Spring Hill -> Nashville - > Knoxville -> Spring Hill

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.

flagshipdynamics said:

They've got a quick charger there, but I was within range of home and wanted to get there sooner rather than later.

Click to expand...

As an aside, when I read this, it immediately brought to mind a TV show I saw once on airplane accident investigations, where they pointed out that often, the cause of a crash is a pilot who "just has to get home", and therefore pushes things and makes mistakes more likely. Obviously the stakes are different when you're flying, but it's the same kind of psychology.

BTW, I drove from Washington DC to Knoxville twice a couple months ago, and did several Plugshare check-ins in the Knoxville area, around Maryville, Alcoa and Townsend. It's a nice area.

Thanks for the trip report.

Interesting to see how in cool temps in the UK one can QC all day and still keep the battery out of the red zone, but in warm Tennessee you got 1 bar into the red after your 3rd QC.

Thanks for the report flagshipdynamics.
I've only made one somewhat long trip and that was to Knoxville and back from Chattanooga.
But was in cooler temperatures, mid 40F early in the day and low 60F later in the day, and I only got to seven temperature bars on the last DCQC of the day.
Troubling to hear that it is that easy to get into the very bad red temperature bars on a warm day.
I'm not sure that only charging to 80% will do that much for you though on holding down battery temperature. The charging rate on the last two status of charge bars is usually already down below 20 amps, and as you pointed out it does take forever.
But the eVproject Blink stations on the interstate are just too far apart, and only charging to 80% is just not enough, unless you drop your speed on the interstate to <55 mph.

Next time I think I'm going to try the back highways. Tennessee is so pretty in the fall, and I think I can hit 55 most of the time.

After the trip I checked charging stats at the various stations I had stopped at. It's interesting that the one right outside of Knoxville - Farrugut - gets alot of charge time. It seems like there's some demand for fast charging in Knoxville.

I'll post again next time I make the run. I might go to the Chatt Aquarium in the Leaf. It looks like they've got L2's in walking distance.

Great time to come would be for the alternative vehicles sessions at the Society of Environmental Journalists 23rd annual conference on Friday, October 4, 2013. Breakfast session starts at 7:00 for only $15.
See details at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14486#p328565" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.