Road Hazard

Recently I embarked on another road trip adventure in my 2012 Nissan Leaf EV.  Due to many factors in and out of my control, that adventure turned into a bit of a misadventure.  In the following pages I will outline the trip and share with you the unfortunate series of events and factors that seemed to be compounding and conspiring against me reaching my destination.

Purpose of the trip: install a citizen science air quality monitoring device at a remote location near Franklin, NC.  This air monitor was to be part of the Clean Air Carolina Air Keepers project that is working to build a statewide network of private air monitoring stations that will help us all become more aware of what is in our shared air.  This network will give us all better tools, data, and evidence in fighting air pollution in our shared air.

Chosen vehicle for the trip: 2012 Nissan Leaf SL

This is my personal vehicle and my nonprofit organization’s outreach vehicle.  Being a 2012 “first generation” Leaf it is now suffering from battery degradation due to a chemistry issue Nissan has been aware of for many years.  Unfortunately, Nissan HQ has been zero help in repairing or replacing this failing battery despite their knowledge of and my extensive documentation of the issue.  I dearly love the car, its technology – well, except for the battery chemistry that is causing the degradation – and all that it stands for as the planet’s highest selling all electric vehicle, however, I am extremely upset with Nissan on this issue and I am sure this fact will impact my decision making process when it comes time to buy a new electric vehicle for myself or for my nonprofit organization.  That however, could change if Nissan would choose to support their end of the deal.   

Day 1.

Weather: 45F rain and fog.

EV status: 92.1% SOC, 14 kWh available in traction battery (yes, that is all it will hold – the car is a 2012 Nissan Leaf SL with a generation one traction battery…oh how I miss those lost 10 kWh…)

Battery capacity bars remaining: 8

Beginning odometer: 70,609

10am – departed Brevard, NC bound for Cashiers, NC

Travel was slow going due to rain, fog, and slow traffic on curvy mountain roads.

11:00 – arrived in Cashiers, NC at the Ugly Dog Public House.

Weather: 48F heavier rain.

EV status: 20% SOC, 2.5 kWh remaining in traction battery.

I plugged the Leaf into the Ugly Dog’s Clipper Creek L2 EVSE (the only public L2 in Cashiers), verified the charger was working, then I took a wet walk for about half an hour. Upon returning I discovered the L2 had died during my absence and charging has stopped. Red lights on the unit indicated a power/charging fault.  In my almost six years of EV ownership, this was only the second time I have had an EVSE malfunction while charging.  The first time it was a Clipper Creek EVSE at my workplace – good thing I had L1 “trickle” charging capabilities adjacent to the L2 so no worries.  This time however was very different…and it was dumping down a cold winter’s rain. 

Lucky for me the EVSE had delivered a 1.9 kWh increase to the drive battery before it malfunctioned and the car now had a 32.6% SOC and 4.4 kWh available. 

I visited the Ugly Dog pub and informed the manager of the station error and thanked them profusely for installing the only EVSE in Cashiers.  Staff said they would inform their owner and would work to remedy the problem ASAP.  I updated the EVSE error status on Plugshare and then noticed that other Plugshare users had reported charging issues for this EVSE in the past…then I asked myself why the *!@#%! didn’t I check Plugshare before I departed home…!

It was now noon. 

Weather: 48F heavy rain.

EV status: 32.6% SOC, 4.4 kWh remaining in traction battery…oh boy.

I consulted with Waze and realized that I had only two options:

Drive the 21 mile, mostly downhill yet out of my way distance to the L2 EVSE at WCU in Cullowhee and maybe get a battery boost from regen and make it there…or…take the shorter, but steeper, 10 mile run to Highlands and maybe make it to the Highlands Ugly Dog’s L2 EVSE.  From there I could charge up a bit and then roll downhill through the Cullasaja gorge letting gravity give me forward momentum and some great regeneration and hopefully make it to my destination of Franklin, NC.  This time I checked Plugshare and based on the good ratings chose Highlands as it was closer and there was only a 730 foot elevation gain before I would reach the high point of this next leg of the trip and could run on regeneration over the last few miles.  Based on my Leaf’s current 3.2 kWh/mile and 32.6% SOC, the regen, and some dumb luck – I calculated that I would be able to make it to Highlands…but only just…what could go wrong… 

I departed the Ugly Dog and went into full on power saving mode…or as some call it – “hypermileing.”  I powered off all nonessential systems, turned off the stereo, seat, and steering wheel heater, dimmed the info-tainment display and instrument cluster lighting, turned off the defroster using my hand to wipe the windshield when needed…however, due to the weather, safety, and NC law I had to use the headlights and windshield wipers…and I set out into the cool, foggy, rainy winter weather bound for Highlands almost 11 miles up the mountain.

After an uneventful but wet, foggy, and slow drive up the mountain I somehow made it to Highlands arriving with a 13.6% SOC and 1.4 kWh to spare.  I made my way through the little mountain hamlet and up yet another hill to the Ugly Dog Pub #2…only to find that their only Clipper Creek L2 EVSE was ICED – as it often is – DRAT!

Raining harder. DRAT! DRAT!!

