying, it is WELL worth the effort!