Greetings from Memphis

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.

jamieo

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
116
Location
Memphis Area, West Tennessee
Hello all ... After a long consideration, I bought a LEAF this past Saturday. I got an excellent deal on a 2014 SV and am pleased with it so far. I don't see too many of them around the Memphis area, unfortunately, but from what I hear from the dealers, the people who have bought or leased them have been pleased. One of the sales guys said that most of the people who have leased them, end up purchasing them once their lease is up haha.

I'm looking forward to learning more about this car from your experiences.
 
Welcome!!! I am a bit of a newbie as well, I just purchased my 2015 SV two months ago. I didn't lease but just jumped right in.

I love it!
 
Welcome from Franklin, TN (where the Nissan HQ is).

I initial bought my Leaf for around the town work related trips, but it quickly took over nearly everything our family does due to the lost cost for electricity vs. gas. We went from spending $150+ a month for gas to $12 a month for gas now and only increased our electric bill by $20 a month so far. :D
 
knightmb said:
Welcome from Franklin, TN (where the Nissan HQ is).

I initial bought my Leaf for around the town work related trips, but it quickly too over nearly everything our family does due to the lost cost for electricity vs. gas. We went from spending $150+ a month for gas to $12 a month for gas now and only increased our electric bill by $20 a month so far. :D

I expect a similar experience haha. I calculated the cost of electricity as compared to my normal gas purchases. I'll go from over $100 (depending on the price of gas) to less than $30 a month. Memphis has extremely low utility rates- averaging $0.07 per kWh. I do wish there were some CHAdeMO stations along I-40 from Memphis to Nashville & Clarksville. As it is now, I won't be able to use my LEAF to go to visit my family in Stewart County. That's a minor issue, though. I can just rent a car for those trips.
 
jamieo said:
... I'll go from over $100 (depending on the price of gas) to less than $30 a month. Memphis has extremely low utility rates- averaging $0.07 per kWh. I do wish there were some CHAdeMO stations along I-40 from Memphis to Nashville & Clarksville. ...
Congratulations on the new LEAF :D
Wish there were more DCQC stations too.
But even when they were free for a while, the time involved in traveling doing that is extensive.
I only made the Chattanooga to Knoxville and back trip one time.
The overall speed on the trip from home to Knoxville meeting near UTK was 38 mph. And charge was pretty low at that point.
For the day my average speed was probably 30 mph.
Even slower than the speeds prior to the Interstates.
Plus they put the stations too far apart on the ones that were put in under the EV Project.
Even as Tesla S people have learned it is most efficient to be charging from 10% up to around 75%.
I did 80% charge at Athens and just barely made it to the one in West Knoxville, and that was cutting way back on speed and no heat on 45F day.
I would have done the trip more when they were free, but it took them nearly a year to get them somewhat reliable.
But with no redundancy on the stations I was pretty lucky that day that all three of them worked going both ways.
Now that they cost $5 a session, it is much cheaper to drive my 2009 Altima to Knoxville, plus a lot faster too.

That .07/kWh price in Memphis is really low. How did they keep their overhead that low?
Memphis and Chattanooga are both TVA power, but Chattanooga EPB power is around .10/kWh.
But even with that LEAF variable cost for me is around 3 1/2 cents per mile, versus around 13 cents per mile for the 2009 four cylinder Altima with the currently low gasoline prices.

Have fun with the LEAF :D
Mine still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, even after 45 months :D
 
TimLee said:
jamieo said:
... I'll go from over $100 (depending on the price of gas) to less than $30 a month. Memphis has extremely low utility rates- averaging $0.07 per kWh. I do wish there were some CHAdeMO stations along I-40 from Memphis to Nashville & Clarksville. ...
Congratulations on the new LEAF :D
Wish there were more DCQC stations too.
But even when they were free for a while, the time involved in traveling doing that is extensive.
I only made the Chattanooga to Knoxville and back trip one time.
The overall speed on the trip from home to Knoxville meeting near UTK was 38 mph. And charge was pretty low at that point.
For the day my average speed was probably 30 mph.
Even slower than the speeds prior to the Interstates.
Plus they put the stations too far apart on the ones that were put in under the EV Project.
Even as Tesla S people have learned it is most efficient to be charging from 10% up to around 75%.
I did 80% charge at Athens and just barely made it to the one in West Knoxville, and that was cutting way back on speed and no heat on 45F day.
I would have done the trip more when they were free, but it took them nearly a year to get them somewhat reliable.
But with no redundancy on the stations I was pretty lucky that day that all three of them worked going both ways.
Now that they cost $5 a session, it is much cheaper to drive my 2009 Altima to Knoxville, plus a lot faster too.

