Freaking out a bit here.

[pkulak]

Just wanna vent for a bit. Don't mind me.

My wife and two small children are coming back in the Leaf from a trip down to Eugene. They are currently parked at an amusement park about 8 miles from the next QC with 14 miles on the GOM. When I push the range by myself it's fun, but now I'm just freaking out and it's not fun at all. Gotta rent a damn car next time.

 

[MikeinDenver]

Nah, plenty of range.

 

[mctom987]

Nah, plenty of range.

Agreed. I've had ~17mi indicated, and 8mi later it shut off the indicated range at 9mi.

Just don't freak out when your range left is "---"

 

[Nubo]

That's a pretty good cushion, but I hear you; my standards for how close to cut it are definitely different on a solo drive vs. when I have passengers and more conservative still if I'm giving the car to someone else.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I trust they are using the L-1 EVSE that came with the car, to charge at the amusement park?

 

[johnrhansen]

When I have ice drivers in my car, I consider the yellow blinky light equivalent to dead battery, car stopped, and plan my trip accordingly. They constantly look at the GOM... Sometimes I'd just like to put a piece of tape over it.

 

[mctom987]

When I have ice drivers in my car, I consider the yellow blinky light equivalent to dead battery, car stopped, and plan my trip accordingly. They constantly look at the GOM... Sometimes I'd just like to put a piece of tape over it.

Just ask if they ever pay attention to their range indicator that says "12mi DTE" or such. Most newer cars are coming with them now.
Though, plenty of cars (especially older ones) don't have those on non-premium models.

 

[z0ner]

Nonsense. You have plenty.

I was staring at "---" on the GOM with no bars for a good 16 miles before the engine reduced power significantly and the turtle icon displayed on the dash. I was one mile away from my home on level roads, and made it home. I believe LeafSpy was reporting 5.6% SOC when I got turtled.

How did I know the actual SOC? I strongly suggest you invest in LeafSpy or any of the other devices that read the CAN bus data from the LEAF. That way you'll know easily how much is truly left.

Admittedly turtle is not where you ever want to be, but if I ever had to stop at "---" I'd be spending far too much of my time waiting for a charge when I could easily go where I needed.

 

[johnrhansen]

Oh no its not thst I would stop when it goes on, I just plan my trip as if that was empty.

 

[pkulak]

I trust they are using the L-1 EVSE that came with the car, to charge at the amusement park?

Naw. My wife is not one to go searching out 15-amp outlets in a parking lot.

But they made it! Yay! I can relax now.

EDIT: Nevermind. The Chargepoint Nissan charger crapped out at 50%. Then the charger at downtown Salem was throwing errors saying it was too hot. She finally found a Blink charger that worked. Jesus. I'm going to hear about this for a long time.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm sure it will become one of those Awful Memories that you will laugh about later in life. Or not. ;-) Both drivers have to be on board with the EV idea, though, or there will be Trouble. My housemate has a Prius PHEV and backs it up and plugs it in without complaint or fail. She will not, however, even drive my Leaf alone. She thinks it's Evil, and just waiting to strand here. Sometimes it's just a lack of understanding (lots of women think a Volt will be stranded if it runs out of juice, for example) but some people just can't deal with the idea of being stranded by an EV. 10 Years riding electric motorscooters prepared me, but most folks don't have that 'EV training" to help them.

 

[cgaydos]

I trust they are using the L-1 EVSE that came with the car, to charge at the amusement park?

Naw. My wife is not one to go searching out 15-amp outlets in a parking lot.

But they made it! Yay! I can relax now.

EDIT: Nevermind. The Chargepoint Nissan charger crapped out at 50%. Then the charger at downtown Salem was throwing errors saying it was too hot. She finally found a Blink charger that worked. Jesus. I'm going to hear about this for a long time.

I was going to say that my concern for you would not have been getting to the QC but whether the QC would be operational. Recently I've been making daily trips into the Aurora, CO, area, and doing quick charges at Tynan's Nissan and Arapahoe Nissan. All went well, despite having to wait for another to charge on a couple of occasions, until the Arapahoe QC crapped out again. I would not like to have had passengers with me on that day - did have enough charge to get to an L2 near a restaurant, but even so wasted a lot more time than I'd planned waiting for a charge.

QCs do change the way we think of the range of the LEAFs - but until they are both omnipresent and with sufficient redundant QCs this will still be strictly for early adopters willing to tolerate inconveniences.

 

[pkulak]

Yeah, at this point driving 120 miles is too much of an adventure. But renting a car is no big deal. Actually, Getaround is really good here. I really hope the 2016 has a 48kwh pack. That would make so many longer trips totally doable.

 

[DaveEV]

EDIT: Nevermind. The Chargepoint Nissan charger crapped out at 50%. Then the charger at downtown Salem was throwing errors saying it was too hot. She finally found a Blink charger that worked. Jesus. I'm going to hear about this for a long time.

Ah - the irony of a Blink QC station being the reliable unit...

Anyway - wouldn't it be nice if they'd install more than 1 QC stations per location? Then when a station craps out or is busy, you'll have another one right there to try without having to hunt around.

 

[TomT]

Yep! As long as there is just a single QC at every location, it will never be a viable solution that one can actually depend on. I would never plan a trip based solely on it.

Anyway - wouldn't it be nice if they'd install more than 1 QC stations per location? Then when a station craps out or is busy, you'll have another one right there to try without having to hunt around.

 

[adric22]

Yep! As long as there is just a single QC at every location, it will never be a viable solution that one can actually depend on. I would never plan a trip based solely on it.

Indeed.. I can at least say that in Dallas/Ft.Worth all of our QC stations have an L2 station nearby. So even if the QC is broken, hopefully you can pickup enough juice at the L2 in order to get you to the next QC.

 

[johnrhansen]

When I take a long trip, I try to charge twice as often. It doesn't take any longer, and if that station is inoperative, I have enough juice to make it to the next one.