tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30228889533280604012024-03-15T02:16:27.915-07:00DaveinOlyWA"Man did not move out of the Stone Age because they ran out of Stones so why do we feel we have to use all the Oil?"
Having driven EVs as my primary source of transportation since 2007 does not qualify me as an expert in any sense but I have experienced a few things that I want to share because every mile driven on electricity is more money not leaving the state that can be spent for MUCH better things!DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.comBlogger415125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-55340335103037741292023-03-26T09:37:00.000-07:002023-03-26T09:37:04.105-07:00LEAF Plus 3 Year Review<p>Another year down! Still 12 bars, still well over 200 miles of range and still no real definitive information as to best battery management options so still sticking with the "live in the middle" ideology for the foreseeable future or until the range is not covering my needs forcing a higher average SOC. I don't expect to have the car that long. </p><p>For the 2nd consecutive year, I have changed commutes but unlike 2021 where I added nearly 2 miles, I have more than halved the drive to 11 miles but at 5 days a week verses the 25 miles 4 days a week. Since I have more miles to "play with" I have revisited gig driving. This I have done several times in the past most notably in my 2016 S30 when doing property inspections not to mention that it coincided with my auditing days which required a LOT of driving. </p><p>Before it was just a cash grab at the beginning of the pandemic when big bonuses were offered for completing the first however many deliveries but now looking at it as a possible retirement gig. I know me well enough to know that I will not be able to do nothing during retirement and I won't have enough money to keep me busy traveling and whatnot so this does the double duty of getting me out of the house and providing some extra cash at the same time. But despite that extra driving, my distance driven still dropped over 2021. </p><p><br /></p><p> I negate the base charge because it also applies to gassers and I don't have anything to do with them. I take the total of the various credits and divide by the total of kwh used for the month and subtract that from the cost of each kwh. All the tier two rates are applied to the LEAF obviously so its all about how much tier one charges to add. FYI; I only hit tier two 3 or 4 months a year generally. </p><p>I only took two relatively long trips over 500 miles taking advantage of the free 30 day EVCS trial. Although never had any issues getting a charge, I was less than impressed. New machines are nice but question the investment into 50 KW (120 amp) machines when most will do better including my Plus. </p><p>This resulted in public fees only from checking out new stations or simply ones that were "out there" so got away cheap last year. This year my costs will "skyrocket" percentage wise which isn't hard when you start from penny (notice no plural there? :) ) due to less access to public charging. </p><p>My common goto was Volta which doing movies at the mall but those stations have been taken over likely by employees who are parked there all day but primarily not charging. A survey of cars there over 3 weekends revealed 3 cars (of 6 charging stations) there every Friday AND Saturday along with 2 repeats so....</p><p>The other common freebie EVCS in Tumwater had been a bit less convenient due to changes in habit mostly but the location has now been upgraded to add CCS but has been dark going on 3 weeks. Not sure what the delay is since it was slated to not be a faster station so no utility work required? </p><p><br /></p><p>So, all of the above pushes me above 1 cent per mile cost for the first time since 2016. A penny was easy because during most of that time and I was under a penny up until October but the last 3 months is what pushed me over with zero charging sessions at Volta except one which actually wasn't (more below) </p><p>2023 ensures I will make a strong bid for 2 cents a mile. For those with PSE, you probably already know so this won't be news but for the first time in SEVERAL years, we are seeing a major rate hike that started the first week of 2023 raising tier one rates nearly 2 cents/kwh to 11.0488 cents/kwh which is just under the old tier 2 rates (11.2693) </p><p><br /></p><p>So for the impatient (I am pushing your limits aren't I :) ) Here is the base numbers; Data is calendar year which is a change from previous which used my Nov delivery date. </p><p>From the dash; </p><p>miles; 11481.3</p><p>Total kwh; 2390.06</p><p>Miles/kwh; 4.8</p><p>From the home;</p><p>Total charging Cost; $134.89 </p><p>On the road; </p><p>Public fees; $3.77</p><p>Cents/mile; 1.21</p><p>AC; 362.356</p><p>DC; 892.01</p><p>Degradation; ahr - 2.73 SOH 1.55%</p><p><br /></p><p>NOTE; I reset my trip computer every morning before setting out so miles is from whatever it says and it always jives with Trip A which is also reset daily. Trip B is reset monthly and is off 1-2 miles from the sum total of Trip A. </p><p>Total kwh is simply miles driven divided my miles/kwh. Public AC is derived from increase in kwh using 90% efficiency or what is received (if available) so 10 kwh gain means 11 kwh received for stations like Volta. DC always has a display of what was received (for me any way) </p><p>Total charging cost is home use and public charging fees including subscription costs (had none this year) but may not be actual money spent during the year. In this case; part of the public charging fee was taken from a prepay account from Blink which I actually "years" ago. I don't remember what year but "know" is wasn't 2021. </p><p><br /></p><p>What doesn't show; 3 months with less than 10 kwh public charging. Also MANY very short AC stints at Safeway, etc on Volta, not recorded so actual cost is lower but not significantly so. </p><p>5 months over 5 miles/kwh (June to October) with September (5.39) and October being my best months (5.28) just nudging June (5.23) IOW; AC does make a difference, just not a big one ;) </p><p><br /></p><p>Worst month; January 3.92 miles/kwh. Also ZERO DC charging. Wondering if the higher efficiency DC charging provides was enough to push me below 4? But then again, prob an anomaly as 2nd worst was last month in December at 4.23 miles/kwh due to minimal out of town driving for the month. </p><p><br /></p><p>So now the question becomes; "Am I really helping myself by maintaining a tight SOC control over the car? </p><p>Answer; Not really enough data to say for certain but the physics of Lithium says yes its helping. So the question morphs into "Is it worth hassle verses just plugging it in?" </p><p>First off; I don't understand the perceived inconvenience of SOC management. Its pathetically easy to do but my commuting needs are less than 10% of my range which makes it easy. I was a proponent of "charge it every day even if only for an hour" and still stand by that but I am not driving far enough to need even an hour. So I have been simply plugging it in for a few hours a few times a week now. </p><p><br /></p><p>During my dashing gig driving, I started out with the goal of using only free electricity to dash and as it stands, I did do that despite 2 months I didn't charge publicly at all. I am only dashing a few hours twice a week which added up to less than 3400 miles (over 9 months) but have abandoned that plan foreseeing it becoming a hassle to simply plug in that much and electricity is too cheap to hassle with it. </p><p>But the other side of the answer is "how much damage am I doing by fulling charging it twice a week and taking all week to run it down?" which is likely the 2nd most popular charging regimen? Its this reason why I keep bugging you people to post your LEAF Spy stats. With the Gen 2's adjusting the data every 3 months, its my hope that with 2-3 years of adjustment data, we can start to discern trends. So far, only a few of you have provided that much. I have a LOT of people who have given me 2, 3 or even 5 shots but that is nowhere near enough. </p><p>Do the math; 4 adjustments a year for 3 years is 12 data points; I only have 3 people who have provided that much with 3 more trending to provide that much (they haven't had their car long enough then) </p><p>Do be aware that I collect EVERY LEAF Spy shot I see on social media so you don't have to wait for me to ask! Now tagging me will help me notice you quicker ;) </p><p><br /></p><p>So for those 40kwhers who have a commute that exceeds 50% of their "optimal" range, it is a hassle to maintain an SOC range? If so, tell me about it because I don't see that either. Realize when I got my 40 kwh, I was still doing the auditing thing averaging 50 to 200 miles a day with 100+ happening at least a few times a week and the distances changed daily. Even with all that, it was a minor thing to manage SOC and I complicated things a LOT by first doing free public DC charging (or AC if it was at the client's location) </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-86792594223171170352022-08-02T13:03:00.001-07:002022-08-02T13:03:11.258-07:00E Pedal!! Or, maybe B ECO!!..or maybe D? <p> There seems to be a growing resentment from the LEAF community from new drivers slowly realizing that E Pedal is not very efficient. Its not hard to understand how they got that impression since E Pedal is capable of regen levels more than 50% higher than B mode. More regen means more range recovered, right? But that is a two sided street and you won't like the view. So why do we have E Pedal and what is the best mode to drive in for best range? To answer that, we have to clarify several different mitigating factors and even after addressing those factors, the key takeaway will continue to be YMMV. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">E Pedal</span></b></p><p>E Pedal was added to the Gen two LEAF when launched in 2018. It enables one foot driving where you could conceivably drive all day without moving your foot from the accelerator only touching the brake pedal to start the car. E Pedal does this by a combination of increased regen approaching 60 kW and friction braking which can bring your LEAF from 40 mph to a complete stop in less than a block. The amount of friction braking varies by SOC and speed. At street level speeds, friction braking kicks in at very low speeds only so its mostly regen slowing you down. The only exception to the rule is when the SOC is high enough that regen is limited. Friction braking increases at high SOC to make the "drive feel" consistent. If you had an older LEAF (or a new one) fully charged, you know that the car seems to move a lot faster until some of that charge is used up. This is due to little/no regen and the considerable difference in how the car drives can be a bit disconcerting to some. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">B/D</span></b></p><p>D mode is probably the closest "drive feel" to a normal gasser. Car is responsive, only slows a bit when foot is removed from the accelerator, etc. It has the lowest level of regen which means you maintain your speed longer. At 40 mph, it will take you just over 2 blocks to slow down to "idle" speed. </p><p>B mode can be looked at as "2nd gear" in a gasser. Regen is stronger and you will feel a "sluggishness" (which isn't really possible in an EV BTW...) or heaviness when driving. B mode will take you to idle speed in just over a block. </p><p>In both D and B, you must engage E Pedal or friction braking to come to a full stop. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Efficiency</span></b></p><p>EVERYONE has an idea of what efficiency means and how to achieve it but only a handful do so why is that? First off, <b><i>regen is NOT your friend.</i></b> </p><p>Regen is like that credit card in your pocket. It is very handy and convenient when you need it but as we all know, too much reliance on credit will get you in trouble. Regen is the same. Yes it puts some of that charge back into the battery but at the expense of velocity; velocity that will use more energy than regened to recover. IOW, its a no win scenario. The house always wins and that is due to gravity. Gravity takes from the charge coming from the battery and takes from regen going to the battery. Of course, manual friction braking should never be used unless absolutely necessary. </p><p>Now that we know what not to do, what do we do? Maintain velocity! After all you didn't get your car to park, you got it to go, so whatever it takes to go is your goal. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Negotiating Traffic</span></b></p><p>Above we talked about the different drive modes and how quickly they can slow you down. ALL of them would be just fine (actually not totally true and we will get to that) if you were the only car on the road. Well, that isn't going to happen so our efficiency goals are challenging in that constant changes in traffic conditions means constantly reevaluating the best drive mode. </p><p>When I brought my 2018 home in February 2018, I was an E Pedal fanatic. It was awesome especially in the stop and go traffic I dealt with daily on I-5 but soon quickly realized that the high regen made driving efficiently difficult without a very high level of concentration to my driving. At the time when I was doing daily phone conferences for work, etc. that was simply too hard for me to do. It was then that I decided to make a goal of driving an entire month w/o touching the brake pedal. The only real way to do that was manipulating regen to match the flow of traffic. I haven't accomplished that goal yet and July 2022 is out of the running but I did make it to the 20th one month so I am confident it will happen! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Anticipation</span></b></p><p>Expanding my "empty road" comment. Even without traffic controls or traffic, drive mode still matters and the biggest reason is its difficult to maintain a steady flow of power without actually thinking about it. Now, we all know its easy to do for a bit because we have all done it. But try doing that for an hour or even 10 minutes. Its tough! So for most of my driving, I am in D mode (ECO is ALWAYS on simply because there is no good reason to turn it off) because its the lowest level of regen and so those tiny slips of the foot means just a small regen hit instead of the very large one E Pedal provides. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Cruise Control</span></b></p><p>Cruise control is a way of maintaining pace with traffic. You can bump your speed up or down in one mph increments as needed. So its a convenience thing but its not very efficient. When the car slows due to small slopes in the road, the car will slow ever so slightly until it gets below its setpoint then overly accelerate to return to the set speed. IOW, its not very smooth. Unlike ourselves who can feel very small changes in velocity and increase power slightly to compensate, the car cannot. ACC is the same times 10. <br /><br />Now, I have used CC a few times especially when I was in the middle of something like a call or whatever during very light traffic but I tend to avoid it for the most part. I live in an area where traffic flow is not consistent aggravated by complete disregard for the "stay right except to pass" law. So its a constant changing of speeds. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Scenarios</span></b></p><p>Remember the final takeaway YMMV and that applies to everything here. This includes what I am about to explain because I can only give you my experiences based on my local driving conditions which will be different than yours. </p><p>A typical drive on the streets, I am doing 40 mph, I see the light 4 blocks ahead turn red, I know its weight controlled and there will be about 6-10 cars in front of me so what do I do?</p><p>I immediately shift to N because it maintains the most speed and requires least amount of work so yeah, I am lazy but in random uncontrolled observations, it also seems to get me higher numbers so... Two blocks away, light turns green. I remain in N now going 35 mph. My hope is that the traffic will clear the light and I will pass thru the light at 25-30 mph using no regen at all shifting back to D. During this time, my surrounding aura is happy, everyone is happy. Life is good. </p><p>Same scenario above but this time its a major intersection during a busy time of the day which means a longer light cycle which means no chance of maintaining most of my velocity. Light turns red, I am 4 blocks away, I immediately reduce acceleration to maybe one bar slowing to 25 mph then shift to N. Aura is crashing! People around me are in a championship race to see who wins the "I spent the most time stationary at a stoplight" contest. Cars start zipping around me only to slam on their brakes to stop behind a line of cars still sitting at the red light. I now have just under a block to go to get in line at the light and it turns green, I shift back to D or sometimes B if the line of cars is long enough but eventually ending up in D. My goal is to have the intersection clear as I roll up at very low speeds generally under 10 MPH but that only happens about half the time so E Pedal is engaged if a full stop is required. Aura starts to climb. My fellow drivers are piling up stationary seconds at the light; all is good. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Big Hills</span></b></p><p>Being on the coast means everything runs downhill to the water. Since Olympia sits at the southern apex of Puget Sound and traffic flows around its eastern shore, I am facing major slopes in 3 different directions. Now, most of this is all about knowing the area but when coming to a big hill, regen is unavoidable simply so how to take the greatest advantage? </p><p>My process is actually probably not the best way as I tend to slow down all the way to the "maximum" legal speed limit which again affects the color of the local aura in a bad way, shifting to N which allows a quicker acceleration back to illegality then bounce from D to B to N as needed. The big current hits from doing this is not a good thing for the battery as it will last longer. Realize you are pumping power equal to DC charging speeds albeit for shorter periods of time. There are a few hills that have major arterial intersections at the bottom so traffic slows way down. In those cases, its generally less N and trying to stay in D so regen is lighter. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Choice Is Yours</span></b></p><p>All this may seem unnecessarily complicated and it is otherwise there would be no challenge. The next issue to consider is will all that shifting wear out the tranny? Well, no tranny so no tranny to wear out. But there is a drive shaft to the front wheels but that is NEVER disconnected even when in neutral so wearing it out? Not too likely. </p><p>Now the key takeaway here is there is no single process that works if you are trying to maximize your efficiency. Conditions are constantly changing and each drive mode is designed to fit a very specific role. The other key takeaway is that this is what works for me. You may decide to stay in a drive mode and simply control power flow to minimize regen. That does work but takes a lot of concentration, more concentration then I have. Others may find it easy to maintain that steady foot so its really all about doing what works best for you. </p><p>Finally, I hesitate to present these numbers simply because there are too many variables to consider. I am a power miser during Winter, toggling defrost as needed, chilling ALL the time (but still comfortable) so my efficiency is higher in Winter than most because of me, not the car. But my 2018 I had a LT average 4.72 miles/kwh over 25,185 miles. Now my Plus is a bit of a different story as the extra range simply put my mindset into a situation where I felt like saving range on the freeway was no longer a thing so I became a criminal exceeding the speed limits by a "gross misdemeanor" margin quite frequently; something that VERY rarely happened in my previous four LEAFs. </p><p>Naturally that caused a drop in efficiency and at 35,000 miles on the Plus, I am at 4.48 miles/kwh but have exceeded 5 miles/kwh two months in a row and expect no different for July despite the HUGE increase in A/C use. </p><p><b><i>FYI; I admit to a bit of tongue in cheek in describing the scenarios above especially the "racing to red" stuff. But one thing I have noticed is that a lot more gassers are doing the slow roll from light to light like me. Really started noticing it a few months ago. I wonder why? </i></b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-3894292546853360562022-01-14T07:18:00.004-08:002022-01-28T13:43:53.896-08:00LEAF Plus 2 Year Review and Degradation Update.<p> Birth day; Ahr 176.09 SOH 99.79%</p><p>One year; Ahr 164.28, SOH 93.13%</p><p>Two years; Ahr 162.57, SOH 92.16</p><p>6 month loss; Ahr 8.01, SOH 4.54%</p><p>1st year loss; Ahr 11.75, SOH 6.66% over 14,669.2 miles</p><p>6-12 month loss; Ahr 3.74 SOH 2.12%</p><p>2nd year loss; Ahr 1.71 SOH .97% over 13,012 miles</p><p>For the impatient, I started with the pertinent data. See a trend here? Granted, its only 2 years so might be hard to interpret. How about a picture? </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRrzWKonYOERGjTp5FPBRRBhpka8jTXVYoWxu4suqUDlNfUrEhi4mIyEvv3lVX2CR1FCv5keg_s4lpZzkq3_l8aQDDBKxuWbEmEmflb9NnH4o2pVSShH893v9OtLRvSutoEpi64yk5nSM5fowJ8ZRJpFroAehA0VDMj3f0d9F3qH7_g7K4dK2QlhkH=s1347" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="1347" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRrzWKonYOERGjTp5FPBRRBhpka8jTXVYoWxu4suqUDlNfUrEhi4mIyEvv3lVX2CR1FCv5keg_s4lpZzkq3_l8aQDDBKxuWbEmEmflb9NnH4o2pVSShH893v9OtLRvSutoEpi64yk5nSM5fowJ8ZRJpFroAehA0VDMj3f0d9F3qH7_g7K4dK2QlhkH=w619-h211" width="619" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The chart tracks Ahr/SOH readings every 1000 miles taking time out of the equation. Instead of tracking actual readings, I extrapolated the numbers to what they would be if the current rate of degradation was maintained to 100,000 miles. I did this to create a visual representation of the rate of degradation which makes the data much easier to interpret. <div><br /></div><div>To put it simply; </div><div>If the slope is flat, the rate of degradation is not speeding up or slowing down. </div><div>If the slope decreases, the rate of degradation is increasing. </div><div>If the slope increases, the rate of degradation is slowing down. </div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, after 6 months (7099.8 miles), the rate of degradation has been constantly slowing down. It had been my plan to predict when the degradation curve would flatten and show data to support my prediction but my ability to gather info from other Gen 2'rs has not been as fruitful as I had hoped and instead of delaying this post (2 year anniversary was Nov 16, 2021) any longer, I decided the data collected will be used for a separate topic. <br /><div><br /></div><div> I drove 14,669.2 miles the first year, 13,012 miles the 2nd year. I am just under 30,000 miles as of now. If I were to assume the rate of degradation over year 2 from here on out (which we already know is not true) then my numbers at 100,000 miles would be Ahr 153.16, SOH; 86.66%. IOW, it would be a monumental challenge qualifying for a warranty pack. Of course, time is also a factor so the projected numbers assume annual mileage of 13,012 miles matches year 2 as well. <br /><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Price of Gas</span></b></p><p>Like before, I seek out free charging when its convenient for me and generally its a lot during Summer but not nearly as much during Winter. This year has been different because EVCS is offering free charging thru out the Chademo ONLY West Coast Electric Highway until upgrades to CCS/Chademo (Yeah, that's right. Chademo lives!) are complete at which time they will offer WCEH special pricing. No info on that but the $20 unlimited plan is not likely to survive this change. </p><p>I am also lucky enough to have 3 Electrify America stations in town where all the Chademos work; an increasing rare occurrence it seems. So a visit or two on their free holiday weekends is almost a given. </p><p>Because of this, I almost maintained a balance of public charging with AC winning at 871.147 kwh over DC's 720.4539 kwh. All the AC was free while DC racked up $28.05 in charges. The "real" total is higher due to money on various accounts used but that money was spent long ago so not counted here since...well, the expenditure did not happen in 2021. </p><p>On the home front only $154.95 was spent to charge the LEAF. My highest cost per mile happened in Feb and for a few reasons and yeah, it was weather related. We had a huge snowstorm which meant February also had the lowest efficiency at 3.86 miles/kwh, lowest amount of free public charging (37.46 kwh) and home cost all tier two electrical rates. Despite all that, I still managed an "eye watering" 2.58 cents per mile (Yeah, its gasser eyes that are watering) </p><p>Speaking of weather, the 2nd lowest public charging use was June. This was a bit of a shock to me. My free AC charging mostly falls into two categories. Volta while at the movies or the mall and Telsa SC while biking the trail. SC Lacey has 4 Chargepoints that provide 2 hours free charging when Target is open and it borders The Chehalis Western Trail. Biking is not only good exercise but for me, its Zen for the mind so when the weather turns good, I am on the trail 3-5 days a week so lots of opportunities to grab some free electrons. </p><p>But this past June was when we had our all time heat wave and it was a doozy. With temperatures well over 100º, I wasn't about to hit the trail or much of anything else for that matter. During the heat wave, we had temperatures in excess of 30º above normal so it was all about hiding my LEAF from the heat in my "not so cool" garage but better than sitting in a parking lot during the hottest part of the day! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjn1fHmf972Ox9cJJOXTrl6NtcN7xJQpfJaINvrQQvN6O0xKOgtPrNeT30zzJG178YcpOW6mlMphPbMytTeMId_ag0RdPyVbFqkdOpnQBbvYIfUGX2s2_AgMH7ZS6wYNoCsbiHfjsHykWQS3RgcfHPUJtSLGVMw3zZKVVH4N3jjjrO8SlmL83N3gda=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjn1fHmf972Ox9cJJOXTrl6NtcN7xJQpfJaINvrQQvN6O0xKOgtPrNeT30zzJG178YcpOW6mlMphPbMytTeMId_ag0RdPyVbFqkdOpnQBbvYIfUGX2s2_AgMH7ZS6wYNoCsbiHfjsHykWQS3RgcfHPUJtSLGVMw3zZKVVH4N3jjjrO8SlmL83N3gda=w542-h304" width="542" /></a></div><div><br /></div>From the heat to the cold, we just finished up a severe cold streak that included temps in the mid teens and nearly a foot of snow. Because it was so cold, snow and ice dominated the weather for nearly 2 weeks. Despite all that, I ended December averaging 4.0 miles/kwh but was primarily on the strength of a trip to King County and a disabled vehicle in the middle of the 405 that pushed my efficiency to 4.6 miles/kwh. My average over just the last week of December was 3.4 miles/kwh including a 2.4 mile/kwh day which consisted of mostly doing donuts around town as work was canceled so had some free time. </div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">2021 Expense Summary</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div>Miles; 13,254.6</div><div>Fuel cost (including public charging fees); $189.00</div><div>kwh used; 2919.01</div><div>Miles/kwh; 4.54</div><div>Cents/mile; 1.38 (Due to deposits with various public charging vendors, my true cost "this" year was less) </div><div>Maintenance; ZERO</div><div>Upkeep (Car wash, fluid replenishment, wiper replacement, etc); $168</div><div>Tab Fees (includes custom Seahawk plates, park access and some other stuff I'm probably forgetting); $328.25</div><div>Title Transfer fees and sales tax; $382.09<br /><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">BMS</span></b></p><p><span>Nissan's BMS is designed to be user friendly which is a politically correct way of saying no thought processes, no options, no nothing. Then they made it worse by removing their one and only custom charge setting without an explanation and naturally we filled in the blanks as to why. So when I relay my manual BMS processes, this the typical response. </span></p><p><span>"I never know when I might have to go somewhere so we plug in immediately when we get home so our car is pretty much fully charged all the time. We like it that way. Ready to go."</span></p><p>"I have charged to 100% since day one and my battery is just fine. I have only lost one bar in 50,000 miles" <br /><br />"Charging to 100% all the time is ok because the batteries are designed to be charged that way. That is why Nissan removed the 80% setting. It is simply no longer needed" </p><p>I could go on for days and back when we didn't have 100 miles of range and few public charging options, a lot of the concerns were quite valid. But the attitude persists with 200+ mile ranges and MUCH more charging options. Nissan doesn't help with their hidden capacities, very early dire warnings to plug in, etc. But that is how cars work. My Prius gas light came on about 3/16th of a tank. In a 500 mile car, that is nearly 100 miles. But we Americans tend to run out of fuel on a very regular basis so manufacturers will not be changing any time soon. </p><p>So I take it upon myself to control the SOC range I spend the most time. Despite this, my full charges increased from 2020 to 9 in 2021. Now you know how many longer road trips I did...almost. I had more than few leaving home at far less than 100% SOC but that was due to where I was going, what I was planning and time frame targets, etc. But ultimately, my goal is "living in the middle" SOC range that is. </p><p>How much I am helping my pack will likely take years to partially quantify. There are too many variables to driving style, location, terrain, weather, etc to compare my pack's stats to others (another reason I started the database of other LEAFers which was to be able to use THEIR PACK DATA) but I can say a few things that apply "most" of the time. </p><p>**Location doesn't matter nearly as much as previous packs which is most notable in the "not quite Hell" areas where its hot but not extreme but even in extreme areas like Phoenix, Gen two packs are doing much better. </p><p>**High milers benefit. Most over the degradation curve drive A LOT. By a lot, I mean over 30,000 miles a year. On the flip side, very low milers are riding below the curve although that is not as predominant and an early indicator says those who started out low on the degradation curve are gradually catching up to the pack. </p><p>** Time based degradation seems to have taken on a much greater role and the quarterly BMS adjustments seems to put an emphasis on that. For those unaware, unlike previous LEAF packs, the battery stats namely ahr and SOH do not bounce up and down several times a week like the gen one packs did. Now the numbers would slowly drop but every 90 days or so, the numbers would change dramatically gaining or losing chunks of rated capacity. For lack of a better term, I labeled this phenomena as "The Adjustment" </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Adjustment 2021</b></span></p><p>In my 2nd year the adjustments were kinder. MUCH kinder. Unlike the 4 in 2020 which were all drops, 2021 was a split with 2 drops, 2 increases with the overall change of nearly zero. (-.09 ahr, -.05 SOH) leaving only the downward drift between the adjustments to account for the year's capacity drop which was also better in 2021 so very much a win-win or simply the BMS learning my habits and needs and adjusting accordingly? The answer to that is a mystery to me so I am going to data dump ya and you can make your own conclusions. </p><p>Now that we have 2 sets of numbers to look at, some interesting statistics. First off, can't say how invaluable LEAF Spy is for this kind of stuff. I have archived EVERY LEAF Spy session covering all 5 LEAFs I've had (realizing of course LEAF Spy wasn't here in the early days of the 2011 and 12's) so being able to go back years to look for a specific data point is simply awesome. Below is a spreadsheet on the adjustments and it seems like every time I update it, I add more stuff to it. Not sure if the stuff is pertinent or helping to obscure the obvious but at least I can and LEAF Spy is the reason why. </p><p>First the chart</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmxEdQ67Rz6rlO8mhS9_5W4hikUvgUcPlnvyKnwOVr80-2bqeIU_UsNFeH-ZtlXgO-r3mDN78776Vd132ZrcCkUkPFBLQeba4_PKsRqd3iPWOWfkZy0ppf-bW9AZX6n1rQ0q1tvjxy9DVmI109GtSb38vDs4mPDKKJ6Kf_PL40nu3MT4iG2zy9wIX9=s1221" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Adjustment Change Log" border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="1221" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmxEdQ67Rz6rlO8mhS9_5W4hikUvgUcPlnvyKnwOVr80-2bqeIU_UsNFeH-ZtlXgO-r3mDN78776Vd132ZrcCkUkPFBLQeba4_PKsRqd3iPWOWfkZy0ppf-bW9AZX6n1rQ0q1tvjxy9DVmI109GtSb38vDs4mPDKKJ6Kf_PL40nu3MT4iG2zy9wIX9=w653-h159" width="653" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Adjustment Change Log</div><p>As always, you can click on the chart for a bigger, easier to read version. Ok, most of the headings are self explanatory so what I have going here</p><p>Adj Length; How long the adjustment lasted</p><p>Days bet adj; Should be obvious if you understand my abbreviations; days between the end of one adjustment and the beginning of the next</p><p>ahr and SOH change; Change during the adjustment</p><p>ahr daily and SOH daily; Change between adjustments</p><p>The rest of the data is how I charged between adjustments. Trying to see if too much DC was a bad thing. As you can see, I went way overboard on both options and basically determined its not what you charge with, its how you charge. A lot of DC is probably fine as long as you are charging to a reasonable level. In my case, my target SOC was generally 70% which basically kept the batteries surprisingly cool. More on that later. When collecting LEAF Spy data from other Gen 2's, I found no change in degradation rates based on the amount of DC charging. Maybe it was a change in NCTC or simply the additional range made it easier to pass up stations but hardly anyone relied even moderately on DC charging. Now more than a few of you will say DC charging is bad since that is also when I lost most of my capacity but my loss is not out of the ordinary even among people who DC'd rarely if at all so keep in mind, there is a lot more data going on than we see here. </p><p>Notice the date drift? More evidence its closer to a 90 day cycle than quarterly. Will need another year though to verify. </p><p>Interesting that I have had two one day adjustments both in October? One up, one down. </p><p>Speaking of the Oct 2021 adjustment; the gain only brought me back to even when considering the daily losses. Started the adjustment period with an ahr of 162.68 and ended with 162.66. </p><p>My largest negative adjustment was January of both years. This is a time of year where I generally drive less. Makes me think the car is hiding capacity from me to protect the cells maybe? More on that later. </p><p>In all metrics; Year one was much more severe than Year two. </p><p><i><b>Loss during adjustment; </b></i> </p><p>2020 ahr; 8.79. 