What are the odds

[Luft]

I've ordered my LEAF so the waiting begins. So as long as I have nothing better to do than day dream...

If a LEAF owner got the 240 V modification so that his included charger could be used with 240 or 110 and he got a Quick 240 unit that can take output from two 120 plugs that are on different circuits and different phases to produce 240 volts and he wasn't pressed for time do you think that this crazy person could go from the Canadian boarder (say Blaine, WA) all the way down the west coast to the Mexican boarder in his LEAF? Traveling 60 or 70 miles a day. Plugging in at rest areas, hotels, RV camp grounds, etc. what would you guess the odd are that he could make it?

 

[dday]

Have you ever seen the PBS special called Horatio's Drive? http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/films/horatio.html

"In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new-fangled "horseless carriage." At the time there were only 150 miles of paved roads in the entire country, all of them within city limits. There were no gas stations and virtually no road maps as we know them today. Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future. Jackson's trip would prove them wrong."


I would say if you had the time and the where-with-all, your drive could be done. Besides someone is going to be the first one to drive an all electric car across the states, might as well be you.

 

[smkettner]

A determined and prepared person... 100%.

 

[uwskier20]

Luft, they're already planning it. WSDOT, ODOT, and CA-DOT are looking to electrify the I-5 corridor. http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com/

Incidentally, WSDOT plans to electrify the Cascade Loop (Seattle, Leavenworth, Ellensburg, and back to Seattle) in the very near future. I know that L2 has gone in at Stevens Pass. I'm not sure if I could get that far, even from Snohomish, given the 4061' altitude gain. We'll need some L3 in spots.

Although, to answer your original question, I think it could be done. Maybe book RV sites at state camp grounds, and do it that way? Definitely would provide time to take in the scenery often missed screaming by at 75 MPH.

 

[TEG]

...someone is going to be the first one to drive an all electric car across the states, might as well be you.

http://www.ev1.pair.com/charge_across_america/charge_html/chargehome.html

...Travel along as Kris Trexler drove his GM EV1 electric car on a 3,275 mile cross country trip without burning one drop of gasoline!...

http://renewamericaroadtrip.com/

...The Renew America Roadtrip™ (RAR) made history two summers ago when it completed America’s first volunteer, green, charity drive coast-to-coast in an all-electric sports car - a Tesla Motor's Roadster...

 

[planet4ever]

70 miles a day is less than 2 hours. Quick220 and Ingineer's L1/L2 will recharge that in about 9 hours. What are you going to do with the car for the other 13 hours a day? Shucks, you can travel 140 miles a day, easy.

Blaine, WA to Tijuana, Mexico is just under 1400 miles. That's not only possible, it's a snap! You could do it on a 2-week vacation.

Ray

 

[garygid]

Night-time charging where you sleep, daytime charging where there is something to do.

Careful planning to recognize short-drive sections (due to gaining altitude), OR just go "No Reservations" and see where you spend and end each day.

 

[Bassman]

I use a Quick 220 and Ingineers Modded L1 charger. I commute 63 miles one way and it usually takes only 7 to 7.5 hours to charge to 100%, so you could easily due 120 to 140 miles a day. So two weeks would give you roughly 4 extra days to do other things or get almost halfway back.

 

[hill]

Luft, they're already planning it. WSDOT, ODOT, and CA-DOT are looking to electrify the I-5 corridor. http://www.westcoastgreenhighway.com/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . snip

. . . . only don't bother with the Oregon link to quick charging - the link is down -

. . . . . . . . the odds? Better than L3 charge implementation.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

I've ordered my LEAF so the waiting begins. So as long as I have nothing better to do than day dream...

If a LEAF owner got the 240 V modification so that his included charger could be used with 240 or 110 and he got a Quick 240 unit that can take output from two 120 plugs that are on different circuits and different phases to produce 240 volts and he wasn't pressed for time do you think that this crazy person could go from the Canadian boarder (say Blaine, WA) all the way down the west coast to the Mexican boarder in his LEAF? Traveling 60 or 70 miles a day. Plugging in at rest areas, hotels, RV camp grounds, etc. what would you guess the odd are that he could make it?

Be aware that the quick 220 requires outlets that are not GFI protected. GFI protected outlets will see the current imbalance between Line and Neutral on the 120V socket and immediately trip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

 

[Luft]

I've ordered my LEAF so the waiting begins. So as long as I have nothing better to do than day dream...

