I plan on going 200 miles or more Sat/Sun. (updated)

[CMYK4Life]

I know for some veteran Leaf owners on here this trip is no sweat. You guys have probably done this many times. However, I am a n00b, and so are the people around me; so this is to prove to myself and others what we can do in this car (I am surrounded by skeptics!)

Ever since our son was born we find ourselves driving these mid to long distances (55 to 98 miles) to the grandparents on weekends. The gas bill was really hurting with our aging ICE cars. One major reason I got the Leaf.

This weekend we want to visit my in-laws which live 98 miles away. We plan on avoiding the 70pmh highway and will travel via 55mph secondary highways that cut through the country and pretty much parallel the 70MPH highway.

We plan on stopping for lunch in a town with free level 2 public charging to pick up a little more juice along the way. My wife is counting this as a date/family time! Because, it is a cute town with shops and parks within walking distance we can take our son to. I estimate we will only need an hour or two to pick up enough juice to complete the 98 mile journey (13’ Leaf SV 6.6kw).

Once we arrive at Grandmas house I plan on level 1 charging at Grandmas whenever the car is parked. Brothers, sisters, and cousins are coming over for dinner. I am sure I am going to be going out on some 'joy rides' with the guys.

We are spending the night (like we normally do); level 1 as we sleep. I estimate by morning we will have enough energy to make it back to the same little town we visited on the way out with the free level 2 charging, shops, and parks. We plan on having lunch once again and walking around for an hour or two.

I know this isnt an extreme challenge for EV enthusiasts or this car. But it will challenge the assumptions and misconceptions of family, friends, and peers have about this car and EV's in general. They just cant wrap their head around how you can travel mid to long distances and how ‘normal’ it can feel. Aside from avoiding the 70MPH highways and visiting a small town along the way this is trip is 100% normal for us (even the sleep over part). Travel to Grandma's on Sat, enjoy a large family meal, spend the night, Go home Sunday around lunch time.

I am actually looking forward to driving out to the in-laws for the first time in years...

*update*

Thanks all for your advice and kind words.

I followed the plan in my original post. Programmed my route using the 2013 SV on-board navigation 'eco route'. Left Saturday PM at 100%, got to our charge point ~30%. We ate lunch (1 hour), hit a few shops (45 min). Charging for 1:45 total. Had something like 68% charge, more than needed to get to our final destination. Gave 1 test drive to family when I arrived, level 1 charging when parked.

Later that night, once the little guy was in bed, we drove 18 miles or so (round trip) to the local bar that had live music (no charging). Home by midnight; level 1 charging.

We Left grandmas around 11:30am SUN. I think we had something like 70%; more than we needed to make it to the planned charging/lunch stop in the 'cute town'. We walked to a park after lunch; and before we knew it we had been charging for level 2 charging for 2 hours! This gave me 78% charge! WAY more than I needed to get 55miles back home!

So -about 20 miles away from our chargepoint the eco route crossed the freeway. I had plenty of charge so I took the last 25 miles on the freeway. I drove aggressive; I hit 91 in the car WHILE MY FAMILY WAS SLEEPING. This thing is a flying carpet on the freeway!

I drove at least 80MPH the last 30 miles home on the highway. I coasted into the driveway wth ~12% or so. Never sweated it. What a fun road trip it was!

 

[ksnogas2112]

Should be awesome unless you need a heater. I did something similar back in Nov. but the 3.3 kWh took more time than I liked. Let us know how the trip went.

 

[derkraut]

I think you have a sound plan, that will work out just fine; plus, it should be fun, and not cost an arm & a leg for gasoline.

 

[tcherniaev]

A lot depends on the outside air temperature during your trip. But stopping for an hour lunch each way should be all you need if you are driving 2013 LEAF. I have done 200 miles in one day a couple of times, but that is with a ready access to L2 at my destination. Generally, 70 miles on a full charge should be very easy if you drive 55 mph or even if you go 65. Charging for an hour should give you an additional 30 miles of range, making your 98 mile trip a breeze. And lunch with kids always takes an hour or so.