2021 ahr; .09%</p><p>2020 SOH 4.98%. 2021 SOH; .05%</p><p><b><i>Loss between Adjustment;</i></b></p><p>2020 ahr; 2.77. 2021 ahr; 1.57</p><p>2020 SOH; 1.62% 2021 SOH; .92%</p><p>So the real question now becomes will it continue to improve in year 3 or stay consistent? </p><p><b>**NOTE**</b></p><p>Not all numbers will jive with the above due to offsets of years, adjustments, etc. Top section is "birthday" stats based on the November 16, 2019 delivery date. These numbers here based on adjustments with the projected build date of approximately October 25, 2019. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Niggles</span></b></p><p>Ok so the car still has quirks. Listed below in no particular order. Only mentioned because...well, its a reality. Nothing here really matters a whole lot to me. Its like my phone. It doesn't always stay in its lane but the road is empty so not a priority for me. We all have our levels of acceptance so YMMV. </p><p>Steering wheel volume controls randomly do not function. Never lasts more than a single power cycle and ! still have the old school knobs which always work so guessing I have to say...Glad it aint a Tesla! But then again, they probably use an entertainment system with a higher degree of reliability. </p><p>When playing SAT radio, I will see random reboots of the center screen that I can just about predict to the second. Doesn't matter. With constant signal drops, its a bit irritating to listen to so I have passed on the last half dozen freebie periods. I will say Amazon Prime music seems to work quite flawlessly. Most of the time, I am listening to news radio anyway. </p><p>Air flow changes on its own. Seems to happen a lot more during Summer with A/C then any other time of the year so wondering if its simply a bad circuit design or insufficient ventilation causing issues due to heat buildup although I can't say that I have had experience with OEM equipment that even needed ventilation? Who knows? But it happens. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Huggables</span></b></p><p>As the years roll by, I have lost perspective on a lot of reasons why I love EVing. But the horrors of the alternative comes crashing back immediately after cranking up a smoke machine. With 3 distinct drive modes, driving has become a bit more fun. Its become a challenge of mine to go an entire month without touching the brake pedal one single time. (after startup of course) I am approaching my 4 year anniversary of E Pedal (2018 delivered February 16, 2018) and have yet to make it although I did make it past the 20th 3 times. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Drive</span></b></p><p>My driving style has morphed during that time as well going from nearly 100% E Pedal to B Eco to the current D/B Eco. My change was encouraged by talking to John, a 2015 LEAF owner who rolled 200,000 miles on his original 24 kwh pack with 11 capacity bars. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq-jTOeBQgLHN31GXVoVNAxQt3Q1IavhU42SuxjsX63XR0UYOTho1WOylUbhGnwGZipl_N3f96pGjDTadQEFBRVhOSzf_GEtw5Wpc-70reY72xbrHb7Gcb_Cv-586A6iT60qc6PpwAjaHoaxltGCnQTFIg0pIMGBPb7y4PobXdT49SLYXb2Hq1lz9g=s960" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgq-jTOeBQgLHN31GXVoVNAxQt3Q1IavhU42SuxjsX63XR0UYOTho1WOylUbhGnwGZipl_N3f96pGjDTadQEFBRVhOSzf_GEtw5Wpc-70reY72xbrHb7Gcb_Cv-586A6iT60qc6PpwAjaHoaxltGCnQTFIg0pIMGBPb7y4PobXdT49SLYXb2Hq1lz9g=w396-h297" width="396" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">11 BAR 2015 LEAF with ORIGINAL BATTERY PACK! </div><p><br /></p><p>And no, there is no typo in that last statement. Its a monumental achievement and so understanding how he did it was a no brainer. He charged to 100% every night at home, charged to 80% on DC to make it home every day. So what was his secret? Well due to his location, it was better to take the state highway to work than I-5 which would require driving thru a half dozen daily bottlenecks. The state highway was also a bit shorter but slower. Speed limit was 55 but slowed to a crawl driving thru every small town on the route. He admitted it took a bit more time but was also a much less stressful drive. </p><p>This got me to thinking on what effect higher regen and the accompanying higher level of power to regain speed had on the rate of degradation? We all know that cycling is a factor and one charge cycle rated as 0 to 100% so two 50% charge/discharge cycles is one cycle, 3 charging sessions adding 25% is one cycle, etc. </p><p>So my year 3 experiment (actually started last June) will be minimizing regen as much as possible. This means my primary drive mode is D Eco. I still use them all including N but the one thing I realized during my driving is I am constantly evaluating other drivers and predicting what they are going to do which causes me to completely remove my foot from the accelerator frequently for no more than a split second and I was doing this a lot. Since D has the flattest regen profile, I figured a smaller hit to the pack has to a good thing, right? </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Projects for 2022</span></b></p><p>The big thing will be the driving style adjustment but when doing random experiments, I stumbled across other observations I will be repeating to see if its a fluke or simply an unnoticed fact of life. </p><p>One thing will be charging efficiency and how it relates to SOC. I saw a rather drastic variance on DC charging efficiency as the SOC rose. Efficiency would start out quite high but in charting a DC charge curve on EA one day, I noticed that my ability to predict the time EA would flip over on the Kwh counter was rather flawed. I kept missing it and couldn't understand why. So looking at the data later, I found that at high SOC, the charging efficiency was dropping significantly. I hadn't noticed because I so rarely (like nearly NEVER!) DC above 90%. So will be charting that to eliminate random car flukes, LEAF Spy data, batt temps, and whatever else I can think of. </p><p>Of course my pursuit of RapidGate continues. I didn't have a good chance at that last year mostly due to EA's dumbing down Chademo to 120ish amps. When 200 is possible, its hard to quantify if you can't stumble across a 200 amp machine conveniently located in the right spot. My Tahoe trip was derailed by wildfire although we did do the 10 Falls Hike in Oregon during REALLY hot weather but apparently it wasn't far enough and we did spend the night (although the overnight low was in the upper 80's) which probably made the difference. Even a few side trips home the next day didn't really matter. I will say I was surprised at how well the pack managed in 100º temps at 70 mph though. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">HELP!!!!</span></b></p><p><span>Still need more LEAF Spy participants! The only way I can make this work is I need the same person to submit several data points over YEARS. Anything else is simply interesting. So thank you if you have been submitting shots on a regular basis...all 5 of you...Yeah, only 5 of you. </span></p><p>Another thing is if you have been saving your logs on Dropbox or something, you can pull out significant data and post them as well. </p><p>Date, ahr, SOH, HX, miles and L1/L3 count and I can work with that. Doing this gives us a better picture of how driving style, climate, location, and charging habits affect us. John is a perfect example that none of us really knows where the ceiling is. Did he simply win the traction pack lottery or is he the reason he has done so well?</p><p>Until next time! </p><p><br /></p></div></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-67992546281062661102022-01-13T19:37:00.003-08:002022-01-13T19:37:52.967-08:00Gen Two LEAF BMS draft<p> As soon as the Gen two LEAF batteries hit the streets with the 40 kwh 2018 model year, it was quickly apparent that Nissan had moved into an entirely new direction with battery management. Despite the pack being larger which implies more ability to take a faster charge longer, that did not happen. The DC charging knee on the 30 kwh packs was greater than 80% SOC. This made getting a significant boost in range in a reasonable amount of time quite easy. One no longer had to wait until the SOC range was near zero to enjoy all the current the station had to provide. So it made sense that it would continue in 2018. But the knee dropped to no more than 70% SOC and depending on the <span style="background-color: white;">temperature</span> of the pack, could be as low as 45% SOC. As a reminder; the knee is the point on the charge curve when power stops rising because the current is dropping. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Crazy BMS</span></b></p><p>The Gen One BMS would generate battery stats that bounced around on a near daily basis. changes of 2 or 3% within a few days was not uncommon. This led to some crazy theories of what was or wasn't good for battery health. But the one thing that didn't seem to happen was a change in the range of the car. Maybe there was a change but I never noticed anything significant or more importantly anything "usable." Now, I had 6 years experience with 24 kwh LEAFs and noticed a drop in range that was not all that extreme but in retrospect, the range was so limited that a bit more limitation didn't really impact my thinking. I had to charge on the road frequently to do my job when the pack was new so... nothing really changed when I lost 10% of my range. </p><p>On the flipside, my 2016 S30 never had any discernible degradation over the nearly 30,000 miles I drove it and those miles were piled on VERY quickly. It was the best pack I had and I missed a great opportunity to find out how far Nissan had progressed. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNKPe5LL3lm53w02be8udiQkGt2uojECzCj8f19JSWThtB4_v467DIBY4dDuz_OBRppZQgI1x04q40yalD8LOKihA_oxh8wQmi1Xk5UqXKaMutDKMR4IwV_sB9Ot9SiRPwohSDsejwsM/s3840/116.2+miles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNKPe5LL3lm53w02be8udiQkGt2uojECzCj8f19JSWThtB4_v467DIBY4dDuz_OBRppZQgI1x04q40yalD8LOKihA_oxh8wQmi1Xk5UqXKaMutDKMR4IwV_sB9Ot9SiRPwohSDsejwsM/w642-h362/116.2+miles.jpg" width="642" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">January 2018 116.2 miles on a single charge during "less than desirable" winter weather. Don't let that bar fool you. I was plugged into the EVgo DC at Tacoma Mall when I snapped this pix. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicU8byptwFmwy8hjnKPnzRDtEUBlegOU8EsRX3OAq0z9sWoLecUil_TE5Z5rD2KV2P7sLsINxTsBIXfF1YFp_lSci4v_hAq9f6Jx-IqU-kPEIYAExe3KJQLno47eqPHBoPnrWIrrN0H3g/s1920/2018-1-14++LEAF+Spy+ahr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicU8byptwFmwy8hjnKPnzRDtEUBlegOU8EsRX3OAq0z9sWoLecUil_TE5Z5rD2KV2P7sLsINxTsBIXfF1YFp_lSci4v_hAq9f6Jx-IqU-kPEIYAExe3KJQLno47eqPHBoPnrWIrrN0H3g/w293-h520/2018-1-14++LEAF+Spy+ahr.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">82.34 ahr is the new pack parameter and that is where it was 400 miles and 3 days later </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">when she was killed on the streets of Tacoma, WA. This was the 14 month LEAF Spy</div><div style="text-align: center;">shot. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">RapidGate, IceGate, And Adjustments</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As we now know, DC charging was no longer predictable as it once was. The Gen two packs introduced a concept known as "RapidGate" which reduced the starting current on a DC charge when the temperature of the pack was "warm" at the beginning of the charge. The 40 kwh packs would see as little as 1/3rd the normal current on its 2nd or 3rd DC charge of the day. Although the ramp down in current was more gradual, the slow rate of charge frequently doubled the time of the stop. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But that was only half the story. I don't make it a habit of camping at charging stations. 95% of the time, I don't have the patience to sit in my car watching my SOC inch upwards so I have a routine where I do double duty on charging by taking care of personal needs and desires. It was one of these times during the winter I noticed that I was already past the charging knee on my return 15 minutes later. So I started tracking my starting battery temperature and when the knee happened and discovered "IceGate" where the charge starts to slow as low as 45% SOC instead of the near 70% we would see in ideal conditions when the pack was in the low to mid 80's ºF. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now the Bolt has issues in cold weather but speeds up when the pack heats up. The LEAF? Not so lucky. <b>Several experiments both verified that RapidGate and IceGate are tied to the temperature of the pack when the charge begins.</b> So plug in, charge 5 minutes to gain a bit of warmth, unplug and restart the session? Well, tried that and it didn't work but only tried it twice. I am not done with that theory but that is a good 6 months down the road (I didn't do "any" DC charging this past winter) <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Gen Two BMS Goes In A Whole New Direction</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> Gen One packs would retain their "new pack status" as much as several weeks so the parameters for ahr and GIDs were fairly well known parameters But the Gen 2 packs starting with the 40 kwh in 2018 changed all that. As I always did, I recorded LEAF Spy stats the very first minute I sat in my new LEAF and I am glad I did because those numbers would not appear again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtvFpsfbCPSr3rzwAmYktOhNW82kn1VvJFbjZk6ePmSxRX2s_3xVdA2wP7_herSHB4r6gnXDU4OwtpJIan7JdZotUEkvVUhmGfE-_Z4ONgWtNAjCMl_RU73TtUajqio_hhos9P9mx-Lo/s2880/David+Laur+62+kwh+772+GID+ahr+176.03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2880" data-original-width="1440" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtvFpsfbCPSr3rzwAmYktOhNW82kn1VvJFbjZk6ePmSxRX2s_3xVdA2wP7_herSHB4r6gnXDU4OwtpJIan7JdZotUEkvVUhmGfE-_Z4ONgWtNAjCMl_RU73TtUajqio_hhos9P9mx-Lo/w247-h493/David+Laur+62+kwh+772+GID+ahr+176.03.jpg" width="247" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97eQHhOiyHB_lY6sRiFFZUJU5S6q5XdqjlC1cTcGSvS5K5MCh56YA0LsQYoqVi94DYyjdOvBnlxgU35V6-MdoPV5ieX7XmxUaMB3kXaz8VZd6_eBalQiicFYmZH9W0DS0nLYxEFL-cHY/s2880/David+Laur+62+kwh+5+miles+SOH+99.79.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2880" data-original-width="1440" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97eQHhOiyHB_lY6sRiFFZUJU5S6q5XdqjlC1cTcGSvS5K5MCh56YA0LsQYoqVi94DYyjdOvBnlxgU35V6-MdoPV5ieX7XmxUaMB3kXaz8VZd6_eBalQiicFYmZH9W0DS0nLYxEFL-cHY/w245-h490/David+Laur+62+kwh+5+miles+SOH+99.79.jpg" width="245" /></a></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The very next day after 93.5 miles of driving I was at 175.99 ahr and 99.77% SOH and the slow decline had begun. So will your plus look like mine when you pick it up? Doubtful...in fact, VERY doubtful. Its been nearly 3½ years and there is still no real consensus on what the new Gen Two pack parameters are. Like my 40 kwh, the LEAF Plus BMS would run in two distinct modes;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Daily Mode</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The ahr and SOH drops slowly or remains the same. <b>They NEVER go up...EVER</b>. Not even a single .01%. No amount of warm weather, temperature, DC charging, heavy use, or very light use would change this pattern. All the things I just mentioned were used as theories on how to "boost your range" on the Gen One packs and yeah, they might have moved the battery stats up or down but an actual boost in range? Not sure anyone ever proved that. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">TBT, it was all quite boring. I mean I started only recording SOH and ahr only when it changed. My log was filled with a ton of blank spaces. Grasping straws, I started logging "longest stretch with no change" Yeah...I was that bored!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8yakNQMDdSnJc9nr_PtJ4V-MMmwZf3eN5M4NluCcEFDJxER1QJA7F01KY84kKJH5FFY8NBM31QjXoRQ6y2fz6FcFlp7OoEXF06bkb-FLqLQwEyBB1h1m_1YdyKLlHpg940qFb75gCmk/s725/Ahr+SOH+not+changing+much.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="725" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8yakNQMDdSnJc9nr_PtJ4V-MMmwZf3eN5M4NluCcEFDJxER1QJA7F01KY84kKJH5FFY8NBM31QjXoRQ6y2fz6FcFlp7OoEXF06bkb-FLqLQwEyBB1h1m_1YdyKLlHpg940qFb75gCmk/w515-h459/Ahr+SOH+not+changing+much.jpg" width="515" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Adjustment</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just as I was falling asleep at the log, some excitement came along... the bad kind. Just before my 3 month anniversary, I hopped in my car, started it and did the daily LEAF Spy recording and had to do a double take. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9UM1QAVO3ExYeiiE-zDwHo-YfglvUFMMRPp6RCRd57RYqK7Xp50HY-1MiQBXzVSWDlRuq8SzCNUZCzoETWMDdvVRBCpelPjBXwqbEZBssVIaB_-VzDktT7dGLVmTOWeQYPn_sfibT9Y/s548/Plus+first+adjustment.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="548" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9UM1QAVO3ExYeiiE-zDwHo-YfglvUFMMRPp6RCRd57RYqK7Xp50HY-1MiQBXzVSWDlRuq8SzCNUZCzoETWMDdvVRBCpelPjBXwqbEZBssVIaB_-VzDktT7dGLVmTOWeQYPn_sfibT9Y/w525-h494/Plus+first+adjustment.jpg" width="525" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I seriously thought I would drop a capacity bar before the end of the month! I had no idea what I was doing wrong! The only full charge the car ever had to this point was the one at the dealership when I picked it up (remember this!) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When it finally stopped, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and continued on my merry way. It was winter which means a lot less driving than normal so I was over 70% SOC very infrequently as the plus range was more than enough to cover several days of usage even at that modest SOC. But "exactly" 3 months later on April 25th, it did it again! This time it wasn't nearly as dramatic and only lasted 3 days but I was on pace to only have 55% capacity remaining at 100,000 miles. It was then I realized that something was off. VERY off. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Experiments </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since this was my 2nd Gen Two LEAF pack, I kinda already knew what to expect. Large early drop lasting 18-24 months that eventually drops to 1% a year more or less. So when picking up my Plus, I started formulating experiments to see if charging/driving habits would change anything. By now, Nissan was very aware of LEAF Spy and its growing list of followers and I have to think they weren't extremely happy about that. As mentioned earlier, too many of us were using LEAF Spy stats to evaluate how well we were doing on our charging habits.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Gen one packs hid true pack parameters which explains why gen one packs would retain the new pack numbers for several weeks or more. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-89752755043044563962021-08-14T13:54:00.002-07:002022-08-29T10:03:13.221-07:00EVing The Pacific NorthwestThe summer travel season is in full swing but unlike past years, the new concerns along with smoke and AQI, is new public charging station owners. The West Coast Electric Highway was a program that was supposed to cover travel of EVs on the West Coast. But California had budget issues, other priorities, etc. so they kinda went off our their own leaving Oregon and Washington. So a network of 44 stations in Oregon and 12 in Washington was built, changed hands several times and for a while, Webasto was the gatekeeper and did a decent job. Up time was normal, repairs fairly quick, customer service was responsive.<div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Webasto is now EVCS</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, all that changed last year and no one knew why. The WA stations performed well for the most part, but large sections of OR fell into disrepair with some stations broken for several months. What we didn't know at the time was the Webasto was getting out of the public charging game. They ended up selling their stations to a new company EVCS who had launched in 2019 and had stations in a handful of locations all in California. But unlike Webasto, the changeover has been slow, repairs even slower but more shockingly; EVCS doesn't have a good grasp of the actual condition of their stations or the customer experience especially in WA.
I was able to contact the EVCS's WCEH manager who was apparently under the impression that we were charging issue free which was far from reality. During a brief part of the changeover process that just happened a month ago (sale completed last winter) "Pay with Plugshare" became inoperable. When it was relaunched under EVCS, it was wonky, billed for failed sessions, etc. In many cases, even a remote reset of the station by Customer Service failed to resolve the issue. It was only after some email tennis that I was able to relay the issues we were having. But it has become clear to me that we end users need to start a dialogue with this new company or they will not have a complete picture of what is going on?
So if you have an issue on the EVCS (formerly Aerovironment/Webasto) network, comment it on Plugshare AND email the EVCS manager responsible for communications on the WCEH;
email: charlieb@evcs.com
</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Plugshare Plugshare Plugshare! </b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>Call me sentimental but Plugshare has been with us since the beginning! Sure there new apps for roadtripping but none of them does as good a job advising us ahead of time on station reliability and best charging options. So yeah, its my go to for EVERY trip I take. Now, I consider myself to be both savvy and cheap which is a great combo for an EVer but lately even I have not been keeping up with the new charging options available to me. Free charging has been around since day one but new options are popping up every day including a gem I discovered in Astoria OR; EV Connect. They have a DC and AC station located at Clatsop Community College that was fast AND FREE. I didn't get over 46 kw while charging (supposed to be a 62.5 Kw machine? ) but pack was in the mid 100'sº F so maybe a bit of Rapidgate (although that seems doubtful) </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpU2go1NhtCt25qxEzfZaJYOMQQcXATCWbr5JBjnybFxAM9ePpSzvbaJzDNS5v9E7abk__qzS2-zdZ_Cqf1xDa3fnnqwTTTRvDc4eFVhCxAoC25OQB7qhrmAVSf5RpW0PBf27390aFOw/s4032/PXL_20210811_181030687.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpU2go1NhtCt25qxEzfZaJYOMQQcXATCWbr5JBjnybFxAM9ePpSzvbaJzDNS5v9E7abk__qzS2-zdZ_Cqf1xDa3fnnqwTTTRvDc4eFVhCxAoC25OQB7qhrmAVSf5RpW0PBf27390aFOw/w459-h258/PXL_20210811_181030687.MP.jpg" width="459" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Although I downloaded the app and everything "seemed" to work, scanning the QR code only immediately got me a "station down for maintenance" message. So, I unplugged. Station says "Plug available" I plug in, prompted to scan fob or use app and... same message. So I called customer service hoping for the best, expecting the worst and...<div><br /></div><div>With no other customer service interaction coming remotely close, it was THE greatest interaction I have ever had! EV Connect is small, only has a few stations right now but I am hoping they grow and maintain that level of service. FYI; I was able to call them and get the charge started faster than most Webasto stations take to connect! <br /><div><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Oswald West State Park</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>I recently transferred from my old work location to a brand new facility a few miles farther up the road. (actually quicker since its an easier more direct route off the freeway) So our first day was this past Sunday and as we all know, supply line logistics has been a major challenge due to trucker shortages and despite working for what is likely the best logistics company in the World, we were not immune. </div><div><br /></div><div>So the product we were expected to have on hand had not quite materialized. In fact, we had ONE item. Now this will be the largest Hazmat FC in the entire network...eventually, but not today. So the next sensible thing to do was to do our basic orientation, a few classes and then give us the rest of the week off WITH PAY! Naturally, this meant some free time had to be used and fast! </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, truth be told, this trip was already planned and despite my efforts to get definitive info from EVCS about the WCEH subscription availability, I heard nothing. But the plan was for Thurs (my normal day off) but smoke predictions made me push it to Wed not to mention 100+º temps predicted. </div><div><br /></div><div>So we hit the park taking the Cape Falcon Trail to check out the water. Now the trail is a 2.5 mile out and back to a viewpoint overlooking Treasure Cove and had modest elevation gains so by all accounts, an easy hike. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-yTOOwQEPiMzt5LBlcm2iclb_AG9qy3gfb2Ap31DxBYaS23nZ0CUARw-vabfqtbMaBVIGF-5q91pR4Qfbd-zLF6EQcLpUqC5ZqvUej-XM-LXCKtF5Cop2ybeeg00MCAI6AeQJv6PQXE/s2432/Screenshot_20210812-070327.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="703" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-yTOOwQEPiMzt5LBlcm2iclb_AG9qy3gfb2Ap31DxBYaS23nZ0CUARw-vabfqtbMaBVIGF-5q91pR4Qfbd-zLF6EQcLpUqC5ZqvUej-XM-LXCKtF5Cop2ybeeg00MCAI6AeQJv6PQXE/w334-h703/Screenshot_20210812-070327.png" width="334" /></a></div><br /><div>A bit of up and down but the real challenge was high humidity, a "warmer" day and roots! This should be called the "Roots Trail" as it covered well over 90% of the trail and made footing tricky. One guy fell hard right in front of us. Luckily there was no service except near the viewpoint or I would have broken my ankle for sure with no one to blame but Facebook! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bo67tKDnx0pCzX97Ij2sMe3P51IG3nrU94aXlDzZRuSlMThEV63RIcJF4R5RyRYbxOVWvla43KEuqvFBne2MwFEesTwbwysXrUNeR7UXTt04qIoyGxbjuUlE9JQ5T4yiPUS2HX1OY0k/s4032/PXL_20210811_201747421.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bo67tKDnx0pCzX97Ij2sMe3P51IG3nrU94aXlDzZRuSlMThEV63RIcJF4R5RyRYbxOVWvla43KEuqvFBne2MwFEesTwbwysXrUNeR7UXTt04qIoyGxbjuUlE9JQ5T4yiPUS2HX1OY0k/w561-h316/PXL_20210811_201747421.MP.jpg" width="561" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This is what most of the trail was like root wise. Size wise, it was generally only 2-3 feet wide so walking around the roots wasn't an option. </div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the challenges, it was a gorgeous hike and we only passed 2 groups going in, a half dozen going out. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgNnVcwrO3e-dEtT9iiPQVeRNucYMJA2oHsmcPPTAZ-6OGX1lMbTMhDvKBpc7Ug9JgIhReO3OVU9JIaNzmjxJw8oQINEDLW7LPTOr203Ji1u9C6tmLi7Ng-n2gAM-jz71bh3OqPRz3U4/s4032/PXL_20210811_195642149.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTgNnVcwrO3e-dEtT9iiPQVeRNucYMJA2oHsmcPPTAZ-6OGX1lMbTMhDvKBpc7Ug9JgIhReO3OVU9JIaNzmjxJw8oQINEDLW7LPTOr203Ji1u9C6tmLi7Ng-n2gAM-jz71bh3OqPRz3U4/w616-h346/PXL_20210811_195642149.MP.jpg" width="616" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsCLBN6x3MKF5fDgBw_tdRWWl9OLosl7BaZza708T8df_ThvG_N0_AKkzQErfc3Sv6MZp1xfUbi52okYi3WzeA5v5IsLkbXKKDnfOp_U-AZtLanJv5HH-16AcSv4i0kg-TDLHCvb1Ong/s4032/PXL_20210811_201059068.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsCLBN6x3MKF5fDgBw_tdRWWl9OLosl7BaZza708T8df_ThvG_N0_AKkzQErfc3Sv6MZp1xfUbi52okYi3WzeA5v5IsLkbXKKDnfOp_U-AZtLanJv5HH-16AcSv4i0kg-TDLHCvb1Ong/w570-h321/PXL_20210811_201059068.MP.jpg" width="570" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here is a glimpse of our destination. Its the grassy top of the point in the background</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1aU5W0Q9rEtRIZoXI10v2bUtZr55rJXP64U2bXHiGcygzjW-YMgueBf2O3Qn6YCSGasWwIovKl5Are83bDg9nDKDu6WWlbr5zkTfN8v6DUgnQZ5spaHO2p5R1sQ24sHk9ipe_eNyqt0/s4032/PXL_20210811_201610609.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH1aU5W0Q9rEtRIZoXI10v2bUtZr55rJXP64U2bXHiGcygzjW-YMgueBf2O3Qn6YCSGasWwIovKl5Are83bDg9nDKDu6WWlbr5zkTfN8v6DUgnQZ5spaHO2p5R1sQ24sHk9ipe_eNyqt0/w587-h330/PXL_20210811_201610609.MP.jpg" width="587" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a temperate rain forest so the ferns and Salah was everywhere. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTOYg1WCj7ZbNjiR-lHBCbhw2SzJKnf4zyj1JtOcrhFtEtRMDbbIlT5lxQJHYGVA3a_tm8gw1wuVMoVWda30rZchiqMPAGhVHR-19EfWQfvUSzXM-fUAOlq-NpVEPaQXgMo-vAneboCg/s4032/PXL_20210811_202313480.