Any Kentucky Owners?

[Engr]

Just purchased a Leaf last week for use in the Richmond area. I found one in stock in Louisville and was able to get it moved for a reasonable price.

So far, it seems to work well but I've been slightly disappointed with the highway range moving at 75 mph on I75. We drive 3-4 times per week to Lexington and back and power drops like a rock. It's a little early, but I'd say range with that type of driving is only 50 with no climate control.

I'm just curious, but do Gates and Glenn open up their ESVE's to the public?

 

[jpa2825]

Just purchased a Leaf last week for use in the Richmond area. I found one in stock in Louisville and was able to get it moved for a reasonable price.

So far, it seems to work well but I've been slightly disappointed with the highway range moving at 75 mph on I75. We drive 3-4 times per week to Lexington and back and power drops like a rock. It's a little early, but I'd say range with that type of driving is only 50 with no climate control.

I'm just curious, but do Gates and Glenn open up their ESVE's to the public?

Welcome Engr. You will find some great information here. Using the Leaf Energy App on iPhone, the difference between 65 MPH (3.6) and 75 MPH (3.0) is .6 m/kWh. If you back it down to 55 MPH (4.3), the difference is 1.3 m/kWh. In this instance, the more important savings is RANGE rather than $ (although you also get that bonus). If you can convince yourself you are only gaining a few minutes with that 20 MPH difference, the efficiency is HUGE.

That distance is about the same that I travel during my commute. I find putting the cruise on 59 or so more relaxing. Plop yourself in the right lane, smile at the folks glaring at you for driving so slow and enjoy the drive. No merging in / out of traffic in the left and center lanes to get around people.

Also, think about some back routes to your destination. The regenerative braking and slower speeds will even increase your efficiency. Get off at Athens / Boonesborough and take the back way into Lexington on occasion.

With respect to the L2 chargers, most Nissan dealerships are required / happy to let you charge. They were required to put them in in order to sell the LEAF and probably don't get much use. Different dealers have different policies about use when the dealership is not open and some are logistically behind locked gates. The dealership closest to my work also turns their L2 charger off (fear of scrappers trying to steal and getting electrocuted they told me -- although I think that is unfounded), so I have to go in and ask the service guy to "flip the switch" if I want to "take a drink." He happily does so.

Good luck and report back.

 

[kentuckyleaf]

I know I'm a little late to this party, but slowing down helps range, not needing to stop for gas helps make up for the time lost. You drive right past my house on I-75, I have a great view of the Interstate traffic from my sun room! If you are really pressed for juice, Glenn leaves their chargers on during business hours, although they don't seem to be big fans of floks that purchase at Gates. I can't really blame them, but if you live in Richmond, why would you buy in Lexington? Anyhow, there is not a sign on the power disconnect to the EVSE at Glenn that asks anyone to leave it in the off position, nor is there a lock on the switch. Just something I noticed on an outing one Saturday evening (after hours). There are also several places within walking distance from Glenn to pick up some food. What color is your Leaf? I've seen a silver Leaf in the wild on I-75, I know we don't venture out very far from home. Gates leaves their chargers on, but that doesn't do us as much good living this close to Richmond. I have plugged in at Gates twice and Glenn once. We have also plugged in with L1 at the Logan's in Richmond. There is power near one of the back doors (south east corner, on the east side of the building). This was helpful to us a few times, we often eat in Richmond after a work day in Lexington.

 

[kentuckyleaf]

We need to plan a Spring Meet in the Lexington area. Maybe we can find a car show or something to attend in force.

WDKY aired a story about hypermiling a few weeks ago. I did the math, and you would need to get better than 192 mpg to exceed my savings by driving electric, and hypermiling can be a little on the unsafe side. Maybe we can get Marvin to do a story on the fuel savings we achieve while driving the Leaf!

Here's my fuel cost calculation:

estimate 3.3 miles per kWh (from wall to wheels; battery to wheels is 4.2 miles per kWh)

kWh of electricity costs $.06 including taxes; Current cost of gasoline = $3.50

$3.50 will purchase 58.3 kWh of electricity. 58.3kWh x 3.3 miles per kWh = 192 electric miles for the cost of a gallon of gas.