That .07/kWh price in Memphis is really low. How did they keep their overhead that low?
Memphis and Chattanooga are both TVA power, but Chattanooga EPB power is around .10/kWh.
But even with that LEAF variable cost for me is around 3 1/2 cents per mile, versus around 13 cents per mile for the 2009 four cylinder Altima with the currently low gasoline prices.

Have fun with the LEAF :D
Mine still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, even after 45 months :D

I'm honestly not sure how Memphis manages to keep the rates low, http://www.mlgw.com/images/content/files/pdf_rates/RSOct14.PDF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .. and I neglected to use the FCA surcharge, which brings the price per kWh closer to what you pay in Chattanooga. http://www.mlgw.com/images/content/files/pdf_rates/TVA_FCA.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
We (as a state) still have incredibly low utility rates, haha. In March, the FCA will be $0.02 ... that's based on the price of Natural Gas.

One of my friends has taken to calling me an "Electronaut" hahaha
 
jamieo said:
I expect a similar experience haha. I calculated the cost of electricity as compared to my normal gas purchases. I'll go from over $100 (depending on the price of gas) to less than $30 a month. Memphis has extremely low utility rates- averaging $0.07 per kWh. I do wish there were some CHAdeMO stations along I-40 from Memphis to Nashville & Clarksville. As it is now, I won't be able to use my LEAF to go to visit my family in Stewart County. That's a minor issue, though. I can just rent a car for those trips.
Yeah, that is odd. I checked the map, not a single DC fast charger to be found. I recently drove a 320 mile trip to GA and there was a DCQC at nearly every Cracker Barrel along the way, then when in GA, the eVgo DCQC were everywhere along the way as well. Seems it a good opportunity for someone to setup the QC along that section of the state.
 
I drove to Covington TN for my first time in an EV this Thanksgiving Holiday. Two things really stood out in Tennessee (with the exception of Nashville area) relative to other states I've traveled in. One, is that the majority of public charging stations (BLINK) are for profit, including Cracker Barrel. Two, is that the amount of public charging of any kind is relatively low. Cudo's to you all who are taking the leap before your state really shows better infrastructure support.

One of the most common responses I got when I asked about plugging in resources iis that it would make sense for them to have a charging station nearby (I always do my shopping and entertainment at locations with publich charging stations, if available) but nobody has ever asked before, so they are not sure if it would make sense to install one...

Several businesses let me plug in to their 110 v outlet while I was shopping in the area (a special thanks to Covington Town Square businesses for discussing making that resource public knowlege).

Don't be afraid to ask where you can plug in, when you go some where. If they hear it enough times, from enough people...

angel
 
sklancha said:
I drove to Covington TN for my first time in an EV this Thanksgiving Holiday. Two things really stood out in Tennessee (with the exception of Nashville area) relative to other states I've traveled in. One, is that the majority of public charging stations (BLINK) are for profit, including Cracker Barrel. Two, is that the amount of public charging of any kind is relatively low. Cudo's to you all who are taking the leap before your state really shows better infrastructure support.

One of the most common responses I got when I asked about plugging in resources iis that it would make sense for them to have a charging station nearby (I always do my shopping and entertainment at locations with publich charging stations, if available) but nobody has ever asked before, so they are not sure if it would make sense to install one...

Several businesses let me plug in to their 110 v outlet while I was shopping in the area (a special thanks to Covington Town Square businesses for discussing making that resource public knowlege).

Don't be afraid to ask where you can plug in, when you go some where. If they hear it enough times, from enough people...

angel

thanks :D Around town it's not much of a problem. I've been out on my normal errands, work/after work things and have always returned home with at least 40% charge left. There are several free & paid stations around town, but I've only used the one at Whole Foods and one at the dealer where I bought my Leaf.
There's also an L2 station here at work, but it's for company vehicles only & we are not really supposed to use it. I am going to investigate and see if employees can use it for personal use, but I expect to get shot down. haha
 
You don't know, if you don't ask, Jameio! And just because you CAN just charge at home, doesn't mean it wouldn't be good to do some public charging whenever the opportunity arises. Public charging increases public awareness, staves charge location parking spots from getting ICEd, increases your own awareness of pro's, con's, availability, etc., and makes it easier to venture out further because you get more comfortable as you spend less time nursing on the mother teet ;)

The biggest problem I found in the Memphis area was the for profit charging infrastructure. There were not too many that were either free or at cost. This kind of mentality causes a vicious cycle of anti-EV sentiment. If it cost almost as much to charge publicly than to buy gas- why by EV? A person dedicated enough to still get an EV doesn't use the public charging system, since the free/reasonable one's are so few and far between. Now that city can say there is not a need for increasing the amount available, and the EV driver becomes more tethered to the home range. Even as I stubbornly avoided the for profit charging locations, I still spent more money charging on my Tennessee trip than I did on trips to Massachussets, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and Key West Florida COMBINED!

angel
 
I took my 10 year old CR-V to my parents this weekend and now my LEAF is my only vehicle. it has been a little over a month since I brought it home and I've put a little over 1,100 miles on it. I am still learning its limitations and getting used to it, but I have no regrets on making the change haha.

