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2k1Toaster said:
Well I took the Leaf up from COS to the Denver Airport, and it was fun. Re-affirmed my dislike for Volt owners too.

We drove to Arapahoe Nissan, did a quick L3 (from 32% to 85%) headed to the airport and got there with 30-somthing percent. Go the EV areas and every single spot was blocked by a Volt. None of them were even charging. Then there were 2 hybrid spots, 1 next to the charger, the other 2 spots down and a Volt just pulled in. I politely asked if he would mind moving 2 spots down to the other hybrid spot so I could use the L1 charger from the hybrid spot. Guy flat out said no. Couldn't be bothered to move his car over. So I just parked in a normal spot and got on my plane. Got back about 26 hours later and 2 volts had left, now occupied by a BMW (i3?) and a Tesla. And there were 4 other Teslas parked in that row but not at the spots.

Drove to Canopy, they charged me for free up to 58% when I asked them to stop since that was more than enough. Drove to Arapahoe Nissan again for another L3. There was a white Leaf parked at the L3 and it had stopped charging at 90%. I unplugged it, plugged it into the L2 that was there (it started charging up) and I left a note. Plugged me into the L3. Drove slowly on the way back. I am still not comfortable guessing the battery usage from DEN to COS on I-25. I am fairly certain I could not make it all at 75mph. Add to that the GF was cold, so we had the heat blasting the whole time. I just found a semi and drove behind it.

Thanks for the report. So for DIA I've charged twice, both times arriving either late Sunday night or extremely early Monday. One time one of the garages had all EV spots full so I went to the other and they had one slot left. That whole set-up really highlights the problems with charging spots. You know everyone there is going to be gone for at least a day - probably many days, yet once a spot is taken no one else can use the charger during that time. And yes, Volts and Energis are particularly annoying with there small batteries taking up spots that pure EVs could use - but it would be worse if PiPs were available in Colorado as you know they would hog the spots for their 1 hour charge. It would be better if they had a string of 110V outlets along a couple rows and had people use their own EVSEs to plug in - less cost to the garage and more people could use the spots.

A caution on your trip back - you cannot count on Arapahoe Nissan, or any L3 spot. That L3 stations has been working for many weeks now but it was down for many months and during the spring was up-and-down. On one trip back I found that it had just gone out of order - I ended up charging at a Walgreens in Highlands Ranch while I tried to sleep in the back seat (unfortunately necessary because the trip from the airport in 0F temperatures had taken up most of the battery).

When relying on a charging station to get home I try to plan a route with several stations along the way just in case some are down. I make sure to have a 100% charge leaving DIA. I'll take 225 and, if they are open, try to get a top-up at the Tynan's L3 in Aurora. From there I can get home with a 100% charge if I hypermile and the temps are warm. Arapahoe is the second choice for an L3 top-up - if at 100% from there it's easy to get home, but like all Nissan dealerships the L2 is a slow 208V charger. Further south you're stuck with L2. My primary stopping point is Castle Rock. The Walgreens is conveniently located next to Panera and lots of shopping so I'll stop there and gladly pay the fee unless all the shops are closed. The backup plan is the hospital across the freeway, where they have 4 spots of which 2 are usually working. Going south from that point for emergencies there is an RV campground at the Tomah exit where you can beg to use campground charging (an upgraded EVSE for 240V is helpful here) and the Walgreens in Monument.
 
Well yesterday we took the Leaf up to Ft. Colins... 281miles about roundtrip.

Here is the leg back:
screenshot20141123224239___ervmsFhiA6.png


Left the springs at about 65% charge, rolled into Arapahoe Nissan without the LBW going off, but it was just about to around 19%. QC'd up to 86% then drove to Loveland where we charged at the Outlet malls with the QC behind the Dental office starting at 22%. Shopped at one of the stores for a half hour or so and left with 7.98kWh according to the email from Greenlots which would make sense since it was high 50% when we left, forgot exactly. BTW, I like their charge system. Scan the QR code and off it goes. We then made it to Ft. Colins, had dinner with some friends that came down from Wyoming. It was all rather uneventful. I knew getting there would be the easier of the 2 legs, and it was.

On the way back we pulled into the QC at Loveland again. BTW, it is right at the blue arrow in the closeup of the route. The info on plugshare says "behind the dental office", which it is, but if you don't know where the dental office is, it is a very large shopping plaza, it is an outlets mall. We were surprised when we pulled in, I kind of expected it to be a dump of some kind. It is on the North side of the building. That little crooked Oklahoma looking shape is the parking lot route that most closely hugs the group of buildings in that area.

screenshot20141123224313___QprJ6uS4Ai.png


Since all the stores had closed, and we had just eaten it was just a pleasant time to curl up under the alpaca blanket and wait it out. Man these chargers are slow, I wish someone would install true 65KWh chargers. After 47 minutes we had added 12.47kWh according to the email and were at something around 82%. My internal calculations said this would be enough to get to Arapahoe Nissan. And it was... barely. Pulled in with a flashing 8 on the GOM. Luckily the GF was asleep at this point and not freaking out about range. I admit I had some range anxiety as I rounded the big stadium on I-25 as the LBW sounded. Parked there to charge. I then walked to Walmart and back while it was charging, which is what the rest of that crazy loop is and the time at super slow speeds on the other graph. Picked up some candy and pop and got back to the car. Left there with 88% and made it home with 23% remaining which was really surprising.

screenshot20141123224328___arTQ46HMFm.png


I like the elevation graph, I find it helpful. Again, this is only coming back from Ft. Colin's to Colorado Springs:

screenshot20141123224246___qR4xgM5IIh.png


soc___80L8Vpkow1.jpg


Temperatures were all below freezing, between -3C and -7C for the most part. Limited use of the HVAC except for occasional defrost and the GF's HI setting seat heater.