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTOYg1WCj7ZbNjiR-lHBCbhw2SzJKnf4zyj1JtOcrhFtEtRMDbbIlT5lxQJHYGVA3a_tm8gw1wuVMoVWda30rZchiqMPAGhVHR-19EfWQfvUSzXM-fUAOlq-NpVEPaQXgMo-vAneboCg/w370-h658/PXL_20210811_202313480.MP.jpg" width="370" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>And the view? Worthy!<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5c0MG87Oay2hLabedMVEBvn-7YCv57EgKBnVZy3QgFGtSjwt2ZcSaERhGz7TWdsgm2p0BFN9C9wJjlDjYQo1W9CHJO1In_4CZcPoczC4BP-67r1NLZaM0ExRwh5OVYxQ9RMV2g0mvCQ/s4032/PXL_20210811_210919670.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5c0MG87Oay2hLabedMVEBvn-7YCv57EgKBnVZy3QgFGtSjwt2ZcSaERhGz7TWdsgm2p0BFN9C9wJjlDjYQo1W9CHJO1In_4CZcPoczC4BP-67r1NLZaM0ExRwh5OVYxQ9RMV2g0mvCQ/w626-h351/PXL_20210811_210919670.MP.jpg" width="626" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vmmM87y6h1AYqHqjuP9FP9JcyjxGgTd4Rd2oWvg9YhVu_B9rGSjIoLCx3zvd0viM2sRRg9-QMfxw7CC0aYE5iWEBDwUN5iW8oYw1RwrUx4YJ0C-BpB8fCEhyphenhyphen3Q44Wz1An9iBBYAAWrk/s4032/PXL_20210811_211042072.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vmmM87y6h1AYqHqjuP9FP9JcyjxGgTd4Rd2oWvg9YhVu_B9rGSjIoLCx3zvd0viM2sRRg9-QMfxw7CC0aYE5iWEBDwUN5iW8oYw1RwrUx4YJ0C-BpB8fCEhyphenhyphen3Q44Wz1An9iBBYAAWrk/w623-h350/PXL_20210811_211042072.MP.jpg" width="623" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCpgttnHWnWBZa9ykqam6tR-2LGn4pUCT7aJiZR5m9qtb34yi8uMm5C5dcXK7I7EVpZWdfrcmteaqYLJAk41ZBYslbLqpEasleXwUDe6rimtgPTds4rXR_SIveQ9HeHrwtz9Pc8_rLeI/s4032/PXL_20210811_210826364.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCpgttnHWnWBZa9ykqam6tR-2LGn4pUCT7aJiZR5m9qtb34yi8uMm5C5dcXK7I7EVpZWdfrcmteaqYLJAk41ZBYslbLqpEasleXwUDe6rimtgPTds4rXR_SIveQ9HeHrwtz9Pc8_rLeI/w617-h348/PXL_20210811_210826364.MP.jpg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EBzrDgjSNXvBBMPOKpUL6XLit3wRsd2PJp0k8qogX_S9V1EvHVpDD4f7zIHLXCByiKfspbAB8FjoJg5w0tQSo3GOi1cbDtGxRB3lMB5K5j-EPLadEDtWD9O9lGQhXfSobLoda_Y1HDE/s4032/PXL_20210811_210610763.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EBzrDgjSNXvBBMPOKpUL6XLit3wRsd2PJp0k8qogX_S9V1EvHVpDD4f7zIHLXCByiKfspbAB8FjoJg5w0tQSo3GOi1cbDtGxRB3lMB5K5j-EPLadEDtWD9O9lGQhXfSobLoda_Y1HDE/w612-h344/PXL_20210811_210610763.MP.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b>EV Stats</b>; One day, 345 miles, two DC Sessions Zero cost. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ledbetter State Park, Long Beach Peninsula WA</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>Release the beach! As we all know, the Washington coast was all but a pipedream for many EVers due to lack of charging for day trips. PLENTY of options mostly free for campers and anyone staying overnight but for a quick there and back? VERY few options. One key sore spot was Grays Harbor Washington; "The Gateway to the Pacific" Well that all changed when Electrify America finally started working in Aberdeen. So this hike was all about testing the range of the LEAF Plus to see how much it had lost and I found it really hadn't lost much at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ledbetter State Park is at the very end of the peninsula anchored by Long Beach WA and had a "coast to coast" hike that I thought would be fun so off we went! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8QVbq4XiTNPnY52EO1KRxzoOfsSeVP4tMaaiVbIwjHbWQu5NuRK2Judp5gjM9xHjpYg6ZsOPRd10MP1i_-L1A-OxkISQIs0v5ZRBAzHeiton5utM2ifiQTygT0goSs6_EQaD4EdsbvQ/s2432/Screenshot_20210707-124228.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="539" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8QVbq4XiTNPnY52EO1KRxzoOfsSeVP4tMaaiVbIwjHbWQu5NuRK2Judp5gjM9xHjpYg6ZsOPRd10MP1i_-L1A-OxkISQIs0v5ZRBAzHeiton5utM2ifiQTygT0goSs6_EQaD4EdsbvQ/w256-h539/Screenshot_20210707-124228.png" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now this was the day "after" the free charging weekend EA offered for the 4th of July and despite getting a notice on the 2nd of July that the stations were live...they weren't. Now with a plus, it didn't matter. There were several other stations I could hit by simply returning home thru Oregon instead but that wasn't the plan so I decided instead of driving to the hike and back to Aberdeen with less than 20 miles of range left, we stopped in on the way out adding 20 miles to the trip. Sure enough, the "day after" the freebie ended, the station finally went live. Nice one EA! We know what you did there! So after grabbing my 4 kwh (to cover that 20 mile detour) off we went. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now the park is a bit..."isolated" and getting there was easy enough but then we turn into the park entrance and the double lane road ended about 200 feet later turning to a single lane with random "wide" spots. IOW; it was a one lane road and a narrow one at that! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXMGNtl-JdV9NAHrOmjl9XRQeqwUe98trFPID_wAq9QbzJKFV2Lc146dDT9YjI6-lutqPXiuxlJVjrHZxOGn6xJ3ArgYhaolwrIbOPnTzWWtFHc1fivGzyp-bIG00wGpuWPKYgt1L8dQ/s4032/PXL_20210707_194032714.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXMGNtl-JdV9NAHrOmjl9XRQeqwUe98trFPID_wAq9QbzJKFV2Lc146dDT9YjI6-lutqPXiuxlJVjrHZxOGn6xJ3ArgYhaolwrIbOPnTzWWtFHc1fivGzyp-bIG00wGpuWPKYgt1L8dQ/w591-h333/PXL_20210707_194032714.MP.jpg" width="591" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>We finally get to the parking lot about 3 miles in and there are a few options and all the hikes are short so we decided to do the forest hike which merged the Bay Loop then the Burberry Trail. A decent adventure! <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjGhzT2ZaSJJdem9YcWr5VsKSBcJbl1VkJQSKFKU8nDolaaPhu57mn4Eu9JgOQWbtt9XMYejwX582Zz751ASctJRmNqQWT9CY1HvhwGz4QUZNFqLiBS8enQVjSiOsGE2uP7Q3dbCzFaE/s4032/PXL_20210707_195210218.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="806" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjGhzT2ZaSJJdem9YcWr5VsKSBcJbl1VkJQSKFKU8nDolaaPhu57mn4Eu9JgOQWbtt9XMYejwX582Zz751ASctJRmNqQWT9CY1HvhwGz4QUZNFqLiBS8enQVjSiOsGE2uP7Q3dbCzFaE/w453-h806/PXL_20210707_195210218.MP.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div>So off we went on the Forest trail and it was like ALL sand and dead trees which is generally sign of Tsunami's. Salt water kills the tree so fast, they don't have time to do the normal decaying process so they turn a bleached white. Not only was the sand hard walking (just like a beach!) it was dry and loose which made it tougher but the play was swarming with mosquitos! I can't remember the last time I got a mosquito bite in WA. They are just not an issue most of the time! But they were insane here. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrKkPZmPwmlcSL3WglkS0lefZrSwhOZ-qNTdCrQ2i3EKVRW64mwnLN9mBB9BRkZsleeUvp7c7ybskR73VJn6_Nrgv7A8yCQO71vjP-7-MSutetE5IIxvF26b6Yp-oLfrBUyfjXyeGFHc/s4032/PXL_20210707_195556847.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUrKkPZmPwmlcSL3WglkS0lefZrSwhOZ-qNTdCrQ2i3EKVRW64mwnLN9mBB9BRkZsleeUvp7c7ybskR73VJn6_Nrgv7A8yCQO71vjP-7-MSutetE5IIxvF26b6Yp-oLfrBUyfjXyeGFHc/w338-h601/PXL_20210707_195556847.MP.jpg" width="338" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx2-FN8DrwLPjWUmx2ob4Trj-CpHmMJhp1trZbfExQiU2mmNUfaPfAFKF1QdORUdIWC6Zv5AK_Vea_jAiWps4SZ_wAk_XWwedHqE01brh6CiELUcKA8TuSWa-q-NPuyKZU370IDxiz2c/s4032/PXL_20210707_195443747.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBx2-FN8DrwLPjWUmx2ob4Trj-CpHmMJhp1trZbfExQiU2mmNUfaPfAFKF1QdORUdIWC6Zv5AK_Vea_jAiWps4SZ_wAk_XWwedHqE01brh6CiELUcKA8TuSWa-q-NPuyKZU370IDxiz2c/w590-h332/PXL_20210707_195443747.MP.jpg" width="590" /></a></div><br /><div>So after doing a quick detour at the first opportunity, we hit the beach. Now this is a national protection sanctuary for the Snowy Plover nesting grounds but there were marked pathways that allowed us to access the beach so off to the Pacific we went! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUsdt-26uoe_WPB7ijkKyusotkD7TBmYJKA4dZrDuzz58EMrGXDn6Kxcy-zr7bEJIAKzQwGYJd-X_6KuHDPm7txbTcDCnkVDqo5wpFRXtbSuU0FWptiQuhZwSJxMm7z5c9dLQE0QFQ8U/s4032/PXL_20210707_202154380.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUsdt-26uoe_WPB7ijkKyusotkD7TBmYJKA4dZrDuzz58EMrGXDn6Kxcy-zr7bEJIAKzQwGYJd-X_6KuHDPm7txbTcDCnkVDqo5wpFRXtbSuU0FWptiQuhZwSJxMm7z5c9dLQE0QFQ8U/w359-h638/PXL_20210707_202154380.MP.jpg" width="359" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuHL8XFqCMJX89y0xw6CSWcKv7KKIEnRcvD65HE_2WExqb47HtE0QtedTIMRJ4BH1UfslnKFSKQluCVm6oHm_C6JSg4IRFr4jQ6tLypf-5V6lxjnEkyCqaSvNIEa-oGph_pn9JiOrMmg/s4032/PXL_20210707_202246175.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuHL8XFqCMJX89y0xw6CSWcKv7KKIEnRcvD65HE_2WExqb47HtE0QtedTIMRJ4BH1UfslnKFSKQluCVm6oHm_C6JSg4IRFr4jQ6tLypf-5V6lxjnEkyCqaSvNIEa-oGph_pn9JiOrMmg/w646-h363/PXL_20210707_202246175.MP.jpg" width="646" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">You can see the off limit boundaries using the white sticks in the background. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirg6TAUZdB_7wSovaDuXhiPG9pcBibe2GB0NpZq9xUuDWPm0pRiUt1tG5gs-JMAMmtyFHl0C7fvBqzwMSzfuvVPQiuVD5speC1MzivHzqYpfcwgfAsX7zZtw03r_4AUtIkl5GatmDv2wU/s4032/PXL_20210707_202627208.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="697" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirg6TAUZdB_7wSovaDuXhiPG9pcBibe2GB0NpZq9xUuDWPm0pRiUt1tG5gs-JMAMmtyFHl0C7fvBqzwMSzfuvVPQiuVD5speC1MzivHzqYpfcwgfAsX7zZtw03r_4AUtIkl5GatmDv2wU/w392-h697/PXL_20210707_202627208.MP.jpg" width="392" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQgM0s8SNShE7hjC9N3sia4oxzg1PURsz0VVe3vtDz3wbnoCV_cF8-AT4G8fRSkGxn2o2NeWLr_tU4NdOwO8RYsj7-iVLkyD47kKQRKelgHvrd2ch6_AVTNGdZQiNnxjzmyLeiAY0wyg/s4032/PXL_20210707_202640050.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQgM0s8SNShE7hjC9N3sia4oxzg1PURsz0VVe3vtDz3wbnoCV_cF8-AT4G8fRSkGxn2o2NeWLr_tU4NdOwO8RYsj7-iVLkyD47kKQRKelgHvrd2ch6_AVTNGdZQiNnxjzmyLeiAY0wyg/w303-h538/PXL_20210707_202640050.MP.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It was a nice breeze and 60º. A perfect day for a nice hike. FYI; mosquitos </div><div style="text-align: center;">hate wind cause they can't fly! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaS2GkH1DP-kAj761puUbs2SwPOjGPRhr4mFU1fJQzqXH1j-wZ5UOmAQV0nPqiDXx6SRovISNaoggVFrWYaetr89DgDonkSUz4ZklLMfSTd8wfs8OtrTKtungrn5tmnO_UIKy8bwEMlM/s4032/PXL_20210707_203041613.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaS2GkH1DP-kAj761puUbs2SwPOjGPRhr4mFU1fJQzqXH1j-wZ5UOmAQV0nPqiDXx6SRovISNaoggVFrWYaetr89DgDonkSUz4ZklLMfSTd8wfs8OtrTKtungrn5tmnO_UIKy8bwEMlM/w649-h365/PXL_20210707_203041613.MP.jpg" width="649" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Although we could not invade their territory, they</div><div style="text-align: center;">had no issues invading ours!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After a walk along the beach, it was time to head east to the "other" coast. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmAYFgSxyGTXiB6FtIyNN7xCiR_V9Q8tZgQcGI_vAOBGu6AmX6KXOUha2EI2CnvQDUYeJA6DtvlfXrV2FGypiUQKtAhWAVM1hLtM2wnTBnp4ySh-SmrgIQnS0bwfk3oOH2UBpeCh-dcU/s4032/PXL_20210707_204924054.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmAYFgSxyGTXiB6FtIyNN7xCiR_V9Q8tZgQcGI_vAOBGu6AmX6KXOUha2EI2CnvQDUYeJA6DtvlfXrV2FGypiUQKtAhWAVM1hLtM2wnTBnp4ySh-SmrgIQnS0bwfk3oOH2UBpeCh-dcU/w352-h626/PXL_20210707_204924054.MP.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Notice, its dirt here? Also much less mosquitos! </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpy4DfXZJ5yyp3NLH3tUmo0l1xtFMcBKlsyZP2k5UF5uTU5Q-NwESEtuVtZR_VHDBNI-a6wzYGi-kLhInrXF_QouFPa051ZzNH-gxP3EXter4kc9fSUKqDR1H1XrrGnplcmqsnQNdqxI/s4032/PXL_20210707_210122706.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpy4DfXZJ5yyp3NLH3tUmo0l1xtFMcBKlsyZP2k5UF5uTU5Q-NwESEtuVtZR_VHDBNI-a6wzYGi-kLhInrXF_QouFPa051ZzNH-gxP3EXter4kc9fSUKqDR1H1XrrGnplcmqsnQNdqxI/w517-h291/PXL_20210707_210122706.MP.jpg" width="517" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6b9_WfaUpk1qmMS5yXh7pRdyDzviqoYU3bvh5u-f78fmCLZ7GPz-R40vbE3Yu4ObrvRuOHmuiP7npBjhDdiqXr_xIe0qYvqFlMomCzhKQu6iLbPV4WPCAXnS4OXEa7ImPTzsNAwqmYHA/s4032/PXL_20210707_210834973.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6b9_WfaUpk1qmMS5yXh7pRdyDzviqoYU3bvh5u-f78fmCLZ7GPz-R40vbE3Yu4ObrvRuOHmuiP7npBjhDdiqXr_xIe0qYvqFlMomCzhKQu6iLbPV4WPCAXnS4OXEa7ImPTzsNAwqmYHA/w596-h335/PXL_20210707_210834973.MP.jpg" width="596" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQuWLylvpvmJUVTQsquEycJ3aG6bNf7_KtV1EiuWKdJ1I30kNmel0Fvsb_kUN-P4D_DBCkKb-S9ExI_hjakaJiTqHFlycEV5VANmIDmUamqJtBNPOrJYPsCZxCzr1gp7t3V7Ol1ETLe2I/s4032/PXL_20210707_210916760.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQuWLylvpvmJUVTQsquEycJ3aG6bNf7_KtV1EiuWKdJ1I30kNmel0Fvsb_kUN-P4D_DBCkKb-S9ExI_hjakaJiTqHFlycEV5VANmIDmUamqJtBNPOrJYPsCZxCzr1gp7t3V7Ol1ETLe2I/w532-h299/PXL_20210707_210916760.MP.jpg" width="532" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU7wEsDcJMRlc8Lr5UuGxQc8QHcl79VsjEPo0gdcZd47CcJU4j_zqttz3Qo4wFyoq0mUHr01bceZLL-f1F7szk0lwAQDpmLjqm3pFT5WXkGzxbShsEbj4d8gWiyP982JLc84IiBzOnvM/s4032/PXL_20210707_210938518.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggU7wEsDcJMRlc8Lr5UuGxQc8QHcl79VsjEPo0gdcZd47CcJU4j_zqttz3Qo4wFyoq0mUHr01bceZLL-f1F7szk0lwAQDpmLjqm3pFT5WXkGzxbShsEbj4d8gWiyP982JLc84IiBzOnvM/w590-h332/PXL_20210707_210938518.MP.jpg" width="590" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IoeVYVp6VI2lUfaXbLsnI-IY-s4G2QMjtd0AK1IjOHzCBKiXiUrrQvlY4yozyljuVxJJ00wrAYSc1OQrBSg77InkyTzHJJ932lzmhZBB_9I1axK-dL63zTWXzDTx_wNpfnlltlNqK3E/s4032/PXL_20210707_210950294.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IoeVYVp6VI2lUfaXbLsnI-IY-s4G2QMjtd0AK1IjOHzCBKiXiUrrQvlY4yozyljuVxJJ00wrAYSc1OQrBSg77InkyTzHJJ932lzmhZBB_9I1axK-dL63zTWXzDTx_wNpfnlltlNqK3E/w536-h302/PXL_20210707_210950294.MP.jpg" width="536" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The "East Coast" viewing Willapa Bay. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, a decent hike despite the casualties reaped by the mosquitos. Coast to Coast in a day! Always something worth bragging about! </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3cDSSegGCuGeKDBLZDG7Zj_prXAT43VsxmxcZb4jtGsBnQ8tw2RVClssm9GbpJseVGSpuI7CZY7uth_sQTygbmtbRCyIoBC5bFw4Sqind5AJUvi8NMXRhFahJnsCiAMSdsbTto4gHW8/s2432/Screenshot_20210707-142305.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="728" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3cDSSegGCuGeKDBLZDG7Zj_prXAT43VsxmxcZb4jtGsBnQ8tw2RVClssm9GbpJseVGSpuI7CZY7uth_sQTygbmtbRCyIoBC5bFw4Sqind5AJUvi8NMXRhFahJnsCiAMSdsbTto4gHW8/w346-h728/Screenshot_20210707-142305.png" width="346" /></a></div><div><br /></div>After that, it was back up the "trail" (we only passed two cars!) and back to civilization. Because of the earlier stop in Aberdeen, we didn't need a whole lot to get home taking in 9.82 kwh. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>EV Stats </b> One day 294.9 miles 2 DC's $5.59<br /><b> </b><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Big Creek Trail Lake Cushman Olympic National Forest. </b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>Now this was unplanned and kinda tossed together. Since it was only 156 miles roundtrip, no public charging was needed. This hike has actually been on the bucket list for a while but was waiting for my Son to be a bit older first. I think he still hasn't forgiven me for the Sequim Spit Hike (which is the longest spit IN THE WORLD totaling just under 12 miles RT) when he was 11. Since he was 14 now (and taller than me) I figured it was time and having the day off with pay didn't hurt either! So Tuesday, off we went. As mentioned, this was a bit more of a challenge but ended up being milder than expected. The Big Creek Trail itself is a 4.5 mile loop with modest elevation but that would be boring so we elected to hit the viewpoint which was a mile out and back and an extra 750 feet. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wJr1T2oEf1dVhl0jo4LSRsvtHwC1Tz5RhCOFjMAmCeYnbobAAVrItc5ulIJikxmZPLTTUHGNpX9O8RAk4zExibL2DdhiSlqNkTa08SIqfT9tnTokSJueuho1ThFinTIwjVjVxuOdCfg/s2432/Screenshot_20210814-115319.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="629" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wJr1T2oEf1dVhl0jo4LSRsvtHwC1Tz5RhCOFjMAmCeYnbobAAVrItc5ulIJikxmZPLTTUHGNpX9O8RAk4zExibL2DdhiSlqNkTa08SIqfT9tnTokSJueuho1ThFinTIwjVjVxuOdCfg/w299-h629/Screenshot_20210814-115319.png" width="299" /></a></div><br /><div>With detours, we ended up going just under 8 miles. Because it was on a Tuesday and before the heatwave, it was much nicer with temps only in the 70's for most of the hike. There was also a lot of shade and the humidity was a lot lower. Big Creek serpentines down the side of the Olympic Range so there was MANY bridges. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87xGZZ6lm9uPrLwxGuWfMfXZgFAxCUejtWPyjYDH2vGA_kj0GXnH6FNVFQcc_1aFnt9WKPTvUKLlR2z618Pw-LG-CEHYKbxBqlAOZJezbGaf1GyPgkDXoNsK_EDP-SwUqBs0AzF0mU_k/s4032/PXL_20210810_184301136.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87xGZZ6lm9uPrLwxGuWfMfXZgFAxCUejtWPyjYDH2vGA_kj0GXnH6FNVFQcc_1aFnt9WKPTvUKLlR2z618Pw-LG-CEHYKbxBqlAOZJezbGaf1GyPgkDXoNsK_EDP-SwUqBs0AzF0mU_k/w620-h349/PXL_20210810_184301136.MP.jpg" width="620" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQELbwf0CiXX-6MBarKk9h98j6ZQWn82aqzW43P-z3jYa8rc9ARCN9Ii2LuFjPchJ5scIY7qrVjE6ZlLQEkYageF1qQbS1HAdehbw6c16RdGE2Fjfs813taWe36BBXlxL1mAIOqbzWmTE/s4032/PXL_20210810_190809237.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQELbwf0CiXX-6MBarKk9h98j6ZQWn82aqzW43P-z3jYa8rc9ARCN9Ii2LuFjPchJ5scIY7qrVjE6ZlLQEkYageF1qQbS1HAdehbw6c16RdGE2Fjfs813taWe36BBXlxL1mAIOqbzWmTE/w613-h345/PXL_20210810_190809237.MP.jpg" width="613" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzS-Dct91Ug-e4KQCMda2sYIs4f6XW5i8lCBsZGEbu8XtBRUpFgCQOhJ4bOtHq0REmzXtPw61M4mLusOZWIABDlBZ-H04FakOi5UdNvia8MCEG3QquXKIuvku2gi9wbBJJwQbqbPZjxA/s4032/PXL_20210810_191829424.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzS-Dct91Ug-e4KQCMda2sYIs4f6XW5i8lCBsZGEbu8XtBRUpFgCQOhJ4bOtHq0REmzXtPw61M4mLusOZWIABDlBZ-H04FakOi5UdNvia8MCEG3QquXKIuvku2gi9wbBJJwQbqbPZjxA/w620-h349/PXL_20210810_191829424.MP.jpg" width="620" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_anOo0N2Y_A0qZPhFIElA09W7DrFhDjadtYP1OgfYHiRu0oxWOey6V8PoX72YtNBVJsx2ot0mZFgL_OVrkvfjeshQiOzc6Fec_918Fl2yKWfyNBTTsXZ0SqHVu6-bpBkBxkKgNc7dc8I/s4032/PXL_20210810_212126610.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_anOo0N2Y_A0qZPhFIElA09W7DrFhDjadtYP1OgfYHiRu0oxWOey6V8PoX72YtNBVJsx2ot0mZFgL_OVrkvfjeshQiOzc6Fec_918Fl2yKWfyNBTTsXZ0SqHVu6-bpBkBxkKgNc7dc8I/w639-h360/PXL_20210810_212126610.MP.jpg" width="639" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Question; Why can something so blue, be so green? <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuCPxpNWvdwqr6l6QPWDHTicSv3ScAAmpI-NmEhBQVnE2AwnJupMMcH6tvMpPxrklgXC-mU7IdWAMonxq9JuSu0x3KlY9z7Ry4P-kieaOZSgcKpEbi1GQcLmnAt519PbRlamfzRNfALE/s4032/PXL_20210810_202459896.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXuCPxpNWvdwqr6l6QPWDHTicSv3ScAAmpI-NmEhBQVnE2AwnJupMMcH6tvMpPxrklgXC-mU7IdWAMonxq9JuSu0x3KlY9z7Ry4P-kieaOZSgcKpEbi1GQcLmnAt519PbRlamfzRNfALE/w592-h333/PXL_20210810_202459896.MP.jpg" width="592" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9J2q25fM2eaFygg2-nSVL_19nJb9VWTV9cL9th3-zPpW1QM-mIluZ66HnDpm4YHgx2-CpAMOwCVBBQW1hsCqISjZJW77vZdsgkehWDLgC7KJdlcbXqemZMAemaBoXBHGKS6ZE89gSH-Q/s4032/PXL_20210810_202614305.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9J2q25fM2eaFygg2-nSVL_19nJb9VWTV9cL9th3-zPpW1QM-mIluZ66HnDpm4YHgx2-CpAMOwCVBBQW1hsCqISjZJW77vZdsgkehWDLgC7KJdlcbXqemZMAemaBoXBHGKS6ZE89gSH-Q/w589-h331/PXL_20210810_202614305.MP.jpg" width="589" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDcPG20i4gYfgo2C6RK8b4KtwloJoPvAk3CKETToekSiCgBA_nJcH6YghZaDum-bJ3PFIdU0sWqFjcfEP2dNOJYmQBqecFFuXJX0QdIYoTc6uZ1hbGqq1s-YS0jY8FNEmRdhy58cHoQY/s4032/PXL_20210810_202641784.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUDcPG20i4gYfgo2C6RK8b4KtwloJoPvAk3CKETToekSiCgBA_nJcH6YghZaDum-bJ3PFIdU0sWqFjcfEP2dNOJYmQBqecFFuXJX0QdIYoTc6uZ1hbGqq1s-YS0jY8FNEmRdhy58cHoQY/w595-h334/PXL_20210810_202641784.MP.jpg" width="595" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkeeHQXwNr6OnFFuHRCaFQ9SZdr7j_TqsYm-sQA9UkpvkMzcGVlN0xGqnCgviYgZvMCEQEgcLVZO-nKHw0zTRqx08-SbUmkav-57GsQkE4nC-qsXDjEsHuiR3eOHgqkG5w4_f-Zg_LIck/s4032/PXL_20210810_223923114.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkeeHQXwNr6OnFFuHRCaFQ9SZdr7j_TqsYm-sQA9UkpvkMzcGVlN0xGqnCgviYgZvMCEQEgcLVZO-nKHw0zTRqx08-SbUmkav-57GsQkE4nC-qsXDjEsHuiR3eOHgqkG5w4_f-Zg_LIck/w614-h345/PXL_20210810_223923114.MP.jpg" width="614" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRd1xxjnVfWfFPl9d8ORmDI0ghogQ521hj53kndE2wF_LXos_zrGiPZ17ZQbAOUQWTehc3PuCRLWE2Bml_RT1zACbC5umeR6Bs_5o-b4G3XQANgEyDueUroh9wDszJ4QSqWEsTN_PG-s/s4032/PXL_20210810_223948168.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaRd1xxjnVfWfFPl9d8ORmDI0ghogQ521hj53kndE2wF_LXos_zrGiPZ17ZQbAOUQWTehc3PuCRLWE2Bml_RT1zACbC5umeR6Bs_5o-b4G3XQANgEyDueUroh9wDszJ4QSqWEsTN_PG-s/w608-h342/PXL_20210810_223948168.MP.jpg" width="608" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XLdV_kVEyFexXbBW4oTTlnUnug9c6BEbxaIIpKZKWAFCjb7ZBuWyQ45RewQW607BkO-ymHkH5BZjvqPV1miVQtjZAxJB49yTtkIWPGXbZg5qTqCXzG8ayhvgQlnp9KuYD3B6LxMpIS8/s4032/PXL_20210810_224002467.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XLdV_kVEyFexXbBW4oTTlnUnug9c6BEbxaIIpKZKWAFCjb7ZBuWyQ45RewQW607BkO-ymHkH5BZjvqPV1miVQtjZAxJB49yTtkIWPGXbZg5qTqCXzG8ayhvgQlnp9KuYD3B6LxMpIS8/w614-h346/PXL_20210810_224002467.MP.jpg" width="614" /></a></div><br /><div>Answer; Lake Cushman is a man made lake with Lake Cushman Dam providing green hydroelectric power to Mason County. The powerhouse is in Hoodsport which is a town perched rather precariously on the banks of Hood Canal. Part of the reason the dam was there is erosion control along with generating power. Parts of Hoodsport is literally only 50 feet wide with steep rocky cliffs on one side and Hood Canal on the other so losing "any" land wasn't really an option for the area. Plus, you have to admit it did make for a pretty awesome recreation area. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>EV stats</b>; One day; 156.3 miles starting with a full charge. ~ 102 miles remaining</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ten Falls Trails; Silver Falls State Park, Sublimity Oregon</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>If there was ever a MUST DO, this is it. Reputed to be one of the best waterfall view hikes in the entire United States, I just had to see for myself and it did not disappoint. Again, a loop but over 7 miles in length (varies from 6.8 to 7.8 miles because some falls had short detours for better view and WE TOOK EM ALL!) </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The trail varied from very wide to a few creeps around ledges but there was never much of a sense of danger. Railings were in "most" places and footing was excellent. Despite the obvious abundance of water near by, the trail was solid and dry. This trail is open all year round which is a good indication of how well the trail is maintained. We met several volunteers who walk the trail constantly making sure no one get in trouble or is doing things they shouldn't be. Very well marked! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_2y1tFtBhl-8gLgAJ-PSROSrPL2zxZEbfW75S8CM2QwTZZfKvLD2hahl3Q_crdZPzEZAFbssF2staOeyiC41soXlAMGBQvAM7NKTdHkBG27J_3u_LqAVaZeXFN4n3XQGYis1NJkZ02Y/s2432/Screenshot_20210814-121210.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_2y1tFtBhl-8gLgAJ-PSROSrPL2zxZEbfW75S8CM2QwTZZfKvLD2hahl3Q_crdZPzEZAFbssF2staOeyiC41soXlAMGBQvAM7NKTdHkBG27J_3u_LqAVaZeXFN4n3XQGYis1NJkZ02Y/w352-h741/Screenshot_20210814-121210.png" width="352" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Because of the length of the drive (nearly 200 miles one way) and the extra time I wanted to take on the hike, we drove from Olympia and spent the night in Sublimity which was about 10 miles away. We did drive past Sublimity to Mill City, another 20 miles or so to charge and like WOW! </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Mill City Oregon</b></span> </div><div><br /></div><div>Out in the middle of haystack, Christmas trees, logging and NOTHING else was a gleaming EV Oasis! 4 62.5 KW DCs and a level 2 to boot and CHEAP! At 18 cents/min (before 4 PM) it was a very good deal. We picked up 26.748 kwh for $6.22 or 23 cents/kwh. Not too shabby. The best part was driving 205 miles and still having nearly 60 miles of range left. That was a bit surprising! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-SY880fpYhofAe6V312onrufMFQTJgTTioipVNa0wP97yBHi6H2I9do8vOvHTnXfnlrtTV8PYbrRhD_kZF_bNQX83JaogERG6EpV6im2deNWG2knrUsFckcbp99msjPbAKCwffsTB8ww/s2432/Screenshot_20210729-131705.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-SY880fpYhofAe6V312onrufMFQTJgTTioipVNa0wP97yBHi6H2I9do8vOvHTnXfnlrtTV8PYbrRhD_kZF_bNQX83JaogERG6EpV6im2deNWG2knrUsFckcbp99msjPbAKCwffsTB8ww/w327-h688/Screenshot_20210729-131705.png" width="327" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">140 amps is decent speed. Max'd out at 54 KW</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVRYkzfTXYGAxGta21mVOldse9Jt1CQi693GvcF_qXnH-bQF1gi40zwaOhDyY2xrXIylNGug46a-Fyby3BLpoS3PyYEA61SUBMswYiEFD5r-VIEe4O8QBK9jZM9B2NeNUIHjkZc1e8-E/s4032/PXL_20210729_202809765.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwVRYkzfTXYGAxGta21mVOldse9Jt1CQi693GvcF_qXnH-bQF1gi40zwaOhDyY2xrXIylNGug46a-Fyby3BLpoS3PyYEA61SUBMswYiEFD5r-VIEe4O8QBK9jZM9B2NeNUIHjkZc1e8-E/w618-h347/PXL_20210729_202809765.MP.jpg" width="618" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The Hike! </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Only posting a few pix because of the crazy volume. If you Facebook, here you can view a LOT more. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaveinOlyWA/posts/10226714980048543?__cft__[0]=AZXwtyhRjw69ogFUVvCvjkLQ_XYj-Qot_6DE3wXSxAqHRSUdnL6X6K1QQGHe6uwOZSHQFMGo6I57iPruqEt05xYoQsBJyCx8dAHyhFOROpRC15kf3jqbYgrtjNtcar0cbOKKa6FWUu7LpbTW6ShBjIq6&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">Intro</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaveinOlyWA/posts/10226717764198145?__cft__[0]=AZU9LJ0gHktfvJpXo6A6E0nx-2U7Bbk5Hnf0kOoGft68dh5PsP-BSK0vRppnq--A2I4cFXYyeXT2Owf4PsLepFR6rDmN3_WnJJqaeYTiCQ_dpB4be3UHKban0szM-OZ_fzaQU_2koDrZ63VaRYUGUDCO&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">Part 1</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaveinOlyWA/posts/10226717816399450?__cft__[0]=AZVzBJkAcO8iio6Enxd0ABHjnoAok0WUxgb1RKWpis9UEOyag2YJ_9gb4mEwkcdtX1E9TM5TJQmKaVIHduNvdKAiUKPFrx5o2IPMZ60r_QGZw6_03NmKJ3iSsDoqP6VK_36nf32U2BKbWd6nQqkRoMJn&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">part 2</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaveinOlyWA/posts/10226717888001240?__cft__[0]=AZUoHG4nQzvCimL4DP50W94eaHklTFNlHnrqwh3cNWO45iQVrh49FZ3gvxWcLfCwiXQt56iutVpzOTJT0BQYQ29aGtI8JUFVE8SdMbJyU-tXxI4HIUn1jFOOuYwOUNULcI_BxmyPrIbK0mbCc5DZp9xq&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R">Part 3</a><br /></div><div><div><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>The South Falls</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the best parts of the hike was the trail running behind the falls. Here is an example. FYI; pictures here do not do justice to the amazing views on this hike in any way! The number of professional (or VERY well equipped amateur) photographers out is indicative of how beautiful this park truly is. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eTgncqPFW-piVzc-LRjFBp8o8wm_nnQinh5XEx0g_CPOZESlkeOoZ9tcuEbPAD0vADXAu5uCUaiCtssK3o2R2wE0nMitcZ3or2ujOtNcZanOGX3jgOO68UPEiH5M-akCMDCq2Lyvw1o/s4032/PXL_20210730_192301780.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eTgncqPFW-piVzc-LRjFBp8o8wm_nnQinh5XEx0g_CPOZESlkeOoZ9tcuEbPAD0vADXAu5uCUaiCtssK3o2R2wE0nMitcZ3or2ujOtNcZanOGX3jgOO68UPEiH5M-akCMDCq2Lyvw1o/w542-h305/PXL_20210730_192301780.MP.jpg" width="542" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdeBSmQmDWKj1bjHhJYLYP5ThrtT8tYHkDf7CyKB5FvriFNgiLeEF2B1V3d4R6fPJ0S3bsUsdi-jy_U0agO43pKmKteZZdHwdzhv2_oynWNa2eLLx3YihG6X5qrVDGG2IinZZEedrJWY/s4032/PXL_20210730_192237820.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdeBSmQmDWKj1bjHhJYLYP5ThrtT8tYHkDf7CyKB5FvriFNgiLeEF2B1V3d4R6fPJ0S3bsUsdi-jy_U0agO43pKmKteZZdHwdzhv2_oynWNa2eLLx3YihG6X5qrVDGG2IinZZEedrJWY/w567-h319/PXL_20210730_192237820.MP.jpg" width="567" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZPV4okBRQjG4JwoWckxs8ygAYOI1a9b2YWE9ZRXZGMdSVJ8XHmHyOoTtKcOi6_tkPW6SAeS3ifBjIuzMltvn2pZhj9T82OxqUfC47vLuvXaZkyTH83m4vA0Lcb7MNGwHIiVRplLrshI/s4032/PXL_20210730_185742365.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ZPV4okBRQjG4JwoWckxs8ygAYOI1a9b2YWE9ZRXZGMdSVJ8XHmHyOoTtKcOi6_tkPW6SAeS3ifBjIuzMltvn2pZhj9T82OxqUfC47vLuvXaZkyTH83m4vA0Lcb7MNGwHIiVRplLrshI/w576-h324/PXL_20210730_185742365.MP.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYEJG6BUwhzBBVR28XmziU10PUjIDF0tnwOoXKtoTITsuwOMx4AZ2INBFM4Q1AFsJgxFiU957pSZlhHndDVZfwdXaWdq0aIjixRCsDIdiTOCFPApNQWlQfcTWaAVeSIXPHYsYrIfoUa8/s4032/PXL_20210730_185657931.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYEJG6BUwhzBBVR28XmziU10PUjIDF0tnwOoXKtoTITsuwOMx4AZ2INBFM4Q1AFsJgxFiU957pSZlhHndDVZfwdXaWdq0aIjixRCsDIdiTOCFPApNQWlQfcTWaAVeSIXPHYsYrIfoUa8/w387-h688/PXL_20210730_185657931.MP.jpg" width="387" /></a></div><br /><div>good example of the many railings and other protections built in but as mentioned, not always the case. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LwYU52qIV-9HF1-oBaS5FLzVneXzETmndD2UfOniBGMur5wgp3PwhUfButXBJUi4pElZOVIEzLD3kW_2y0cQH-9B0rQB2xK9q1a4zQXzALW2fV1ZUqK-f8p2SZFswXkyPQKkVzvvEOo/s4032/PXL_20210730_184349321.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LwYU52qIV-9HF1-oBaS5FLzVneXzETmndD2UfOniBGMur5wgp3PwhUfButXBJUi4pElZOVIEzLD3kW_2y0cQH-9B0rQB2xK9q1a4zQXzALW2fV1ZUqK-f8p2SZFswXkyPQKkVzvvEOo/w553-h311/PXL_20210730_184349321.jpg" width="553" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Tt5OBBM448g673k2Qukmcjz-ux5E3kEXV4gbBBBskE1O16hM7Xv0XbH90v-6fAa7rXLBcArF-82omX6725RmE8kehuJ63aCv6umb-4Jn7mKoYe_OJth3sDy3Lu6Rc_Mi9JVgfBZ_YoY/s4032/PXL_20210730_170503242.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Tt5OBBM448g673k2Qukmcjz-ux5E3kEXV4gbBBBskE1O16hM7Xv0XbH90v-6fAa7rXLBcArF-82omX6725RmE8kehuJ63aCv6umb-4Jn7mKoYe_OJth3sDy3Lu6Rc_Mi9JVgfBZ_YoY/w570-h320/PXL_20210730_170503242.MP.jpg" width="570" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Some of the ponds below the falls were at least 20 feet deep but so clear you could still see the bottom</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyC7I8A1BbC02oOOz4tZ_48liBQo5QZTAA9R-vg2VT0n2QHhx3a0dZsjvjAP5QVnx10cm9DZT6pttNtiUBWEvJST7Sk5BQoGRX8WBNGnSCArYnI67zBwMbF6-6lAEnD68qPbqsplKRv0/s4032/PXL_20210730_174117537.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyC7I8A1BbC02oOOz4tZ_48liBQo5QZTAA9R-vg2VT0n2QHhx3a0dZsjvjAP5QVnx10cm9DZT6pttNtiUBWEvJST7Sk5BQoGRX8WBNGnSCArYnI67zBwMbF6-6lAEnD68qPbqsplKRv0/w543-h305/PXL_20210730_174117537.MP.jpg" width="543" /></a></div><br /><div>The North Falls like the South Falls had a trail that ran behind but the North Falls fell over a HUGE block of Granite that had a natural undercut creating an amphitheater like enclosure. Despite taking several pictures, it was impossible to capture the grandeur of the scene. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEgVlL9VAA5vhXAxgGxN4dYSNaIQqr5BeZd9xAzi3slmKJdL9jqY93qH7U1xfVNvRQ2c8rZeZOnNBwKTjwwbbi-WnmCXqGTA36BJNcadko-P4p-SQhjXaobJ6UmEqif_6IxEcl2jXnb8/s4032/PXL_20210730_170916096.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEgVlL9VAA5vhXAxgGxN4dYSNaIQqr5BeZd9xAzi3slmKJdL9jqY93qH7U1xfVNvRQ2c8rZeZOnNBwKTjwwbbi-WnmCXqGTA36BJNcadko-P4p-SQhjXaobJ6UmEqif_6IxEcl2jXnb8/w563-h317/PXL_20210730_170916096.MP.jpg" width="563" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxDi0Rg_HQNuv1ZUXNyBiNasbBRJR6WvPfTEFm8hzMxve9PyxlqvAxCIoMoJHTJtDeHMhFynLfjUNisrVZBXVBdEq5kaZneSaGhIy2rqUm3tjo3ZlZNnjloex15KCUsoNsOfQjLe0_t4/s4032/PXL_20210730_170931280.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxDi0Rg_HQNuv1ZUXNyBiNasbBRJR6WvPfTEFm8hzMxve9PyxlqvAxCIoMoJHTJtDeHMhFynLfjUNisrVZBXVBdEq5kaZneSaGhIy2rqUm3tjo3ZlZNnjloex15KCUsoNsOfQjLe0_t4/w612-h344/PXL_20210730_170931280.MP.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhO8dSmPzBQv4P4P5qWJpKNMO4SiFeR5ePaZG7yLmXQgRQganMZBFh6FvCPYpl0rGjiMx6uMdxkTH9WlFYmAg4R6TbUk-6UWgEhgVkqfks2kuDGyaU3mwQc7uew-12RiEA4L1cgvDa_M/s4032/PXL_20210730_170957706.