Running Out of Juice

[luchaks]

One of the many worries out there in the press and with peers is what happens when you run out of power. Well, I wanted to find out so I went to find out on Monday. My Independence Day from Big Oil!

I was taking my daughter to my parents who were meeting us halfway in Brookshire, TX. We frequently meet there to save both of us from having to drive the whole way. I knew our meeting location was 45 miles away from my house because I have used the trip odometer many times in the past driving our Prius. CarWings, using the route I programmed in, verified the distance. Since many of the miles were going to be rural highway, I thought it would be a stretch to get there and back, but I wanted to try it.

I started with a full charge out of the house and the car was pre-cooled using the plug-in and being in a garage. It was an extremely hot day, nearly 100.

I followed all speed laws along the way. I encountered very light traffic travelling through Tomball, a small rural town near my home. On the other side of Tomball, about 11 miles from the house, the Leaf was still showing 90+ miles. As I got into the more rural areas toward Waller and beyond, travelling 55-60 mph, as I watched the mileage peel back quicker and quicker, I knew it was going to be close getting back home. I reached the meeting spot which was right on 45 miles according to the odometer. The car was now showing 37 miles to empty. My young son was also travelling with me, and he began to worry we were not going to make it. I assured him that it would be ok since everyone has electricity and if need be, I would simply stop and plug in somehwere. This is when it hit me, my modified cord was still in the garage at home.

 

[Boomer23]

Annnddd... you hit Submit half way through your story to build suspense, right? Well, you succeeded, Can't wait for the story of the successful outcome of your brave trip.

 

[luchaks]

When the car reached below 8 miles, the range dropped to blinking bars and the car said that it could no longer estimate the range. We then went another 9 miles and were happy to make it into the business part of Tomball. We stopped at Target and parked around back to find a plug (my wife was nice enough to meet us and bring the cord). We plugged in, asked the MOD for permission, and did a little shopping. When we were done, we got back in the car to head home. We had another 7.7 miles left to reach the house. Unfortunately, this is when we found out the plug that we had plugged into must not have been hot, because there were no charging lights indicated on the car or on the cord. Once in the car, sure enough, we had not received any electricity. We should have just went next door to Lowes, but by this time, I was ready to get home and I thought since we were so close, surely we could make it.

We left the shopping center and proceeded through downtown where the speed limit was 35. It was no problem. We made the last of 3 turns where the speed limit was 55 and was approaching an overpass when turtle mode kicked in. I was 3 miles from home. I whipped off the highway before the overpass because I didn't want to get jammed up on that thing. I went right over to the only gas station to find it was closed and no outside plugs accessible. I went to go to the next station only to find out the route had been blocked due to construction. I had no choice but to continue onward. As we proceeded down the road, the car got slower and slower and the indicator read something to the effect engine power would be reduced. I was now less than 1.5 miles from home. The next turn was over a set of railroad tracks and through a series of horse farms. That car was now moving less than 20 mph.

 

[jimcmorr]

Snip..

My young son was also travelling with me, and he began to worry we were not going to make it. I assured him that it would be ok since everyone has electricity and if need be, I would simply stop and plug in somehwere. This is when it hit me, my modified cord was still in the garage at home.

Annnddd... you hit Submit half way through your story to build suspense, right? Well, you succeeded, Can't wait for the story of the successful outcome of your brave trip.

I echo boomer's sentiment..

You obviously survived the trip! Don't keep us in suspense! Did you have to walk the last eight miles back home?

 

[z0ner]

Sounds like someone wants to inflate their post count...

Watch this be an advertisement for Indian Car Insurance :lol:

 

[Ready2plugin]

Sounds like someone wants to inflate their post count :lol:

Or they think they are on Twitter..... . I hope to hear the rest of the story soon, but given the title "running out of juice", I think I know how it probably ends.

 

[nader]

1.5 miles to go and turtle mode? Not a chance. Unless he idled the whole way home.

 

[smkettner]

This is when it hit me, my modified cord was still in the garage at home.

Unfortunately, this is when we found out the plug that we had plugged into must not have been hot, because there were no charging lights indicated on the car or on the cord.

That is two strikes so far

 

[SanDust]

That is two strikes so far

I'm waiting for where they get stuck on the train track with the train bearing down with the doors locked shut!

 

[LALeaf]

Was his laptop plugged into his Leaf?

 

[DougMarker]

Since there is no third post I assume he ran out of juice on the railroad tracks and was struck by a train!

 

[luchaks]

That was odd. I wrote the end of the story, but it isn't showing up. Also, for some reason, the message body starts jumping around making it very difficult to type, so that is why I am in writing multiple posts. Anyways, here is the rest of the story. . .

I decided I was too far and there was no way turtle mode was going to make the last 1.5 miles. I pulled off in a church parking lot. Surely, they would have power. Nope, wrong again - it was abandoned with no meter. I put the car into reverse to try to squeak out a little further down the road. Nope. Apparently, once in Park while in Turtle Mode, the only options is Neutral or Park. I called my friend down the street that I would need his generator. He came right over. We cranked up the generator and found the 220 outlet on the generator is a slightly larger receptacle than the plug. We put the 110 converter plug on the cord and plugged into the 110 outlet. The Ready indicator is blinking and it is obvious the car is not charging. Whipping out the owner's manual, blinking green means a ground problem. Of course, the generator is not properly grounded. We had no extra wires and tried in vain to rig up the tire tool to ground the generator, but the car was smarter than we were. With darkness falling, we gave up and decided to just push the car home the last 1.5 miles (over the railroad tracks and all). Luckily, I found the car very easy to push. We got home, plugged in. The next morning all was back to normal. The car showed 125 miles for its range - I guess it learned something from the experience as well.