Overall it took 3.5 hours to get there, and 4 hours to get home. In the Prius it would have been about 2.5hrs each direction without a care in the world. Over 281miles would be about 5.5 gallons of fuel, so at $3/gal a total of $16. The Leaf cost $0, but if we had to pay the new Blink pricing of $8/charge it would have been 4 charges at $32 total. I never bought the Leaf to save money, I just think it's cool. It was the GF that suggested we "try" taking the Leaf to Ft. Collins. I had a few backup plans, like charging at the museum in Ft. Colins, but we didn't end up needing them. I checked Plugshare thoroughly before leaving and that's how I found out half of the L3's along the route are currently out of service. It was a fun experience, and we will be trying to push the Leaf further and further.
 
Wow, very cool post 2k1Toaster. I didn't see this until now.

I had my own C Springs to Denver adventure today, though with much warmer (72!?! in Feb) temperatures. 153 miles round trip. Got to Arapahoe Nissan with 50% charge remaining after going 75 most of the way on I25 (65 on monument hill and leaving castle rock). A dealer car was on the L3 but after inquiring inside they were nice enough to come help me move the cord to my car in the adjacent spot. It took 3 dealers before we figured out how to disconnect an L3 though. Chatted up Leafs with one of the new dealers... very nice. Left there at 75% after 10-15min and headed out to Littleton to visit friends.

From there we headed down US6 past downtown Denver for a stop near Colorado Blvd. Then back to the Cultural Center garage L3. I got there with 40% remaining. Spent an hour exploring with the kids outside and got back to the car seeing no blinking lights - excited about my full charge. Turned on car and it said 70%!? Doh! Did someone prank me by stopping the charger? Did it fault? I saw no obvious reason for it to have stopped, temp bars were only at 6. Anyway, didn't spend time to figure it out, had to head back to Colorado blvd and down to I25 from there.

Pulled into Castle Rock hospital with 35% and walked across the street for some dinner. This stop was not in the plans, could have made it home without the interrupted charge but oh well. Left with 72%, drove 65 or so on average on I25, got home with 22%.

EDIT: Got my solar and L2 at the house today! Woohoo!
 
Nfuzzy said:
Then back to the Cultural Center garage L3. I got there with 40% remaining. Spent an hour exploring with the kids outside and got back to the car seeing no blinking lights - excited about my full charge. Turned on car and it said 70%!? Doh! Did someone prank me by stopping the charger? Did it fault? I saw no obvious reason for it to have stopped, temp bars were only at 6.

Hmmm. Well, for 2011 and 2012 LEAFs the quick charge will stop at 80% if the charge started at below 50%. This is highly annoying and means that if you start below 50% you need to stop and restart the charge at some point above 50% to get it to go to 100%. But I thought they'd fixed that starting in 2013.

However, this is why I've developed the habit of checking charging status periodically via the app when I'm at a public charger.

As far as Castle Rock goes, yes I know the Walgreen's EVSE across the freeway is fee-based, but I'll gladly pay the $1 or so to get access to a much better array of restaurants and shops.
 
For those that haven't seen it on Plugshare there is apparently a new level 2 unit at the Kaiser facility right next to the Lincoln RTD station. Might be a nice alternative to the hospital one in castle rock as it is closer to places to eat. Our office is actually moving right next to the RTD station in August so I might be using that Kaiser one sometimes.
 
I'm finally making the trip. I will be working/staying in the springs for the next two weeks. Will be arriving on Sunday and going home Friday to Fort Collins both weeks. I can't stand the idea of driving my wife's ICE around for two weeks, so despite the fact charging won't be very convenient, I'm taking the LEAF.

I am planning to use the charge point station at the mall on Powers and then maybe the SCS Nissan L3 for charging while there. Hopefully I can get through the weeks with only one or two sessions. I'm also going to try to find a plug at my hotel, but scouting around on previous trips there did not reveal any so far.

Wish me luck.
 
How have the trip(s) been AlanSqB? I wonder if I bumped into you at Arapahoe Nissan today? I did C Springs to Broomfield and back. 78 miles there with 26% remaining. I definitely know now that I could make it all the way to Boulder on a charge though it would have hit LBW. I think if I were brave/stupid enough I could have hypermiled my way back without stopping too but it certainly isn't worth trying when about 10 minutes on the L3 gave me a good buffer to get home.
 
Yes, that was me in the grey leaf. That was actually my first trip down as I chickened out the week before because of the weather. Little did I know that it would end up being so much worse last week.

Thanks to South Colorado Springs Nissan, the trip was tolerable. I went back and forth between using their L3 and the L2 at First and Main. Ate lots of Pho last week. :D

Coming home Friday was challenging. I stopped at one of the new NRG EVgo stations in arapahoe. It was very fast. If it weren't for the rain I could have made it home, but I was going to be about 10 miles short. Unfortunately since the l3 at Centerra in Loveland was down, my only choice was to detour to Longmont, adding another hour to my return trip.

I really enjoyed having my car with me, but I don't think I'll be making that trip with it again. Luckily my traveling is done for a while.
 
So how do the NRG EVgo stations work? Did you call to activate and pay by credit card? How much did that one cost? I don't mind paying in a pinch for the speed and the location is right to take hwy 83 home.
 
I did call. It was about $10, but I'd rather pay than hang out at a car dealer. 24 to 87% charge in 30 minutes. Fastest charge I've ever seen.

I ordered one of the EVgo cards to do pay as you go.
 
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