pstarSR
Active member
I am a new leaf owner, and I know there are a myriad of reviews, stories and nightmares about traveling with a used leaf. or a LOW kWh capacity EV. So I am writing this for any new leaf owner, or new to EV's that has range anxiety. I think they are blown out of proportion and I feel we need (equally) good experiences to review things. both sides.
I needed to travel 41 miles ( one way ) to a family for a birthday party. This car was really planned to be intown transit for me to work and back and errands but........ I like a challenge. It has CHAdeMO and I have been kinda interested in trying it. One of the HUGE benefits I see in owning this leaf is the charge time. both L2 and rapid. they are SUPER fast.
( I have NO idea how this battery was treated from new, 2 previous owners. I have no idea how many DC charges have been run, and if they charged to 100% often.)
My leaf is a 2015 24kWh with 10bars/12 52,000 miles, 75.43%SOH on leafspy. I am 3rd owner and it has CHAdeMO DC fast, and j1772. both work. My factory range was ~82miles new. I get roughly ~70miles at 80-90%, 62ish is more consistently given. I drive 19 miles to a from work, and its been spot on with range for the few months I owned it so I decided to fire up ABRP ( A better Route Planner ) and plug in my destinations. It showed I would not only arrive fine, but I would arrive with 40% capacity!
" NO way! " I thought, no way. The hills, this transit is over a mountain, and into the inland valley from me ( coast ) so its not flat. And no chargers are available till I reach the destination ( 41 miles ). That range anxiety twinge hit. But I used to build cars and I recall the most memorable trips were the ones you partially didnt think you would make it.
( Santa Barbara CA - 85ish deg outside temps - low traffic - A/C definitely used, worked magically! - Bmode eco - cruise control for straights 55-65mph avg)
Ok to the prep, cause this is where it works with an EV, prep! I charged to 75% ish the night before. Woke up ate breakfast and went to the charger and popped it into top it off before the trip. I wanted to try for 100% and see the charger turn off and see what we get. ( It never did that, it pettered at 97% so I stopped it ) so Im topped off, unplug, check temps ( all middle ) and off we go. The route started with ~2000ft elevation rise ( uphill run ) and then all downhill to pretty much the destination. ( I have attached a portion of the route, to show the chart. ABRP is really nice for that. ) As I climb the mountain Im watching my range drop, fast. I have a spot in mind to "TURN BACK NOW" but I push on. I crest the ridge with 32mil range showing ( butt puckered a bit ). buuuuut butttttttt that still should make it as we only have 19 miles left. ( downhill ) I start the downhill. By the time I exit the foot of the ridge, and start my inland portion I'm back to 48 miles ( ~ 60%cap! ). I have maybe 5 miles left in the journey. THAT REGEN!
ALLL range anxiety killed at this point. I landed at the park, had a great birthday with family. (with 44% cap)
I targeted an EvGo CHAdeMO charger and some j1772 lv2 chargers the area incase. I drove to the charger with 36%ish. bout 22 miles. The charger was in a grocery store lot, a smaller farm store. which was nice. SO this was my first CHAdeMO experience, I was nervous. I grab the ANOCONDA cable ( gezzus man, im 44yrs old and not weak, WTH thats GIANT ) and slap it into the CHAdeMO port and start the process of paying. Two Audi Etron suvs roll up and look at me oddly ( this is near the chumash casino area ). I graciously told them I would be only 20min, and that the CCS cable is free, and can run at the same time! ( one driver failed to initiate and left with 80%! why were you chargin? ) the other got it running, and took off. nice folks though. I sat in the car after getting a drink inside, and turn on the radio and A/C ( what a nice feature that you can do that while charging ). Leafspy told me the progress, and I watched it go from 30%-92% in 22minutes ( @100w roughly, tapering ). I was shocked, I noted that the battery temps jumped two bars after ( 90 degree outside air temps ), but I wasnt planning another DC fast charge anytime soon, especially in this trip. plus my cruise on the inland area should run air over the batt for a bit before the climb.
long story short ( is this short?) I ran back, climbed the hill and descended the other side of the mountain. arriving home with 42mile range left ( 48%ish capacity ). A/C running the whole time.
I was, and still am smiling. This did fine, was painless I dare say ( knock on wood ). The etron drivers stated the electrify america charger down the street was being serviced, which is why they came to the one I was at. I also targeted that charger first as it was closer, that could have put a damper on the trip if it was not working.
The spotty charger layout for anything other than teslas is, hugely frustrating sometimes. But you can still make it work. I feel that the leaf is given a bad rap. This thing did fine.
sadly, the biggest hurdle for charging I noticed and continue to notice is other EV drivers. From vehicles on public chargers for 8+ hours, to people leaving completed vehicles in spots with wands still in the car. That will make travel like this difficult.