At $4 a gallon, a gas powered car would need to get over 220mpg to be cheaper to drive than a Leaf.

If you averaged 40mpg in a car, gas would need to cost 73 cents a gallon or less to be as cheap to operate as the Leaf.

Adjusted for inflation, the last time gasoline was cheaper than 73 cents a gallon was NEVER.

Source: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2005/fcvt_fotw364.html

 

[DanH]

Glad to find you folks. I was looking (and eventually posted an inquiry) in the Central USA Board.

I am in NKy (Fort Thomas) and work in OH.

Seems like a Commonwealth as heavily influenced by coal production as KY would want to encourage cars filling up with coal-powered electricity. As an earlier poster noted, our electric rates are pretty favorable compared to other states. I think my most recent bill from Duke Energy up here had an eff. rate of $.0863/kWh. Not sure if they offer any "off peak" charging options.

Hello!

Saw the Ft. Thomas post and that's about a close as anyone else I've found on here so far. I'm in Cincinnati and we bought a 2013 leaf last month. We live on the East side of town.

Duke does have a Residential Rate named "TD" (at least in Ohio) that is time of day. Most people at Duke don't have a clue they even have this rate available but it is on the website. From what I've been able to tell and will switch to as soon as they get it out here to install it, is peak is about 17 cents and offpeak is around 5 cents per kwh when you count in all the goofy terrifs and extra charges they throw in. Offpeak is nights and all weekend long. This rate may or may not save you money, you would need something like a TED to figure out if the savings may be worth it to you or not based on how much energy you use on nights/weekends vs. the day.

I work during the week and my wife on weekends, so we can use the Leaf as our primary commuter car. She drives about 50 miles round trip into the Downtown and if she stays off the interstates around here she can make it to work using about 3 bars of power each way. On the Interstate (especially that hilly 471) she will use 4 or 5 bars each way since she still has a lead foot. I drive about 34 miles round trip, and charge occasionally at work on the 120v outlets just for kicks...

We put over 800 miles on it so far, with about $18 worth of electricity according to Carwings. Switching to Duke TOD rates would cut that in half. The old car would have been 8-9 times that just in gas alone.

As a video somewhere on Youtube shows, we have three Sunshine Kids Radian car seats in the back to put our kids in when have to go somewhere with them.

I connected a GE Wattstation bought off Amazon a few weeks ago and the car charges very quickly at 6kw.

I'd love to see some infrastructure around here other than dealers and I'm sure eventually it will come, but right now we will drive our ICE if we need need to go more than 50-70 miles. There was an article on channel 9's site about Ecotality putting in chargers in a bunch of Kroger's... maybe someday we will see them here...

 

[blueblob06]

Hey Northern Kentucky & Cincinnati drivers,

Just heard about free charging stations up and running in Cincinnati's Sawyer Point park. (Note - you do have to pay to park there, but the charging is free). These are the first publicly owned plug-in stations in Cincinnati. Gotta start somewhere!

http://www.local12.com/news/local/s...ctric-Cars-Now-at/zW6B8ZXPCkmRprEevAjgYA.cspx
As mentioned in the article, if these get a lot of use, hopefully more will be installed in the city.

So, EV drivers, go charge up your cars while you enjoy the park, tennis, volleyball, concerts, etc at Sawyer Point.

 

[DanH]

Glad to finally see this happening in Cincinnati!

 

[jpa2825]

Hey Northern Kentucky & Cincinnati drivers,

Just heard about free charging stations up and running in Cincinnati's Sawyer Point park. (Note - you do have to pay to park there, but the charging is free). These are the first publicly owned plug-in stations in Cincinnati. Gotta start somewhere!

http://www.local12.com/news/local/s...ctric-Cars-Now-at/zW6B8ZXPCkmRprEevAjgYA.cspx
As mentioned in the article, if these get a lot of use, hopefully more will be installed in the city.