I did this to find out what would happen, because it will happen one day when my wife is driving and I am out of town. I needed to know so that I could advise. I write this all so that you all can know as well without experiencing it personally.

A couple of lessons learned:
1) If you go the route of getting your cord modified, buy an extra cord so you will not forget one at home.
2) Add an electricity sniffer or meter to your bag of goodies in the back. It is as good or better than an air pressure gauge in this car.
3) Throw some jumper cables in your car, so if you can ground the generator if you need one to recharge you in a jam.
4) Obviously know your route better. I am sure I passed more than 1 RV park that could hae worked for me (if I had the cord - see #1)
5) It may make a good country and western song when everyone is driving EV cars. I just need something about momma getting out of prison added to the story.

Hope this helps the next guy . . .

 

[smkettner]

You needed a different adapter (L14-30?) or a bonding plug

 

[kmp647]

can you explain the use of theyellow bonded plug?

also what is that orange plug you have in the extra socket on the generator?

I may be using my 2000watt gen in an emergency for trickle and want to know the proceedure to get the grounding to work

thanks

 

[Herm]

That orange plug is the grounding plug pictured above.. it just shorts ground and the negative side of 120V together.

 

[tps]

That orange plug is the grounding plug pictured above.. it just shorts ground and the negative side of 120V together.

You mean it connects the ground (green) and the neutral (white). In a building, ground and neutral are normally connected at the "star point", but apparently many generators leave them unconnected. I guess maybe one could use a jumper cable to connect the frame of the generator to the frame of the car, but the "bonding" plug seems easier.

 

[GerryAZ]

Perhaps I can offer an explanation of portable generator connections for the benefit of users without a technical background:

Many (most but not all) small portable generators come from the factory with the neutral conductor (white wire and white or silver terminals on receptacles) isolated from the generator frame. The equipment ground conductor (green wire and green terminals on receptacles) is connected to the generator frame and there is typically a terminal on the frame for connection to a ground rod or nearby building ground. The generator manufacturers isolate the neutral from frame ground to provide some shock hazard protection and avoid the additional expense of providing ground fault circuit interrupters.

Since the Nissan LEAF 120-volt EVSE checks for a safety ground by passing a very small current from the 120-volt line into the equipment grounding conductor (green wire), it will not function with an isolated neutral generator (or on any receptacle circuit that is not properly grounded). I should also note that the safety ground check of the Nissan EVSE will not trip a properly-functioning ground fault circuit interrupter.

An easy way to temporarily convert a portable generator to grounded neutral operation is to plug in a jumper plug which has a wire connecting the white and green terminals as shown in photographs earlier in this thread. I have verified that my Honda EU3000is will charge the LEAF with the Nissan 120-volt EVSE with a jumper plug in place. The EVSE will not turn on without the jumper plug in place.

Gerry

 

[HighDesertDriver]

THIS is the kind of thread that makes a forum such as this especially valuable. To start, we get educational entertainment while tensely following episodes of a father&son drama across Texas. Thank you, luchaks! Then we discover how to make a simple shorting plug so generator-equipped friends can rescue us when we run out of juice (And we all are now thinking to ourselves that we would never do that oursleves, right? ) Thank you, smkettner! And lastly, we get a easy-to-understand short course in electrical engineering so we can understand why the shorting plug works and can explain it to our friends. Thank you, GerryAZ! Thank you all, and well worth a $10+ donation to support the forum an ensure it keeps on coming.

 

[chuck58]

I think it is just too risky to plan a 90 mile round trip with any confidence on a single charge. Too many variables of air conditioner use, weight of occupants, hills, speed, wind resistance. Unless you can recharge at your destination, your ability to get home is very in doubt. Welcome to range anxiety.

 

[mxp]

Perhaps I can offer an explanation of portable generator connections for the benefit of users without a technical background:

Many (most but not all) small portable generators come from the factory with the neutral conductor (white wire and white or silver terminals on receptacles) isolated from the generator frame. The equipment ground conductor (green wire and green terminals on receptacles) is connected to the generator frame and there is typically a terminal on the frame for connection to a ground rod or nearby building ground. The generator manufacturers isolate the neutral from frame ground to provide some shock hazard protection and avoid the additional expense of providing ground fault circuit interrupters.

Since the Nissan LEAF 120-volt EVSE checks for a safety ground by passing a very small current from the 120-volt line into the equipment grounding conductor (green wire), it will not function with an isolated neutral generator (or on any receptacle circuit that is not properly grounded). I should also note that the safety ground check of the Nissan EVSE will not trip a properly-functioning ground fault circuit interrupter.

An easy way to temporarily convert a portable generator to grounded neutral operation is to plug in a jumper plug which has a wire connecting the white and green terminals as shown in photographs earlier in this thread. I have verified that my Honda EU3000is will charge the LEAF with the Nissan 120-volt EVSE with a jumper plug in place. The EVSE will not turn on without the jumper plug in place.

Gerry

Gerry, will something smaller say a 1000W generator like a Honda EU1000i charge a Leaf?

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/models.aspx?page=models&section=P2GG&category=sq

A small lightweight generator like an EU1000i could be a pretty handy item to keep at home as a transportable backup in case it's needed when all else fails...