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhO8dSmPzBQv4P4P5qWJpKNMO4SiFeR5ePaZG7yLmXQgRQganMZBFh6FvCPYpl0rGjiMx6uMdxkTH9WlFYmAg4R6TbUk-6UWgEhgVkqfks2kuDGyaU3mwQc7uew-12RiEA4L1cgvDa_M/w353-h628/PXL_20210730_170957706.MP.jpg" width="353" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JIjXz7x9jC7GM9GhkIvjj1RDR0jDYYuKXcgopZ8lMBQfNsGkeAduOfGVzfu1Rs7BwSgiQxT7EmsuyQHMNud1oL6JgO1vJ7O7NsiuEPbx1_bh191ijsAk4VpKA1nwr-DYlsHXIg57MCM/s4032/PXL_20210730_171017503.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JIjXz7x9jC7GM9GhkIvjj1RDR0jDYYuKXcgopZ8lMBQfNsGkeAduOfGVzfu1Rs7BwSgiQxT7EmsuyQHMNud1oL6JgO1vJ7O7NsiuEPbx1_bh191ijsAk4VpKA1nwr-DYlsHXIg57MCM/w379-h674/PXL_20210730_171017503.MP.jpg" width="379" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIDrA4VJQdIZi9NPSWlFc-IlA3OrrRBFLfnzUFW2bJZ9T0HkoowZTN5nET37npWnRpVfTiqkGyHbbsacXtIgCnf6KtJ4ggTwzBVYIkOBnIR5hrTtVCOFnS_G1M9qHYxRZ2VsO76Huj9M/s4032/PXL_20210730_171309475.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIDrA4VJQdIZi9NPSWlFc-IlA3OrrRBFLfnzUFW2bJZ9T0HkoowZTN5nET37npWnRpVfTiqkGyHbbsacXtIgCnf6KtJ4ggTwzBVYIkOBnIR5hrTtVCOFnS_G1M9qHYxRZ2VsO76Huj9M/w631-h355/PXL_20210730_171309475.MP.jpg" width="631" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwsdfL83kDhzrv9rYUHxKgXWEOFszwsSg6sOuWaCnUY29C5J1w0Xf-p49wo9EWGo13jXlprnxEADayBh6-PRrIKCPq1iv_uP4djKJAYy0D5P5o2CWlYDI5lzj_3kEBbS20TMnRIV5_mc/s1740/PXL_20210730_171238900.PANO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1624" data-original-width="1740" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwsdfL83kDhzrv9rYUHxKgXWEOFszwsSg6sOuWaCnUY29C5J1w0Xf-p49wo9EWGo13jXlprnxEADayBh6-PRrIKCPq1iv_uP4djKJAYy0D5P5o2CWlYDI5lzj_3kEBbS20TMnRIV5_mc/w543-h508/PXL_20210730_171238900.PANO.jpg" width="543" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now the temperature was predicted to be over 100º but cloud cover saved us so it never got above the mid 80's. In anticipation of the heat, we were on the trail by 8:30 AM so finished before 2 PM. After a stop in Salem for lunch, we charged up at Portland International Airport on the EVgo and headed home. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><b>EV Stats; </b>2 days, 473.7 miles 2 DC sessions, $13.54 </div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, this is but a small part of what I did this summer but you get idea! </div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-16976338703438523862021-05-08T10:35:00.000-07:002021-05-08T10:35:01.361-07:00April 2021 Drive Report; I Was Looking For A Plug Tripped Over Something<p> April saw two weeks of Summer which means I achieved "summer like" numbers almost doubling the miles driven over 4 of the past 5 months @ 1364.3 miles @ 4.78 miles per kwh. With only 44 kwh at tier 2 rates, this is likely the last month seeing tier two till probably October. Nice! The roadtripping I did did accrue some public charging fees but random opportunity charges plus some full charges at home reduced the DC fees to an unexpected $2.28 which was more than "ok"</p><p>As expected, April was adjustment month and knowing that coming in, I had planned to do more full charges (first one in several months) and did 3 of them! My adjustment was a good one and time wise aligned with my 2018's positive adjustment. I gained over 2% in ahr putting my LEAF back to stats I had last seen in September 2020. Acceptable! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">More Freebies!</span></b></p><p>I tripped over a plug! And a free one at that! Volta has installed a plug at the Safeway in Tumwater. Interesting in that they did both styles; one mounted to their display cabinet while the other was simply a post with the EVSE mounted to it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWY595n9262yWwGbQcAkM8DwiVpIUuqVJrN6uIxkDHh0zLXbBFrZhSF79wGoVwn-Yr4p05IFTz0DCfIN1kSJaSERTS2Fk4r3ApExEICu4NZSa7KjX3Q4xQO1hcnbnAMYxVjN4-katpb0/s4032/PXL_20210422_192718476.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWY595n9262yWwGbQcAkM8DwiVpIUuqVJrN6uIxkDHh0zLXbBFrZhSF79wGoVwn-Yr4p05IFTz0DCfIN1kSJaSERTS2Fk4r3ApExEICu4NZSa7KjX3Q4xQO1hcnbnAMYxVjN4-katpb0/w617-h347/PXL_20210422_192718476.MP.jpg" width="617" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Electrify America also provided just over a day of free charging as well to Honor Earth Day 2021. I was able to hit the Walmart in Lacey (2nd closest location from me) 3.3 miles away on Wednesday night the 21st and West Olympia (3rd farthest from my house @ 6.8 miles) Thursday night gaining a total of 36 kwh. I would have gotten more but didn't really have any road trips planned so I did nothing but charged to 80% just before the promo ended. So does that make me feel better about EA? <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nope, not even a little bit. I am more than happy to take what they are handing out but it does not change my feeling about how they have managed to turn a punishment into what will be a major market advantage...eventually. For Earth Day and extending thru Saturday night, I happened past both EA sites several times and never saw a single CCS car charging which is unusual or simply bad timing as the usage rate is definitely much higher on weekends but one of my EA Earth Day charges, I had a LEAF pull in 20 mins into my charging (I had already planned on 30 mins and go) but at 29 mins, ANOTHER LEAF pulled in so it 3 of us at one station while the other 5 CCS only stations sat idle. I won't say this is typical but I have seen a queue on the Chademo while the other stations were empty and handful of times and I don't frequent either area all that much. I know EA is losing money (our money BTW...) so being able to utilize more stations for the Chademo crowd seems like a no brainer... but then again...that is EA; No brains! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Is Public Charging Really A Nightmare Or Simply Life? </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From the stupidity of EA to EVgo. Granted EVgo doesn't (or didn't) have billions they were forced to spend so unlike EA, increasing thru put is actually a thing. Not only do they make every station available to CCS or Chademo, they have started adding Tesla plugs as well. (hope you guys didn't pay too much for that adapter) and it makes sense. Despite the feeling that all stations are always busy, the reality is quite the opposite. Most stations still sit unused most of the time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now there is the obvious exceptions and the sunny 3 day holiday weekends, etc. but lets face facts. What "survives" during these 3 days weekends? Hotels? Campgrounds? restaurants? (I won't mention freeways) NONE of them survive. Its simply a fact of life we have come to accept; traffic will force us to spend extra hours on the freeway. Holidays will mean the normal 10 minute wait for a table is now 45 minutes. Book your hotel in January because doing it now means paying much more money for a much less desirable room. So yeah, we all have public charging nightmares to share but is it really all that different from our daily lives? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">EVgo Expansion</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">EVgo is my main option because its cheap, I signed up for all their promotional crap, etc and it has paid off. They partnered with everyone it seems and got a chunk of cash so they are instituting HUGE plans expanding their network. More cities, more redundancy and MORE SPEED!! Recently I was north of Seattle for the ID 4 test drive so on the way home, I decided it was time to try out the faster stations and the best part was the price didn't go up so still paying the COVID rate of 20 cents per minute! This means I am getting power cheaper than any EA option at 120 amps so 200 amps would be even more savings! So Broadway Whole Foods I headed to and the station was a bit slower to initiate than normal and thinking part of that might have been the underground parking affecting cell service somewhat but it was a minor delay and it did not disappoint! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpkwto87xUqr78j0sf9LQSPdPh3AV4p7IOgdyl3V5zBfvVKs0x1kPqrKLYKY1NWAv9Q2181Op68RvG29GjOvUBjiavZhksY2y3I3mt9xTq_uTxc_BaMoiYxAS4RuWBjriMwv3iHIM-oY/s2432/Screenshot_20210415-132802.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkpkwto87xUqr78j0sf9LQSPdPh3AV4p7IOgdyl3V5zBfvVKs0x1kPqrKLYKY1NWAv9Q2181Op68RvG29GjOvUBjiavZhksY2y3I3mt9xTq_uTxc_BaMoiYxAS4RuWBjriMwv3iHIM-oY/w356-h750/Screenshot_20210415-132802.png" width="356" /></a></div><br /></div>Despite the great rate of 20 cents/minute, I didn't need much and when billed by time, its all about unplugging when the speed drops too much. This was perfect for me as I plugged in, dashing inside for a pee deposit and returned to the car gaining 2 plus hours of "L2 charging" so I unplugged now having enough range to go home AND come back for more charge and BOOM! <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb91-3cpn2_9QfM_qPapj-i2IRQBKYjSqpy9vBBjdHZIr3deXvRpCoz6XyBSyw9vITMP5047DTz9sC_gtfuyH9nfXyPAiaEVsY-WwuTCS9rKCJiMfoEUFuwcumVg0LXhxk977iM6G2apU/s2432/Screenshot_20210415-133951.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="815" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb91-3cpn2_9QfM_qPapj-i2IRQBKYjSqpy9vBBjdHZIr3deXvRpCoz6XyBSyw9vITMP5047DTz9sC_gtfuyH9nfXyPAiaEVsY-WwuTCS9rKCJiMfoEUFuwcumVg0LXhxk977iM6G2apU/w387-h815/Screenshot_20210415-133951.png" width="387" /></a></div><br /><div>HOLY CRAP! That is 5X less than my home rates! 2.1 cents/kwh? I'll TAKE IT! Now, don't know why it happened? Maybe a glitch in billing or simply not completing every thing after the station upgrade? Either way, I am thinking I will revisit this station soon when I am in the area again! I did look at my account and unlike the normal entry under billing of "COVID Care" I got "other non networked". </div><div><br /></div><div>Either way; Glad I stopped!! (to charge that is...should have stayed a bit longer!) </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, being "cheaper" is dependent on mostly charging at the max rate your car can accept for most of the session. This is a challenge for the "under 40 kwh" crowd due to a required higher target SOC. But another reason... BIG reason I like EVgo is that 100% of their DC power is renewable energy. Yeah, that is right; ALL of it EVERYWHERE. This means utilities have to continue to boost their portfolio's towards the green spectrum as EVgo will triple their network within the next 5 years adding 40 new locations. </div><div><br /></div><div>A final note; Electrify America just had its 3 year anniversary of its first DC charge session. The first EA stations installed in the northwest allowed Chademo to run at 200 amps (it was paired with a 150 kw or 375 amp CCS) and they were still billing by the minute. This allowed a smart charger (LEAFer) to get a pretty decent price for a charge. But that all went away without warning and a week later, the per kwh pricing was announced. So a double whammy. Although not cheaper, it would have been enticing to be able to gain a good chunk of range in the time it took to hit the bathroom and grab something to drink but...not to be. Sorry EA, but you are making it very hard to be loyal. </div><div>FYI; the above EVgo session; 66.9 KW average. That is how you do per minute charging! </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">WA Dumping The Pump!</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, sort of. Starting in 2030 less than 9 years from now, WA will ban any new gasser from entering the state. Yeah, that means you can't buy one here nor can you buy one elsewhere and bring it here! This is a full 5 years before California! To say it made waves is an understatement. </div><div><br /></div><div>Within weeks, Electrify America announced "significant" expansion plans in WA and cited the gasser ban as the reason. Even President Biden acknowledged WA as a factor in his future infrastructure planning bill. Now all this is dependent upon WA replacing gas tax revenue (like DUH!) with something to maintain the cash flow so expect Pay per mile of some sort to be next and yes, expect that to happen much sooner than 2030. Sucks but its something that simply has to happen. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Webasto</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The one network I only rely on during Summer is Webasto as they have extensive coverage south to California and the Oregon Coast. They also have a $20 a month unlimited plan which quickly pays dividends if you plan to take a road trip in the area but there are signs that things are changing. Webasto recently had a fire sale of their charging equipment, mostly level 2's and its still going on but most of the great deals went quickly as one would expect. But the network has not been responding to downed stations including some that have been inoperable since winter. It would appear they have also ended their relationship with Plugshare as the very reliable "Pay with Plugshare" is no longer available. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I will say, it does appear that there are signs of life both with customer service and repairs of various stations all this week. Our 150,000 mile LEAFer (actually now 182,000 miles) who used the Wendy's location daily to make it home reported he was unable to charge yesterday. He called Webasto (and they answered!) who stated the station was down for maintenance which is never good but at least they didn't say "down for repair" and sure enough, 8 hours later he returned and the station worked. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lets hope things are looking up again. It would be a shame to see the network fail. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Monitoring The Network</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, there are so many changes going, its becoming a challenge to keep track of everything. This is why Plugshare becomes so important. I know there are a lot of apps out there but none seem to be as complete so if you hear of a new station or a newly bad station, get on Plugshare and share!</div><div><br /></div><div>The summer driving season is approaching rapidly so knowing your charging options is vital. A good example from yesterday; Twin County Transit just broke ground on their EV charging at the Mellon Street Park and Ride in Chehalis. This is a VERY quick on/off location (its a park and ride!) for travelers passing thru so I went to Plugshare...and it wasn't listed so I enlisted an EVer who lives in the area to add it and today; there it is! </div><div><br /></div><div>Granted, only basic info so far and no pricing or even a launch date to pass on but this is how we help each other! </div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-40007920332106541632021-04-22T10:43:00.006-07:002022-03-14T10:31:24.142-07:00Charge Your LEAF EVERY DAY!<p> In the ongoing saga of nursing my 12 volt battery, I have been testing various ways to maintain it without actually doing anything. I had suspected that my interactions with the car while "not driving" it was somehow affecting my 12 volt battery by altering when the LEAF boosts the battery when powered off. Things like grabbing something out of the car while its sitting in the garage was changing things so I decided it was time to test some scenarios to see if they made any difference. Now, my normal process was to plug in a few hours every day to keep my SOC in the 40-65% range during my 4 day work week. For my days off, it varies quite a bit. At this time of year the weather is too unpredictable to make plans more than a few days in advance. I am usually up early enough that any plans created for the day, I can simply plug in in the morning and have enough to do whatever it is I wanted to do. The larger battery means almost always having at least 75 miles of "emergency" range so adding more for longer excursions never takes more than a few hours. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Using LEAF Spy To Monitor 12 Volt Status.</span></b> </p><p>On the LEAF Spy screen you can see the 12 volt battery status in the lower left corner of the 4th screen; the power meter or bar graphs showing GID, SOC, etc. I prefer the power meter to see the effects of seat heaters, A/C, etc. With LEAF Spy, you will see one of 3 basic modes</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmlOAMxaDSpF6okZ4NZTzhB8TZJjHbN9Jrms_dBiqaCx8kXgxMO4iqs9fWwtNySdNVDDunc63wie8GAiEMoqAYIx0-Kcia3BMSsK56rmdWZvTYffHIlHhiXY9U1oP7Qi8fOLRISMA00w/s2432/Screenshot_20210415-132802.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmlOAMxaDSpF6okZ4NZTzhB8TZJjHbN9Jrms_dBiqaCx8kXgxMO4iqs9fWwtNySdNVDDunc63wie8GAiEMoqAYIx0-Kcia3BMSsK56rmdWZvTYffHIlHhiXY9U1oP7Qi8fOLRISMA00w/w182-h383/Screenshot_20210415-132802.png" width="182" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here you can see the 12 volt battery voltage on lower</div><div style="text-align: center;">left corner @ 13.04 volts and 1.04 amps</div><div style="text-align: center;">NOTE; system current is higher because of active</div><div style="text-align: center;">charging session. Its frequently as low as .1 amps</div><p><br /><br /><i><b>Tip; A lot of the displays shown in LEAF Spy can toggle to different data displays. Simply tap on the display to toggle thru the options. </b></i><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">12 Volt Battery Charging Automatically</span></b></p><p>This is the norm most people will see on nearly every start up. Voltage will be in the 14.4 volt range with a charge current running between 1-4 amps. In many cases, it drops to <i><b>system voltage</b></i> with minimal current within a few minutes. It will also charge at any other time using an algorithm that is apparently based on time and not the actual SOC of the 12 volt. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">System Voltage</span></b></p><p>This is the normal running state of the car. In this state, the 12 volt battery is essentially not being used. The DC system is providing the power and you will see the voltage around 13.04 volts with current usually well under 1 amp. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeGBrG3Es5qbJ7Rj0ajVTSWpPCtHCQRS6dSJ0O6vHM1ZI0wIJ5PaeG1L3rPDXH2b7Fh6GAyHOMqmR1NMuz3ZlVSl2Pdq0lHlxOA8llOxj3oir6TD0Ix3zzd14Y29_jWQ-br5MYbuShgs0/s803/12+volt+startup++auto+charge+and+system+voltage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="712" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeGBrG3Es5qbJ7Rj0ajVTSWpPCtHCQRS6dSJ0O6vHM1ZI0wIJ5PaeG1L3rPDXH2b7Fh6GAyHOMqmR1NMuz3ZlVSl2Pdq0lHlxOA8llOxj3oir6TD0Ix3zzd14Y29_jWQ-br5MYbuShgs0/w352-h397/12+volt+startup++auto+charge+and+system+voltage.jpg" width="352" /></a></div>LEAF Spy Pro data log. To make it "readable" I condensed the data fields down. The two columns to look at here are "A" showing amps into the battery and B showing the voltage. (there is normally about 100 columns between column A and B) This shows first in the morning startup without prior charging. As expected an auto charge session begins immediately. Each entry is roughly 6 seconds apart so we see the "boost" is barely 2 minutes long. <div><br /></div><div>After the auto boost, it drops to system voltage where the DC system in the LEAF is handling most of the 12 volt needs.<br /><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">12 Volt Battery Charging Manually</span></b></p><p>This is the mode we will investigate the most. We can "force" charge the 12 volt by running the windshield wipers. I was using intermittent on the lowest setting. In this mode, the voltage is still in the 14.4 volt range but current varies from very low which means no charge being taken by the battery to several amps which means the battery is being boosted. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhZIg3WUMFoXljRMWWxXuV2lLGlwtiVHN-2WxQug_QglbzUQB1EAnbTz2Itja8ipSKtt2haSGaZg56ntt-aZ4a_H-GqAu2rhOGP0j4wES_3TWFeGf_RFis8VcEMTcslSQt3-066VOzFc/s844/12+volt+startup+forced+charge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="844" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhZIg3WUMFoXljRMWWxXuV2lLGlwtiVHN-2WxQug_QglbzUQB1EAnbTz2Itja8ipSKtt2haSGaZg56ntt-aZ4a_H-GqAu2rhOGP0j4wES_3TWFeGf_RFis8VcEMTcslSQt3-066VOzFc/w479-h430/12+volt+startup+forced+charge.jpg" width="479" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a continuation of the same chart from above. The forced charge</div><div style="text-align: center;">lasted several minutes making it obvious that the 12 volt battery</div><div style="text-align: center;">was not at or near full capacity where lead acid wants to be as </div><div style="text-align: center;">much as possible. </div><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Nissan's Insufficient 12 Volt Battery Management</span></b></p><p>As mentioned above, the 12 volt gets a boost on nearly every start up but sometimes the boost is very short including under a minute. If a charge is terminated just before start up, there is usually no boost at all. IOW; it starts up at 13.04 volts immediately. It was this observation that I based my tests on. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Test # 1; Charging Daily</span></b></p><p>This was easy. I normally do that any way. So I simply plugged in when I got up and on work days, the car charged between 70 and 90 minutes. On my days off, I charged between 45 mins and 3 hours. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observations; </span></b></p><p>The different charging times did not appear to make a difference. </p><p>40 of 52 days, Dropped to system voltage almost immediately including several days that started at system voltage. </p><p>6 days, charge voltage lasted less than 1 minute. The rest no longer than 2½ minutes<br />I attempted a force charge all 52 days;</p><p>49 times, no charge occurred. The voltage rose to 14.4 volts but current was very small under .5 amps or less. </p><p>3 times, I was able to boost the battery for a few more minutes before current dropped below .5 amps. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Conclusions;</span></b> </p><p>In most cases, the 12 volt battery had the most charge the system would allow. For YEARS, I thought the initial 12 volt boost to 14.4 volts on startup happened automatically as some sort of battery check so the fact that most of the time, the car started at 13.04 volts was a bit of a surprise. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Test # 2; Not charging every day.</span></b> </p><p>To do this, I had to throw out my SOC dogma and charge to 100% the day before my 4 day work week started. I did this twice charging Friday night to 100%, running SOC down to 75% on Saturday and starting my work week on Sunday. With a 28 mile RT commute, I have more than enough range to cover the entire 4 day work week. During the test, I did not avoid detours but the most common detours I use don't add miles. In fact, one "detour" shortens my commute by .6 miles. I don't normally drive that way because it might be shorter but its a lot slower. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Observations;</span></b> </p><p>All 8 days saw automatic 12 volt boosting lasting anywhere from 3 minutes to 8 minutes. </p><p>On 7 days, I was also able to force charge as well lasting anywhere from 6 minutes to my ENTIRE 20 MINUTE DRIVE TO WORK. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Conclusions</span></b></p><p>Well, I think the issue is quite obvious. I expected to see more automatic boosting on start up, but what shocked me is the extensive forced charging AFTER the automatic charging ended. The worst happened 3 times; twice on Wednesday (end of the week) and once on Tues. Last week on the 14th of April, I pulled into work with my 12 volt still receiving 1.6 amps of charging current. </p><p>It would appear the algorithm is not designed to top off the battery. It appears to boost the battery on a timer. The current feedback sensor's likely role is to prevent overcharging. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Extended Storage</span></b></p><p>What my tests didn't address is why am I able to park my car for 22 days (on my 40 kwh in July 2018) without issues? I have no easy way to test this because even at the far corner of my house, the car can still detect the fob and parking outside is not worth finding out more information. </p><p>Now we know we never have to take the fob out of our pocket when using the LEAF which means that the fob and the car are always communicating. Now most of this is short range communications that unlocks the door when you push the button, etc. So when you spend time away from the car, it eventually drops into a lower power mode disabling the short range sensors. My Prius would turn on the courtesy lights when I walked by it with my fob in my pocket so it was always sensing the fob so wondering how aware the LEAF was with the fob? </p><p>To test this, I locked the car at night which I normally never do since its always in the garage then in the morning, went out quickly and pushed the button to unlock the door and open it and found a few times that I had to attempt to open the door a 2nd time because it did not unlock in time. At first, I thought it was proof the car needed a split second to wake up. I also tried standing next to the door for a few seconds before pushing the unlock button and that also seemed to work a bit quicker. </p><p>In addition; I started monitoring how fast the door would unlock when I was out and about. Things like a 5 minute stop at the store, etc. It did appear the locking mechanism was somewhat quicker most of the time but without the ability to time it; hard to say.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Recommendations</span></b></p><p>Well, the title says it all really if you want the TLDR version. But charging every day is a challenge to some who have shorter range LEAFs. For me, its easy. I have a LEAF that provides about 8 times more range than I need most of the time. So having the "room" to charge even on days I am doing little or no driving, is easy because the car is never near a full charge unless I have an event planned. So now the question becomes "How bad off is my 12 volt battery really?" </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Does my 12 volt really work that hard? </span></b></p><p>To find out, I decided to hit Electrify America right after the beginning of its free charge Earth Day promo which means 9 PM on the 21st since I am on the west coast, so jumped in my car, launched LEAF Spy and headed out for the HUGE journey of 3.2 miles to my "2nd closest" EA location (the other one is under construction so likely not working yet...) </p><p>I pulled up, turned off lights (something I normally do before I come to a full stop. Old habit from the 24 kwh days) popped the charge hatch, got out, plugged in and after less than a minute the charge started. So this is at the end of the day when the car hadn't sit for more than 2 hours after my drive home due to some shorter errands I had run after work. So this implies 12 volt battery should be in good shape as it would be getting boosted <b><i>whenever Nissan felt it was needed</i></b> so I'm good, right? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CAzsvo0qX7rGsE-SPVt6AK3nxROueX5YJQFjFl-zDFFMDH_dhAVJ6BYRPbWmxHjRLmDpqcoBQ9QSWmKg6XK-WCx5c8qIO2hKP0_tvGF0NjtjMINlapP6iDGGgwyN-dxKEpKYQslBd9Q/s752/12+volt+battery+working+hard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="731" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CAzsvo0qX7rGsE-SPVt6AK3nxROueX5YJQFjFl-zDFFMDH_dhAVJ6BYRPbWmxHjRLmDpqcoBQ9QSWmKg6XK-WCx5c8qIO2hKP0_tvGF0NjtjMINlapP6iDGGgwyN-dxKEpKYQslBd9Q/w420-h432/12+volt+battery+working+hard.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><p>Things to note here; </p><p>You can see the significant drain on the 12 volt as soon as the car is shut off. Obviously this cannot be sustained very long and its simply what happens when the car is at a high state of readiness. I kinda covered it but you see the voltage dropping to 12.08 volts. How long will this go on, I don't know as LEAF Spy lost focus so I had to restart it which accounts for the 5 minute time gap. <br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">My History</span></b></p><p><span>I have been LEAFing over a decade on 5 different versions and have never had a 12 volt failure. So am I just being lucky or is there something I am doing unknowingly that has helped me avoid the issue?</span></p><p><span>After learning the above information, I realized my reducing time at high SOC meant that frequently the charging had finished within a few hours of my departure times. My extreme driving need from 2011 to 2018 meant charging every day was a must. Since 2018, I have been all about SOC management so I charge every day so I can keep from being too high (above 70% SOC) or too low (below 20%) </span></p><p>Since 12 volt failure has been a constant since 2011 on social media, I have visited this issue many times so I had a vague idea of what "should be ok for now" looked like and that seemed to be between 12.15 and 12.3 volts. But my Plus hasn't been doing as well as it hovers between 11.9 and 12.0 volts. That concerned me so a few times I removed the battery, put it on a charger and ran a full charge cycle on it but it never seemed to last more than a few days. This was way more effort than I or anyone else would want to invest especially if there was a way to lessen the risk so....</p><p><b>CHARGE EVERY DAY!<br /><br />EDIT</b></p><p>Ok, its a new year and due to several things, I let my poor LEAF sit for nearly 48 hours. Like any pet, she has her way of telling me she needed to go out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcW0C5aFRX_-ZuSDWq7I1qXnxKEvpArOVmI7kmC-W273-TEBF9RiCzD7QwG0gCDIgHYCUhb94jQkXcgVXXpTH5Jbd6AdhXWlFUQ3M9bFiHelMCUTZj66bHaF7iWJ5GD5yIFgsbf4PqYla3cDOQBQga_n9PG3vySbkLdTlto17s7g7kn10wzzFI_R-G=s4032" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcW0C5aFRX_-ZuSDWq7I1qXnxKEvpArOVmI7kmC-W273-TEBF9RiCzD7QwG0gCDIgHYCUhb94jQkXcgVXXpTH5Jbd6AdhXWlFUQ3M9bFiHelMCUTZj66bHaF7iWJ5GD5yIFgsbf4PqYla3cDOQBQga_n9PG3vySbkLdTlto17s7g7kn10wzzFI_R-G=w507-h285" width="507" /></a></div><br /><p>As you know (or will soon learn) the 12 volt battery is boosted by an algorithm and that boost can happen at any time charging or not, running or not. I was doing the glass thing (something that is needed regularly in Western Washington winters) and noticed the 12 volt being boosted as shown by the center light illuminated. </p><p>Immediately recognizing the chance to collect data, I waited until the boost was complete, launched LEAF Spy and headed out for some errands. Now the errands would normally be fairly quick as I didn't have far to go but the charging current for the 12 volt was still over 4 amps so I circled a bit waiting for the current to start dropping and well after 20 mins, I decided to stop and do what I needed to get done. </p><p>A few mins, later, out I come and yeah, car still charging. Boosted for 8 more mins and I resisted the urge to circle the block a few times. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha_elkttE3KSdVuo70b8NR_jtr3KSOroPvzQBnSI4JL4DD6mYfTLMyoxXuW1xN3jAcoUraVMF7n5pg-G70Nm3f5xIQz4Uxa6nh4oCIwFnD4292cL-tst8yM5Eu1IDPl8NqVCXaiTUeI4iO2rNiU6sL0tHmFNYGszF5KTzKUlw7P05euvoM6kOXo7aC=s677" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="677" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEha_elkttE3KSdVuo70b8NR_jtr3KSOroPvzQBnSI4JL4DD6mYfTLMyoxXuW1xN3jAcoUraVMF7n5pg-G70Nm3f5xIQz4Uxa6nh4oCIwFnD4292cL-tst8yM5Eu1IDPl8NqVCXaiTUeI4iO2rNiU6sL0tHmFNYGszF5KTzKUlw7P05euvoM6kOXo7aC=w465-h314" width="465" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>This pretty much proves the algorithm is likely just time based and not based on the SOC of the 12 volt battery. I am lucky enough to be able to garage my LEAF so having it sit for 2 days didn't hurt me although I am wondering just how low my 12 volt was? </p><p>As it stands, I still frequently boost my 12 volt manually by running my windshield wipers which is normally not difficult to do. I use Rain X so on the freeway, I actually don't need wipers as the air over the glass is sufficient enough to clear water out of the way but at lower speeds, Rain X is somewhat less effective but I usually elect to have my wipers on at the lowest intermittent speed. </p></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-36599243581472627682021-04-16T10:57:00.007-07:002021-08-21T08:43:39.228-07:00My Introduction To The ID4<p> Yesterday April 15th, I was able to do a test drive of the new Volkswagen ID 4 EV. Since its 100% electric, VW was awarded 85 out of a possible 100 points on my rating scale so now its all about how they do on the remaining 15 points. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Walk Around</span></b></p><p>My appointment was for 12 noon but it was 75 miles thru Seattle traffic past the 4 bottlenecks in the South Sound on I-5 so what should take less than 75 minutes, I allotted 2½ hours because that is what we have to do to ensure we get anywhere on time. Besides being early gave me a chance to get a few extra pictures while waiting and when I arrived there were 4 cars sitting there making me think "why are they all here?" </p><p>Well, as it stands, the "middle of the week" appointments were a bit light so I was told I could drive immediately despite being an hour early. </p><p>My first thought when I saw the cars is they would win some customers on color alone but an up close look quickly revealed they were wrapped. The colors actually available are "most" of the standard car colors...at least here in the US. But the wraps most definitely deserved a pix! <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMFnCJHxViCVW5cKr79AijX93TUHXlMhaHGLv3fUUhN0KzWlUrsfgAAKKJ1lByELzRd7bIMxfA7NCxBfdRDdSkfWozCjvDE3ZV1wh95gA8ioFwIE0MuH6PP9JxamT5v_LcHPo5_FD9HM/s4032/PXL_20210415_174816444.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjMFnCJHxViCVW5cKr79AijX93TUHXlMhaHGLv3fUUhN0KzWlUrsfgAAKKJ1lByELzRd7bIMxfA7NCxBfdRDdSkfWozCjvDE3ZV1wh95gA8ioFwIE0MuH6PP9JxamT5v_LcHPo5_FD9HM/w582-h327/PXL_20210415_174816444.MP.jpg" width="582" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6a4gB2nicQCAb5uOMNnC_jvtI-kVpLS-1tOo-7t5btjD1NzZxUToBIiUWY5UxHi4mpsT76bB1yyKGClUCZMHtv0VQfexETBAj0LUsuL51eySp5wbCBtRi1Qpg4tW95tgdQ4OYXRR4D0/s4032/PXL_20210415_174845400.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6a4gB2nicQCAb5uOMNnC_jvtI-kVpLS-1tOo-7t5btjD1NzZxUToBIiUWY5UxHi4mpsT76bB1yyKGClUCZMHtv0VQfexETBAj0LUsuL51eySp5wbCBtRi1Qpg4tW95tgdQ4OYXRR4D0/w583-h328/PXL_20210415_174845400.MP.jpg" width="583" /></a></div><br /><p>Its interesting how many cars seem to be "close" in size but the ID 4 is very deceptive. I came here thinking it would be slightly larger than the LEAF and was surprised to see how big it really was. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkk1up_0AGS2mZmU8wLsOdh17dD8Mx2cbVYc8oQeEzuTiG-QJKUG-ot0hyphenhyphentX9T_s5t7zz99dqlHZYIEVt2H9FPYGCgG4mvNax0y2mZRbq02cx2NfbcmrgUa7xeaDcjesMpNeryIXWpOQ/s4032/PXL_20210415_175701490.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkk1up_0AGS2mZmU8wLsOdh17dD8Mx2cbVYc8oQeEzuTiG-QJKUG-ot0hyphenhyphentX9T_s5t7zz99dqlHZYIEVt2H9FPYGCgG4mvNax0y2mZRbq02cx2NfbcmrgUa7xeaDcjesMpNeryIXWpOQ/w564-h317/PXL_20210415_175701490.MP.jpg" width="564" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The rear hatch which "auto" opens if you get that option but more importantly has lifters strong enough to open the hatch w/o your assistance. There is also an inside release as well. With the HUGE increase in grocery/food pickups, this is a very nice feature. <div><br /></div><div>With the security cover, height is slightly under 24 inches but its more than deep enough to lie the largest suitcase on its side. 30 cu feet is the claim and it has all of that. Personally, the first thing I would likely do is remove the cover anyway for the extra space but who knows? Might not need that extra space! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwiwus668YF1MU6ip3p74JvAqDLDAQOqB5q9FsJthe_1BEjRsbD74jk5v71D9FmfbqLhqtZNe1xPs2z9N31t47YMjG8kg6wkA1otNE8dpBwwVNJ5B1qJCt1Jm4KPRDq1lhB7munuKxtQ/s4032/PXL_20210415_175656032.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="723" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwiwus668YF1MU6ip3p74JvAqDLDAQOqB5q9FsJthe_1BEjRsbD74jk5v71D9FmfbqLhqtZNe1xPs2z9N31t47YMjG8kg6wkA1otNE8dpBwwVNJ5B1qJCt1Jm4KPRDq1lhB7munuKxtQ/w407-h723/PXL_20210415_175656032.MP.jpg" width="407" /></a></div><br /><div>Some car people will have to chime in here because the ID 4 has this cover you can see that is about an inch thick and I see no purpose for it other than an easy way to remove and clean the hatch maybe? It would be another thing I would store in the garage probably. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfl0qBP3DfS3o_KKXrJrbt55G_w6cqFxuehMima1uhKyxoVCjcemSEkBIQ9dxR2UFGUeN3vu2DmBh0Mwhl0i77StoaY_v5wRCP14Rc5ZbYs1hSCiZvFaGByg3tnDKvplnTdCIhzMO1L8/s4032/PXL_20210415_175730848.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfl0qBP3DfS3o_KKXrJrbt55G_w6cqFxuehMima1uhKyxoVCjcemSEkBIQ9dxR2UFGUeN3vu2DmBh0Mwhl0i77StoaY_v5wRCP14Rc5ZbYs1hSCiZvFaGByg3tnDKvplnTdCIhzMO1L8/w624-h351/PXL_20210415_175730848.MP.jpg" width="624" /></a></div><br /><div>As expected, we have a hidden cubby for the basics. Only a 120 volt EVSE supplied which is a bit of a bummer but then again with many converted and repeat EVers, we already have that stuff! </div><div>What the pix doesn't reveal (I need a laptop on these ventures to view pix to see that they catch everything!) is that there is a flap that covers this making the other cover unnecessary. As with most EVs these days, no spare tire but the cubby has plenty of room to add tools and other emergency supplies. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_ReNvpuoFQCkSk9g2DkDJ7f3imnVP-YT3as2zLyO0D1X_mu-3DxcaGAOGBathv0T5BMb-jNpEVwlIy2ThlPVJmXy6K4vL6UwEgJ2dg7KnNjNThRM5_-Ldqah2YHuZm91Ynac0RW46oo/s4032/PXL_20210415_182225679.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU_ReNvpuoFQCkSk9g2DkDJ7f3imnVP-YT3as2zLyO0D1X_mu-3DxcaGAOGBathv0T5BMb-jNpEVwlIy2ThlPVJmXy6K4vL6UwEgJ2dg7KnNjNThRM5_-Ldqah2YHuZm91Ynac0RW46oo/w660-h371/PXL_20210415_182225679.MP.jpg" width="660" /></a></div><br /><div>Ok, should have two pictures here. This is the rears 255/45 20's. The fronts are 235/50 20's. I checked two other sites and despite not agreeing to tire sizes, they all agree that the front and rears are not the same size so tire rotation is out. Definitely a minus for me. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCuivUeavIB0PTh5yNpPJ-T_3J65eXVpTE8NVJFzlW8gfWMTdlW4AjAML3hhyQDYKJ4smpGh0GlFQ0QjiqkvwD0kEGJoEaO5Zd86kI1NabOub8rCdHqEs9ANAZ-Bh90IV-9WJ4_2ZIVU/s4032/PXL_20210415_182121645.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCuivUeavIB0PTh5yNpPJ-T_3J65eXVpTE8NVJFzlW8gfWMTdlW4AjAML3hhyQDYKJ4smpGh0GlFQ0QjiqkvwD0kEGJoEaO5Zd86kI1NabOub8rCdHqEs9ANAZ-Bh90IV-9WJ4_2ZIVU/w620-h348/PXL_20210415_182121645.MP.jpg" width="620" /></a></div><br /><div>Why you shouldn't believe everything you read; <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/volkswagen/id4/specs">Car And Driver</a> classified the ID 4 as a "Small SUV 2WD" Since we have to think there is also medium and large, do we have to be over 10,000 lbs to be "large?" </div><div><br /></div><div>To be fair, the Car and Driver spec sheet listed "NA" on most of the specs so it was simply a click bait article without a whole lot of data. The car I drove came in at just under 4700 lbs but it would appear you can get a trimmed down version around 4559 lbs. Of course, AWD will be heavier. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0Utp7kJ5QtViB_rUvvsBf4pcLX7TG1jvesDEuY7Dp0NvtJpMySmTsOtgSxKo62wa4pPdAEUag25P9eBKLkXF9jlGWmV9GjLGYdfGmRio5v3vm9jc3LN4N56o2k5wAbRV2KbVfSOVqTQ/s4032/PXL_20210415_180010074.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij0Utp7kJ5QtViB_rUvvsBf4pcLX7TG1jvesDEuY7Dp0NvtJpMySmTsOtgSxKo62wa4pPdAEUag25P9eBKLkXF9jlGWmV9GjLGYdfGmRio5v3vm9jc3LN4N56o2k5wAbRV2KbVfSOVqTQ/w636-h358/PXL_20210415_180010074.MP.jpg" width="636" /></a></div><br /><div>Rear placement of the charge port means backing into nearly every EA station due to super short cord lengths. Shouldn't be too tough though with the excellent backup camera. More on that later. I had thought charging speed would be higher but according to the ambassadors at the drive event, it will pull 120 KW which as we know means 110 to maybe 115 depending on SOC. That is plenty fast enough. </div><div><br /></div><div>With my lowly charging speed up to 80 KW on my LEAF, I barely have time to pee before its time to go! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPdoQZsSUyisxFYfdVQkq_gIwWHFqZpGS69nMXDGb99ekvKI17IUyGbmcpgrjYG9vYaCAz2ZIj_ojyNXnBnnnae2ywJXSQrpALOQrAITKkOZQgxJEN8E5ZWRk4QV7XfxJfhF7IJLIRqg/s4032/PXL_20210415_175929861.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLPdoQZsSUyisxFYfdVQkq_gIwWHFqZpGS69nMXDGb99ekvKI17IUyGbmcpgrjYG9vYaCAz2ZIj_ojyNXnBnnnae2ywJXSQrpALOQrAITKkOZQgxJEN8E5ZWRk4QV7XfxJfhF7IJLIRqg/w574-h323/PXL_20210415_175929861.MP.jpg" width="574" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The ID 4 has a small hood and short nose which means a very tight layout. The easy; The fluids we need to maintain are in plain sight and easy to access. The "less easier"...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw_n9_-xwnmeNgdeDfpwT6hlDqStQm4hmmhKGdiYuPfSurmxag51FlSMxfN19gU8AHvK80u23ddKCG6RNhSgkF5A98Q2rC49wUe9sWSiIgtb3TBYOqQ1wx2JSxE1W79atFIpVqlkqrirc/s4032/12+volt+battery+placement.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw_n9_-xwnmeNgdeDfpwT6hlDqStQm4hmmhKGdiYuPfSurmxag51FlSMxfN19gU8AHvK80u23ddKCG6RNhSgkF5A98Q2rC49wUe9sWSiIgtb3TBYOqQ1wx2JSxE1W79atFIpVqlkqrirc/w634-h357/12+volt+battery+placement.jpg" width="634" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>As we know, nearly all EVs have 12 volt battery issues. Its seems that no model is immune. 12 volt batteries are supposed to fail so that is expected but within a year? That is not. Now any DIY'er would be checking voltages occasionally to see how the battery is doing and maybe a boost here and there but it replacing the battery appears to be "slightly" more challenging than just a 10 mm wrench in hand to do the LEAF battery. But VW has had time to sit back and watch other manufacturers fail on the 12 volt front so they have learned something? like Ford did with the Mach E? I guess we shall see in a year or so</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Breaking Eggs!</span></b> </div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, maybe that was just weird so we will just open the doors. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pPdIMhVD6w95hxtHy9-Ix_xGVIbLe0P-S9Jh5uAMY9pIbDMrQCsFVXMYfGBTYJACTIP1b616dAuNEpVPy987WbJnuzW4ysUu-h0elCo-w2nUw6owULXNrL8zrvXCQL4V3eAUVWnq50E/s4032/PXL_20210415_175843581.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_pPdIMhVD6w95hxtHy9-Ix_xGVIbLe0P-S9Jh5uAMY9pIbDMrQCsFVXMYfGBTYJACTIP1b616dAuNEpVPy987WbJnuzW4ysUu-h0elCo-w2nUw6owULXNrL8zrvXCQL4V3eAUVWnq50E/w651-h366/PXL_20210415_175843581.MP.jpg" width="651" /></a></div><br /><div>The back seats are firm and comfortable and unlike other EVs I have been in (except the S) the ID 4 has the extended seat cushion to provide greater leg support. Super nice! But also deserves a mention that the legroom of 78.7 inches (front and rear combined. If you don't know me I only look at this number since seats move! Makes no sense to look at anything else) is actually effectively more than other EVs because the longer "bench" means less legroom is needed in the back. I had over 6" of clearance!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TJ_OuIdKZBtxx6to06ZC5rsqDd9rnS8MKu1kAikNaoFLueCeLEwJOkeqOimeST3xjTGZuK0dx87XTonrCuxR3kLPyEJolIgD7o-deuNDsnDcMz98VzQQ9ckLlmUTRq6COQyAodpR5I/s4032/PXL_20210415_175848613.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl2TJ_OuIdKZBtxx6to06ZC5rsqDd9rnS8MKu1kAikNaoFLueCeLEwJOkeqOimeST3xjTGZuK0dx87XTonrCuxR3kLPyEJolIgD7o-deuNDsnDcMz98VzQQ9ckLlmUTRq6COQyAodpR5I/w647-h364/PXL_20210415_175848613.MP.jpg" width="647" /></a></div><br /><div>Access to the hatch; very convenient! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNFgCQN42WSEogvWquJUieNEJYzCJzPNDDT_DlI7Qm-p9hSM1EDggDr7N30SVYsLs5JKgRt4Dtfj6Q__LQ7MPNDdwGblN9a9W1h3fHRdx7IOiHlBlEzLD6DXicBC2L3tZBIAkiFieV4k/s4032/PXL_20210415_180055405.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrNFgCQN42WSEogvWquJUieNEJYzCJzPNDDT_DlI7Qm-p9hSM1EDggDr7N30SVYsLs5JKgRt4Dtfj6Q__LQ7MPNDdwGblN9a9W1h3fHRdx7IOiHlBlEzLD6DXicBC2L3tZBIAkiFieV4k/w648-h365/PXL_20210415_180055405.MP.jpg" width="648" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Front seats. Again, long seat and this pix "highlights" the uhh arm rests! (you can see it in the extreme lower right hand corner of the pix) Did I mention the day was gorgeous and sunny? I mean like VERY bright sunny? </div><div><br /></div><div>The Toys</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMmC-_1GKuMoEB3uU_h-wHHY-LH8d8vcCG8330be06tyRyAY6g9Tog3ZwGSsZysJpot1U-Ws8XT43Yn0c7xqnl1_rDhsDbaW1NrSUtH1GxBTAmcM-nvlO4PfDcoonfmUoviLYpyd7Rak/s4032/PXL_20210415_182131674.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlMmC-_1GKuMoEB3uU_h-wHHY-LH8d8vcCG8330be06tyRyAY6g9Tog3ZwGSsZysJpot1U-Ws8XT43Yn0c7xqnl1_rDhsDbaW1NrSUtH1GxBTAmcM-nvlO4PfDcoonfmUoviLYpyd7Rak/w630-h355/PXL_20210415_182131674.MP.jpg" width="630" /></a></div><br /><div>Ever notice how a lot of cars are designed for one? My Prius was this way. The SL version of the LEAF as well plus a bunch of others. The driver gets everything, the passenger...not so much. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, VW acknowledges that friends and spouses need benefits too. Both front seats comes with power 12 way seats, two memory settings AND a vibrator! BOTH SIDES!! Now, I didn't try the vibrator (kinda not sure I want to be more relaxed while driving??) but I do see it being a benefit to the more high strung, road rage, stuck in an one hour traffic jam, South Sound driver. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuHbA1sw1Kcs0PCa7WIqD5ZH936QBndslNdfBHXIgMJYX_1jzm0uWIOE84HOFIuKPM9lpxOSGWjQFlI5En5g2bOnLds52q9Yy6_VD3KwRfqgaXKlEfzhrt9lsE2WdCM6tUo625P3APRU/s4032/PXL_20210415_180136830.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="617" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuHbA1sw1Kcs0PCa7WIqD5ZH936QBndslNdfBHXIgMJYX_1jzm0uWIOE84HOFIuKPM9lpxOSGWjQFlI5En5g2bOnLds52q9Yy6_VD3KwRfqgaXKlEfzhrt9lsE2WdCM6tUo625P3APRU/w347-h617/PXL_20210415_180136830.MP.jpg" width="347" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Wireless charging pad. For some reason there was an i phone in my car. My guess is its used in case I steal the car or maybe get lost? They would use the phone to retrieve me or at least give me directions back to the mall. I did try my phone and it connected just fine. Funny thing; during the drive, I set my phone in the cup holder then started getting messages "Charging device" then "unable to charge device" then "charging device" Apparently someone mentioned there is a charging pad on top as well. Nice. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KIDp7JG388YuAljZhIHWxeLn9Whhux7Scl1SOo3K212dxrFKZyMBduJTb-QyXorQF2FrFX50nSPSMEMKWssQ7mH09U4QdRSRJPheqh4PS5v_PJzcUTJITakaxUTOKGTO-PknWbJTEcM/s4032/PXL_20210415_182147259.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KIDp7JG388YuAljZhIHWxeLn9Whhux7Scl1SOo3K212dxrFKZyMBduJTb-QyXorQF2FrFX50nSPSMEMKWssQ7mH09U4QdRSRJPheqh4PS5v_PJzcUTJITakaxUTOKGTO-PknWbJTEcM/w635-h357/PXL_20210415_182147259.MP.jpg" width="635" /></a></div><br /><div>Inside hatch release. NICE and unlike the hands free auto release, this comes on every model. With a restaurant and grocery pickup being much more of thing because of COVID, this is a good thing! <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bGpGNps4rY0wJs1goc6pIKYMckCKa4JmGvZwwh18ErCuN8T52ej5s1HyhNwTLpdRnh7IVhdx2j0QcAmZMzj7ZnjnT3j-HIJRSWatWMJzApx-Fs9rtNgiay1MhBiY2-hr7amlhVpXI_M/s4032/PXL_20210415_181559416.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bGpGNps4rY0wJs1goc6pIKYMckCKa4JmGvZwwh18ErCuN8T52ej5s1HyhNwTLpdRnh7IVhdx2j0QcAmZMzj7ZnjnT3j-HIJRSWatWMJzApx-Fs9rtNgiay1MhBiY2-hr7amlhVpXI_M/w622-h350/PXL_20210415_181559416.MP.jpg" width="622" /></a></div><br /><div>Because of COVID, social distancing and all that stuff, I had a 3 minute orientation on loading my route into the NAV and that was about it. I did the test drive alone and in hindsight, I should have pulled over somewhere and spent more time trying to figure out how stuff worked but one the strangest things I came across was the window controls. </div><div><br /></div><div>Notice only two buttons? Well, there are 4 windows. Apparently to control the rears you have to touch "rear" to switch modes. Cost cutting? Are buttons really that expensive? </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t3Qo_V1LKkzS2GRY6K-jP2dqB958795bqWOrqLmveG1uwsX9HMPOsF0pbqm72VIa9qVXPB_5TwnPrNcUtFW54ibHHAgZ_E9BXP3RRPVEBvX7fyr8_yfYjfhybPnCf6YdoX6Xl9XvS2s/s4032/PXL_20210415_182027858.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5t3Qo_V1LKkzS2GRY6K-jP2dqB958795bqWOrqLmveG1uwsX9HMPOsF0pbqm72VIa9qVXPB_5TwnPrNcUtFW54ibHHAgZ_E9BXP3RRPVEBvX7fyr8_yfYjfhybPnCf6YdoX6Xl9XvS2s/w643-h362/PXL_20210415_182027858.MP.jpg" width="643" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The center screen is 12" and bright, easy to see even in bright sunlight. Now the car I drove has a moon roof which was thankfully closed when I got there. As the driver, the moon roof provides zero benefit to me. I don't need encouragement to have my "head in the clouds" while driving and in Western WA, its nearly always clouds which sucks without the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with sunshine in the process of attaining skin cancer. So its anyone's guess as to how viewable this screen would be when the shade is open (yes, its just a shade, not a cover) </div><div><br /></div><div>4G is the standard powered by the "integrated" antenna and don't ask me what that entails but sounds like another cost cutting move by VW. There are tactile buttons for the very basic climate controls but changing screens requires you to hit the blue "X" on the left and either go back to the prior screen or select a new screen from the options that are just below this pix. There are 4...not many. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now a lot of people love "auto" this and auto that so this is definitely aiming at mainstream but I am not one of them. I am constantly playing with my climate controls so physical buttons are highly desired for me. But again, the very limited time I had with the car did not allow me to see if I could learn to live with this? </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJvf2vMZfx078eImfud-OJJEs-egGpTtR6o9ljVU77os7CPuZbfI0ap1IM8q-WvIq0pT8oJESN-kg-gsscYYIpyzv3igr0xNi2v7MVsSblxy20HvRRoveoif6DdNkHlhrILgaW3GdzIQ/s4032/PXL_20210415_181604164.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJvf2vMZfx078eImfud-OJJEs-egGpTtR6o9ljVU77os7CPuZbfI0ap1IM8q-WvIq0pT8oJESN-kg-gsscYYIpyzv3igr0xNi2v7MVsSblxy20HvRRoveoif6DdNkHlhrILgaW3GdzIQ/w638-h359/PXL_20210415_181604164.MP.jpg" width="638" /></a></div><br /><div>The driver's display look decent here but its actually pretty small. Much smaller than I would have liked. Glancing at it thru the steering wheel was hardly impossible but felt more tedious than it should be. It wasn't until I saw a blown up shot of the pix that I noticed things I didn't notice on the drive. That tells me this needs to be bigger. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Drive</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, it was SHORT and didn't reveal a whole lot. Being unfamiliar with the car, I should have brought along a friend or two so I could observe the car while they drove. COVID restrictions prevented the ambassador from accompanying me. It would have been nice to have him pointing out things I hadn't noticed. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1Y1WsDaVuIv0eSSVuLE2-a0FQm37O6jJHoSgSn20BOQ6iQ2yeY_qskyqP-PnuZsFRYSKiQstd1o8ZkBDWUvUkgE-vaPqA_8Hej6vBGpc50WYbGICgnDLNsM9vO6TEUNVKVw5UeDNfRg/s4032/PXL_20210415_175807072.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1Y1WsDaVuIv0eSSVuLE2-a0FQm37O6jJHoSgSn20BOQ6iQ2yeY_qskyqP-PnuZsFRYSKiQstd1o8ZkBDWUvUkgE-vaPqA_8Hej6vBGpc50WYbGICgnDLNsM9vO6TEUNVKVw5UeDNfRg/w590-h333/PXL_20210415_175807072.MP.jpg" width="590" /></a></div><br /><div>What's missing? In case you don't know; you can click on the pix to get the full 4K version. With the FOB in the center console (next to the i phone that was spying on me) I only needed to step on the brake pedal to start the car. Start up was silent so other than the screens lighting up, there was no indication I noticed that told me the car was ready to drive. </div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see here, the driver's display is about a third the size of my LEAF. </div><div><br /></div><div>The shifter is mounted to the side of the driver's display and its the typical shift once rotating away from you to D, shift again to B. Rotate towards you once for R, twice for N. As expected, you can shift on the move. I did not test to see if N could be quickly shifted by trying to shift to R but guessing it can. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another personal preference here. Maybe its my subconscious pining for the old days of manual transmissions controlling my tendencies but when I drive, I am constantly shifting from D to B to E Pedal with an occasional N; only the Eco left on all the time. During the drive, I found this shifting location to be very inconvenient. If you are a set it and forget it driver, this will work for you. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qgU8hRQU3Da_39tko5SdZsh_KmuWJ_cMpukP6x6DyVT6i1LxOjq1KnAuH_C7uypC0VyaT89JnBwxJ4mi5IbwmeQe6unQ2AJkYtdfSq8hwAsQYMg7NeDs2QAAu9VPaw-VmaJiiAj548Y/s1041/ID+4+shifter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1041" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qgU8hRQU3Da_39tko5SdZsh_KmuWJ_cMpukP6x6DyVT6i1LxOjq1KnAuH_C7uypC0VyaT89JnBwxJ4mi5IbwmeQe6unQ2AJkYtdfSq8hwAsQYMg7NeDs2QAAu9VPaw-VmaJiiAj548Y/w513-h428/ID+4+shifter.jpg" width="513" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yeah, the shifter location takes the fun out of driving. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mNKHf5ktkj0qp5oCWOV5LkCSCNGaNd6rgoRJnOX7DpaN6SdxvShtvWhC_6WjxuEUqW46cKfJMXPhx2379YXl3ucvm9XH-jTkBo_gHDCV0qBXKWPAWLBEm70PNlQLpTFr97MO9IBuH2E/s4032/PXL_20210415_182014864.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mNKHf5ktkj0qp5oCWOV5LkCSCNGaNd6rgoRJnOX7DpaN6SdxvShtvWhC_6WjxuEUqW46cKfJMXPhx2379YXl3ucvm9XH-jTkBo_gHDCV0qBXKWPAWLBEm70PNlQLpTFr97MO9IBuH2E/w599-h337/PXL_20210415_182014864.MP.jpg" width="599" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">After start up, the natural thing was mode selection. Sport mode was the default although I suspect it will maintain whatever mode you select. Unlike many, I like the "EV" feeling. The regen, etc. So I selected Eco and during the drive, I switched around to see if Sport affected acceleration (it didn't but was supposed to stiffen suspension and that sort of thing. I didn't really have that kind of route so...?) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Honorable Mention</span></b>; The button at the left bottom the "P" menu is VERY cool. When you select it, it engages the camera based on the direction you are moving. Ever been in a tight parking space and not sure you can clear the car in front of you? The overhead 4 camera view is nice but sometimes small, right? Well, hit that button and the camera looking the direction you are traveling will take up the whole screen. This means being able to clear the car in front of you with inches to spare in confidence. VERY VERY NICE! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CjdlK0jitFTu4-VZ9ygrMATUZCWnXkxVC5Wk-c9TlASqateU9hxY1UJlMEjJ0kEJ1AQn89Yq9uWnM1QbD7ckByDZU8qeTA6FPMpGfFXNLSeqzNtxpz6rGKilBd7EpmGUIO4R21kOT0k/s4032/PXL_20210415_181552753.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CjdlK0jitFTu4-VZ9ygrMATUZCWnXkxVC5Wk-c9TlASqateU9hxY1UJlMEjJ0kEJ1AQn89Yq9uWnM1QbD7ckByDZU8qeTA6FPMpGfFXNLSeqzNtxpz6rGKilBd7EpmGUIO4R21kOT0k/w640-h360/PXL_20210415_181552753.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>To start the drive, a pre selected route was programmed in and the NAV worked ok but a bit sluggishly. While still in the parking lot of the mall, I purposely turned one block early and the NAV immediately told me to make a u turn. I had navigated back to the route before it was able to recalculate and direct me again. VERY slow. My phone takes about 2 seconds to do this. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now, driving by NAV shouldn't require looking at the screen at all and this one did a good job of that (if you didn't stray...) with good voice directions although a bit earlier than I would have liked and even had dash lights that flashed green in the direction you are supposed to turn (red if you didn't...) </div><div><br /></div><div>The car drove with no discernible regen in Eco D which would be good for coasting but felt like it would be harder to control w/o braking. Eco B did work well with a much smoother transition from power to regen slowing the vehicle down to 2 mph. There was no one pedal driving mode that I could find. Now the car has adaptive cruise control which could provide the one pedal driving in stop and go but the test drive simply didn't allow for testing that. </div><div><br /></div><div>The car did drive like a full size SUV but lacked body sway and roll. This could be partially due to the low speeds of the course but it had a very solid road feel and transmitted very little of the street imperfections to the cabin; a luxury type drive for sure. Acceleration was modest...very modest. TBH; I am a bit scared of my Plus's acceleration and although probably a bit slow for a lot of people, it has enough for me. If I had to compare, it would be close to the original 2011 and 2012 LEAFs. </div><div><br /></div><div>After barely a few miles, I was directed to make a u turn so not even a loop course. Quite disappointing really. With 200 miles of range, I should have taken it a few exits down I 5. With luck, I might have made it back to the event before the cops caught up to me...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Score</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I have to say, I didn't even scratch the surface of all the things the ID 4 has to offer. Dual zone climate controls, cross traffic alerts, lane guidance, adaptive cruise, etc but that is to be expected. It took a few days to get familiar when I took my Gen 2 LEAF home and that is after already being familiar with half the car! So there is no doubt I missed things that should be here so hoping you got enough here to decide if its worth a look to you. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are into mid sized SUVs like maybe the Chevy Equinox, then this is worth a look for sure. If you are more into the personal transportation for yourself or your partner, this might be more car than you need. </div><div><br /></div><div>The base starts at $40,000 and not sure what the options will be. I am not a fan of RWD so that's a point off. AWD will be about $3600 more I think and might be here by 2021. The date keeps getting pushed back so we shall see. It also comes with THREE years of free access to Electrify America (what a shocker, right) which will help with those low efficiency numbers. </div><div><br /></div><div>As far as range, its 82 kwh or 20 kwh more than my LEAF but unlike my LEAF which easily exceeds the EPA rating, I am not as confident the ID 4's 250 miles will be as easy in as many different scenarios. In my very limited low speed test drive (not counting the 2 launches I did) it would appear I got 3.3 miles/kwh. If 77 kwh is available, that is only 254 miles so getting that on the freeway? Either way, it should still be well over 200 miles which is really all we need between personal breaks anyway. With EA popping up like COVID cases, having one in a convenient place is becoming easier every day. </div><div><br /></div><div>The different tire sizes is a miss for me as I am a rotation fan. On a per tire basis; 4 tires cost less than 2. VW, why?? The first thing I would do if I bought the car is match the tires as soon as they wear out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, the score? Cmon man!! Its an EV! 100% ALL THE WAY!... for someone 😉<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-53891869412016707752021-03-05T13:56:00.001-08:002021-03-23T06:17:08.851-07:00February 2021 Drive Report; More 12 Volt Battery Info<p>Ok, another month in the bag and despite going to level 1 restrictions statewide, I am still driving much less than normal barely logging 800 miles in February so spent very little money charging. Since this wasn't an adjustment month and February being a short month means my typical 30 day electric bill hasn't dropped yet either so anyway that is the drive report for February so in other news...</p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chevy Offering Free Bolt Upgrades</span></b></p><p>Well, obviously not something Chevy is advertising. Right now, their main push is the April software update that makes their car "completely" safe and returns them to 100% range (or whatever they had)</p><p>BUT...</p><p>Today, a Seattleite turned in her 2017 Bolt LT with 20,000 miles on it and got a check under the buyback program that covered her entire purchase price minus a $5000 usage charge. The check included taxes, yada yada. But this allowed her to immediately buy a fully loaded 2020 Premier for the <b>EXACT SAME PRICE</b> </p><p>She had filed and received the full $7500 tax credit so she basically received a buyback check for more than she had paid for the car. </p><p>In short; she arrives at dealership in an old beat up car, receive check, sign the back of the check, hand to dealer, drive home in brand new Bolt with all the bells and whistles she had always wanted but did not have. (Ok, so her car was probably in pretty good shape with many years of driving usage still left in her but you get picture. "very good shape" ALWAYS comes in 2nd to "New car smell") </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Electrify America Backtracking? </span></b></p><p>Recently someone posted a link to an EA station in New York boasting TWO combo CCS/Chademo stations. This was BIG news... for a day. Although listed in the EA app, its a co sponsored site with EVolve NY. So, looking like this is a special config site and not a new direction for Electrify America. Oh well... </p><p>Speaking of EA, they teased us with a Port Angeles site covering half of the Scenic Olympic Peninsula Drive then announced Aberdeen! The first DC charger (non Tesla) in Grays Harbor County! THIS...IS...BIG!</p><p>So, yeah I will still glare at them for how they slighted us Chademoians but probably thru sunglasses. The Bastards! </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Blink On The Move? </span></b></p><p>A few weeks ago, I received 3 separate notices from Plugshare that Blink had activated new charging stations; something I hadn't seen in SEVERAL years. Then they announced Brendan Jones was the new COO. For those unfamiliar with his name, he was one of the major players in launching the LEAF in North America as an employee of Nissan. He then spent time running EVgo and more recently Electrify America. Blink remains one of the two Chademo only DC station (with level 2 AC's of course) operators in the region and like Webasto, has had very little movement on the expansion front. </p><p>Also like Webasto, they also improved dramatically on the maintenance side (which for Blink meant doing "anything" as they did absolutely nothing for years) fixing stations that had been broken for YEARS and reducing the repair time when stations break. </p><p>Hoping Jones can bring some new life into the company including a more flexible billing plan and more stations. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">12 Volt Battery Saga; Part....??