So, EV drivers, go charge up your cars while you enjoy the park, tennis, volleyball, concerts, etc at Sawyer Point.

Saw that as well. Posted in another thread (Central USA -- who can figure out where we are, maybe it is by time zones?) that for parking during Reds games they charge $5. This is the perfect situation for public chargers. Gonna be there awhile, so charge whilst enjoying the Reds. Given the walk and other parking prices, $5 for parking + charging is a pretty sweet deal. Certainly hope more are on the way.

 

[DanH]

Hey Northern Kentucky & Cincinnati drivers,

Just heard about free charging stations up and running in Cincinnati's Sawyer Point park. (Note - you do have to pay to park there, but the charging is free). These are the first publicly owned plug-in stations in Cincinnati. Gotta start somewhere!

http://www.local12.com/news/local/s...ctric-Cars-Now-at/zW6B8ZXPCkmRprEevAjgYA.cspx
As mentioned in the article, if these get a lot of use, hopefully more will be installed in the city.

So, EV drivers, go charge up your cars while you enjoy the park, tennis, volleyball, concerts, etc at Sawyer Point.

Saw that as well. Posted in another thread (Central USA -- who can figure out where we are, maybe it is by time zones?) that for parking during Reds games they charge $5. This is the perfect situation for public chargers. Gonna be there awhile, so charge whilst enjoying the Reds. Given the walk and other parking prices, $5 for parking + charging is a pretty sweet deal. Certainly hope more are on the way.

That's great. We will have to take advantage of this during the year. I actually wrote the head of the parks department and thanked him starting the city out on this.

It would be great to see this spread to other city/county parks... a couple Wattstations mounted somewhere near a few parking spaces is all it would take...

 

[kentuckyleaf]

Now all I need is a charger (QC at Dry Ridge Walmart would be perfect) I can get to Cincy in our Leaf!

 

[Engr]

Since we all share the same climate, I was curious what capacity drops (if any) you are seeing. I just lost the first bar on the potential (right) side, although can still charge to a 12th bar. That 12th bar does not last long though.

Our '11 Leaf now has 19.5k miles on it. In the past year of ownership, we've charged to 100% about 75% of the time.

 

[jpa2825]

Knock on wood, haven't seen any noticeable degradation yet. 15k miles on a '12 charging to 80% on weekends and 100% on weekdays. Rarely gets to 100% during the week, however due to 50+ mile per day round trip commute. When it does get to 100%, it doesn't stay there long.

 

[jpa2825]

Now all I need is a charger (QC at Dry Ridge Walmart would be perfect) I can get to Cincy in our Leaf!

Amen. And another between Cincy and Indy (maybe at the Honda plant OR at the Casino). And another between Cincy and Louisville (maybe at Belterra).

 

[Engr]

When it does get to 100%, it doesn't stay there long.

That's what happened with ours right before we lost a bar.

 

[jpa2825]

When it does get to 100%, it doesn't stay there long.

That's what happened with ours right before we lost a bar.

Sorry. Imprecise language. I meant that I don't charge it to 100% and allow it to sit for any extended period of time. At most, if it charges to 80% before Midnight SUN, it will pick back up charging at 1201 MON morning, charge to 100% by around 0220 and then sit until 0700 when I leave. Not concerned about 4:40 at 100% SOC in a garage at a time when it it not typically hot. Also, it is a 39 mo. lease so if I have degradation, I will just turn it back in and not bother with the decision of whether to buy or not. (Leaning strongly that way anyway b/c I expect technological advances to be significant between now and DEC 2015 when my lease is up.)

 

[nedfunnell]

If anyone is looking to connect with some EV enthusiasts in the Louisville area, a group has formed there. PM me for contact info. The Facebook page for the group is here: https://www.facebook.com/EVolveKY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[LexLeaf14]

I guess I am late to this post, but I am a new owner in Lexington. I saw a black leaf in town a week ago and said she saw a red leaf, are you guys out there? Does all the Leafs live outside of Lex?