Upcoming 98 mile round trip with wife and baby -- insane??

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I don't know the elevation changes, but with a warm day (for the battery), no wind or snow, tires pumped up, and your fingers crossed, you can make it at 45mph. Or come up a mile or two short, but that's the gamble when we plan with no reserve.

Hopefully, you'll find an L2 to get about 1 mile of additional range per 5 minutes of charging. Check out the range estimate charts on the linked thread below.
 
I could make it but I am not you.

Keep your speed low and Drive With Load, an ampmeter works best to monitor power use up and down hills.

I think anyone who owns a leaf should probably go here
-> ecomodder.com learn a thing or two and your Leaf will go further.

Cheers
Ryan
 
I am SOOO bummed!!

Most of the early replies made good sense and were advising me not to do it. I had decided not to do it with the Leaf.

So I ran my morning errand into Seattle using the Leaf, and planned to return to Woodinville to switch to the dino-burner... Guess what--the event I was attending in Seattle was cancelled. Grrr... That means I could have gone straight from Woodinville and would have certainly been able to do it in a single charge. As it stood, when I came back, we would have had to wait three hours to fully recharge the car.

So sadly, we ended up using the dino-burner, and the kicker is we didn't need to. So yes, I'm still married, my son will indeed make eye contact, but I do feel I missed a chance to do a road trip with the EV and the family. There'll be other opportunites, though. :)

By the way, thank you guys for all the great information. I'm driving this car as gently as I can to see how I can stretch the mileage, but I don't seem to be able to make much of a difference. According to the dash, I'm averaging 4.1-4.2 miles/kWh, whether I drive in eco mode or not (!)

I'm using a light tough on the accelerator, slowly climbing to cruising speed, anticipating stops well in advance to carry as much speed as possible, and trying to maximize regen vs. mechanical braking. It seems I'm not doing all that well, compared to some of you.... Tips to learn how to drive further (without drafting semis, and overinflating tires) welcome!

I'll check out ecomodder.com to see what I can learn.

Thanks again,
-Brad
 
bradleygibson said:
By the way, thank you guys for all the great information. I'm driving this car as gently as I can to see how I can stretch the mileage, but I don't seem to be able to make much of a difference. According to the dash, I'm averaging 4.1-4.2 miles/kWh, whether I drive in eco mode or not (!)
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Where do you drive and what is the avg speed ?

If you are doing mostly freeways - 4.1 isn't bad.
 
evnow said:
rainnw said:
Yes, its generally quite accurate.
Click to expand...
Which one ?
Click to expand...

I wrote it. Its a bit complicated to use, because i am not pulling google API for driving directions (you have to supply it a CSV from a converted KML)

Is there another one out there?
 
bradleygibson said:
I'm wondering if I roll at 50mph on the highway vs. the stop & go of side streets if I'd get better mileage.
-Brad
Click to expand...

If you learn to drive conservatively and time the lights, stop and go on side streets will get you much better m/Kwh. Without the A/C and using CC, I've been able to reach 6.8m/Kwh on the dash driving all city streets (obtained over 50mpg city driving my wife's Corolla). There is no way with the LEAF that I could hit that figure using the interstates/highways, even at 50. I've been making long trips on one charge, and it's actually relaxing and interesting to see new surroundings by staying off the freeways.
 
Insane. Your wife will hate the car. Your baby will cry. You will cry too. I know from experience - see my earlier post on this topic.
 
I know this is probably well-past your planned trip north of Seattle, and I am not sure how far north you were planning to go, but there are L2 EVSEs at the outlet mall in Burlington. You could take highway 9 (55 mph) instead of I-5 (70 mph) and, with charging, you might be able to do it.
 
So, now I'm planning my own "insane" trip for next week - 87 miles from south of San Jose to Antioch, all but a mile of it on freeways (101, 680, 4) and including the Sunol Grade. Oh, and of course 87 miles back home a day or two later.