I had to park the Leaf crooked and illegally hoping nobody would notice the little bright blue EV blocking access to the recycling bins…

I made my way around the ICE car to access the EVSE – which, by the way had a nice sign stating “Electric Vehicles Only” – a sign that has been conveniently (or arrogantly) ignored by many ICE driving visitors to the area who frequently block access to it…so, I dragged the nice long charge cable around the ICE car to my Leaf and plugged it in.  As I was about to head into the Ugly Dog to get out of the still heavy rain, the owners of the ICE car (a Porsche Cayenne) came walking up and moved their car…but not before I was able to nicely introduce myself hand then hand them a “If you are not charging then you are blocking” notice which was greeted by nothing but snorting attitude from the recipient – fat lot of good it will do I’m sure.  I wonder how they would feel if I blocked their gas pump with my EV…hmmmm.  I re positioned the LEAF into the EV parking space and plugged it back in, verified a bit longer this time that the car was going to continue to charge, and then made my way into the Ugly Dog pub where I had an ice cold Guinness to calm my rain soaked, hypermileing, inconsiderate ICE driver stressed nerves.

I charged the Leaf @ L2 for about 1.5 hours for a 41.5% SOC and 5.9 kWh, and jumped back on the road with my next stop in Franklin – it was all downhill through the Cullasaja gorge so no worries – lots of regen – and lots more rain and fog.  As I coasted through the beautiful Cullasaga gorge I watched as the cliffs become waterfalls under the torrential winter rains and wondered, and a bit worried, about how much more rain it would take before more than water was going to come tumbling down the steep ridges into the gorge and the road I was driving on?  Luckily no rocks, trees or mud joined me on the road and I made it to Franklin.

2:30pm Arrived in Franklin, NC at the Ingles L2 EVSE with 20.1% SOC and 2.2 kWh…and it was still raining.  All five EV spaces were open and well-marked (THANK YOU INGLES!) so I rolled into one close to the EVSE and stepped out into the rain to plug in the Leaf. First I plugged the left cable into the car and…nothing.  Tried again…nothing. I then tried the cable on the right side of the bollard and luckily it worked. 
I reported the faulty charger on Plugshare and to Ingles.

I let the car charge for 2 hours while I worked to install the air monitor at a nearby location then returned to pick up the Leaf.  The two hour L2 charge session had brought the leaf’s battery up to a 70% SOC and 10.3 kWh.

4:30 pm. Departed for Cherokee, NC in yet more rain.

I drove over 441 in the rain, high winds, and fog and because I was driving on an expressway I was traveling at a higher rate of speed and climbing one of the steepest, longest grades of the entire journey – so all of these factors became a real battery drainer – until I drove over the top of the mountain and regenerated for several miles down into Dillsboro, NC.  This regen boost pushed me on to the Cherokee Welcome center where I rolled in at 5:30pm with a 10% SOC!!

I rolled up to the site where the trusty Schneider L2 EVSE – that I have used many times in the past – only to discover that it was missing!!!! I looked around for it and found nothing but a metal plate on the ground where it used to be…DRAT DRAT DRAT!!!  …

…again, why did I not check Plugshare before I left home…???…had I checked I might have noticed a comment by Plugshare user/Model 3 driver “Steven” who stated ““Please note the charger has been moved and is next to the main street now.”
Because I did not check Plugshare I was not aware of this fact, and from my vantage point near the original location of the L2 EVSE I could not see the new location obscured behind some shrubs in the distance.  So, due to my oversight – and my lack of sight – my only apparent option was to drive to the Oconoluftee visitor center 3 miles away in the GSMNP where there is a DCQC and L2 EVSE.
Again I practiced my best “hypermileing” techniques, however, as it was now getting dark, still raining, and foggy I was again forced to use the Leaf’s wipers and lights and soon my car dropped into the dreaded “Turtle Mode” as I passed through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance gate. 
I have only encountered the turtle once before and that was part of a controlled, good weather, safe, daytime test so I would know how the car performed when in an extremely low battery scenario (watch my video of that test here https://youtu.be/ZTNZchis_Fg ).  This time however was not controlled, nor was it daytime, the weather was terrible and safety was most definitely an issue as a huge pickup truck was now riding my bumper.  I could see my destination in the distance about ½ mile away and I was not about to pull off the road unless the car stopped dead.  At the time of the initiation of Turtle Mode the car was moving about 30 miles per hour and as I made my way across the ½ mile distance to my destination the car started to slow down, getting slower and slower but still moving forward up the slight incline adjacent to the “Elk field.” As I topped the small incline I was able to back off on the almost nonexistent accelerator and let gravity help pull me forward…but it really did not help much as the vehicle was continuing to gradually slow down.  Somehow, the EV was able to slurp up enough ghostly electrons to make it into the parking area at the VC at a little better than walking speed, I rolled past the main building, around the curve, and then, when I had the EVSE in my sights – the car just could not give me any more and it came to a dead standstill…about 50 feet from the EVSE. According to LeafSpy Pro the drive battery was sitting at an SOC of 6.6 with 0.3 kWh remaining. 

We pushed the LEAF the remaining distance to the EVSE only to find the DCQC offline and dark – DRAT! DRAT!! DRAT!!!
I tried the reset button a few times – no luck – still dark and offline.

The Greenlots L2 was online so I plugged in and left the car alone in the growing darkness to charge.

We trekked into Cherokee for dinner and later returned – 4.2 hours later – and the car was still charging but it now had a 76% SOC and 11.3 kWh.
Still raining, foggy, dark…but at least it was not cold.
I updated Plugshare with details of offline DCQC and drove to a friend’s home in a neighboring county for the night.  I arrived at his home with a 32.5% SOC and 4.6 kWh.  I plugged the Leaf into a wall outlet and bedded down for the night exhausted and personally out of a charge from all the discharging drama of the day.

The next morning, after trickle charging all night, I awoke to fine the Leaf still charging – yesterday was a long day for the little car and I did not plug in until around 11pm.

