Most Fun trip from an EVSE perspective

[09Bamb00]

Okay, It is 47 miles from the charging station in Lakeland. It had been raining therefore I had AC, wipers, lights. Of course I was happily going home so I wasn't driving to conserve energy. Until I blew by the exit. At that point I was down to 4 bars (probably 3 something in reality). Of course Carwings won't give me the distances to the nearest station that isn't in the opposite direction and that I couldn't get to anyway.... And since I was driving I wasn't going to use Chargepoint App...

At that point, I didn't remember how far it was between Sun City Center and the next exit. So I slowed down to 50 mph. (In this part of Florida people will drive over you if you are traveling less than 65 mph even in the right lane with your hazards on).

Anyway, it was a very interesting adventure and I discovered lots of nice people, including that fireman.

Now I know where this is and can blow by Sun City, swing by the fire station to say "Hi" and go to Palmetto to charge to get home.

[tps]

The most amazing trip I've made in the LEAF so far was the first one I made in the Hertz rental LEAF on April 2, 2011. It was only the second time I'd driven a LEAF (the first was 2 weeks earlier, a 5 minute drive at the National Harbor Drive Electric Event in DC). This time there was no one there to meet me or give me any advice on how to drive the LEAF. And this was the first time I'd ever driven in the Manhattan traffic. So it was exciting on a number of levels. My destination was a place I'd never gone, but was a Mecca for a former broadcast engineer, the Armstrong Tower in Alpine NJ.

When I rented the Hertz LEAF again in July 2011 and drove it to my home on the north side of Philly was interesting. I stopped at a couple Nissan dealerships, including the one I ultimately got my LEAF from, and attracted quite a crowd. Most of those who worked at those dealerships had never seen a LEAF in-the-flesh. It was interesting later on when I got my LEAF; they just handed me the keys and let me drive off; I guess they figured I already knew how to drive it, charge it, etc...

A future trip I plan to make is to somehow drive the LEAF from Philadelphia to Cincinnati to visit my family. At the rate the charging infrastructure is being built out in this part of the country, maybe that can happen in the next year.

If I lived in LA, a drive after dark on Mulholland might be nice...