I'm not worried, though; no baby on board, just my wife and I, and we have no time pressure. If we find it prudent to stop in Pleasant Hill on the way up, we can do that. The interesting part is what happens when we get to Antioch. We're going to stay at the Day's Inn, which is, it turns out, only a couple of blocks from Antioch Nissan. I've cleared with the dealer that I can leave the car on their J1772 overnight. We'll stop at the hotel and check in, then I'll "park" the car just an nice evening's stroll away. A short walk to wake up in the morning, and we'll have the car all charged up for whatever we want to do with the grandkids and great-grandkids during the day. A booster shot that evening (maybe just 120v at their house) and we'll be all set for the long trek home. Sweet!

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
So, now I'm planning my own "insane" trip for next week
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Good luck, Ray! I'm in South San Jose (Bernal exit), so if you find yourself a little short on your way home, you can stop by my place for some L2, and a beer while you wait if you like :)
 
When I finally got the Leaf in my hands, I had a 100 mile drive ahead of me to take it home from the dealership.

It never crossed my mind trying to make it without some charging on the way, so I planned the route with two stops. One in Setubal to regain all the juice I would spend showing off the car to a friend in Lisbon, where the dealership's at (I'm portuguese, btw), and another one halfway, in Evora (actually a sizable detour, but that's what you get when you have no charging stations anywhere along the most direct routes).

At 5pm, with 50 miles in the tank, I plugged the car in Setubal, where it charged 2,5 hours up to 90 miles. 60 miles later I reached Evora with 20 to spare. At 9:30 PM, with only about 9 miles left after some going around searching for a station, I left the car charging (always L2) and went for some dinner and R&R. At 11:30 PM I went back to the car only to find a red light glaring at me from the charging station. Knowing the light should be blue, I went to turn the Leaf on only to find it had only taken in enough power for 2 more miles. After going through absolute horror, desbelief, denial, despair and anger, I finally talked myself and my wife into to sleeping in the car for whatever time needed to travel 50 more miles. So at around 4 am, after catching some surprisingly confortable zz, I started home, buzzing along a dark, deserted rural road.

All this to tell you: if I count all the good sex out, it was the best experience yet with a car. So enjoy the oportunity the Leaf grants you to spend the night in a small provincial town, to eat a bad pig and cheese sandwich while strolling leisurely along what you would call a county fair, to get to know places you would normally only speed through, or to go home at 4 am without being drunk. I can't see why on earth a mother and her baby woulnd't enjoy it too.
 
lavorama said:
...

All this to tell you: if I count all the good sex out, it was the best experience yet with a car. So enjoy the oportunity the Leaf grants you to spend the night in a small provincial town, to eat a bad pig and cheese sandwich while strolling leisurely along what you would call a county fair, to get to know places you would normally only speed through, or to go home at 4 am without being drunk. I can't see why on earth a mother and her baby woulnd't enjoy it too.
Click to expand...

That's practically right out of "Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance", nice post! I like to think life has more to do with how you interpret your situation than what actually happens...
G
 
lavorama said:
All this to tell you: if I count all the good sex out, it was the best experience yet with a car. So enjoy the oportunity the Leaf grants you to spend the night in a small provincial town, to eat a bad pig and cheese sandwich while strolling leisurely along what you would call a county fair, to get to know places you would normally only speed through, or to go home at 4 am without being drunk. I can't see why on earth a mother and her baby woulnd't enjoy it too.
Click to expand...

Another idea for killing time during a charge. :lol: :lol:
 
planet4ever said:
So, now I'm planning my own "insane" trip for next week - 87 miles from south of San Jose to Antioch, all but a mile of it on freeways (101, 680, 4) and including the Sunol Grade. Oh, and of course 87 miles back home a day or two later.
Click to expand...
Well, leg one is complete, and we're still alive to report it. It didn't get off to a very good start, though. My wife asked me to go out and get the car cooled off and ready to go, saying she would "be out in a minute." I first unplugged it then powered it up. The A/C started blowing cold air very quickly, as usual. Then I waited. And waited. I think it was ten minutes later that she joined me. So I eased out of the driveway, babied it up the tiny hill that is the first block from our house, and watched for the m/kWh meter to come on. It soon did -- at 0.9 m/kWh! Then she asked me to run into the drugstore and get a birthday card while she waited in the car. "And leave the air conditioner on, please." All told, I was at 2.2 m/kWh when I merged onto the freeway, and the first bar disappeared before we left the city limits. (That's the Morgan Hill "city" limits, not all that far, really.)