Morning stats: SOC 88.5% and 13.3 kWh available. Light rain and fog.
I made my way back to Cherokee without issue and immediately found the new location of the Welcome Center’s Schneider L2 EVSE and laughed at myself for making such an obvious error the night before.  Had I found the new location of the EVSE I could have easily avoided the dreaded turtle mode.  I plugged into the trusty Schneider EVSE with a 35% SOC and 4.9 kWh and charged for 2 hours for an 84% SOC and 12.8 kWh. Before heading over Soco gap to Waynesville I updated Plugshare with the new location details.

I then unplugged and drove up, up and up over Soco in the rain and fog and on to Waynesville where I arrived at the downtown DCQC with a 25.4% SOC and 3.5% kWh.

I plugged the little old Leaf into the Greenlots DCQC and charged for 30 min for a 81% SOC and a gain of 12.5 kWh.  After all the drama of the last day and a half I wanted a full charge before heading out on the last leg of the journey up, up, and up through the rain, fog and steep terrain of the last steep, remote ridge crossing. 

When the DCQC finished I unplugged the L3 and then plugged in the nearby L2 for a further 40 minutes charging to top off the Leaf with a final full charge of 94.1% SOC and 14.2 kWh that would hopefully push me up and over Hwy 276 and back home safe and sound.     
As I sat there in the rain charging L2 I watched as an ICE driver in a red Nissan pulled hastily into the parking space opposite mine, jumped out, and ran off into the rain.  It seemed to me that the driver had absolutely no idea that he had just parked in an EV charging location.  He was in a hurry and failed to notice the signs…and the EV parked and charging 10 feet away. 

I believe this is what happens in many of the innocent ICEing events – people are just not very observant of anything outside of their frame of reference.  Maybe someone needs to come up with an ICE vehicle detector that, when deployed in EV charging spots, will detect the hydrocarbon based fuels/lubricants/exhaust used in ICE vehicles and, when detected, trigger highly noticeable strobe lights and possibly even illuminated signage indicating to the ICE vehicle driver their mistake. While many ICEing events are simple mistakes, others are intentional acts of aggression toward EV’s – but that is another story I have written about before in this blog.

After charging I updated Plugshare.

As I set out on 276 it was still raining, but this time it was only a mist and the sky seemed to be clearing a little bit – a good sign?  My drive up 276 and over the Blue Ridge Parkway was uneventful, and upon reaching the highest point of the last leg of the trip my SOC was 39.7 and kWh 5.7.  With all the great gravity provided regeneration I pulled on the descent to home I soon arrived in my garage with a 28.9% SOC and 4 kWh remaining in my trusty old first generation Leaf’s ageing battery.

Against all the odds I had made it.

I plugged the Leaf into the nearby wall outlet and let it trickle charge until morning.

I love my old Leaf even with its rapidly failing generation one battery.  The Nissan warranty department – I do not care for them very much. Maybe one day a 3^rd party battery manufacturer* will make a replacement battery for the first generation Nissan Leaf or, Nissan will drop the price of the OEM unit to something much more reasonable than the current outrageous and unreasonable price that is so egregious that I will not even speak of it here.  I really hope one of these things happens soon so I can upgrade my old Leaf and give it a renewed range and a second life as my nonprofit outreach vehicle and daily driver. *Note: If you are the maker of such a battery please do contact me because we need to talk 🙂

Round trip statistics

Beginning odometer: 70,609

Ending odometer: 70,835

Round Trip Mileage 226

Charging Sessions:

L1 – 2

L2 – 5 

L3 – 1

Time spent charging:

L1 – 6.0h (overnight), 8.0h (overnight), = 14h

L2 – .50h, 1.5h, 2h, 4h, 1.5h, .70h = 10.2

L3 – .50h = .50

Total charging time = 14 + 10.20 + .50 = 24.7h (14 overnight, 5.7 during lunch and dinner and down time, 2.0 while working and 3.2 on the road)

It is important to note that my EV is a first generation Leaf.  This simple fact means that it charges 50% slower than newer EV’s due to its 3.3 kW onboard charger which limits the speed at which it will charge from L1 and L2 charging sources. If it were a newer EV my L1 and L2 charge times would have been cut in half.

Electric fuel cost for 226 mile round trip: $6.72 (L3) + $2.00* (L2) + .75(L1) = $9.47 

*All but one L2 charge session were cost free.

kWh per mile = 3.57

kWh used for round trip = 62.8

Electricity cost/kWh from energy mix on the road = 0.04 (9.47/226)

Electricity cost/kWh – if I had used only electricity from my home power grid = $7.53     (62.8kWh * .12)

Electricity cost/kWh – if I had used only electricity from my solar workplace L2 EVSE  = $3.76 (3.76 =.06 * 62.8kWh)

MPGe = 120.4

MPGe cost for round trip = $2.64/226 = 0.01/mile   WOW!!!

It is interesting to note that if I had driven this route in my 2013 Honda Pilot I would not have needed to stop to charge but my fuel bill (maybe we should call it a conveyance convenience cost) would have been $31.72 or around 0.14/mile!        (0.14 = 31.72/226)

That is a fuel cost savings of $22.25!!        (22.25 = 31.72 (gas) – 9.47(electricity))

 (Check out this handy MPG/MPGe calculator: http://mpgecost.com/calculator/mpge.html#/ )

These savings add up rather dramatically when you consider the following:

Even with all the charging station issues, the old EV battery related crazy, and the garishly long charge times – you cannot rationally dispute the cost savings of driving electric…and that is before we have even discussed the significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions!

Those savings are as follows:

A total of 97.9 pounds of CO2 were released into the atmosphere by using 62.8 kWh of electricity to push my EV on this round trip.