If a LEAF owner got the 240 V modification so that his included charger could be used with 240 or 110 and he got a Quick 240 unit that can take output from two 120 plugs that are on different circuits and different phases to produce 240 volts and he wasn't pressed for time do you think that this crazy person could go from the Canadian boarder (say Blaine, WA) all the way down the west coast to the Mexican boarder in his LEAF? Traveling 60 or 70 miles a day. Plugging in at rest areas, hotels, RV camp grounds, etc. what would you guess the odd are that he could make it?

Be aware that the quick 220 requires outlets that are not GFI protected. GFI protected outlets will see the current imbalance between Line and Neutral on the 120V socket and immediately trip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

Can a person tell which outlets have GFI protection? Are they the ones seen in bathrooms that have their own breaker?

This sounds like it could be embarrassing if I were to use the Quick 220 in a hotel room and had to call the manager because I popped some circuit breaker.

 

[DarkStar]

Can a person tell which outlets have GFI protection? Are they the ones seen in bathrooms that have their own breaker?

This sounds like it could be embarrassing if I were to use the Quick 220 in a hotel room and had to call the manager because I popped some circuit breaker.

Some GFCI outlets are like the ones with the "Test/Reset" buttons on them, however a circuit breaker can be GFCI protected too (however is less likely).

 

[hill]

Be aware that the quick 220 requires outlets that are not GFI protected. GFI protected outlets will see the current imbalance between Line and Neutral on the 120V socket and immediately trip. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

That's EXACTLY why I'm having a very creative person help me design an in-line gfi SPOOF . . . . . . . . . . . . after all, if your plugs are properly grounded, you WILL be good to go. Do NOT bother asking me if my new gadget is U.L. approved.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

GFCI's are often daisy chained, so one outlet may have the GFCI in it and it may protect other outlets in the same room or even in other rooms. If you see the test / reset buttons in the outlet, that's a GFCI. Ordinary outlets that are protected by a another GFCI elsewhere or a GFCI breaker are harder to tell. I don't know of any easy way to check besides tripping the GFCI. You can use a GFCI outlet tester that checks the outlet wiring and has a little button that creates a fault condition to intentionally trip the GFCI. GFCI's trip often enough, that if you trip one, it will usually be where you can access it and reset it without calling the manager or someone else to get access. A breaker finder could be used to trace the circuit but using the GFCI tester is easier and quicker as long as you can find the GFCI to reset it.

Many outdoor outlets will be GFCI protected.

Just tell the manager you popped it with your curling iron! :shock: (Yeah, that's it, a 12V curling iron plugged into the LEAF plugged into the GFCI that tripped it. Yeah, that's what happened. )

 

[ElectricVehicle]

That's EXACTLY why I'm having a very creative person help me design an in-line gfi SPOOF . . . . . . . . . . . . after all, if your plugs are properly grounded, you WILL be good to go. Do NOT bother asking me if my new gadget is U.L. approved.

I don't understand how you can spoof the GFCI. It measures the differential current between line and neitral and in a 240V circuit, the current flows from line of one plug to line of the other with no current on the neutral, which creates a line neutral current imbalance no matter what you do. Unless you're forcibly holding the GFCI rest button in, so it's always tripping but you keeo the contacts from opening by holding the button?

 

[Luft]

"Just tell the manager you popped it with your curling iron! :shock: (Yeah, that's it, a 12V curling iron plugged into the LEAF plugged into the GFCI that tripped it. Yeah, that's what happened. )

He may not believe it because I'm bald! :lol:

 

[LEAFfan]

GFCI's are often daisy chained, so one outlet may have the GFCI in it and it may protect other outlets in the same room or even in other rooms. If you see the test / reset buttons in the outlet, that's a GFCI. Ordinary outlets that are protected by a another GFCI elsewhere or a GFCI breaker are harder to tell.

All of our GFCI receptacles that don't have the 'reset' button have a sticker on them showing they're GFCI outlets.

 

[hill]

That's EXACTLY why I'm having a very creative person help me design an in-line gfi SPOOF . . . . . . . . . . . . after all, if your plugs are properly grounded, you WILL be good to go. Do NOT bother asking me if my new gadget is U.L. approved.

I don't understand how you can spoof the GFCI. It measures the differential current between line and neitral and in a 240V circuit, the current flows from line of one plug to line of the other with no current on the neutral, which creates a line neutral current imbalance no matter what you do. Unless you're forcibly holding the GFCI rest button in, so it's always tripping but you keeo the contacts from opening by holding the button?

No -
See comments on this page:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3981&start=400
sorry for the delay in responding - WAY too much on the plate

 

[Volusiano]

I read recently about a guy who drove his Leaf from San Diego to Tucson (480 miles) in 7 days. He was in no hurry.

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/07/01/480-mile-road-trip-in-a-nissan-leaf/