 

[Reddy]

Sounds like you've got it covered. A reason for the visit, check. Map trip with mileage, check. Vacation, relaxing and slow down, check. Alternative charging with something to do, check. Spend extra time here to eliminate range anxiety. Charging at location, check. Make sure you pack some extra food/drink/reading/game materials and you're good to go. Also, watch out for the weather, especially wind, as it has a large impact on efficiency. Also, elevation is important since this is a one way trip each day. I did 80 mi at 65 mph last summer, but it was net 500 ft downhill and with the wind. If this is your first out of town experience, or your first past LBW to VLBW, it will be a bit scary. Make sure you take Tony Williams' range chart and reset the mi/kWh meter. If you're careful and driving slower (not highway speeds) you should be able to get another 15-20 mi after LBW. See my signature for more.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

You can probably do it but I bet that lunch will be more costly than the gas would have been

 

[CMYK4Life]

You can probably do it but I bet that lunch will be more costly than the gas would have been

Lol I agree. Being that her and I are both 'foodies' we will have no trouble justifying it. On future trips I am going to encourage a picnic lunch at the park in town.

Thanks for your words of encouragement all!

 

[smkettner]

I would still be looking for some L2 at Grandparents house. Do they have an unused dryer, welder, other 240v outlet in or near the garage or where you will park?

Great time to have an evseupgrade.com unit for faster charging and more joyrides.

Otherwise piece of pie, easy as cake.

 

[sproqitman]

This may be a somewhat rambling reply, but bear with me. I use the analogy of sailing. Here in Seattle, the destination of choice is the San Juan Islands. Within the sailing community, there are two schools of thought: (1) If the wind isn't favorable, fire up the diesel and get up to the islands, or (2) The whole reason I bought a sailboat (instead of a powerboat) is to go sailing, so if the wind isn't favorable, we get to the islands when we get to the islands - we're sailing.

So how does this relate to the trip to Grandma's? Option 1 is get there as fast as possible, which means taking the Interstate at or above the legal limit, and no stopping - which leads you to taking the gasoline-powered vehicle. Option 2 is to take the road less traveled by, see some sights you haven't seen before, and spend a relaxing day with your wife and son. I provide this as ammunition against the "Why would you want to spend all day driving 100 miles?" argument.

We used to make a similar trip with our kids when they were much younger. A roughly 100-mile trip to the beach that took 3-4 hours because it always involved a stop for lunch, and a visit to the park with the pirate ship replica.

 

[vrwl]

I think you've got it made in the shade. I just did a 65 mile round trip drive today in a 2011 model with the wind blowing 15-20 mph and with a battery that's degraded 10-11%. I still had 9 miles showing on the GOM and hadn't hit LBW yet, but my drive was mostly at speeds between 45-55 mph. Additionally, I always charge at L1, and you should have no problem recharging back up to 100% on L1 at the grandparents house as long as you give it about 15 hours to do so.

Good luck with your trip, make it a relaxing, easy-peasy weekend, don't rush and you'll be golden.

 

[planet4ever]

A lot depends on the outside air temperature during your trip. But stopping for an hour lunch each way should be all you need if you are driving 2013 LEAF. I have done 200 miles in one day a couple of times, but that is with a ready access to L2 at my destination. Generally, 70 miles on a full charge should be very easy if you drive 55 mph or even if you go 65. Charging for an hour should give you an additional 30 miles of range, making your 98 mile trip a breeze.

I think you are somewhat optimistic. The "6.6kW" charger is really only 6.0kW to the battery, so not quite twice as fast as the 3.3kW charger. One hour will provide (duh!) 6kW, and at 55 mph (in perfect conditions) Tony says you might get 4.3 m/kWh. So 4.3 x 6 = ~26 miles, not 30. If you try it at 65 mph that hour of charging will take you less than 22 miles. So CMYK4Life should stick by the original plan - 2 hours charging each way and 55 mph.

Two hours each way for lunch gives them 24kWh of L2. Overnight at Grandma's might add another 10-12kWh depending on how long they are plugged in. (Figure 1kW, so I'm assuming they are plugged in 10-12 hours.) Let's assume they start with 21kWh, so call their total fuel 21 + 24 + 11 = 56kWh, though they want to hold at least 2kWh, and preferably quite a bit more, in reserve. I would assume a more conservative 4.0 m/kWh, which means 50kWh of fuel for 200 miles.