Therefore, by driving electric I prevented over 509.1 pounds of CO2, as well as other harmful pollutants from entering the atmosphere.  (607 – 97.9 = 509.1) 

Where did I get the 509.1 pounds of CO2?

Had I used my Honda Pilot for this journey it would have used over 31 gallons of gasoline which would have emitted 607 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

That is equivalent to burning 301 pounds of coal which would generate 1,068.96 kWh of electricity.

This amount of energy would be able to charge over 35 thousand smartphones….

And…this next fact is mind-blowing…

This same amount of energy (1,068.96 kWh) would push my Nissan Leaf over* 3,816.18 miles!!!!  *I say over because with regenerative braking it would go even further since EV’s make a portion of their electric fuel when slowing down, descending grades, and braking!!

WOW!!! 

Here are the numbers so see for yourself. 

If one gallon of gas contains 33.70 kWh of electricity and my Honda Pilot would have burned 31.72 gallons of gas on the 226 mile RT trip then:

If 33.70 kWh * 31.72 gallons = 1,068.96 kWh

And my EV will travel an average of 3.57 miles per kWh

Then 3.57 * 1,068.96 = 3,816.18 miles 

The cost, efficiency, and environmental savings of driving electric cannot be rationally disputed.

Just for fun…

The electricity cost to drive my Leaf EV 3,816.18 miles at the average US energy cost of .12/kWh = $128.28        (1068.96 * .12 = $128.28)   Source: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_5_6_a

Gasoline cost to drive my Honda Pilot gas vehicle 3,816.18 miles at the current average gas price in the USA of $2.43 = $431.32         (3816.18/21.5 mpg = 177.50 gallons * 2.43 = $431.32)

Source: https://gasprices.aaa.com/

That is a cost difference of $303.04!!

And that is just for gas…

Knowing these amazing facts – why would anyone choose to drive petroleum powered vehicles??

Source: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

Source: https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/fuel_comparison_chart.pdf

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_gallon_equivalent

Maps

The route. Green indicators are L1 and L2 charge points, orange is L3. Turtle icon is where the dreaded turtle payed me a visit.

Elevations along the route with EVSE locations.

Route grades

A Leaf Trip to Atlanta

By Guest Author Rudy Singh

“I think we have enough miles to reach Cornelia…” said Dad – were the words used by my daughter to start off her story about our trip to Atlanta with the Nissan Leaf.     Paying no attention to my wife’s warnings about heavy rain in Northeast Georgia, I left the Kia dealership Chademo in Gainesville with 77% charge. For some reason, the charger had shut down after twenty minutes, so I decided to venture on to Cornelia, about 22 miles away – a decision, I would somewhat regret later.

The trip down to Atlanta, GA two days previous had been long. However, we made it safely with only one anxious low battery moment – saved by the charger at a grocery store in north Gainesville, some 60 miles downhill from Clayton. Clayton was the weak link.   The Blink Chademo in Clayton, while looking beautiful was off line!   Instead, we relied on the adjacent Level 2 to bring us back up to 79% charge, while we ate dinner.

They say if you want to test the durability of something, give it the harshest conditions and see how it responds.   This was my motto as we left Asheville on a very stormy weekend. After picking up my daughter from school, with dog and stuff packed in we headed west for Waynesville, NC.   At the Greenlots Chademo on Depot Street, I topped off the Leaf to 90% and then headed on to Franklin, NC. I had estimated that there was enough battery energy to reach Clayton, GA. However, I had noticed a Level 2 charger on the Plug Share app at a Chevy dealership in Franklin. Perhaps we could pick a few more miles at the dealership just in case… The people at the dealership were very friendly. As I picked up a few more miles on the car, we chatted about the new Volt and GM’s electric truck.

The car drove like a dream the whole way, but we were relieved to reach Gainesville after a close call. We spent 40 minutes at the grocery charger and then headed 6 miles down the road to the Kia dealership where we bombarded the battery pack with fast moving electrons from the Chademo! After having to sit many hours at several Level 2 chargers, I sure appreciated these super fast chargers.

Hoping that the roads had not flooded, in pitch darkness we drove across Lake Lanier and entered Alpharetta around 11:30 pm. The trip had taken 9 hours – twice the time that it would usually take with an ICE car.   However, we had not used a drop of gas!

Atlanta is a hub of electric cars and charging stations – many more networks than I thought existed! For example, within a mile of our hotel, there was an nrg EVgo Chademo station at a AAA service station. The cost is high at $9 per half hour, but it was easy enough for me to go “gas up” to above 80% and come back for breakfast.

With an 85 mile range (according to EPA), Leafs are not designed to travel long distances. But the purpose of this trip was two fold – to see if I could get to Atlanta and to visit the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, just north of Atlanta.   The museum was great!   The Dinosaur exhibit was incredible. But of special note was this:

I had to touch the body of the great ancestor EV1! It was exhilarating!

On the way back from Cartersville, we stopped at a pharmacy and took a few hours on yet another network: Sema Charge, while we perused the adjacent hardware store.

The weather projections for Sunday were heavy rain and wind – a perfect day to drive back home in an electric car! The trip back to Gainesville was uneventful and I thought we would make it back home pretty quickly – no problem. There were two Level 2 stations in Cornelia and if I needed to top off, I could do it there while we looked at the shops by the train depot.   At the Kia dealership in Gainesville, I lost signal on my phone and could not call Greenlots after the Chademo stopped charging.   With 77% charge, I was sure we could reach Cornelia to recharge enough for the trip to Clayton.

