flagshipdynamics
New member
I recently took a long trip in the Leaf. I left Spring Hill (35 miles south of Nashville) with a full charge, stopped in Nashville, then went to Lebanon to quick charge. Took about 30 minutes to get to 96%. Stopped again in Crossville. Same time to charge to about 93%. I got to Knoxville and the Blink L2 charger I was going to use was not working, which messed with my plan to charge slowly while I was in Knoxville. Well I ended up trying to get to the Farrugut? Quick charger, but I knew it wouldn't end well.
I found my way to the Southern Alliance For Alternative Energy and found a single working Blink which appeared to be powered by the solar array to the building.
Whew. I juiced up enough to get to Farrugut. It was about 87 degress ambient with a cool breeze. The nonstop driving and charging heated the battery up. I also had a load in the back on the way home, about 200 lbs. I knew my trip home was downhill mostly, so I wasn't worried about any issues with the load affecting range. I got to Farrugut and started the quick charger. It took almost 45 minutes to get to 86% when the Blink stopped the charge, probably due to the battery being one bar in the red.
I can't remember if I stopped between there and Lebanon, but when I stopped in Lebanon the Leaf would only take about a 56% charge, and it took about 46 minutes to get that. I looked at the map and remembered getting from Nashville to Nissan HQ in Coolsprings with 14% and I knew I could do it.
Things didn't end too well, and it was only because I got cocky. On the road to Spring Hill, you pass by I-24 which is a quick jump over to the Leaf's birthplace, the Smyrna plant. They've got a quick charger there, but I was within range of home and wanted to get there sooner rather than later. I kept going and when my battery went blinking I had what I thought was plenty of range, and it would have been in the past.
The battery was still one bar into the red, though, and it made all the difference. I was about 4 miles from home when the turtle came on. I only got about a mile before I pulled into a gas station with literally no charge at all. I pushed it a few feet into a parking spot that had a 120v plug. Got it plugged in after talking to the clerk. I came back a few hours later and picked it up. If I didn't have someone who could pick me up, I probably would have stopped in Smyrna.
Two things about this story. I really tried to push the limits. I also underestimated what effect a hot battery would have on Turtle Mode to Death mileage, and also to charging the battery.
Next time I'm going to quick charge to 80% only, in an effort to not heat up the battery.
I found my way to the Southern Alliance For Alternative Energy and found a single working Blink which appeared to be powered by the solar array to the building.
Whew. I juiced up enough to get to Farrugut. It was about 87 degress ambient with a cool breeze. The nonstop driving and charging heated the battery up. I also had a load in the back on the way home, about 200 lbs. I knew my trip home was downhill mostly, so I wasn't worried about any issues with the load affecting range. I got to Farrugut and started the quick charger. It took almost 45 minutes to get to 86% when the Blink stopped the charge, probably due to the battery being one bar in the red.
I can't remember if I stopped between there and Lebanon, but when I stopped in Lebanon the Leaf would only take about a 56% charge, and it took about 46 minutes to get that. I looked at the map and remembered getting from Nashville to Nissan HQ in Coolsprings with 14% and I knew I could do it.
Things didn't end too well, and it was only because I got cocky. On the road to Spring Hill, you pass by I-24 which is a quick jump over to the Leaf's birthplace, the Smyrna plant. They've got a quick charger there, but I was within range of home and wanted to get there sooner rather than later. I kept going and when my battery went blinking I had what I thought was plenty of range, and it would have been in the past.
The battery was still one bar into the red, though, and it made all the difference. I was about 4 miles from home when the turtle came on. I only got about a mile before I pulled into a gas station with literally no charge at all. I pushed it a few feet into a parking spot that had a 120v plug. Got it plugged in after talking to the clerk. I came back a few hours later and picked it up. If I didn't have someone who could pick me up, I probably would have stopped in Smyrna.
Two things about this story. I really tried to push the limits. I also underestimated what effect a hot battery would have on Turtle Mode to Death mileage, and also to charging the battery.
Next time I'm going to quick charge to 80% only, in an effort to not heat up the battery.