Yes, it is doable, but with a wife and child on board I wouldn't want to push the parameters much beyond that. Check your %charge gauge when you get to your lunch spot on the first leg. Whatever percentage you have used by then, you want to be sure to have at least 15% more than that when you leave for home on your last leg. Even at +15% you are likely to get the low battery warning. Stay longer in town to charge if you have to, or slow down below 55 if you hit a headwind. Much better to take 15 minutes longer getting home than to be stuck for an hour in a car with a fussy child waiting for a tow truck!

Ray

 

[kentuckyleaf]

You can probably do it but I bet that lunch will be more costly than the gas would have been

Is there an assumption that the family would normally skip eating when driving an ICE?

 

[kentuckyleaf]

I think you are somewhat optimistic. The "6.6kW" charger is really only 6.0kW to the battery, so not quite twice as fast as the 3.3kW charger. One hour will provide (duh!) 6kW, and at 55 mph (in perfect conditions) Tony says you might get 4.3 m/kWh. So 4.3 x 6 = ~26 miles, not 30. If you try it at 65 mph that hour of charging will take you less than 22 miles. So CMYK4Life should stick by the original plan - 2 hours charging each way and 55 mph.

It is also likely that the commercial installed L2 runs on 208 instead of 240, so you may find that it charges a little slower than the L2 at your home. I'd pick up as much charge on the way to your parents as possible, what you don't use, you can bring on the return trip. I've done the "driving family around in the Leaf" thing, and the first point you make, is "damn this car accelerates!" Of course you will visit with your parents in the evening, and go out for breakfast in the morning, so I'm guessing you are really talking at least 15-17 hours of L1 charging at their house. Also map out the Nissan Dealers, we have one 12.4 miles from our home that we pass on our way to and from Frankfort. It is our failsafe.

 

[johnqh]

Two hours each way for lunch gives them 24kWh of L2. Overnight at Grandma's might add another 10-12kWh depending on how long they are plugged in. (Figure 1kW, so I'm assuming they are plugged in 10-12 hours.)

They will have LUNCH on the way, so they will arrive at 1 or 2. Since they want to have lunch on the way back, they will leave at 10 to 11. They have more than 20 hours to charge with L1 and grandparents', more than enough to reach 100%, even if they take a couple of short drives while at the destination.

And 1 hour of L2 charge is more than enough to give them enough energy to reach the destination. 2013 Leaf at 100% is good for about 80 miles with stable driving, even 90 miles if they don't need to have the AC on.

 

[TonyWilliams]

... Generally, 70 miles on a full charge should be very easy if you drive 55 mph or even if you go 65. Charging for an hour should give you an additional 30 miles of range, making your 98 mile trip a breeze. And lunch with kids always takes an hour or so.

Please be careful giving advice that your aren't sure of.

An hour of charging absolutely will not give "30" miles of additional range. With his 6.6kW charger, he can expect:



240 volts * 27.5 amps = 6.6kW * 84% efficiency = 5.5kWh * 4 miles per kWh = 22 miles additional range per hour


208 volts * 27.5 amps = 5.7kW * 84% efficiency = 4.8kWh * 4 miles per kWh = 19 miles additional range per hour



Note 1) Miles per kWh economy result in 65mph with a level, dry, uncontanimated roadway with no wind or heater.

Note 2) Most public charging will be 208 volts.

 

[smkettner]

Make it a long lunch (2 hr?)with some walking/shopping/playing.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Make it a long lunch (2 hr?)with some walking/shopping/playing.

I don't know if it was mentioned, but make a plan B for this one charging location. What if it is occupied, vandalized, broken, ICE'd, etc?

 

[CMYK4Life]

Make it a long lunch (2 hr?)with some walking/shopping/playing.

Thats the plan, exactly why the location was chosen.

 

[CMYK4Life]

Make it a long lunch (2 hr?)with some walking/shopping/playing.

I don't know if it was mentioned, but make a plan B for this one charging location. What if it is occupied, vandalized, broken, ICE'd, etc?

All very possible. There are about 4 chargers in the town. I cant reserve them on chargepoint. This part is a calculated risk. I may have to babysit the spot even though it may not be ideal. I will have no choice.

 

[Phatcat73]

You should be ok w 4 chargers in the town. Make sure you have the charpepoint app installed. It'll at least let you know if any are occupied.

Also be sure to give grandma $10 for fuel money.