Saturday, I noticed through the Plugshare app that 3 of the area Nissan dealers have installed L3 chargers- Wolfchase Nissan (Bartlett/Cordova), Jim Keras (Memphis- Covington Pike) and Landers Nissan (Southaven). It's been within the last couple of weeks that they installed these as I had not seen them previously.
 
Wolfchase Nissan has their CHAdeMO charging station up and running. I tried it out on Friday. Jim Keras Nissan has not gotten theirs installed yet, but they are getting close. I have not had a chance to check out Landers Nissan in Southaven yet.
 
That is good to know, my mother lives in Southhaven area. I just bought my Leaf also and I was wondering about putting it on the road this summer to pay her a visit. The only problem, I now live in Kentucky and we don't have any CHAdeMO charging stations in the state. You guys are lucky! I can stop at RV parks heading south on I-65 to get into Nashville without much problem, but how do I make it to Jackson on I-40? Has anyone figured that leg out?
 
LexLeaf14 said:
That is good to know, my mother lives in Southhaven area. I just bought my Leaf also and I was wondering about putting it on the road this summer to pay her a visit. The only problem, I now live in Kentucky and we don't have any CHAdeMO charging stations in the state. You guys are lucky! I can stop at RV parks heading south on I-65 to get into Nashville without much problem, but how do I make it to Jackson on I-40? Has anyone figured that leg out?

Not yet, well, I have not. Haha. I'm not sure it's possible, yet. Plugshare shows some locations in Humbolt, Paris, and Jackson, but they are too far apart to make a trip from Nashville feasible. My parents live in Stewart County, TN and I've not figured out how to get there from the Memphis area yet. There are several parts of I-40 that's are long and empty. It would be ideal if some of the truckstops had charging options, but even they might be too far apart. Just getting from Jackson, TN (L2 charging stations) to the CHAdeMO charger at Wolfchase Nissan 65 miles. If there were a station in Brownsville, TN (exit 56) the trip from Memphis to JacksonWould be easier.
I rarely get past exit 126 on I-40, so I can't comment too much on the area between there and Nashville.
 
I just checked out the North 40 Truckstop at exit 126 (Holladay, TN). They have RV parking and truck electrification systems so there might be an opportunity to charge there. I've stopped there dozens of times over the years to buy gas but I've never paid much attention to what other services they have.

Also, here is a list of these places along 40 in TN.
http://www.findfuelstops.com/truck-stop-on-I-40#TN" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
jamieo said:
I just checked out the North 40 Truckstop at exit 126 (Holladay, TN). They have RV parking and truck electrification systems so there might be an opportunity to charge there. I've stopped there dozens of times over the years to buy gas but I've never paid much attention to what other services they have.

Yes, please check the next time you stop there (for no reason because you're not buying gas!) see if they have a 50 Amp NEMA 14-50 for RV power? Thanks
 
This week has been my "heaviest" driving week since I bought my LEAF. I've had my teenage niece with me and I've had to shuttle her around along with going to work and back home. On top of the driving, it's been hot so I've been running the AC. My driving has ranged from about 74 miles to 90 miles each day.
The CHAdeMO station at Wolfchase Nissan has been helpful. I've used it twice to bump up the charge high enough that I can easily finish charging at L1 at home. I stopped for 10-15 minutes there in the afternoon. I could have technically made it home each afternoon on a single charge, but I doubt that I would have been able get to 100% by the time I needed to leave the next morning. Fortunately, I'm only 4 miles from the CHAdeMO station and there's Autonation Nissan about 1.5 miles from my office so I've got convenient places to charge for free.

I've been putting off getting a L2 EVSE installed at home simply because on my normal days I make it home with 40-50% remaining and it's no trouble to charge at L1 overnight.
 
Also, I tend to be a little conservative with the AC. I'm comfortable with the temperature set from 75-82, depending on the outside temp. I also use Auto climate control.
The impact on the expected range has varied from 3 to 10 miles.
 
Back
Top