As we drove up Hwy 23 towards Cornelia, the rain was constant, but not heavy.   However, I did see some downed trees on the side of the highway.   As we exited onto Hwy 105 in Cornelia, there was spooky feeling.   The lights at the intersection were not working!   I started to drive towards the train depot and noticed that all of the lights were not working! Oh no! I needed to top off and there was no electricity. Even the big box store had closed its doors. Then there was Walt, the ex-Nissan salesman that I met in the parking lot. He informed me that two places down the road had power.   Perhaps they would share some – Not! They were operating on generator back-up and would not share an amp.

Thus, with rain pouring down and 30 miles left on the meter, we headed for Clayton, which was about 34 miles away. 10 miles further up, we saw a gas station with the sign, “last gas for 22 miles”. The car read 19 miles, but Clayton was 24 miles away. “We do not have any plugs outside” said the owner after I had seen a juicy 110 volt in the back of the station. Incidentally at the same gas station I met two students from the college. “Hi Professor” one student chirped. “What are you doing here?” I nonchalantly replied, not wanting to be obvious about my precarious situation. Boy, I was tempted to ask them to stay close and tow us to Clayton if necessary.   Instead I carped “Oh I drove my electric car to Atlanta and it was great!” Yeah right! I was about to run out of power and be stranded in the rain – in the middle of nowhere.

Range anxiety is not a myth and for a brief period on Sunday, I experienced this terrible feeling.   Driving much below the limit of 55mph, we chugged slowly up past Toccoa, which was out of power and then to Tallulah Falls. I vaguely remember seeing a station at the Tallulah Falls state park when my phone was working. Thus, with the blank lines across the range-meter on the dash, we entered the park not knowing how many miles were left. “We’re out of power as well.” said the Park Ranger. Crap – the drive up to the highway was at least a mile and I had about 2% charge left, having captured some energy on the way down. “But there is a private resort park close by that may have power. It’s about a mile down the road on the right and they just opened to the public!” On our way up the long state park driveway, we met a white Leaf. They were from Clayton, 10 miles away, the driver assured us. At the highway, we turned right and headed towards Clayton.

A mile down the road on the right we entered the resort campground.   “How much power do you need?” The nice lady at the desk enquired.   “There’s an outlet right behind the cabin.”

“Hallelujah”, she was our savior! Sure it was only 110 volt , but it was better than being stranded.   We thanked her plugged in and took a stroll through the park:

The weather cleared up slightly and the campground was great place to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Just after 4 o’clock we unplugged, and after promising to come back camping headed to Clayton 8 miles away. The range-meter read 15 miles and 12% SOC. However, the drive to Clayton was mostly uphill and that can really draw down the battery! Those were the longest 8 miles I have ever driven.   As we climbed, the meter kept dropping… We were not going make it. The first set of traffic lights into Clayton were far ahead and then the last bar disappeared! 0 and 0 – I was waiting for turtle mode!

We inched into Clayton still in green mode, hoping I remembered where to turn off to go to the station. Left on Savannah, right on Main, left by the restaurant – Ah! We had reached the Blink god in the parking lot!   Never again would I charge the car to less than 100%

It took 4 hours and twenty minutes to bring us back up to 99%. In the meantime, we ate dinner, had dessert and walked around the town. For the last few hours, my wife read her book, my daughter finished her homework and I reviewed some differential equations!  I also had a chance to fix the error with the Greenlots card, courtesy of wifi at the restaurant. An extreme sense of guilt overcame me for torturing my family with this EV obsession. Maybe a gas back up was not such a bad thing. No never – I am a purist!

Out of “gas” in Clayton.

A nice town to spend 4 hours in…

We left Clayton at about 8:50pm and with 99% charge, I was confident we could get back to Waynesville.

There are two main climbs on the way to Waynesville, Cowee Mountain between Franklin and Sylva and Balsam Mountain that takes you into Waynesville. Although, Cowee is a bear to climb, the Leaf handled it nicely and the car almost gained as much coming back down as it had lost going up. However, Balsam was a terror.   The rain started to pour and the road work made it hard to see — it seemed to never end! Finally, we passed under the Parkway and were home free.

Back to Depot Street in Waynesville, NC.   Unfortunately, the Chademo would not work. There was an error code.   Oh no – so close to home and yet so far!   The car had 29 miles, but we needed more to make it back to the north of Asheville.   Would we have to stay in Waynesville overnight?

Depot Street in Waynesville.

Luckily, I was able to call the company this time.   The problem was the emergency stop button on the charger – somebody had pushed it in and forgot to reset it.   Thank goodness!

Around midnight we waltzed into our home having completed our maiden trip to Atlanta.   Yes, it was trying at times, but we had just completed a 400+ mile ride in 2 days though hostile gas country, with an 85 mile range electric car.   Not bad I say, not bad at all! Next trip: Chapel Hill:)

Life in a Leaf – a Nissan Leaf Adventure

In July of 2015 I documented a full weekend of travels in my 2012 Nissan Leaf.

I did this to show anyone and everyone interested in the Nissan Leaf, or in driving electric, just how I use this remarkable plug-in electric vehicle on a daily basis.

What you will see in the video is a typical summer weekend for me driving my Nissan Leaf EV.

All video footage was recorded by myself and friend Pierce Curren as we traveled between Brevard and Asheville North Carolina over July 4th weekend 2015.

Lengthy travel segments have been compressed using time-lapse techniques.

Enjoy.

Please visit Pierce’s Scaly Adventures and learn more about Pierce and his families mission to educate the world about the truth of wildlife, animals and the people that are working to conserve, protect and understand them via his true reality TV show Pierce’s Scaly Adventures.

Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers and Narayanaya used with permission.

