Climbing from Greenville, SC to NC

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

honestabe

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2011
Messages
7
Where I live is about 2100-2200 above sea level. Greenville, SC about 50 miles away is about 1000 feet so it is a 1100-1200 climb driving say 55 miles.

Can this be done if the battery is fully charged?

Given that the opposite way is mostly downhill, would the car likely be charged fully when I got down there so I could drive back up without recharging?

What about in summer (A/C) and in winter (heating)?

I get up to 50MPG in my Camry Hybrid going downhill and often have to use the brakes and/or engine braking to avoid going more than 10 mph over the 55mph speed limit and getting a ticket.
 
On a 100% charge, I've driven about 50 miles with 5000 feet of elevation gain. (I live at 6100'.) Your 55 mile drive home from Greenville, SC, at 55 mph, seems well within the capabilities of the LEAF, even with climate control. In the winter, just to be safe, I'd keep the heater on a low setting, though, since the battery won't be as efficient at storing charge in the cold. The heater can be a real energy hog if you want a toasty cabin.

I would not plan on doing the round trip on a single charge. Even if you could do it, that would be cutting it way too close for comfort. Even on the drive down, keep in mind that you still need to use energy to overcome wind resistance and friction. Charging somewhere in Greenville ("destination charging") would be best.
 
An update on this issue. I stopped by the dealership and happened to meet the sales rep I had first talked to. He said he would try it - driving to Greenville and back and give me a call with the results. My guess is that you can't make it but if he can - I'll likely bite.
 
Here's my result of a 5000 foot climb about 41 miles away, and a return, plus a little driving around. My speeds were 35-55mph.

94 miles driven. There's only a couple miles left to turtle. If you're thinking 55 miles each way, all I can say is drive steady at 35-40mph, you might make it.

f99f5ff1.jpg
 
Thanks to everyone for the answers so far. I figured the likelihood of a round trip was very small but the number of miles would also actually likely be less as I am including unplanned miles. I checked Google maps and it claims the best route from home to the Haywood Mall in Greenville (a high likelihood target for she who must be obeyed) would be 47.1 miles so I rounded up to cover contingencies.

If I can make it up from there but not round trip, I'd need to top off the charge. To preclude sitting around doing nothing for hours on end, an L3 or possibly an L2 charge for an hour while at or near the destination while we are doing our thing would be required. I doubt L3 is available so I wonder if I'd get enough juice in an hour or so of L2 to make it back home.

As an aside, the local dealer has an L2 charger out front of their building and right now they are not charging for use. Of course, they have the only (demo) Leaf around.
 
Greenville has a pretty impressive L2 infrastructure already. Just check on carstations.com; seems like you could find one near somewhere you want to stay for an hour or so.
 
Back
Top