I had earlier told her, "I think I've got it figured that we can make it in under two hours if we drive 55; in about two and a half hours if we drive 60, and in something over three hours if we drive 65." Naturally she found that very puzzling, but I explained that we would have to stop for recharging at the faster speeds, so she agreed to 55. At this point I was beginning to doubt my own numbers, but I set CC at 55, ECO and, yes, A/C on auto (at 76). My wife is still a real doubter on this "silly car" of mine, and I wasn't about to give her an excuse for complaining by turning off the A/C.

We had gotten away an hour later than I wanted, so didn't get to Fremont on 680 until after 3:30 PM, and those of you who live in the area know what that means. I don't think I got over 20 mph from there to the top of the Sunol grade, and while I don't think I stopped, I remember seeing quite a lot of 6 mph. I don't have much insight on what traffic jams do to mileage, and that isn't a good test case because of the grade, but I know I had gotten m/kWh up to 4.3 before I hit the traffic, and it was back down to 3.5 at the top of the hill. That A/C had to be a factor. Going down the other side was fast, and yes, I let the car speed up to 70 while still getting some regen by feathering the accelerator.

That was nice, but I got a bit of a shock a few miles later. I dropped to four bars exactly as I crossed over 580. This was not going according to plan. I had even tried to draft a large truck on that hilly stretch, letting my speed go up and down like his. I knew I still had a bit of climbing to do as 680 skirts the foothills of Mt. Diablo. And, to quote Robert Frost, "miles to go before I sleep."

I had set myself a benchmark. If I dropped to two bars before I reached the highway 24/680 split I would stop to recharge. The traffic at Sunol grade I expected. I didn't know I would hit traffic nearly as bad for a long stretch in the Danville area. Long before I got to the top of that gentle but hilly climb I dropped to three bars, and my mood dropped too. I was going to have to give up and charge, despite limiting myself to 55. But then, amazingly, the three bars hung on, and on, and on. I got to the split where the right two lanes go to 24, and I still had three bars. ... Which dropped to two before the actual overpass. Now what?

I asked my wife if she would like a shopping break, and she said yes. So I headed to a ChargePoint station in Pleasant Hill that I had planned on. It is not far off the freeway at the Monument exit, and only a block from what looked like a nice shopping area (though I had never been there) on Crescent Drive. The ChargePoint station was great (at Gregory and Trelany), in a free parking lot with an oversize sign saying EV only and the pavement painted bright green with bold ELECTRIC VEHICLE lettering. Crescent Drive was a disappointment, with lots of bare windows except for all the "for lease" signs. We ended up just walking for 45 minutes except for a brief stop in a drugstore.

But it did give us a nice buffer despite the expected stop-and-go traffic on Highway 4 through Pittsburgh. We got the 'Low Battery' warning less than two miles from our granddaughter's home, and were able to drive the car to go out to dinner with them before checking in at the Day's Inn. Only after that did I take the car the short distance to Antioch Nissan. It was after 9 PM when I got there, so there was no one around, but they had two AV units out in the open lot with no cars parked next to them. I had called last week to confirm that I could use one, so my faithful LEAF is there right now sucking electron soup.

Oh, total mileage for the day: 92.1 with with 4.8 m/kWh showing on the dash. I had 6 flashing miles on the guessometer for folks that care about those things. I was having trouble reading numbers on the ChargePoint station but I think it might have said I got 3.665 kWh in 48 minutes.

Returning home may be another challenge, but I have decided to do it midday Saturday to try to avoid traffic jams. I just have this sneaking, but unconfirmed, suspicion that 10 mph may be worse on mileage than 60 mph, especially in a traffic jam where you are really forced to change speeds a lot.

Ray

Edit: corrected typo on A/C temperature.
 

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