I needed to travel 41 miles ( one way ) to a family for a birthday party. This car was really planned to be intown transit for me to work and back and errands but........ I like a challenge. It has CHAdeMO and I have been kinda interested in trying it. One of the HUGE benefits I see in owning this leaf is the charge time. both L2 and rapid. they are SUPER fast.
( I have NO idea how this battery was treated from new, 2 previous owners. I have no idea how many DC charges have been run, and if they charged to 100% often.)
My leaf is a 2015 24kWh with 10bars/12 52,000 miles, 75.43%SOH on leafspy. I am 3rd owner and it has CHAdeMO DC fast, and j1772. both work. My factory range was ~82miles new. I get roughly ~70miles at 80-90%, 62ish is more consistently given. I drive 19 miles to a from work, and its been spot on with range for the few months I owned it so I decided to fire up ABRP ( A better Route Planner ) and plug in my destinations. It showed I would not only arrive fine, but I would arrive with 40% capacity!
" NO way! " I thought, no way. The hills, this transit is over a mountain, and into the inland valley from me ( coast ) so its not flat. And no chargers are available till I reach the destination ( 41 miles ). That range anxiety twinge hit. But I used to build cars and I recall the most memorable trips were the ones you partially didnt think you would make it.
( Santa Barbara CA - 85ish deg outside temps - low traffic - A/C definitely used, worked magically! - Bmode eco - cruise control for straights 55-65mph avg)
Ok to the prep, cause this is where it works with an EV, prep! I charged to 75% ish the night before. Woke up ate breakfast and went to the charger and popped it into top it off before the trip. I wanted to try for 100% and see the charger turn off and see what we get. ( It never did that, it pettered at 97% so I stopped it ) so Im topped off, unplug, check temps ( all middle ) and off we go. The route started with ~2000ft elevation rise ( uphill run ) and then all downhill to pretty much the destination. ( I have attached a portion of the route, to show the chart. ABRP is really nice for that. ) As I climb the mountain Im watching my range drop, fast. I have a spot in mind to "TURN BACK NOW" but I push on. I crest the ridge with 32mil range showing ( butt puckered a bit ). buuuuut butttttttt that still should make it as we only have 19 miles left. ( downhill ) I start the downhill. By the time I exit the foot of the ridge, and start my inland portion I'm back to 48 miles ( ~ 60%cap! ). I have maybe 5 miles left in the journey. THAT REGEN!
ALLL range anxiety killed at this point. I landed at the park, had a great birthday with family. (with 44% cap)
I targeted an EvGo CHAdeMO charger and some j1772 lv2 chargers the area incase. I drove to the charger with 36%ish. bout 22 miles. The charger was in a grocery store lot, a smaller farm store. which was nice. SO this was my first CHAdeMO experience, I was nervous. I grab the ANOCONDA cable ( gezzus man, im 44yrs old and not weak, WTH thats GIANT ) and slap it into the CHAdeMO port and start the process of paying. Two Audi Etron suvs roll up and look at me oddly ( this is near the chumash casino area ). I graciously told them I would be only 20min, and that the CCS cable is free, and can run at the same time! ( one driver failed to initiate and left with 80%! why were you chargin? ) the other got it running, and took off. nice folks though. I sat in the car after getting a drink inside, and turn on the radio and A/C ( what a nice feature that you can do that while charging ). Leafspy told me the progress, and I watched it go from 30%-92% in 22minutes ( @100w roughly, tapering ). I was shocked, I noted that the battery temps jumped two bars after ( 90 degree outside air temps ), but I wasnt planning another DC fast charge anytime soon, especially in this trip. plus my cruise on the inland area should run air over the batt for a bit before the climb.
long story short ( is this short?) I ran back, climbed the hill and descended the other side of the mountain. arriving home with 42mile range left ( 48%ish capacity ). A/C running the whole time.
I was, and still am smiling. This did fine, was painless I dare say ( knock on wood ). The etron drivers stated the electrify america charger down the street was being serviced, which is why they came to the one I was at. I also targeted that charger first as it was closer, that could have put a damper on the trip if it was not working.
The spotty charger layout for anything other than teslas is, hugely frustrating sometimes. But you can still make it work. I feel that the leaf is given a bad rap. This thing did fine.
sadly, the biggest hurdle for charging I noticed and continue to notice is other EV drivers. From vehicles on public chargers for 8+ hours, to people leaving completed vehicles in spots with wands still in the car. That will make travel like this difficult.