Video by Steve O’Neil and Pierce Curren of Pierce’s Scaly Adventures.

Editing by Steve O’Neil of Earthshine Nature Programs.

 

The Wonders of Regeneration

It is a known fact among EV owners that their cars use regenerative breaking systems to help charge the car’s battery and extend its range.  Regenerative breaking is defined as:

“In a battery-powered electric vehicle, regenerative braking (also called regen) is the conversion of the vehicle’s kinetic energy into chemical energy stored in the battery, where it can be used later to drive the vehicle. It is braking because it also serves to slow the vehicle. It is regenerative because the energy is recaptured in the battery where it can be used again.” Source Greg Solberg, Firmware Engineer Tesla Motors.  Read more of Greg’s great article on regen here.

“Vehicles driven by electric motors use the motor as a generator when using regenerative braking: it is operated as a generator during braking and its output is supplied to an electrical load; the transfer of energy to the load provides the braking effect. Regenerative braking is used on hybrid gas/electric automobiles to recoup some of the energy lost during stopping. This energy is saved in a storage battery and used later to power the motor whenever the car is in electric mode.” Source Wikipedia

Regenerative Breaking mechanisms have been used for over a century, have a very fascinating history, have many very interesting applications including early experimentation with the Amitron and Voltswagon concept cars by AMC.  Regenerative systems developed by are now used on the worlds best selling electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf and all other EV’s and hybrids on the roads today.

An interesting video on how the Nissan Leaf’s power/regen system works:

I have owned my 2012 Nissan Leaf now for 13 months and have been keeping detailed daily notes on SOC, distance driven, temperature and other data points of interest. Recently I started taking notes on the regeneration that my car produces during my daily commute. Specifically a the 3.4 mile section of my commute that is almost all downhill (see a graphic representation of the route below).

 

Map from www.mapmyride.com

The question

Recently I began to wonder just how far per day this 3.4 mile descent with 845 feet of elevation loss would take me on braking and gravity produced free fuel.  In the hopes of answering that question with some degree of accuracy I developed an experiment with the procedure listed below.

Every day I used in the experiment I drove as I do on a normal day; in ECO mode and with all possible environmental variables such as road conditions, traffic conditions, different routes*, elevation loss or gain, temperature, humidity, wind resistance, tire resistance, speed, accessories used, and others variables in order to keep it as real world as possible.  *I do not drive the same route every day due to errands I often to run after work.

UPDATE 1/25/15; Speaking of environmental variables effecting regeneration, on one recent occasion I had to drive the 3.4 miles section of route immediately after a motor-grader had scraped the road.  The road surface was the consistency of something like thick beach sand mixed with damp oatmeal.  The car bogged down a bit but powered through it but the regenerative breaking system was practically useless since I had to keep gently accelerating in order to keep moving forward.  At the bottom of the 3.4 mile route I had regenerated only 1 mile of range.  I am sure this will lower my overall average just a bit once I recalculate the numbers at some point this spring but science can be a harsh mistress.

The data (so far)

Regenerated potential range at the end of the route for seven days during November 2014

16.0, 14.0, 11.0,13.0, 7.0,14.0,15.0

= 90/7 = 12.85 average miles of potential range regenerated per day.

However, as we EV drivers know, this potential driving range is not an accurate representation of real world driving range due to the variables mentioned previously. In the attempt to deduce just how far in reality the car would go on the regenerated power from the 3.4 mile daily descent, I needed to calculate the distance the car would travel before reaching the pre-route SOC on the GOM (my Leaf is a 2012 so it does not show battery state of charge as a percent–it is a calculated guess by the on-board computer of mileage remaining based on vehicle system health, environmental conditions and driving style.)

The procedure

I first recorded the SOC from the GOM at the top of the route, drove the 3.4 mile route, stopped at the bottom and recorded the number of regenerated miles, reset the trip odometer to 0 and drove until I had reached the first recorded SOC from the top of the route.

The results

The resulting number is the real world miles driven on Leaf regenerated free fuel.  The 7 day adjusted test results are listed below:

16.5, 9.0, 13.1, 7.5, 8.0, 8.7, 9.3

= 72.1/7 = 10.3* average miles of potential range regenerated per day!

*I continue to keep a daily record of regeneration on this route, so this number will change as I average in those numbers.  In the spring of 2015, I will post an update to this story with the updated findings.

Based on the data for the short time period in question, the results seem to indicate that during this 3.4 mile descent my car generates an average of 10.5 miles of potential real world range per work day when driving this route. This data also suggests that the Leaf often powers itself home for free since the route is only 9.3 miles in length from the bottom of the descent to my home.  I have documented this fact many times when upon reaching home the SOC is at or above the starting SOC when I left work.

This ads up to a substantial amount of Leaf produced free fuel, but how much in a year is possible?

10.3 miles per day!

10.3 x 5=51.5 miles per week.

51.5 x 4 = 206 miles per month.

206 x 12 = 2472 miles of Leaf generated free electric fuel per year.

If these numbers are accurate, then my car, simply by rolling downhill on the same 3.4 mile route described above, for 5 days each week, regenerates enough power in a year to power itself for the equivalent of two months worth of driving*, all freely powered by the Nissan Leaf!  *I drive an average of 300 miles per week (300 x 8 = 2400)

I use a Kill A Watt meter to keep track of my Leaf’s power consumption.

How much has this potentially saved me in power costs for the Leaf?

Driving my leaf costs an average of .03 per mile so .03 x 2472 = 74.16

$74.16 potentially saved each year just driving home from work every day!

