Waialae to Wahiawa commute ok for leaf?

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Rmasu

Active member
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
37
I'm so glad I found this Hawaii section!
I asked this same question on the main board but got mixed answers.
I live up Waialae nui ridge. 1000 ft elevation, past the rec center if anyone knows where that is.
I drive to Wahiawa everyday. My drive starts down the 1000 ft hill about 1.5 miles right on to h1 by star of the sea. H1 all the way stay on moanalua freeway past tripler hospital merge to traffic coming from airport viaduct and then past sears distribution etc up the big hill to 1000 ft in Wahiawa. During lunch I some times go to Walmart or the gym at 24hrs In mililani. Charging at work is not a likely option.
I leave the house at 630ish and leave Wahiawa a approximately 4 ish. Traffic is somewhat against the flow but anyone that travels the route I go knows its pretty slow going.
In the morning from kalaniolele hwy to vineyard is basically stop and go then from vineyard on its about 50mph to Waianae split when I start heading up hill to Wahiawa I'm usually going about 60.
Coming home from Wahiawa is all down hill to the merge and freeway speeds till the middle street merge I usually take airport viaduct way, the traffic is stop and go till Punahou and then freeway speeds to end of freeway, the the climb up Waialae nui ridge 1000 ft up
Round trip is 59 miles without side trips lunch time run to mililani adds about 9 miles.
So am I stretching the leafs capabilities? I don't want to sweat it everyday or be unable to do lunch errands etc. I also don't want to leave my ac off drive super slow side streets etc.
Now of course on some days like no school days sat etc I may be going 60 plus the entire way non stop
I want to know if the leaf would be good in all these scenarios, I don't speed and drive pretty normally not aggressive. Should I be looking at the volt? As a side note we have a full PV system.
 
You PV system will make a big difference.. the natural electrons it provides are more compatible with the Leaf and will be easily absorbed.. electricity made from natural gas is not too bad, coal is so-so, from oil is not good since its more refined and never from nuclear, totally un-natural. Wind and hydro are obviously good.

Note that if you are grid tied you will contaminate your supply.
 
When I was recently in Oahu for a wedding, I saw a bunch of LEAFs at the Enterprise rental yard by the airport. Why not rent one for a few days?
 
I am tied to the grid, that really bums me out that my electrons are contaminated. Hey do you have a bridge to sell too?
I was just fishing to see if any one had a similar route or distance in Hawaii. Renting a leaf from enterprise is not a bad idea.
Maybe I'll get one this weekend. No one has a simular commute or distance everyday?
tHANKS
 
Rmasu said:
Round trip is 59 miles without side trips lunch time run to mililani adds about 9 miles.
So am I stretching the leafs capabilities? I don't want to sweat it everyday or be unable to do lunch errands etc. I also don't want to leave my ac off drive super slow side streets etc.
You know these facts:

1. The EPA range is 73 miles. This is based on an adjusted drive cycle that it probably 40 MPH on average and includes no elevation gain or loss. Also there is no use of AC and this is with a new battery.
2. You want to drive 68 miles at 60 MPH with elevation gain and you want to use AC and you're battery won't always be new.
3. Going faster uses more battery; elevation gain uses more battery; old batteries don't hold as much energy as new batteries.
4. The Low Battery warning starts with about 13 miles of range left.
5. You don't want to "sweat it".

Given these parameters the answer seems apparent. What do you think?
 
You've got to tally up your desires and decide which ones are wants and which ones are needs. Yes, if you insist that all of those conditions must be met, all of the time, then you may not be happy with the LEAF.

Looking at it more realistically, a good deal of the time your commute will involve slow traffic. Your range will increase and on those days the side trip is probably fine. On a no-traffic, scorching hot day, maybe you'd need to skip the side-trip. Or take a slower route home or to work. Or go a bit slower on the freeway. You need to weigh the frequency of these "concessions" vs. your desire to go gasoline-free.

What you really need to do is to categorize wants vs. needs. Answer whether it can meet your *needs*, and if so then which *wants* are the more important.

To start with, the rental is a very good idea. Test at least a couple of those scenarios.
 
I hope this helps you.
As a comparison, I have driven from Mililani to Kalama Valley and back and returned home with one bar left.
The a/c was on the entire drive and average speed on the freeway was around 60mph.
 
SanDust said:
You know these facts:
1. The EPA range is 73 miles. This is based on an adjusted drive cycle that it probably 40 MPH on average and includes no elevation gain or loss. Also there is no use of AC and this is with a new battery.

