I just completed a 700 mile road trip from my home in Kettle Falls, WA to the Seattle area and back. It was an interesting experience! I have a portable AV EVSE with an adapter cord to plug in to RV park NEMA 14-50's.
I made one faux-pas in Wilbur, WA and didn't put quite enough charge in. The Leaf turtled, then died, literally 1/4 mile from a hill that would have let me coast into my next RV park! It was slightly uphill, and I could barely push the car. A few very nice people stopped and helped me push though!
Once in Leavenworth, WA, I sampled my first QC station! They are awesome! Half-hour to 80%, 45 min or so to 90+ %. I quick-charged 3 times each way, in Leavenworth, Skykomish, Sultan, and Wenatchee. The Sultan station was down on my return. I found the one in Wenatchee and used it to boost my charge before climbing the 7-mile hill out of Orondo (2100' of elevation gain) The Leaf battery temp only rose 1 bar during all this.
Biggest lesson I learned was not to drive fast up long hills and passes. (Stevens pass is 4062'). Slowing to 45 or 50 to keep the power at 3-4 dots really helps conserve electricity.
Once in the Seattle area, I sampled ChargePoint and Blink public stations, all without incident.
So the Leaf can be a road car, but not for the faint-hearted or impatient! A 6 hour drive becomes a 15 hour marathon of drive an hour or so, wait 2 hours, and repeat.
If the QC network was built out the rest of the way to Spokane, it would be a different story. I found the relatively short wait for QC to be manageable. In Leavenworth, I walked across the street, had coffee and a bite to eat, took a few pictures, and the car was nearly done when I got back. I sure am glad I ordered my 2013S with the charge package! So really, as many have noted, the problem is not the car, it is the lack of charging infrastructure. In Seattle, you'd have to try hard NOT to be able to charge within the Leaf's range.
I researched this trip beforehand and visited or called 3 RV parks to verify they would let me charge. The one in Wilbur is shown on the Plugshare map. He charges $5 per session, with no KW surcharge, which is contrary to what is listed on plugshare (he changed his mind on this). There is an interesting little RV park in Douglas, WA that I used also. Lee is a really nice guy and very EV friendly. Both parks told me if nobody was around to just charge up and leave 5 bucks inside the pedestal! Also, I discovered the Coulee City Park has tons of Level 2 plugs. It's closed for the season, but the power is on and you can leave some money in the self-pay area.
I made one faux-pas in Wilbur, WA and didn't put quite enough charge in. The Leaf turtled, then died, literally 1/4 mile from a hill that would have let me coast into my next RV park! It was slightly uphill, and I could barely push the car. A few very nice people stopped and helped me push though!
Once in Leavenworth, WA, I sampled my first QC station! They are awesome! Half-hour to 80%, 45 min or so to 90+ %. I quick-charged 3 times each way, in Leavenworth, Skykomish, Sultan, and Wenatchee. The Sultan station was down on my return. I found the one in Wenatchee and used it to boost my charge before climbing the 7-mile hill out of Orondo (2100' of elevation gain) The Leaf battery temp only rose 1 bar during all this.
Biggest lesson I learned was not to drive fast up long hills and passes. (Stevens pass is 4062'). Slowing to 45 or 50 to keep the power at 3-4 dots really helps conserve electricity.
Once in the Seattle area, I sampled ChargePoint and Blink public stations, all without incident.
So the Leaf can be a road car, but not for the faint-hearted or impatient! A 6 hour drive becomes a 15 hour marathon of drive an hour or so, wait 2 hours, and repeat.
If the QC network was built out the rest of the way to Spokane, it would be a different story. I found the relatively short wait for QC to be manageable. In Leavenworth, I walked across the street, had coffee and a bite to eat, took a few pictures, and the car was nearly done when I got back. I sure am glad I ordered my 2013S with the charge package! So really, as many have noted, the problem is not the car, it is the lack of charging infrastructure. In Seattle, you'd have to try hard NOT to be able to charge within the Leaf's range.
I researched this trip beforehand and visited or called 3 RV parks to verify they would let me charge. The one in Wilbur is shown on the Plugshare map. He charges $5 per session, with no KW surcharge, which is contrary to what is listed on plugshare (he changed his mind on this). There is an interesting little RV park in Douglas, WA that I used also. Lee is a really nice guy and very EV friendly. Both parks told me if nobody was around to just charge up and leave 5 bucks inside the pedestal! Also, I discovered the Coulee City Park has tons of Level 2 plugs. It's closed for the season, but the power is on and you can leave some money in the self-pay area.