And this is only for this one route.  I drive several other routes where I pull a good amount of regeneration from long descents so I wonder how much am I saving in power costs from those routes?

In a rough comparison, if I had to drive my 1999 Toyota 4Runner the same distance that my Leaf has driven on freely produced regenerative power, it would have taken me around 8 tanks of gas and cost me around $360.00 in gas at current fuel prices of $2.84/gal!  (2472 miles at 2.84 (per gallon) x 16 gallons = $45.44 x 8 (tanks) = $363.52)

WOW!

Let’s just think about this fact – is there a consumer available, stock built, gasoline or diesel powered vehicle anywhere that will produce it’s own fuel. No. The facts are in: petroleum powered vehicles only take hard earned money from the owner, give nothing back but a ride, require lots of expensive fuel and maintenance, are often noisy, contribute to a polluted environment, enable the continued destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems through oil drilling/strip mining and pipeline construction in fragile environments, are not energy secure, and even fund terrorism.  EV’s give so much back, have very low maintenance costs, are quiet and fun to drive, can be fueled on domestically generated energy and renewable energy generated at home or work and are therefore energy secure, do not fund terrorism, and produce a portion of their own fuel…for free!  It is no wonder that some automakers, fossil fuel corporations and their supporters, and certain oil soaked politicians, are afraid of EV’s and will stop at nothing to ruin their image with negative ad campaigns and tactics.

The simple reality is this; while the currently available electric vehicles do have some range limitations, they are far better in so many ways than petroleum powered vehicles.  Given time, advancements in battery technology, expanded charging infrastructure, and the support from the people and our purchasing power, the EV will one day dominate the roads. Once a person drives an EV and experiences the joy of driving electric, freedom from the gas pump and from years of costly maintenance, more money in their pocket, the resulting cleaner air and environment that comes from driving EV, and with the ever growing option of powering their EV from home generated renewable energy such as solar, wind and micro-hydro–they will see that driving electric is the better choice and will hopefully trade in or recycle their old gas guzzler in favor of the future of transportation, the EV.

 DRIVE ELECTRIC!

The Blue Ridge EV Club meeting at the BrightfieldTS solar charging canopy on Charlotte St. in Asheville, NC.

 

 

 

 

Blue Ridge Mountain Expedition

A few weeks ago I took my 2012 Leaf SL on a ~300 mile road trip to visit a friend.  My friend lives on the other side of two mountain ranges in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina USA. Take a look at the route (one way) with charging station locations* and elevation change profile that I calculated using www.mapmyride.com

Chargers were few and far between but the Leaf performed admirably and had no issues that were the fault of the vehicle although I did have a leak in a tire due to a bit of road debris.  Totals for the adventure follow:

Total Miles driven on entire weekend trip: 319

Total Miles driven R/T: 220

Charging Time total for 319 mile trip: 22 hours (includes Lvl 2 and Lvl 1 overnight)

Charging Time total for R/T: 8.5 hours (Lvl 2 x 4)

Charging Time totals for entire 319 mile/3 day trip: 30.5 hours (includes Lvl 2 (8.5) x 5 and overnight/day Lvl 1 (22) x 3)

Maximum sustained speed: ~65 mph

Minimum sustained speed: ~30 mph

Time spent behind the wheel during R/T: ~7 hours

Time spent behind the wheel for entire trip: ~9 hours

Lowest Elevation: 1702 feet above sea level

Highest Elevation: 4563 feet

Total Elevation gain: 11,602 feet

Total miles regenerated for 218 mile R/T:~100!

Total cost of electricity for entire 319 mile route: ~$2.00!!

If I had driven my 1999 Toyota 4Runner the trip would have taken less time but it would have cost me ~$70 in gas and I would not have had so much fun!

I filmed the entire trek then compressed it down into the hour long documentary video linked below so sit back and enjoy an epic mountain adventure in a Nissan Leaf.

 

*Charging station information added to mapmyride map using Photoshop.

 

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Wildlife Conservation in a Nissan Leaf

A few days ago I drove my Nissan Leaf deep into the forest on a one lane dirt road in search of Zoe–Zoe is an adult Timber Rattlesnake!  I am following Zoe’s movements in order to learn more about the natural movements of a wild Timber rattlesnake in it’s natural habitat.  I bring my experiences and knowledge to the world via my Youtube chanel, nature blog and facebook page.  

This is probably the first time a Nissan Leaf has been used as a Timber rattlesnake tracking vehicle and possibly the first time a Leaf has been used in wildlife conservation.  

 

After driving to the top of a steep mountain, parking at the end of a gravel road on a foggy, darkening mountainside I located Zoe and collected the vital biometric data and got ready to head home.  I noticed that my GOM said that I had ~41 miles of range remaining so I decided to take a remote, steep, one lane gravel road through the deep forest in order to benefit from the most regenerative braking and gravity assist (downhill) as possible to extend my range.  The only issue was a creek crossing–yes, a creek crossing.  It was a small creek but it must be crossed in order to make it back to the pavement.  Like any true pioneer I turned off the safety of the pavement and into the dark forest I plunged with LED headlights cutting  laser-like paths in the foggy blackness of the night.  Down and down the narrow, steep road wound until I came to the creek.  Would I tear out the bottom panels of the leaf on the rocks in the creek?  Would the leaf flounder and get stuck? Would it short out?  Like electrons through a wire all these questions and more went through my mind at warp speed…but I could not go back or turn around because the road was to narrow to do so…I was committed so I plunged into the creek…slowly…and the Leaf charged across with no apparent ill effects–woo hoo!!  Without so much as a wheel spin or slippage the Leaf negotiated the creek and the entire journey with no problems at all. While it may not be a 4×4 it is a very sure footed and capable car for steep, mountainous, gravel roads…and yes, even shallow creek crossings.