I think the average speed is 48mph.. the 73 mile number is is the new 5 Cycle EPA test that includes an 80mph/high acceleration high speed cycle, a cold cycle with heater use, a hot cycle with AC use plus the original mild city and hwy cycles. The original cycles are followed after a full charge plus an overnight rest and are repeated until the car cant meet the acceleration specs, probably just above turtle, total distance is measured. The 5 Cycle was adopted so that the sticker number would match owners experiences more closely, and the range reduction fudge factor over the old 2 Cycle is not allowed to exceed 30%. Note the 5 Cycle does not include hilly terrain and aggressive curves.

http://www.smidgeindustriesltd.com/leaf/EPA/EPA_test_procedure_for_EVs-PHEVs-1-13-2011.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Herm said:
I think the average speed is 48mph.. the 73 mile number is is the new 5 Cycle EPA test that includes an 80mph/high acceleration high speed cycle, a cold cycle with heater use, a hot cycle with AC use plus the original mild city and hwy cycles. The original cycles are followed after a full charge plus an overnight rest and are repeated until the car cant meet the acceleration specs, probably just above turtle, total distance is measured.
As your source points out, the 73 mile number is an adjusted 2-Cycle number not a 5-Cycle number ("EPA regulations require the city and highway energy consumption and driving range values listed on the FE Label (window sticker) to be adjusted to more accurately reflect the energy consumption and driving range that customers can expect to achieve in the real world.")

The average speed on the City Cycle is 21.2 MPH. The average speed on the Highway Cycle is 48.3 MPH. The average speed on the "High Speed" is 48.37 MPH. It lasts for ten minutes (as say compared to the City Cycle that lasts over thirty minutes). That doesn't matter though because it's not ever used. The only cycles that are run on an EV are the City and the Highway.

In any event the Leaf's EPA range will probably be overstated for the kind of driving he's looking at. Most ICE vehicles get much better MPG on the Highway Cycle than the City Cycle and the USO6 Cycle doesn't bother them that much. On the other hand the Leaf does better on the City Cycle and would do very poorly on US06. Since the adjustment factor is based on how ICE vehicles perform at US06 relative to the City Cycle, which is relatively good, applying this factor to the Leaf is going to understate the adjustment factor and overstate the range.
 
I drive from Hawaii Kai to Waipio daily for my commute. I can do it without issues on a 80% charge without charging at work. I would be able to get home with about 3-4 bars on my meter for the straight commute. On some mornings, I drop my daughter off at school in town before heading to work and I notice that I'm closer to 2 bars on those days when I get home.

If you end up doing a lot of errands during lunch time, it might start getting a little dicey though I suspect that you'd still be OK. You would probably want to charge to 100% though. If you can do at least some L1 charging while at work, that would be very helpful and give you some peace of mind (you can't find a plug someplace to put in the trickle charger?) I have access to a L2 charger near where I work and use it occasionally when I plan on running a bunch of errands after work.

I think the idea of renting a Leaf and trying out your commute is a good idea, just to see how things are. That last stretch coming up H2 does suck up some battery power. :)
 
that is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you. I think at 100% waialae to wahiawa should be ok if you can go from Hawaii kai to waipio. Thanks for the input. I am working on charging at work.
Thanks!
 
just to follow up on my original question.
Any other Hawaii people out there, the leaf is a great car for our island.
Waialae to Wahiawa and back absolutely no problem. I drive normally not like a granny ac the whole way, even took a lunch trip to Walmart in Mililani bact to wahiawa then back to Waialae. Mostly 60 mph then the worst traffic in the nation sets in.
I get home no problem with 2-3 bars left, yesterday I got home with 4 bars left. If batt deg is really bad it might be cutting close. but if I can keep even 80% no problem!
I must admit though first couple of trips I was glued to the power meter and GOM.
Car is wonderful. smoother and quieter than my wifes MB E350 2010!
 
Rmasu said:
just to follow up on my original question.
Any other Hawaii people out there, the leaf is a great car for our island.
Waialae to Wahiawa and back absolutely no problem. I drive normally not like a granny ac the whole way, even took a lunch trip to Walmart in Mililani bact to wahiawa then back to Waialae. Mostly 60 mph then the worst traffic in the nation sets in.
I get home no problem with 2-3 bars left, yesterday I got home with 4 bars left. If batt deg is really bad it might be cutting close. but if I can keep even 80% no problem!
I must admit though first couple of trips I was glued to the power meter and GOM.
Car is wonderful. smoother and quieter than my wifes MB E350 2010!

Glad to hear that it's all working out for you!! (going to take my Leaf in on Tuesday for its 7500 mile service) :)
 
Aeolus said:
When I was recently in Oahu for a wedding, I saw a bunch of LEAFs at the Enterprise rental yard by the airport. Why not rent one for a few days?
I wonder if Enterprise always charges to 100% or 80% on a daily basis?
 
You do know that there is not really such a thing as a 7,500 mile service on the Leaf and that it is only a good way for the dealer to separate you from your money, right? Get a tire rotation anywhere at 7,500 (free to 15 bucks) and you are done.

spleenster said:
Glad to hear that it's all working out for you!! (going to take my Leaf in on Tuesday for its 7500 mile service) :)
 
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