I must say that the car performed admirably while quietly climbing steep, wet mountain gravel roads without issue.  When I reached the bottom of the trek I realized that I had regenerated over 23 miles of range just by rolling downhill–amazing! Free power means more range, less money out of my pocket and less power I have to suck from the outlet and therefore a cleaner, greener ride!

When I arrived at home I glanced at the GOM and noticed that it was sitting on 41 miles range–the same range I had when I was at the top of the mountain at the start of the trek–truly amazing–the 12 mile drive home was powered by the car for free!

Watch the video of the adventure below!

The Leaf is an amazing vehicle!

A few days after my snake tracking adventure I found myself in the city charging my Leaf alongside a Chevy Volt.

Premium parking + Free power = Bliss.

Snake Tracks is a Timber Rattlesnake conservation and research project occurring near Earthshine Discovery Center in the mountains of western North Carolina, USA. Through the magic of modern technology and allot of hard volunteer work by a wildlife conservationist and his small crew of volunteers, glimpse into the lives of two wild Timber rattlesnakes in their natural habitats. For more detailed info on the project please take a look at the website at: http://www.earthshinenature.com

Follow us on our blog at: www.earthshinenature.wordpress.com

It is our goal at ENP to promote wildlife conservation through our unique, exciting, citizen science based, hands-on education, out-reach programs, and online with our nature videos, blog and website.

We are not paid to operate ENP or to conduct wildlife conservation activities. ENP is a 100% volunteer operated and donation funded organization. It is our mission to educate you about these beautiful but greatly misunderstood animals and hopefully, to impart to you their beauty, uniqueness and intrinsic value to a healthy Earth, healthy wildlife and healthy humans.

THANK YOU to all of you who have donated to ENP over the years!! Without you this important reptile conservation and education work would not happen. If you would like to support Earthshine Nature Programs please feel free to donate by visiting

www.earthshinenature.com/donate

You may also donate supplies such as animal foods, medical supplies, vitamins and habitat supplies just contact us for more information on what supplies we are in need of and how to donate.

Visit www.earthshinediscovery.com to learn how you and your family, school, scout, corporate or camp group, can visit the Earthshine Discovery Center and have a wonderful fun and educational retreat!

Music by The Steep Canyon Rangers www.steepcanyon.com used with permission.

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2000 mile report

We have had our Leaf for two weeks as of today and the odometer just rolled over the 2000 mile mark.  Do we still like it?

No, we LOVE it! 

We have driven over 500 miles gas free and emissions free and that is a wonderful feeling!

We have charged at home, at work, at a BrightfieldTS solar charging station, at a friends house and the Leaf continues to get us where we need to go and preform flawlessly.

As far as range, it really has not been a concern.  I tend to average between 45 and 70 miles per day and on the lower mileage days I only need to charge it when I return home from work in the evening, plug it in and it is ready to go again the next morning.  On the longer days I will start with a full charge, drive the 15 miles to work-that are mostly uphill, plug in to top off the battery, then drive the remaining miles–also uphill.  The downside is that all the uphill miles really drain the battery.  The good news is that on the return trip home I regen and therefore reclaim a good portion of the energy I lost when climbing the mountains.

As an example of this, yesterday I went to work with a full charge.  The GOM said that I had 75/84 mile range (75 in D/84 in ECO).  I drove as I would an ICE vehicle–headlights on due to the fog, stereo on and fan on low.  Upon arrival at work the GOM said that I had 45 miles of range remaining–about average for my daily morning commute.  I decided to plug in the Leaf at work and top it off on the chance that I may make an extended journey after work.  After work I departed deciding not to make the extended journey and just go straight home.  I had received a full charge over the course of the day and had a range of 73/81 as I set out down the mountain for home.  As I made my way down the mountain–a rather steep, 3 mile gravel road in a remote forest–I watched as the Leaf regenerated loads of energy into the what I thought was a full battery.  By the bottom of the mountain the GOM said that I had 91 miles of range!  WOW!  Then I made my way home driving normally.  I am in no way a hypermiler and I drove most of the way in Drive only shifting into ECO when going down the three mile gravel stretch and two short inclines on the way home.  Upon arriving at the bottom of my driveway–a very steep hill of about 1/8 mile in length–I shifted into D and up I went to the top.  Upon arrival at my house the GOM stated that I had  a 74/82 mile range! I had one more mile of range than when I left work with a full charge! How did I just drive all that way and not loose range?  The simple answer is regenerative braking+lots of downhill=free clean power for the Leaf produced by gravity, inertia and the Leaf!  So very cool!  How many of you ICE drivers can say that about your petroleum consuming, carbon belching dinosaurs?  I strongly suspect that the answer is none.  ICE vehicles give absolutely nothing back in return–they only consume.  That is how they are designed and that is how they operate.  A well designed EV is a balancing act between give and take.  The operative word here being give–a word never before associated with the automobile.

I am discovering that in a mountainous area, if driven carefully and with planning and forethought,  an EV can reduce your electric costs if driven and charged in a way that maximizes the regenerative capabilities of the vehicle.

If a mountain EV owner has the ability to plan where and when to charge their EV so that they are able to take full advantage of regenerative braking then they can take full advantage of the vehicle’s technological capabilities and further lower their energy use by letting the car charge itself as much as possible!

On top of that if an EV owner has the ability to install or use a solar, wind or hydro charging station at their home or office then they could further unplug from the coal fired grid and become cleaner and greener for it.

The adventure continues…