</span></b></p><p>As you know, I have had some concerns with my 12 volt battery reaching new lows not seen in a decade of LEAFing to where I finally decided it was time to start boosting the battery. Now, I had always threatened to do this but as long as my low water mark was 12.15 volts, I held off. But readings below 12 volts was simply too close to walking for my comfort. </p><p>But boosting a complete charge cycle didn't help. Within 2 or 3 days, I was back under 12 volts so</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Disconnecting Wi Fi</span></b></p><p>I decided to start removing things I never had including Wi Fi. So I turned it off, and off...and off. For whatever reason, the Wi Fi would not stay off more than a few days. At first I thought it wasn't saved but there is no way to save or submit changes. Then I thought it came back on every time it was power cycled but that wasn't it either. It just randomly turns back on. So now I regularly turn the center screen on (don't have NAV so why have it on?) check my connections, disable Wi Fi if need be. every 2-3 trips or so. I have it down to where it only takes a few seconds. I guess practice makes perfect and I have had a LOT of practice lately!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Charging Every Day</span></b></p><p>Now, I have always recommended charging daily to cover the day's needs over charging to 100% a few times a week like many seem to think is so much easier. I recently had a discussion with another Facebooker about charging and he claimed using a timer to charge to a target SOC was too hard and complicated. He claims the new packs were not vulnerable to time at high SOC and it was simpler to charge 2 or 3 times a week instead. I tried once to elaborate and that didn't work so off we went on our way. But this is just another (or many) reasons to charge every day. </p><p>So how is this related to my 12 volt battery health? LEAF Spy displays the voltage and current going thru the 12 volt and when I charge the traction pack every day, on start up every morning, it would nearly always show the voltage at 13.04 volts more or less with current being very small generally under ¼ an amp. Now, as we know, the Gen 2 LEAFs boosts the 12 volt every day under normal circumstances. I could also check the charge level of the 12 volt by turning on the windshield wipers. The voltage would jump to "charge range" or about 14.4 volts or so but when charging every day, the current would mostly (19 of 21 days) be low under .1 amp. IOW; Nissan had determined the 12 volt was charged enough. </p><p>BUT on days when I did not charge, I was seeing the higher charge voltage and up to 3 amps of current. This morning I started the car and saw this; </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BALgOXftwoc69jxvvt0bvH_J8VaqDOzIuhSGuBo5ZM8s-DSH05CoPZpT3M6P4UHR-oJaFxOFI42QVK3flYI4vGagtxT_ychhPZC6dutYmssOhv3OIBgcdRlACrgRdKVbpNhqQ6dBmkg/s1351/LEAF+12+volt+battery+charging+LEAF+Spy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1351" data-original-width="640" height="635" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BALgOXftwoc69jxvvt0bvH_J8VaqDOzIuhSGuBo5ZM8s-DSH05CoPZpT3M6P4UHR-oJaFxOFI42QVK3flYI4vGagtxT_ychhPZC6dutYmssOhv3OIBgcdRlACrgRdKVbpNhqQ6dBmkg/w301-h635/LEAF+12+volt+battery+charging+LEAF+Spy.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><p>On the screenshot in the lower left corner you see the 12 volt status; 14.48 volts @ 2.98 amps which means its nearly a full blown boost. I checked several logs and the highest I saw was just over 4 amps so this is just about as good as it gets. </p><p>So, I let LEAF Spy run until the 12 volt dropped to 13.04 volts which is essentially the LEAF DC system running. This signified the end of the boost. So I turned on the windshield wipers and the current went up when it hit charge voltage and gave me another 7 minutes of boost. This means the LEAF is simply boosting the 12 volt on a schedule and not due to the actual SOC of the 12 volt battery. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Hx</span></b></p><p>Although I am mentioning Hx, I still don't specifically know what it is. If you recall, I went thru Q4 2020 running my SOC mostly between 20 and 45% and that was causing my Hx to creep downwards. Now don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing although I will say I noticed a lot of 40 kwh'ers with low Hx under 105% who were beating the clock on degradation so got it in my mind that a low Hx might be a good thing to aspire to. </p><p>Well, I knew DC charging caused Hx to rise usually so I cut that out. </p><p>So we move to Q1 2021 and I moved my SOC range up to between 35 and 70%. I did do 2 full charges during the quarter but other than that, I never went over 70% (which was one of the full charges) with 2nd highest being 64% and at first, the Hx was continuing its decline although I will say it slowed a bit including a stretch of 5 days when it didn't change at all which is unusual as it normally changes every day with only an occasional pause lasting no more than 2 days.</p><p>But now, its going up and has risen steadily for the past 3 weeks. It has been warmer for the last 9 days but wasn't the during the earlier part of the rise so I guess we shall see what transpires. </p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-48392525555551851402021-02-12T07:29:00.002-08:002021-02-12T07:29:37.584-08:0012 volt battery <p> Thurs 2/11</p><p>Checked voltage; 11.98 volts, garage temp 53.8º</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHzCkyjasC_7BFccxufcoRv4QN00y6Nyft2yRgFfgS38C-nQCpk1ic2GvAeTYBgd7-qEb5n5G-2HmTpB8ZrIDAUKC3AOhljSTmFWQ1UVbCO-DLM69jbWHRlXuB6K_d4b93FMiM0XzZxQ/s4032/PXL_20210211_155424355.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="619" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHzCkyjasC_7BFccxufcoRv4QN00y6Nyft2yRgFfgS38C-nQCpk1ic2GvAeTYBgd7-qEb5n5G-2HmTpB8ZrIDAUKC3AOhljSTmFWQ1UVbCO-DLM69jbWHRlXuB6K_d4b93FMiM0XzZxQ/w348-h619/PXL_20210211_155424355.MP.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><br /><p>0816; Started 12 volt charge in car; </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsMSV3HHQI7A9_LDPISNnf4XoFC9coFTqP0e6f-hG39QFqo4D_JgD47clzJ5f_f0eXEUQ5tIcLhswqeSQkd1f6KFU1SqRFMA4cpFeOSToAseKCT5MbSLvNhJWP5blW_TjWzJimyGfNv0/s4032/PXL_20210211_161850501.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsMSV3HHQI7A9_LDPISNnf4XoFC9coFTqP0e6f-hG39QFqo4D_JgD47clzJ5f_f0eXEUQ5tIcLhswqeSQkd1f6KFU1SqRFMA4cpFeOSToAseKCT5MbSLvNhJWP5blW_TjWzJimyGfNv0/w583-h328/PXL_20210211_161850501.MP.jpg" width="583" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>0850; 75%, 14.26 volts at battery</p><p>1010; 75% 14.49 volts </p><p>1050; 75% Removed charger, batt voltage 12.75</p><p>1125; 12.55 volts</p><p>1248; 12.48 volts</p><p>Played in snow (went grocery shopping) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiT71dt_9lcxyS4Edu4RceDKpHFUToIR-G2VtZWLJapK9H8X7AG8LsvwluJ9eupamHfnitpGWjWObXI6ctQGbmOH3j892KobBGGAYfCvyzK-S0LigeIF6mXlVLfb4iz5KSRfniXa_Hzqw/s4032/PXL_20210211_231032880.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiT71dt_9lcxyS4Edu4RceDKpHFUToIR-G2VtZWLJapK9H8X7AG8LsvwluJ9eupamHfnitpGWjWObXI6ctQGbmOH3j892KobBGGAYfCvyzK-S0LigeIF6mXlVLfb4iz5KSRfniXa_Hzqw/w535-h301/PXL_20210211_231032880.MP.jpg" width="535" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJEMb8M08S6Xo8FDnY6udYHNBUrDDmqdEM9N_PathPItJCs_l0MGxLHK-jQr4f-Zwy-IGqObY5z4QpvpHRGUnFfyls13KRR22hYXmysS3YvuF9ygND64XcXInmGokBHrX2UrKjNk1ONA/s4032/PXL_20210211_231802498.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJEMb8M08S6Xo8FDnY6udYHNBUrDDmqdEM9N_PathPItJCs_l0MGxLHK-jQr4f-Zwy-IGqObY5z4QpvpHRGUnFfyls13KRR22hYXmysS3YvuF9ygND64XcXInmGokBHrX2UrKjNk1ONA/w273-h485/PXL_20210211_231802498.MP.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Friday; 2/12</p><p>0645; OAT range last 12 hours; 29-27ºF, Garage; 50.7ºF. 12.00 volts. Did manual update search, disabled wi fi. </p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-91614604839443744712021-01-30T13:13:00.006-08:002021-02-04T10:42:50.905-08:00LEAF 12 Volt Battery Health<p> Its that time of year when we are monitoring the weather report to see if road conditions warrant leaving for work 15 minutes earlier to make it on time. Its all about managing snow, sleet, ice and...your 12 volt battery. If you are a member of several LEAF groups like me, it will likely take you less than 5 minutes to find one "car won't start" post and the culprit 95% of the time? You guessed it. So some ideas of keeping that battery reliable thru the Winter is something I think we all need to investigate.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Lead Acid Batteries </span></b></p><p>12 volt battery issues during Winter didn't start with the Nissan LEAF. I can't tell you how many times I cussed and bitched every time I couldn't get my $115 (yeah that is what I paid for it) Chevelle to start on a frigid January morning when living in Michigan. Being less than 5 miles from Lake Huron meant it wasn't a "dry" cold, it was a "feel every single degree of icy chill" cold along with that "nice" breeze. As a teen, I was lucky to have a car (although where we lived, you really didn't have much of a choice. Our town had no bus service that left town and we didn't live anywhere near town) but nowhere near the status of being able to park in the garage so it was all about my car not freezing over night while parked under the Elm tree in our yard. </p><p>This meant at least half a dozen times a winter getting Mom's keys so I could jump my car with hers while hoping my fingers weren't permanently frostbitten during the process. The reality is cold cars don't want to start first thing in the morning. Now this was a 12 volt battery that was immediately topped off to a full charge right after starting. Right where lead acid wants to be; fully charged. But if driving an EV (No, the LEAF is not the only EV with this issue) you are not afforded all the advantages you could have in the frigid fight of the Fahrenheit!</p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Nissan 12 Volt Management</span></b></p><p>Nissan's BMS charges the 12 volt battery on a regular basis triggered by several different events. Starting the car is one, having the car sit for an extended period of time is another. In none of these cases is the 12 volt battery fully charged. When 24 kwh packs were the norm, I could understand Nissan not wanting to spend a lot of electrons on topping off the 12 volt battery. So it was really all about creating an algorithm that would boost the charge enough to keep it in the safe zone and for many of us, it works. But the number of people who do have problems along with much larger packs suggests Nissan could be doing a better job. </p><p>To be fair, they do warn you when the 12 volt battery is low (now why that warning doesn't trigger additional charging sessions is anyone's guess) but like all "idiot" lights, by the time you see it, damage has already been done. According to Battery U, time under 50% SOC on a lead acid battery PERMANENTLY devalues the capacity. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJJ8VZaKbmgrVqZDPQoJ4jCYMAgaZyLprzsJkKFMBbLuevg93S0YTDcujXrO8IedDEJGV7nAE31mOuynGv9yE_-wl_a4mza9xAQwktxCjtwOWsT-mzcD3KrMnxsui4U8A06O45Cd1gOg/s937/12+volt+battery+low+voltage+warning.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="937" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJJ8VZaKbmgrVqZDPQoJ4jCYMAgaZyLprzsJkKFMBbLuevg93S0YTDcujXrO8IedDEJGV7nAE31mOuynGv9yE_-wl_a4mza9xAQwktxCjtwOWsT-mzcD3KrMnxsui4U8A06O45Cd1gOg/w564-h305/12+volt+battery+low+voltage+warning.jpg" width="564" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Symbol appears in upper left corner of the screen in red</div> <p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Test Part One</span></b></p><p>I park in a garage which means my 12 volt issues will be greatly mitigated simply because the battery won't get nearly as cold as one sitting outside. I also live in the Pacific Northwest 3 miles from the southern apex of Puget Sound which means pretty mild winters for the most part. </p><p>Now because I have a Plus and a 28 mile roundtrip 4 day commute, I could easily gain enough range the night before my workweek began to cover me for the week without any additional charging. I did this for 4 weeks checking the battery voltage in the morning before taking off for the day. The results were not encouraging. </p><p>Day 1 range; 12.28 to 12.55 volts</p><p>Day 2 ranged from 12.15 to 12.41 volts</p><p>Day 3 ranged from 11.91 to 12.31 volts. </p><p>Day 4 ranged from 11.99 to 12.21 volts</p><p>Now its obvious that the car is getting a boost from the battery during the night at least occasionally. This explains the high end voltage readings. Most of the readings were nearer to the low end of the range. Now I think with the newer LEAFs, the 12 volt gets boosted daily but was unable to capture it charging. Leaving LEAF Spy running all night is an option because it will only stay connected if the car is on which would have changed the algorithm that controlled the 12 volt charging mechanism so I set up my Go Pro on the slowest frame rate to run all night to try to to catch charging sessions and it failed to capture anything in 4 days. When the 12 volt battery is being actively boosted and the car is not charging, the right charging light (facing the car) on the dash blinks. I will probably revisit this. </p><p><i><b>NOTE;</b></i> For anyone wondering how much power the car uses in the "on and parked" state. I split duty with my dryer plug to charge the car so am only running at 5.88 KW (240 volts, 24 amps) LEAF Spy shows power in and out of the battery and here you see a .5 amp difference between car on, car off. Using the "PIE" formula (volts * current = power) You can see 5.22 KW of the 5.88 KW feed making it to the battery with car off. With car on, its 5.04 KW. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1MG83C1AGcFEiORm6hNY5K3FH7G6TUdRgo4oBGIJXAVe-FVeuqHLmYJg2qwXAsg6_BK3eRwyRfzfafSaQuDfbbnYkvBhYN1iLpz4asKErPAc_vitG3zBEc5wfhQswsyvFaUFlf_VIUM/s822/Car+on%252C+car+off.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="690" height="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW1MG83C1AGcFEiORm6hNY5K3FH7G6TUdRgo4oBGIJXAVe-FVeuqHLmYJg2qwXAsg6_BK3eRwyRfzfafSaQuDfbbnYkvBhYN1iLpz4asKErPAc_vitG3zBEc5wfhQswsyvFaUFlf_VIUM/w465-h553/Car+on%252C+car+off.jpg" width="465" /></a></div><br /><p> </p><p>During this time, garage temps ranged from 48 to 58º and a few times, I was wondering if I should grab my boost box. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Klsv9KZTH4a66Ybc1idEM2HbqzkL0lXMCF99BBRtxsBJnYBy3Kl6cEutGmtgtWTYl9J5poEPRA6r1Wa_whuo1cfLx4rZ6_yjmgkQIt2oKVx4zbahcyg78lwcGmhkRpn_ajPHqrPQbY8/s4032/PXL_20210129_145404130.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="487" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Klsv9KZTH4a66Ybc1idEM2HbqzkL0lXMCF99BBRtxsBJnYBy3Kl6cEutGmtgtWTYl9J5poEPRA6r1Wa_whuo1cfLx4rZ6_yjmgkQIt2oKVx4zbahcyg78lwcGmhkRpn_ajPHqrPQbY8/w274-h487/PXL_20210129_145404130.MP.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Garage temp 51.9º 6:55 AM, car last driven 6:22 PM previous day</div><p style="text-align: left;">Luckily the car still started. I couldn't help but wonder if it would have started if parked outside when the previous overnight low was 39º? After the car started, I decided to charge to see how long the 12 volt battery would boost. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Lead acid needs over 14 volts to charge and LEAF Spy logs verified the 12 volt charging at 14.48 volts, just starting just 3 amps. (FYI; LEAF Spy not running the entire time so normally we would see a lot more entries in the drop to under 2 amps with each entry ~ 6 second intervals) </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ccX5whjLlLlRFbBbKn2EIs5jLbzBMnt6Eq5sS1hOXzuWO3B8oT-9SQEne9RjRXGN5F-s_rXBTyW6qfPD9X51SFNbPUKP_JCUsqrLjpC7nKaRh5d-gPYYA9WxEV6yMrz3JdCUyH6Egyo/s958/12+volt+battery+actively+charging.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="958" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ccX5whjLlLlRFbBbKn2EIs5jLbzBMnt6Eq5sS1hOXzuWO3B8oT-9SQEne9RjRXGN5F-s_rXBTyW6qfPD9X51SFNbPUKP_JCUsqrLjpC7nKaRh5d-gPYYA9WxEV6yMrz3JdCUyH6Egyo/w482-h384/12+volt+battery+actively+charging.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">But the battery only charged for 6 minutes. FYI; I have a 12 volt battery charger that recommends 4 amp charging medium duty (cars) so 6 minutes? Yeah, barely qualifies as life support. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Now this may come as a shock to some but there are misconceptions going around on social media including the fact that the normal voltage the LEAF 12 volt DC system runs on 13.04 volts; is enough to charge the battery. This is NOT true, not even a little tiny bit. The battery is essentially electrically disconnected from the system. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I then scoured my LEAF Spy logs and found the average to be around 4-5 minutes for a boost with some being as short as 2 minutes. I did see one event that went 7 minutes until LEAF Spy was shut down. Had I only known...</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Test Part Two</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;">This part of the test, I measured the voltage every morning when I got up like part one but this time, I plugged the car in immediately afterwards. I would only be charging for ~ 75 minutes so SOC was still quite low (under 50% most of the time) Since I was charging every day, there was no sense in breaking out day one, day two, etc. so I took 8 measurements (2 weeks worth)</p><p style="text-align: left;">Range; 12.18-12.71 volts. (ok, the 12.71 volts probably should have been tossed out as 2nd highest was only 12.48 volts) </p><p style="text-align: left;">Wow! so charging every day definitely helps but not nearly as much as I had hoped. I will say that the garage was colder as low as 46.8º and the highest during this time was only 53º. Unlikely significant...</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>NOTE:</i></b> Although my car enjoys the pampered life at home, she is just another car at work braving the elements in an uncovered lot for 10½ hours a day.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Living On The Edge</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;">All this made me wonder "Just how close am I to the flame?" So I went out, checked the battery and it was its customary range at 12.12 volts with the garage at 57.4º. I disconnected the battery entirely from the car and it read 12.30 volts. I knew that my trip computer would be reset when I disconnected the battery so I turned on the car just long enough to get my LEAF Spy readings for the day before doing all this. But a .2 volt drop from the system was an interesting data point. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>NOTE</i></b>; I don't have telematics (Nissan Connect, CARWINGS or whatever its called nowadays) but I do have Wi Fi. Its my guess that Wi Fi is not active when the car is off so shouldn't make a difference. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So I hooked up the charger. Voltage went to 14.40 volts so a bit lower than the LEAF system. And...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0ISTu9uweXycI0tds2DATa-cmq839jAjQ6i14stkhPU08HAiaYPqIJ9z673rSexxfD7q8djOZV1R6d-VQSJ5nE4bkdM3H5eAg-9ScvA1glKvKoyOmx6OUnP9ul3ehU3trfsdzoKO0mo/s4032/PXL_20210130_202210007.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0ISTu9uweXycI0tds2DATa-cmq839jAjQ6i14stkhPU08HAiaYPqIJ9z673rSexxfD7q8djOZV1R6d-VQSJ5nE4bkdM3H5eAg-9ScvA1glKvKoyOmx6OUnP9ul3ehU3trfsdzoKO0mo/w581-h327/PXL_20210130_202210007.MP.jpg" width="581" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">Well, not looking super good (to say the least) </p><p style="text-align: left;">It did move to 50% in less than 3 minutes. Another 13 minutes to 75%. The time to 100% will be of less value because when the charger senses the voltage starting to rise, it will cut back the current and I have no real way of knowing how much. Either way, I am charging 50-100% faster than the LEAF would be so its pretty obvious that most of the boosts are coming nowhere near bringing the battery as high as 50% charged. Now for Lithium, that would be awesome but Lead Acid? 50% ensures an early death. </p><p>I let the charger run for 40 minutes disconnecting when the charge voltage hit 14.52 volts which was near when the current would likely start to drop. After reconnecting the battery, I waited 5 minutes and checked it. 12.33 volts. Don't know how much good it did but I sure feel a lot better about it. </p><p>FYI; Temps expected to be below freezing tonight 😉</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">EDIT</span></b></p><p>Naturally a few days after I publish this, Elon <a href="https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1131180_2021-tesla-model-s-and-model-x-drop-the-lead-acid-accessory-battery?fbclid=IwAR1FyJVAdIkNt84gT6ct-AcPrAZypbEPv89W6sj4kGChW9kEVucQYKQTWSA" target="_blank">responded</a>. He is usually pretty good about that ;) </p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-74201629227808566082021-01-09T12:21:00.006-08:002021-01-15T09:17:35.453-08:00December 2020 Drive Report; Hope For The New Year! <p>2021 promises a reset of the challenges faced in 2020 but the progress is slow. WA is still locked down for all social activities so its take out only, no sporting events, concerts, movies or much of anything else. Although retail locations are restricted to 25% capacity, other than small (easy to track) shops in the malls, there is very little policing going on. Each store does have people out front going thru the motions but I have only encountered one line at Costco (didn't go in) but other places like Safeway was packed and pretty sure they were well over the 25% limit but so far, no infections</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEwHz1uJWFvHfvbUfpIlq6rkqLk_Fqh5OqoLoRieSSDRj1pZQ49p6lqKidpa8gA6gdfEjQM-fPeFmLNFXN8dcCf_lHxcQHDlkIOkPt41OFCwBgCkktQgNSG2Me46l15g5JM4GWV5Cx_s/s2432/Screenshot_20210108-230333.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2432" data-original-width="1152" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEwHz1uJWFvHfvbUfpIlq6rkqLk_Fqh5OqoLoRieSSDRj1pZQ49p6lqKidpa8gA6gdfEjQM-fPeFmLNFXN8dcCf_lHxcQHDlkIOkPt41OFCwBgCkktQgNSG2Me46l15g5JM4GWV5Cx_s/w197-h416/Screenshot_20210108-230333.png" width="197" /></a></div><br /><p>As you can see; as of Wednesday the 7th (when I took the test) I am free to roam...with a mask of course. Since the test, I have only had close interaction with my Son who sees no one other than immediate family as he is still doing CFH (classes from home) and a few different people I picked up food from and yes, I and they were wearing masks. </p><p>As far as when I will be able to take more advantage of my range, that remains to be seen. Restrictions were supposed to be "adjusted" on the 4th but were extended to the 11th and then an announcement by the governor is breaking up the state into regions where different levels of restrictions will apply. Due to paywall issues, I have no other information than that but its my hope by this time next week, I will be able to do something besides shuttling a few miles for food and groceries. </p><p>I will be getting the vaccine when its available and due to age and occupation, I will likely be in the first 3rd or so in WA? But still looks to be not before early to mid Spring, so that is a long way off not to mention the 30 day 2 shot process and the several days of immunity building before I am "relatively" safe. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Numbers</span></b></p><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: inherit;">December as expected saw me under 4 miles/kwh barely. I am actually surprised I came as close as I did due to my higher average speed on my commuting but guessing climate control experimentation played a small part but ended the month going 810.2 miles @ 3.96 miles/kwh costing $19.86 or 2.45 cents/mile. That is a slight drop from last month despite higher utility rates which I calculated at 12.21 cents/kwh. Due to the rate change in the middle of the month, a straightforward calculation would have been tedious so I split the taxes, etc. 50/50 although my tier one/ tier two usage was 600/450. All my EV charging was tier two.</span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: inherit;">For the year; entire fuel cost was $194 and change which included $42.10 in public charging fees, most of which happened when I was homeless. At 13,985 miles that works out to 1.39 cents per mile. I can live with that. Unfortunately the loss of NCTC likely means an estimated 240% increase in cost.</span></div></div><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Degradation Predictions</span></b></p><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: inherit;">"Probably" should have waited another 2 weeks for my adjustment but as you can see (the black arrows) in the chart, the last one was hardly a thing and I am expecting more of the same. What the chart portrays is projected ahr/SOH @ 100,000 miles using current degradation trends from day one. Although I have date lines, this data points are logged every 1000 miles. </span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: #b6d7a8; font-family: inherit;">Now if we were to use only the trends of the recent past; .03% SOH the last 1k miles or .04% the previous 1K miles, I would hit 6 figures around 90% SOH. Unrealistic? Well, there are already 4 LEAFers over 100,000 miles and two of them are still over 90% SOH so yeah, its possible. Obviously they have a much lower level of time based degradation. </span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the latest entry @ 16,003 miles and I guess we can say things are looking up</span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQW0ZQ-AJqBZj1TABWUR_rUTxWEmVGCqae8zm4Sirke1LyjY_DdZCRp5iXN0XlqMQyP-NKjhyZUXUMaZFBWIqra5Eoc3EWG3SGB67c2xzLc76vfCE6OFSxQZus8DUbdDGDuM3myrTV910/s1080/16000+mile+SOH+trend+by+date.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1080" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQW0ZQ-AJqBZj1TABWUR_rUTxWEmVGCqae8zm4Sirke1LyjY_DdZCRp5iXN0XlqMQyP-NKjhyZUXUMaZFBWIqra5Eoc3EWG3SGB67c2xzLc76vfCE6OFSxQZus8DUbdDGDuM3myrTV910/w544-h238/16000+mile+SOH+trend+by+date.jpg" width="544" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">By Date</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPT9c4yAmHg5IjhSG0MXO7kpb09tlUcpCNEsrheMYc9jA3CurSidehFip-eLcJUkFLVRT5HsmPpPcYU3I8v3qsuzRxte8OGeguOJ6s_iCzrYrXtGXSIoXY1i8PWBntNsXJhgMKPbiz90/s1082/16000+mile+SOH+trend+by+miles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="1082" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPT9c4yAmHg5IjhSG0MXO7kpb09tlUcpCNEsrheMYc9jA3CurSidehFip-eLcJUkFLVRT5HsmPpPcYU3I8v3qsuzRxte8OGeguOJ6s_iCzrYrXtGXSIoXY1i8PWBntNsXJhgMKPbiz90/w590-h249/16000+mile+SOH+trend+by+miles.jpg" width="590" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">By miles</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Notes; There are now 4 LEAFers (40 and 62 kwh) over 100,000 miles with no capacity bar loss including at least one still over 90% SOH. Granted their timed based degradation will be less than mine, but so far things are looking good. We are still searching for the first lost capacity bar. If you know of one, grab some pix and comment below! </div><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Climate Controls</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recently I discovered my Plus has gained a lot more climate control options. Not sure my 40 kwh could do some of the stuff but I know my older LEAFs couldn't. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As we know, heat is the big range killer so using it sparingly is the easiest way to boost range on those longer drives. Here in th</span>e Pacific Northwest, the challenge is even greater due to the high humidity that comes hand in hand with lots of rain. So anyway, I am buzzing over to grab dinner and have defrost on and as usual, I am toggling the heat button on and off based on how much comfort I need and got stuck behind a smelly at the light. I immediately closed the vent but since it was pouring rain, I knew fogging would quickly become an issue so I left the A/C on. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJraxKpGNiCc-snrkbzm91xW05bDgLR2vvvMBQByu5o28BMJGHtokVW2Wq321fcX1QToNQ4mqGyds8XT_IGOryfifxO0GBfnqJ5cMJk7Hos40jIPvZ7yNLoNzNN7bI9MQbna9laf1_1eA/s4032/PXL_20201231_030903671.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJraxKpGNiCc-snrkbzm91xW05bDgLR2vvvMBQByu5o28BMJGHtokVW2Wq321fcX1QToNQ4mqGyds8XT_IGOryfifxO0GBfnqJ5cMJk7Hos40jIPvZ7yNLoNzNN7bI9MQbna9laf1_1eA/w613-h345/PXL_20201231_030903671.jpg" width="613" /></a></div><p>The light turned green, I proceeded to my destination and sat in the car waiting for my food to arrive. (carside delivery) The food came out after a 3 minute wait and off I went and that is when I realized the vent was still closed and until hot food was introduced, the windshield stayed clear! This was a shock!</p><p>So I decided that I would investigate further so the next day. I drove around this time with LEAF Spy running and results were pretty cool </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HK-HQ69_xi72HMAR2Wbyo3cGuVfbtgLrHUuGWZEKoVeYb03l7K1XXgPyLEh-vDVc0sHc1vyGerm0T55uM2rJVM3M1KgvpVerkxCZr7rwAg2EV0PSiBR2p5ZQsgSJiOJxTgULWiltnfg/s4032/PXL_20201231_235231456.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HK-HQ69_xi72HMAR2Wbyo3cGuVfbtgLrHUuGWZEKoVeYb03l7K1XXgPyLEh-vDVc0sHc1vyGerm0T55uM2rJVM3M1KgvpVerkxCZr7rwAg2EV0PSiBR2p5ZQsgSJiOJxTgULWiltnfg/w266-h474/PXL_20201231_235231456.MP.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The phone covers it but I drove around all </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">day w/o heat. The day was mild so not an</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">issue! </div><p>Here there is no power draw but I did see power occasionally, so had to access LEAF Spy logs and saw power ranging from 200 to 350 watts briefly but mostly zeros. On the chart below, the number you see is the power used in 50 watt increments. So 1 = 50 watts, 2 = 100 watts, etc. Each reading happens roughly every 6 seconds</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89fx1M_HTdMiOeiZ9nHXFfh0iJPbj_dUJPptxGL55KIUG4RGKg1GypOTkY7B0n2IXjBsqXDqipvV-aibo_kDHE6mFbToBLMp6995VjFlA1456kF64IG5fStGjhXqnhj37KZEArsu8jAI/s1589/LEAF+Spy+Log+AC+usage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1589" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89fx1M_HTdMiOeiZ9nHXFfh0iJPbj_dUJPptxGL55KIUG4RGKg1GypOTkY7B0n2IXjBsqXDqipvV-aibo_kDHE6mFbToBLMp6995VjFlA1456kF64IG5fStGjhXqnhj37KZEArsu8jAI/w635-h333/LEAF+Spy+Log+AC+usage.jpg" width="635" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now the weather was a lot drier than it was the previous night so unable to know how bad fogging would be but there would definitely some fogging normally as only the driest, sunniest days are fog free when the vents are closed. I did have light rain in the morning but it was mostly dry with sunbreaks in the afternoon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Now there are caveats to this method. Although the A/C is not "technically" cooling the air, removing moisture will lower the temp of the air somewhat. I much prefer the closed vent option especially around town and found that blowing cold air on my feet was easier to tolerate than the face or windshield. It did irk me a bit as the front left vent on the dash leaks but I simply pointed it to the driver's window and that fixed it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On milder days in the 50's, it was easy to never turn on the heat. I did toggle heat on/off on a roughly 30/70% cycle in colder weather in the 40's down to the upper 30's when the heat was on most of the time. I will be playing with much more but so far, very impressive results. </div><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Electrify America</span></b></p><p>I can't even tell you how much it irritates me that my most hated public charging option is becoming so useful! As mentioned, the Olympic Peninsula Scenic Highway is a major challenge even for long range (200 mile plus) EVs due to no DC charging! Tesla has it covered but that is all. Well, things have changed as EA has sited and will soon break ground on key locations in Aberdeen, (first convenient CCS/Chademo plug in Grays Harbor county!) Port Angeles, and Poulsbo, WA. This makes the longest distance between DC chargers at no more than 164 miles which literally takes all the challenge away for me. Even 40 kwh LEAFers can make it with a few short pit stops at <a href="https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-olympic-peninsula.html">one of free level 2's</a> along the route and there is a LOT of places worthy of a visit! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6wqX4-uOnn4_NLJ10cAqYIE1bnWFtV_ugGATdqTpPuF9axG2HKRU4vgXW12npamk71UUKT1BOkONSMa3zzdluRv-wwrhcQ_PCOkPhgrADkLu-5zwHylHdEYQTHBdT172MTkgyTjuj_k/s1099/EA+Aberdeen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1099" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6wqX4-uOnn4_NLJ10cAqYIE1bnWFtV_ugGATdqTpPuF9axG2HKRU4vgXW12npamk71UUKT1BOkONSMa3zzdluRv-wwrhcQ_PCOkPhgrADkLu-5zwHylHdEYQTHBdT172MTkgyTjuj_k/w492-h284/EA+Aberdeen.jpg" width="492" /></a></div><br /><p>All will be located at Walmart. To be fair, I should mention that Leavenworth, WA (our Bavarian mountainous, Christmasy town) another popular destination will also have an EA location but that area has several DC stations already but as we all know; on busy holidays, there is never enough plugs so the more the merrier! </p><p>We also have a state sponsored public charging rollout(most notably Highway 12 over White Pass) that EA is partially involved in (not sure how much the state has involved in these new EA locations) which means more stations coming. I have requests for Forks and Shelton which will be very helpful as well. </p><p>But the convenience is "nearly" overridden by the crazy per kwh rates EA started last year. I suggest we all send our thoughts to EA about this. We live in one of the hottest EV adoption areas and we are paying THE highest rates for a charge. Something is not right here! </p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-91303315184810748282020-12-04T12:19:00.000-08:002020-12-04T12:19:18.245-08:00November 2020 Drive Report; Winterizing Your Drive<p>For the month, I only went 738.0 miles averaging 4.05 miles/kwh. With a charging efficiency averaging 88%, that means 207.1 kwh put in. FYI; DC efficiency is much higher averaging 96-97%. The lower mileage is representative of increased COVID restrictions. The theaters are closed, dine in isn't an option so... life is kinda boring. I admit the movie thing isn't a great hurdle. I have surround sound and 75" so if I slide my chair a bit closer, it really isn't all that bad I guess. First World problems are Hell... A friend doing WFH is getting into meal delivery services and I thought about it as its definitely a healthier option than what I am doing and right now there are some great prices making the difference in cost not so much. But that would be more time at home and not sure I want to do that. I do cook regularly but my skills are limited. I should really invest in a cookbook and get a hobby! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Worm Has Turned!</span></b></p><p>My last blog was my one year review with part two mostly examining LEAF Spy data on battery degradation. There I predicted my next adjustment due in Jan will either be positive or zero. I also track my stats every 1,000 miles and probably will create another parallel chart for every month but I set a new record for degradation (the good kind of record!) At 15,000 miles (more or less) my degradation was .05% loss from 14,000 miles covering October 22 to November 28. This nearly cuts my previous record of .09% in half. I also set another record of sorts when my stats didn't change for 21 days. Previous high was 10 days. </p><p>Now, the reduced driving, 100% L2 charging and the colder weather is also likely playing a part. How big is anyone's guess but realize my 2018 went into super slow degradation mode in July so not putting a lot into the "cold battery hibernation" theory that many people seem to like. </p><p>On the 2018, I got it mid Feb so still "winterish" but much closer to the start of warmer weather but nearly the same thing happened on its one year anniversary where I had no changes for 16 days running from 2/13/19 to 3/1/19. This happened on the change from 93.00% to 92.99% SOH. The Plus record happened on the change from 93.13% to 93.12%. Based on this info, I have determined the Plus is .13% better than the standard!!</p><p>(I hope we ALL realize I was kidding on that last part...) </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Charging Issues</span></b></p><p>Ever get the red flashing error on your EVSE? Usually comes with a dash emoticon? You may have or have not noticed it but its likely everyone has seen it a few times. The error condition corrects itself most of the time so not always noticeable. I used to see it maybe a few times a month. I unplug 100% of the time when the charge is active since I never charge to full (or anywhere near it lately) So what I have been experimenting with is squeezing the trigger on the EVSE first, waiting until the pump stops (like one second) running then unplugging. So far, so good. I didn't really track how often I got the faults but in my estimation, I have probably exceeded the time I would have seen at least 2 by now. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Topping Up</span></b></p><p>The weather is either cooler or getting downright cold. Your LEAF, just like any other car will see diminished range because of the cold weather. Cold air is denser meaning if nothing else changed,your miles/kwh performance drops with the temperature because of the additional molecules. Not a whole lot you can do about that but there are a few things you can do in advance to minimize those inconvenient moments cars tend to throw at us at us when the weather turns. </p><p>Top off your windshield wiper fluid. Its the easiest thing on the list and one of the most vital especially if you usually see snow. Snow on the roads quickly becomes slush mixed with oil and other gasser junk. Wipers alone have no chance against this toxic mix. Being caught short on windshield wiper fluid is not only inconvenient ($15 at 7-Eleven verses $5 at Walmart) but its dangerous. </p><p>Related to the fluid is the wipers themselves. I will admit that I only change the short blade every other year but change the long one "around" November. Because of the size of the blade, curve of the windshield or whatever, not all replacement blades work with the LEAF. Costco was infamous for stocking ones that were garbage. Now this is a bit more work but one thing I found that worked very well is replacing just the blade itself. I get mine at the local Honda dealer. Under $10 and it would be classified "very easy" on the DIY scale I think.</p><p>Driver: Honda 76622-STK-A02 </p><p>Passenger: Honda 76632-STK-A02</p><p>Rear: Honda 76622-T7A-003 </p><p>Tire Pressures need to be checked. Do it first thing in the morning before any driving if parked outside. Remember tire pressures should be checked during the coldest part of the day. Tires will lose about one PSI for every 10ºF drop in the temperatures. Another reason to check before any driving is tires heat up unevenly so checking them after driving means your front tires will read a bit higher than the backs since the fronts do most of the work. </p><p>Check your 12 volt battery. Like any car, your LEAF will not start without a 12 volt battery in "reasonable" shape. Yep, that is all we need, one that is barely alive but even that is not always possible with Nissan's 12 volt battery algorithm. I am happy to report that initial analysis indicates the algorithm has improved on my 2019 Plus. But improved does not mean "fixed" </p><p>Lead acid for longest life wants to be at or near a full charge. This means nearly 13 volts (why is it called a 12 volt battery then?) Now the LEAF puts a load on that 12 volt battery 24/7. That is how it remembers your radio stations, etc. That load is pretty low most of the time dropping the voltage a tenth or so. </p><p>Things that can increase the load;</p><p>Charging or being plugged in and not charging (charging complete or on a timer)</p><p>Telematics like Nissan Connect. </p><p>Walking near your car with fob in your pocket. </p><p>Auto headlight settings or anything else that stays on after you shut the car off. </p><p>So right now I am in the process of trying to figure out if the 12 volt algorithm responds to outside influences. To do that, I have to have a general idea of when the car actually charges the battery when its sitting. To say tracking this process is frustrating is an understatement. First thing I tried was Go Pro on the slowest frame rate. Two nights, zero results. Will go deeper into this soon. </p><p>But I am waking up to a battery that is anywhere from 12.65 (GREAT!) to 12.15 (ooooohhh...) volts. Now, I park in a garage where the temps run in the low to upper 50's. We had a burst of cold weather that lasted 3 days and the garage temps held up well so my issues aren't critical but if you are parking outside, you WILL have battery issues. </p><p>Now, last year my car was new so I had little worries about the cold. My previous place, the garage was 5-10º colder due to a lot more shade (which I MUCH rather wish I still had!) but in previous years, once a month or so, I would boost the 12 volt. So if you have a charger, this might not be a bad idea. Don't be one of the 2-4 Facebookians I see posting dead 12 volt battery stories, daily. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Finding Your Comfort Level</span></b></p><p>We all have comfort levels that vary a ton so saying what works for anyone else but me is really quite crazy but everyone does it anyway, so this is my disclaimer; </p><p>I live in a relatively mild climate which means I have challenges...different ones. Because of that, some of what I suggest will sound crazy to people who live in more severe weather. </p><p>Here we have rain...LOTS of it. This year, it hasn't happened like it normally does. Forecasters predicted colder wetter weather but we have been a LOT drier than normal. I don't remember the last time there was little or no rain predicted for the South Sound Region for the first 5 days of December. </p><p>But one thing I have been experimenting with is running defrost with less heat. My Plus has separate heat and A/C buttons. During defrost, A/C power is pretty low, generally 200 watts or less. Heat is another story. On startup, it will get up to 3500 watts and slowly work its way down. But its bottom is generally 300-750 watts. (I have seen it at 150 but rarely and no more than a few minutes at a time) So being able to run (and see) with the heat off is a benefit. I have just started doing this over the past week and the rain issues have been mild so will report back in much more detail when I see how well it works on the milder, wetter days when fogging is a huge issue. </p><p>Another thing I got was heated socks! Uses rechargeable Lithium and first trip out was favorable. Will have more on that later as well. Just a few quick comments on the socks. They are very comfortable so even as just socks, they are great. I picked them up on Amazon for $25. They have 3 heat settings and only warm up the toes and ball of your foot. </p><p>I got them yesterday so took off on a drive waiting till dark. It didn't get as cold as I had hoped as I was only using steering wheel heat and seat heaters using defrost as needed (light need) but I was very comfortable at 42º. It was my goal to wait until my feet got cold before turning them on as I won't be wearing them on a regular basis. They will go in my "emergency" kit which also contains handwarmers, gloves, knit caps, tire socks, etc.) so its important to not test to see if they will keep my feet warm but to see if they can warm up cold feet. </p><p>But I got to my turnaround spot and my feet were just starting to feel the cold so not cold yet. I will say even on the highest setting, the warmth was not overwhelming. Still much better than nothing and just the sock itself is much warmer than would I would be normally be wearing. So... stay tuned! </p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-81011261456297771552020-11-21T12:39:00.006-08:002020-11-21T14:24:55.102-08:00LEAF Spy, Batteries, Charging and Degradation; One Year Review Part 2<p> I am currently collecting data from other Gen...uh...4? LEAFers with 40 and 62 kwh packs for a more balanced analysis of what we can expect to see long term. Before 2018, I didn't have much interest since it wasn't till then that I wanted to keep any LEAF long term. Even the bullet proof 30 kwh pack I had was only a considered cheap transportation purchase to use later to trade up. But despite the fact the 40 kwh had the range I would need, it didn't have the buffer to allow better charge management which is why I am driving the Plus now. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">A New BMS</span></b></p><p>Starting with the 40 kwh packs, we started seeing large adjustments in pack numbers via LEAF Spy every 3 months. I still don't have enough data to tell you where we will be in 5 years but the early patterns are quite consistent among drivers with various needs, living in vastly different climates experiencing various driving conditions. The "climate" factor so well published including a Gen One degradation prediction chart based on one's city (quite accurate actually) simply didn't work. We have people in VERY hot areas performing very well comparatively with others in mild climates that normally favor batteries by a large margin. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Adjustments; Phase One</span></b></p><p>Although there seems to be outliers, the vast majority of us are seeing rapid drops in numbers lasting 9-15 months. 7 to 10% loss during this time is normal and covers over 90% of people who bothered to submit their battery stats. My pack was no different. Not only was I losing chunks on my adjustment, I was also seeing a decline of .01 or .02% 4-7 times a week. "That" alone can add up to over 2% annually. Hx is almost always skyrocketing here. There have been a handful of people whose Hx has remained "reasonable" lower than 110% and all of them (keep in mind my "all" is a very small list due to people not posting their stats when <b>ASKED!) were slightly above the curve. </b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Adjustments; Phase Two</span></b></p><p>But the big chunks don't last. A new pattern emerges where the chunks lost in many cases, become chunks gained. Now we need to understand that realistically, this isn't possible but the circumstances of how these increases happen doesn't really allow us to blame instrumentation like the 24/30 kwh packs which bounced up and down on a near daily basis. So a huge number saw their numbers go up, others saw their adjustments get MUCH smaller or simply stop happening. My guess is the adjustments are still there but have nothing to report. I also have daily records kept; something few others do. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Adjustments; Phase Three??</span></b> </p><p>Now, my Plus has only been in Phase 3 (I call it and...pretty much only I do) for just over a month. In Phase 3, the downward trickle slows considerably. Instead of seeing the .01 or .02% adjustments almost daily, they drop to almost once a week. In the chart below, to reduce the noise I only recorded ahr/SOH when the value changed. Notice the Hx is also on the slow decline? My adjustment happened during this period with a loss of .37% </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0miPpXtK3XInT7XSr0aKCdeNrWHAQVPmqsn2GpY6eIykoH7a9iF_ovEUf_f20peXdbxtANjij1oCcTK8SB31IfTT0mooLfkInP3xpkZgi_9_jbQ7THvdX2Fjjkdddk1AokXEKa9qpPQ/s729/Longer+interval+between+ahr+SOH+updates.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="729" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0miPpXtK3XInT7XSr0aKCdeNrWHAQVPmqsn2GpY6eIykoH7a9iF_ovEUf_f20peXdbxtANjij1oCcTK8SB31IfTT0mooLfkInP3xpkZgi_9_jbQ7THvdX2Fjjkdddk1AokXEKa9qpPQ/w437-h373/Longer+interval+between+ahr+SOH+updates.jpg" width="437" /></a></div><p>Notes; I have been on a SOC control kick. Since I don't have NCTC any more, I have all but avoided DC charging for the most part and "maybe" that is contributing to the very slow numbers decline. I am running between 20-45% mostly with a few bumps to 65%. Although it doesn't show here, the longest day during the slow decline was 118 miles. Another thing to consider is I am simply not driving all that much. With the new restrictions put in this week, it will be even less. I am guessing neither the miles driven or lack of DC charging is a "significant" factor. Below is my 40 kwh @ 15 months</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrIBMyJdCXKVLnbZk_ZOdFYkhAZwlaeFXwGG2_KHptJ7bv5BnKkxj4znICGMLvmwOSfG0zrSnFPS64JFBEeo9xEtKbDVSuk6rVBncljJIHonakqxG4SW4iWE6jn2eMo86g6QaXORBjFg/s912/2018+increase.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="912" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrIBMyJdCXKVLnbZk_ZOdFYkhAZwlaeFXwGG2_KHptJ7bv5BnKkxj4znICGMLvmwOSfG0zrSnFPS64JFBEeo9xEtKbDVSuk6rVBncljJIHonakqxG4SW4iWE6jn2eMo86g6QaXORBjFg/w587-h407/2018+increase.jpg" width="587" /></a></div><p>Notes; Full on Summer here and all the public charging is DC since I had NCTC at this time which is why I didn't break out separate columns for DC and AC. Unlike my Plus, I BAKED the 40 several times. Free charging does that to me and it was also during a time when Central WA was blowing up with new stations so trips to Ellensburg and Yakima were a must. Yakima was during Summer and it was HOT! Leaving there, I took White Pass back to Centralia Webasto; a 162 mile trip which is quite the challenge on flat ground. This meant charging on DC (it was free for the opening!) until it stopped at 98% and topping off at an L2 in town; all done at near 100º heat. Fun times!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Point of comparison; One year</span></b></p><p>2018 LEAF; 16,134.5 miles SOH 92.99%</p><p>Plus; 14,669.5 miles SOH; 93.13%</p><p>Factor in the mileage difference and its all but a dead heat. This is shocking to me. The charging/driving habits were as different as different can be. In the first year, my 2018 had a diet of 87% DC, My Plus only 55% DC with nothing since August 24th. The smaller pack charged to a higher level. I had 30 mins free so frequently charged until it stopped. So my SOC was higher, my pack a LOT hotter. </p><p>Now the Plus has not done the road trips I had planned. The real test was going to be a rafting trip in Central OR followed by a visit to Bend OR then swinging back up thru Central WA back to Olympia in the dead of Summer but COVID derailed those plans. The additional range along with the fact the pack doesn't heat up enough on the first charge made hitting 110º quite the challenge. My only experience with Rapidgate was during a run when leaving home under 10% SOC. I stopped in Castle Rock charging only 20 mins which was more than enough to get me where I was going in time (barely) then grabbed another 23 minute charge and went back to EA Lacey and charged at 55 KW when I normally would have seen about 73 KW. A slowdown? Yes... drastic? You decide. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Trendline</span></b></p><p>Now we are in complete guess mode but based on the limited data submitted by other LEAFers over 2½ years on theirs, the trend is holding up. Below is two charts; the 2018 with 25,125 miles over 21 months then the Plus at just over a year. Data points taken every 1000 miles more or less (whatever the end of the day provided) and displays projected ahr/SOH @ 100,000 miles. The 2018 has a wiggle in it due to a LEAF Spy recalibration of the SOH. </p><p>To read the chart, you need to look at the drops and how they compare with the upward slopes between the drops. You can see over time, the drops become smaller and the upward slope becomes greater. This indicates the rate of degradation slowing. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCU85lMOAWZjRVpgGzSod8Erj7Dn8495fkU9QYpQ0gFs5AgHfehbkyMptf3iXMel2Ja4nKDC8ebJDquEZYxE2dE0jtHAhTD8fAYz887y7IaqThlfWzJmmiCKa_2t2sHH6h-ze3fp0gXbs/s1244/2018+100k+mile+projection.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="1244" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCU85lMOAWZjRVpgGzSod8Erj7Dn8495fkU9QYpQ0gFs5AgHfehbkyMptf3iXMel2Ja4nKDC8ebJDquEZYxE2dE0jtHAhTD8fAYz887y7IaqThlfWzJmmiCKa_2t2sHH6h-ze3fp0gXbs/w535-h201/2018+100k+mile+projection.jpg" width="535" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2018 40 kwh</div><div style="text-align: left;">Note; On the left side we see the drop being more than double the slow rises between adjustments. Then you see the slow rise with a jump up when I had my increase. After that you will notice just a slow rise. My last adjustment before the trade in was Zero. Its not like it didn't happen. It simply had nothing to say. If we extrapolate "part" of this chart taking the rate from my one year anniversary 2/16/19 to trade in 11/16/19. My projected SOH @ 100,000 miles would be 85.05%... A 12 bar LEAF. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But what if the bump up didn't happen (although its quite common) what if it was a zero bump? Then my projected SOH @ 100,000 miles would be 78.97% SOH. Easy to see why Nissan maintained the warranty degradation. I literally have no chance. It also reveals a possible motive why Nissan is now using the 40 kwh pack to warranty 30 kwh packs. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCzyENr-jOwm2K8uCJZAUHNbFGQaVgxyuqk1eTxWwa3tbZwVph0i8yfQWf_D5OMZqA6SbHg1qM4ouIELEQyMzEjWBqHIVleX0Kcca-ekv4GAFlEZ-Vm9RES-J0vTsVI7H6iC-3bZjvo8/s1084/E+Plus+100K+miles+projection.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="1084" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCzyENr-jOwm2K8uCJZAUHNbFGQaVgxyuqk1eTxWwa3tbZwVph0i8yfQWf_D5OMZqA6SbHg1qM4ouIELEQyMzEjWBqHIVleX0Kcca-ekv4GAFlEZ-Vm9RES-J0vTsVI7H6iC-3bZjvo8/w640-h276/E+Plus+100K+miles+projection.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">2019 E Plus</div><div style="text-align: left;">When I talked about phases above, it was probably a bit of a head scratcher to you but after seeing this chart, it becomes clearer. Extrapolating this chart will be a lot less accurate since we have barely over half the data the 40 has and several projections using different points on the graph ranged from 60 to 74% SOH (July 1 and July 24) So I took another view taking the degradation from the last adjustment to now and doubling it to get 81.57% which I have to think won't happen. Not doubling the rate puts me at 87.3% a more likely result. Either way, you will know what I know when it happens. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Piling On The Miles...Or Not</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I got my 2018 when I was still doing the inventory job so my driving was extreme. My first two adjustments I had done nearly 4500 miles on each. Realize the first adjustment, I had only had the car less than two months. Needless to say, I DC'd a lot. Remember, it was 87% DC and that includes a few stretches of a few months when I did no home charging. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2018 Adjustments; Apr/Jul/Oct/Jan</div><div style="text-align: left;">#1; -0.67% SOH on 4499.0 miles total 1.30% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#2; -1.31% SOH on 4243.2 miles total 1.87% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#3; -1.20% SOH on 3254.8 miles total 1.71% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#4; -1.55% SOH on 3054.0 miles total 1.73% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#5; -0.92% SOH on 2637.8 miles total 1.07% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#6;+0.97% SOH on 2642.9 miles total 0.72% rise</div><div style="text-align: left;">#7; zero change on 3532.7 miles total 0.40% drop </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The S Plus showed up 4 months before COVID hit and I still had NCTC till February along with a $250 EVgo credit. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">2019 Plus adjustments; Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct</div><div style="text-align: left;">#1; -2.35% SOH on 3267.1 miles total 2.82% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#2; -1.29% SOH on 3265.1 miles total 1.61% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#3; -1.13% SOH on 4123.2 miles total 1.59% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;">#4; -0.37% SOH on 2898.0 miles total 0.49% drop</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Notes; Adjustment 3 covered my labor share assignment when I was working at a different facility. It was just under 100 miles roundtrip 4 days a week for 6 weeks. It was "profitable" I banked $215 a week in untaxed travel pay all while using up my $250 EVgo credit. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">About halfway between #3 and #4 is when I went to all level 2 charging and a lot less driving. The totals look ok but that is because school was out and my Son and I could take any day of the week for road trips so lot of "short" 200-300 miles trips were in there. Now that school is in, the only day we have to really do any traveling is Saturday which is just about my least convenient day. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The 2018 bounced around quite a bit so hard to discern any real trends until the very end but the Plus is very predictable. The "total" you see in the last column is the adjustment plus the daily drops. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusions</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sorry... way too early to tell with any certainty which is why more data is important to the process. This means several LEAF Spy data points spanning years. Many 2018's will be hitting year 4 in the next few months and those data points are valuable but less so if we don't have your 2½ year data or your 2 year data. I am guessing you figured out by now that this post was less a one year review and more a plea for more battery data. The MANY points mentioned briefly I will delve into more at a later date and that includes why charge management is more important than you think. I will also have more insights to my "keep it low" SOC experiment which will end around June. Hopefully by then the vaccine will be available and being rejected by millions (a sad and unavoidable fact I'm afraid) but traveling in relative safety will be an option for the more sensible people among us. </div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-74405268696680519982020-11-20T15:45:00.001-08:002020-11-20T15:45:44.285-08:00One Year LEAF Plus Review<p>Just over a year ago, November 12, 2019 I received a call from Ray Raied Issak of Campbell Nissan of Everett WA that was more than a bit unexpected. I was entering the 20th month of my 2018 LEAF S 40's 36 month lease when I was offered the chance to upgrade to a Plus at the same monthly cost. Well, to say I thought there was a catch is a bit of an understatement but it was 50% more range, nearly double the DC charging speed so he definitely had my interest!</p><p>Now, I knew there would be a change on the backend because the Plus was simply more expensive so something had to change. My 40 kwh which I had thought about buying had a residual under $10,000 and its degradation had all but slowed to a crawl so my original 170 miles of range (Remember, YMMV) was down to around 158 to 160 miles. I could live with that. But the thought of a faster charger, the end of NCTC and the per minute billing of the day had me thinking that this was simply too good an opportunity to pass up so I resisted my knee jerk "Hell yeah" decision...and slept on it... Sleep didn't fix a thing so we set a time to swap cars. </p><p>November 16th, I jumped in my car, set the NAV for traffic issues since this would be my 3rd car from Ray and I knew the way and off I went past a half dozen LEAF dealerships to THE best LEAF salesman in the Pacific Northwest. Ray was actually the best nationwide twice...or 3 times? Either way, he is VERY good at his job! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Pluses </span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Power</span></b></p><p>Ok, it VERY noticeably faster than my 40 kwh LEAF to the point of being a bit scary. In a year, I have had it to the floor like 3 times and that is probably 2 times too many so if power is your thing, its got it but you probably need different tires. Ecopias simply spin too easily.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Range</span></b></p><p>So I haven't really tested the range other than 3 times. I did one trip during Winter and although not very cold with more than half the trip in the mid 40's with only the very end dipping into the 30's, it rained nearly the entire time including some pretty good downpours. I was testing L2 chargers on the route so it was more than the normal in and out of the car which means running defrost more than usual was unavoidable but the car performed fine. </p><p>Since I stopped to charge a bunch of times even if only briefly, I can only estimate the range to be just under the EPA rating of 226 miles. I was expecting over 200 miles of range so this was a pleasant surprise. As always, YMMV and this trip was the usual minimal climate control trip as much as could be done anyway. </p><p>I did do over 272 miles with no charging stops with relative ease which is code for saying range anxiety did not play a part. The original route was about 265 but I had so much left I did some around town errands after my return with 275+ likely possible and yeah, traffic congestion played a part but that is everyday situation here with very few options to avoid it if going North. </p><p>Note; All things are relative and I recently realized when I was putting this together that my perception has changed; what used to be a road trip isn't anymore. Any trip that requires less than 30 minutes of DC charging doesn't qualify in my mind and I did quite a few trips in the 300 mile range. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Charging</span></b></p><p>It started out hot but didn't last and my relationship with Electrify America has soured considerably. They expanded well moving into 4 of my 6 desired regions but the real goldmine was the ability to pull 200 amps while paying 18 cents a minute under their $4 a month subscription plan but then the veil was removed and Electrify America was revealed for who they are; NAZI's!!</p><p>Ok...maybe that was a bit over the top but they are thinly disguised Germans pretending to be an American company. First they throttled the Chademo down to 120 amps making Webasto and Blink faster. Then they went to a ridiculous 41 cents/kwh rate which means they now occupy the same brain space as Blink and its 49 cents/kwh rates for charging options. </p><p>But it was awesome while it lasted. Getting a significant range boost in less time it took to leave some pee was totally cool! But as one fades, another emerges. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has finally decided to get serious about providing public charging services. Yeah, they have had free level 2's for a few years now but few in anything remotely resembling convenient locations and...well its level 2. Great if there are amenities or near places where business needs to be conducted which these weren't. Case in point; The free level 2 at the regional office in Olympia a few miles from my house existed for a few years before my first visit. This is a FREE station and you know me...can't leave them alone! </p><p>So it was with HUGE gratitude I plugged into PSE's new complex in Lacey and got over 200 amps! and it was at 25 cents/kwh...higher than the heyday of EA, but still quite reasonable! This was the first in a series they plan to build. We need to show some support here! Hopefully this will lead to many more locations! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Safety and Convenience</span></b></p><p>Ok, some of this was there starting in 2018 but still worth mentioning because of the seemingly huge number of LEAFers who either don't know about this or doesn't use it.</p><p>One of the best features is the TPMS screen which shows individual tire pressures on each wheel AND they are self registering. When I rotate tires, it takes a few power cycles but the new positions are recognized. Pretty cool! </p><p>Another cool perk is the steering wheel heater now has memory. Before I had to turn it on every time I got in the car. Now, it remembers its last status and repeats it. So I turn it on in November, turn it off in May. Saving the button cycle count! Keep in mind, its still on a timer so an occasional re energizing is needed. One thing I did test was letting it time out and it still came back on on the next trip!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Lemonade</span></b> </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Licensing</span></b></p><p>Ok, I like Lemonade so I will start with what I like. In WA, we are blessed with the ability to support our local charging infrastructure. Every year we pay $75 to fund that endeavour. Naturally the roads also need some love so an additional $150 goes to them. Like any tax, it works better for some than others. (A glance at trump's tax returns verifies this) To this date; the charging infrastructure has seen many new stations installed so its easy to see where that money is going. So lets look at the cost of EVing Washington State. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Fuel</span></b></p><p>We pay one of the highest prices for gasoline in the country so its easy to see why EVs are so popular. Having just sprung for $300 for my tabs a few weeks ago (taken from the account that was supposed to pay the sales tax on the car. FYI; got enough in there for several more years of tabs) sometimes we need to remember how it used to be. </p><p>WA bills us 51.9952 cents a gallon for gas. The feds tack on 18.4 cents which means 70.3952 cents for every gallon we buy supposedly goes to fix the roads or the same place our $150 EV tab fees supposedly goes. So why am I adding both the state and federal tax when the EV Tab is a WA thing? Well, I challenged anyone to show me how to get gas w/o having to pay both and still waiting for an answer so until that happens, we will deal in reality, not semantics. </p><p>Having a huge concern for my footprint decades before EVs started becoming mainstream, I naturally drove the car that came closest to my goals; The Prius. I got 3 of them and like my LEAFs, two of them were tax free. Hypermiling was a new term probably invented by Prius drivers chasing the 50 MPG goal which we all soon found was rather easy to achieve. Even with two highway trips to Disneyland, I had a lifetime average in my 2010 Prius just over 53 MPG. I thought it was super cheap transportation. Since I have gas receipts for the car, a "scenario" which is often tilted is not needed here. Again, reality wins. For this, we will use the last Prius owned; a 2010 Prius purchased May 13, 2009. </p><p>During my Prius' 66,000+ mile journey, I consumed 1245.78 gallons of gas costing $4096.98 or 6.2 cents per mile. Granted some of time involved was during a much more expensive time than the prices we are seeing today. Those trips to California were EXPENSIVE! and included the highest price paid @ $4.319 a gallon! A more recent example would be my Corolla that cost $1811.69 averaging 6.78 cents per mile. It did pay prices comparable to what we are seeing today including a lot of sub $2/gallon gas. Ahhh, those were the days! As long as you don't breathe too deeply... Its lifetime was 38.14 MPG. I gave it away 5 days after I picked up my 40 kwh. Yeah, it took that long to realize I didn't need it any more. </p><p>Now my Prius was around well before the $75 Hybrid tab fee was a thing so the average tab renewal was probably $80ish but only because of my "DUALPWR" custom plates. The Corolla's last tab fee was $52.75 paid December 2017. </p><p>Anyway, I felt that a per mile cost was the most equitable way of determining fuel costs. No maintenance costs are added. To make the Corolla a relatively cheap car (as cheap as you can get with a car over 230,000 miles that is) I had my Sister go thru the car and fix, update, etc. it before I gave it away and that included a badly needed new set of tires. The Prius also had a new set of tires as well. Other than a few "curb" incidences; none of my LEAFs had the burden of that expense. So that is the gas option. Under 7 cents a mile is not all that bad a deal really. </p><p>So lets look at the EV "scenario" since reality is waaaay too unfair in this analysis. For this scenario; we will toss in home rates at 2.5 cents/kwh (higher than I pay BTW) The $225 tab fee (I know only the $150 is the "fuel" thing but people will whine so...) and say $10 a month for that road trip over 300 miles. That should allow us 2-3 trips out of town per month. </p><p>So in 15,000 miles, my EV would cost</p><p>$225 for tabs</p><p>$120 for public charging</p><p>$345.75 for home charging (Public charging adjustment calculated using Electrify America's 41 cents/kwh averaging 4.0 miles/kwh) </p><p>So that is $690.75 or 4.605 cents per mile. </p><p>There you have!... "it?" Hmmm?? Ok, so EVs are cheaper but something seems "off" in this comparison... How many of you have done that radio promotion that goes something like "For the next two hours KXXX 91 on your FM dial will be selling gas for 91 cents a gallon if you pull into XX station with us playing!" </p><p>In reality, free EV charging is not uncommon and many EVers use it extensively to the point where many have no home or public charging costs. I used to be that way but the added range of the Plus has me not seeking out free charging unless its simply convenient to the day's agenda but I would feel amiss if I didn't mention it. Now, it will not be part of the "My tab fees are unfair" argument but it "is" reality...</p><p>After a year and 14,726.1 miles, my "real" cost is $141.39 cents and to be fair, that does include NCTC to Feb of this year, the $250 credit for the Plus lease and current price reduction thru EVgo to 20 cents/min until the end of the year. Include in the total above is $60.53 in public charging fees paid mostly to Electrify America. So my cost will go up on year 2. My guess; it will approach but not exceed the scenario above. Again, it won't be used as ammunition in the tab fee wars but just so you know what is possible. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Glitches</span></b></p><p>Like any computer, even one on wheels, glitches are a thing and my LEAF is no different. Like several versions before, this one also redirects airflow randomly. I also notice that occasionally, my steering wheel controls for the audio system don't work. So can't change channels or adjust the volume. But then again, up until 2004, couldn't do that with any previous car I had. Like driving a stick; once you learn, you never forget so a small thing, this audio bug. </p><p>Another recurring issue is improper charge termination. This can be fixed by simply power cycling the car a few times or resetting the fault codes with LEAF Spy or disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a few seconds. Hard to blame this on the car considering the abuses public charging stations take both by EVers and outright vandalism but it happens so here it is. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Wants</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Seats</span></b></p><p>Recently I had the chance to drive the most iconic LEAF in the Pacific Northwest; Steve Marsh's 100,000 2011 SL. Peppy with a new pack, I have to admit it was then that I realized two things; </p><p>The power in my Plus is EXTREME and</p><p>The seats have taken a step back. I did realize my <a href="https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2020/10/september-2020-drive-report-my-all.html">hip issues</a> were less the seats and more a drawback of one pedal driving. Using cruise control more (I never used it before as it is not the way for best efficiency) goes a long way towards fixing my issues but those 2011 seats were simply AWESOME!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Steering Wheel Heater</span></b></p><p>Another thing I would love to see is a high/low switch on the steering wheel heater. A lot of people didn't like it when the 2013's came out with them because they would cycle from very warm to cold. I loved the very warm part. Some thought it was hot but then again, some don't like coffee. Shocker, isn't it!! Now my steering wheel heater gets warm and stays that way...warm. So give me the "very" switch! </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Drive modes</span></b></p><p>E Pedal has memory. In settings, we can set it so its on all the time or controlled by the switch next to the Eco button which also has memory. So why doesn't B mode have memory? I don't do D. Its too caffeinated for my tastes. I want the caffeine in me, not driving me. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Horn</span></b></p><p>I don't know what I am doing but lately it seems like I am a "distracted driver" magnet. Experiencing two very close incidents in less than a week made me realize my horn isn't cutting it. One incident had me moving over TWO lanes to avoid someone redesigning the side of my car and I had the horn "bleeping" the entire time. I began to wonder if they could even hear the horn? Expect a blog on addressing that concern. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">LEAF Spy, Batteries and Degradation</span></b></p><p>Finally the BIG thing and as I frequently do, this post has rambled on way too long which means many of you won't make it this far so looks like I will have to make this a two parter. </p><p>Although I won't likely post it until tomorrow, I can tell you it is the deepest dive into LEAF Spy data I have done so if you are into that, you might like part two better. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-733722980438158452020-11-05T10:55:00.001-08:002020-11-05T11:49:15.837-08:00To Pump Or Not To Pump? <p> A Facebook post on one of the LEAF groups asking about the low tire pressure symbol on the dash. More than a dozen chimed in that they also saw it as well and its Winter which is a bit concerning. Like all dash warnings, they come on when the situation is quite dire. Since Nissan already low balls the tire pressure recommendation is it imperative to check those pressures EVERY time you drive the car. </p><p>The new LEAFs makes it easy. Starting in 2018, Nissan started listing individual pressures on each wheel and these are self registering so no need to keep track of the changes in position when rotating tires. Like all TPMS systems, it takes a few seconds for the tires to measure the pressure but this is something you should do before traveling too far. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCtqzKZD6wMfUPthUlCzVI-jbV_DDu96fit4DH2vYXe1ADLBXWI256GL4BCRuqbrcuQbRW6ho_S9YVltWktcnaMhqbUen_n8GUa9Me9mQcJ9yN4JKP1RrGFCh4zvcPBdgLUBniMLCbkc/s4032/PXL_20201105_173458570.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCtqzKZD6wMfUPthUlCzVI-jbV_DDu96fit4DH2vYXe1ADLBXWI256GL4BCRuqbrcuQbRW6ho_S9YVltWktcnaMhqbUen_n8GUa9Me9mQcJ9yN4JKP1RrGFCh4zvcPBdgLUBniMLCbkc/w563-h316/PXL_20201105_173458570.MP.jpg" width="563" /></a></div><br /><p>To access this menu option, use the steering wheel buttons to scroll horizontally thru the options. The one you are looking for is the one just left of the options menu or the "Information" screen. Notice the vertical dots on the left side of the display? Those represent how many subcategories are contained within that menu. </p><p>The information button has 4 subcategories and two of them should be used frequently. The Trip computer is my default screen which makes checking tire pressures that much easier since its just a single click up to see the TPMS screen</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoh7Y2SxkTwjCBqplLoBRmMqlUQ3zMXqCzbWABNDiaLpRzUIQ6P6xMuPUAdhxmpMujprlLD7vfRBmD8NIWRGIyrhqimv6WW278fSvbxzo53gw-2XlHk-QgdYP01fhUKWkdp766NeCG4A/s4032/PXL_20201104_150452477.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHoh7Y2SxkTwjCBqplLoBRmMqlUQ3zMXqCzbWABNDiaLpRzUIQ6P6xMuPUAdhxmpMujprlLD7vfRBmD8NIWRGIyrhqimv6WW278fSvbxzo53gw-2XlHk-QgdYP01fhUKWkdp766NeCG4A/w606-h340/PXL_20201104_150452477.MP.jpg" width="606" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Notice we are now on subcategory "3" </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Why is it important to check pressures right away? Tire pressures should be set during the coldest part of the day. That is hardly convenient but the general idea is to check them before driving too far because tires heat up unevenly. The heating of the tires is directly due to flex. The more the tires flex, the more energy is robbed from the motive force used to get you down the road so your efficiency drops. Well, that energy has to go somewhere and it goes two places; degrading the tire and heating up the air inside it. Obviously, the goal here is less flex. This means longer tire wear and better range but there are caveats. A less flexible tire has less traction. In most cases, you will be fine unless you are a tailgater or speeder, or...something. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So balance is the key. Many choose the Nissan recommendation of 36 PSI and this is the least efficient option. You will have less tire life and lower range. Others choose the maximum tire pressure listed on the sidewall; typically 44 PSI and this gives you the best tire life, the best range, and the least traction. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So what's the best option? That is for you to choose. But this is also why I am writing this. The #1 cause of tire failure is low pressure. The ideology that a tire will "pop" if inflated too much is actually quite laughable. Those days all but ended when steel belted radials came along. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So the real danger happens when you stray outside the range set above; below 36 PSI or over 44 PSI. Since we are talking "cold" pressure, seeing 46 or even 47 PSI on your tires after an hour of timing laps on a roundabout is not only normal but expected. Its all about the law of reality AKA Physics. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So we need to be not too low or not too high. So are we looking at the lazy way or the smart, diligent and much harder way? </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, the easy way is to set it and forget it. We really only need to adjust when the temperature changes so if you haven't already, now is the time. We really only need to do this twice a year. The pressure inside the tires changes roughly one PSI for every 10ºF. In the northern tier, maybe 3X a year. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Lowballing It</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If 36 is your lucky number, you can make it work but it is a lot more work. The problem with living on the edge is you have to be diligent...half the time....and you picked the edge that should get 100% of the attention. Tires work by creating pressure inside that holds the tire to the wheel by its bead. That tire pressure maintains the bead and only a minimal amount of air escapes and can take several days if not weeks before we notice it but it WILL leak.... PERIOD. So checking the pressures EVERY time you drive the car is very important and luckily we now have a process that takes 2 seconds (if you are slow) to check them. Of course, the lower the tire pressure, the lower the integrity of the bead and the faster air leaks out. The #1 cause of tire failure (as mentioned above) is...well, the #1 "avoidable" cause of tire failure is low tire pressure resulting in a bead that loses its integrity easier over bumps, etc. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Bottom line; expect to boost the pressure frequently. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Smartpressuring</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">44 PSI may seem like living on the edge but its not. Again, driving will push the pressure above 44 PSI but that is ok. Tire engineers already accounted for that. Now, just because tires don't have the "this is not a toy, do not place over mouth and nose or suffocation might result" warning doesn't mean they have the same BS legal ramifications to contend with. They do so the "maximum" tire pressure listing is a very very VERY safe thing to do.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">as mentioned above, tires leak. Some leak slowly, some leak faster but they all leak. Now everyone here will contend that theirs don't leak because they have had a set of tires where they set the pressure one time and never went beyond the "look to see if one is lower than the other" method for the rest of that tire's life. FYI; most of these people also complained how bad their tire life was as well. Coincidence? Who knows...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ok so just because there has never been a recorded incidence or air sneaking "IN" to an inflated tire doesn't necessarily mean it couldn't happen but as I understand it; the circumstances that would be needed is quite rare here on Earth. This means "one" car might have an issue but the rest of us should be fine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So yeah, even if in the "44" crowd, occasional airing up on the tires is needed. I wish I could say that I have added air less than a half dozen times since the early 90's (when tire pressure became important to me) but I didn't actually start tracking it until 2004 but discounting major intrusions of the screw variety, I have only added air "off schedule" 13 times and all 13 of those times was before I got my 40 kwh in February 2018. But that was when I had my under 100 mile LEAF and my "trigger" point was 43 PSI. Nowadays, I don't adjust until it gets to 40 PSI which is one reason why I haven't. I do adjust twice a year to account for Summer and Winter temperature changes but that is all. I guess my range concerns have "diminished" 😎</div><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Spread The Work!</span></b></p><p>Ever wonder why birds fly in formation? Its all about efficiency. If you had to flap your arms for weeks at a time, you would understand. The lead bird faces the most resistance due to air currents. When breaking that resistance, the bird creates a wake of lower air pressure where birds following are able to work much less to follow along. Each bird takes its turn leading so no one isover fatigued and the entire group benefits.</p><p>Your tires also see this imbalance. Your front tires guides your car. This means all the inertia your car has is applied to the tire every time you change direction (which in the case of the typical WA freeway driver is every .4 seconds!) which means they wear out faster. They are also the drive wheels and as we know, the new LEAF will spin them tires like crazy. So I would be amiss if rotation was not mentioned. To get the best tire life, you should rotate your tires regularly. </p><p>So the only real question is how often? The answer is "often enough to maximize tire wear but not often enough to be an inconvenience" Now what this doesn't mean is rotate them when its convenient. It means setting a schedule based on something. The easiest way is by mileage interval. The LEAF even has a maintenance setting where you can set reminders to rotate when a certain mileage is obtained. </p><p>Since I average 15,000 miles a year, I rotate every... 4, 5, or 6,000 miles. Why so inconsistent? </p><p>Miles are only equal in length. The wear on the tires is not. Freeway driving provides a lot less wear on the tires. A good example would be Steve Marsh; the "100,000 Mile LEAFer" whose OEM tires lasted him over 70,000 miles! And he kept his tire pressures between 38 and 39 PSI so not even an "extremer" </p><p>So based on that; in Summer, I rotate every 6,000 miles due to a MUCH greater portion of freeway driving due to road tripping. In Winter, its more around town driving which wears out tires faster so it 4,000 miles so it averages to 5,000 miles a year. How you do it is up to you but do it! </p><p><br /></p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-85696394850346702722020-10-17T13:08:00.001-07:002020-10-17T13:08:38.106-07:00September 2020 Drive Report; My All Electric Furniture Hauler! <p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For September 2020, I went 729.3 miles @ 5.0 miles/kwh. Nearly all the charging done at home and no cost yet as the power bill has not dropped yet. Guessing tomorrow. If you are wondering, yes this is one of the lightest driving month in DECADES. I have tracked daily driving statistics since Thanksgiving weekend, 2003. Only in July a few years ago (599.3) was lower and mostly because I was gone for 21 days so car sat in parking lot near Seatac Airport. Even months when I had a gasser did my total never drop this low.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">A better picture would be January 2018 which we all know is when my S 30 was murdered the 19th of the month. I had done over 1100 miles. Took FOREVER to replace her. Didn't get the 40 kwh until Feb 16 so only 12 days left in the month but still managed 866.6 miles.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Now, the full force of CV didn't slow me down (Apr 1668.2, May 1324.2, Jun 1396.9) but smoke stopped me dead in my tracks. Unlike the smoke situation of 2017, I could not drive myself out of harms way. There was simply no place to go. At least at home, I had two room air purifiers including one that claimed an AQI of "good." (about one third the level outside my house)</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Another lesser factor was the end of Summer. Ok, yes its October 1st and its 76º and gorgeous right this very minute. What I meant was school is in session (not in classroom) so roadtrips with Ryland are now restricted to Saturday our only mutual "day off" Either way, I am currently on a 10 day decline for Hx which I think may be a good thing. Adjustment day in 3 weeks!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Bad Seats Issue Resolved! </span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, it should be "solved" since it was never the seats at all. I had gotten to the point where even a 30 minute drive was getting painful so bit the bullet, whipped out the insurance card and headed to the local Ortho clinic for an eval. Luckily Olympia has "Rapid Ortho" a walk in no appointment clinic so the process was quite expedited. Then COVID happened. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>But when getting my initial evaluation and X rays, the Dr suggested that my "single" foot driving could create a situation where muscles get fatigued quicker due to holding a relatively steady but unnatural position. Apparently moving the foot back and forth from throttle to brake was just enough exercise to keep muscles from tightening up. I must say, I never realized how much Washingtonians were into exercise as a lot of car tail lights resemble strobes. He also suggested therapy which was also derailed by CV which ended up being a good thing. During my enforced wait I was also labor sharing which meant a 50 mile one way drive which really aggravated the hip situation so I decided to start using cruise control. I normally avoid it because its not very efficient but this was during the worst infection rate period in WA and I-5 was all but abandoned so it was easy to set a speed and go. I was working the night shift 6 PM to 4:30 AM which meant moving the opposite direction of the major traffic flow as well. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well it worked! Within a few weeks, my hip pain was gone. Not wanting to jump to conclusions as I was also taking muscle relaxers from the clinic but well after they ran out, the hip pain did not return. What was even better was that I didn't have to use CC all the time to prevent the pain from returning. Apparently, it took quite a while to build to the level of pain I was having so random hypermiling here and there didn't result in any discomfort returning. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Seasonal Tire Pressure Plug</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>The change has arrived! Gone are the mornings in the low 50's and here to stay (for 6 months) are the mornings in the 30's. I run my tires around 43 PSI in Summer dropping to 42 PSI in Winter. With the individual TPMS readings on the newer LEAFs, checking pressures is easy so I spend roughly 1.4 seconds on EVERY startup and check them. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason we should adjust is tires should be set during the coldest part of the day. So like first thing in the morning before driving anywhere. Increased pressures as the day warms up is normal and ok. The reason we want to set tires before driving around is because the front tire wear faster which means they heat up faster. This can lead you to undershoot your target pressure. As far as what pressure you choose, I will leave that up to you but NEVER exceed the max tire pressure on the sidewall. Higher pressures do lead to less tire failure and longer tread life. </div><div><br /></div><div>Now the pressure in tires adjust roughly one PSI per 10ºF temperature change. As we know, clear sunny Fall days have one common characteristic in nearly all parts of the country; In the Sun, its glorious but when the Sun drops behind a cloud, it gets cold FAST! </div><div><br /></div><div>The other day, it was a typical Fall day with temps in the fifties but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The Sun felt great and avoiding shade was highly recommended. I was at the mall getting free food for the car (I had to pay for my food) so its not hard to tell which side of the car was facing the Sun</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRmnvseRyzE74K-d-hLXS8N60YijSTV6BrtFsulFMBoNFE1nKIK2e_equOUbUd7NktE1ZyvWen1GepsDdJenaf6yeGFbYLK6vzDa4HzR3XI-AnJigmx7DPzebeJ6b3KV9BbtTt-gxl-g/s4032/PXL_20201015_210129105.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRmnvseRyzE74K-d-hLXS8N60YijSTV6BrtFsulFMBoNFE1nKIK2e_equOUbUd7NktE1ZyvWen1GepsDdJenaf6yeGFbYLK6vzDa4HzR3XI-AnJigmx7DPzebeJ6b3KV9BbtTt-gxl-g/w360-h640/PXL_20201015_210129105.MP.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Reboot, Reset</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div>Previously I mentioned that my climate control would change settings by itself. The most common is going from "Face" to foot/windshield when AC was on. The 2nd most common was "foot" to foot/windshield when heat was on. Then again, as often as I use heat, maybe its the most common and I can't tell? </div><div><br /></div><div>Either way, the LEAF is very much a rolling computer and like all computers, it glitches at times. Be it the center screen spontaneously rebooting or the AC flipping out, they all boil down to annoyances than real issues. </div><div><br /></div><div>Recently I began to notice that occasionally my steering wheel controls stop working. Now, only the audio controls are affected so I can still change the displays on the driver's screen but can't change radio stations or adjust the volume. Power cycling the car fixes it. One of these days, I might...nahh...probably won't. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Per Minute Verses Per Kwh</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Yeah, this debate rages on online. So many people are happy with Electrify America's decision to go with per kwh billing where allowed which is something they obviously did not think thru or they are driving around in 15 kwh EVs. They also reduced per minute billing to 12 cents with plan, 16 cents w/o. Yeah, that's right. I was paying $4 a month to get 18 cents a minute but now you can get 16 cents a minute with no subscription fee, no connect fee if you are lucky enough to live in the right area I guess! </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Kwh</span></b> </div><div><br /></div><div>The main argument here is that this makes it fair for people with slower chargers, smaller packs. As we know, the higher the SOC, the slower the DC charges. Some cars go full speed (on 50 kw) to 80% which is great but others like the Gen One LEAF starts slowing below 50% SOC. Combined with degradation in an already limited range vehicle; this means charging to a higher SOC which means a long time on the station. In this scenario, per minute pricing quickly becomes costly. So the remaining people still driving early edition EVs are benefited. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Per Minute</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Like any emerging technology, REV 1.0 quickly becomes obsolete and EVs are no different. Their resale value plummets to nothing, they can't do as much as fast or "as cheaply." That is the way of things. The solution is simple; get rid of it and get something shiny and new. Not the cheap way to go for sure but the increased utility, decreased range anxiety and simply the joy of posting fast fast charging speeds online is the benefit. Likely still not the wisest investment one can make so being derailed on one of the reasons to upgrade is simply unacceptable...or at least adds a cloud to the purchase process. </div><div><br /></div><div>The benefit of the bigger charger and the bigger battery is simply being able to cover your needs before the DC charge rate starts its decline. My S Plus charges at full speed on 120 amp machines (50 KW if you prefer) to 70% SOC, 200 amp machines (80 KW) to 45% (interestingly enough, at 70% SOC, I am still above the 120 amp rate) so yeah, it was nice to pay 18 cents/minute and see speeds up to 206 amps on Electrify America. But then they cut Chademo to 120 amps (or less in some cases) This was lower than before as my 40 kwh charged at 125 amps on the nose at 3 different locations. Before the cut in speed, I was paying 16 cents/kwh usually cutting the charger off when speeds dropped below 60 KW. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Favoritism</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>So there are arguments for both sides here and if that was all, then ok. Sucks, but that is life, right? Well, that isn't all. In some areas of the country, Electrify America just decided to cut rates BIGTIME including a 33% reduction to its subscription base dropping the per minute rate to 12 cents/kwh. Pay as you go was even better with a 16 cents/kwh rate and no connect fees. </div><div><br /></div><div>So why didn't we have that option? Our rates were raised for nearly EVERYONE but a few and their rates were cut? IOW, we got screwed. EA's stated reason for the change was based on what customers wanted. But 31/43 cents/kwh for the area of the country with the lowest average electricity costs? How does that qualify as "what we want??"</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Bottom Line. </span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>In a perfect world, pay per kwh is fine. In my world, it simply is a major downgrade to what we had. </div><div><br /></div><div>"IF" there was enough chargers for everyone, pay per kwh would be fine. I wouldn't care if someone wanted to charge for an hour and 15 minutes to get that extra kwh because there would still be a charger for me. </div><div><br /></div><div>"IF" everyone was put on the same pricing everywhere (like EA said they wanted to do) then our price per kwh should have been a better deal than before, but its not. You literally have to be charging to 90% SOC on a degraded Gen One LEAF to pay that much money. Lets look at basic pricing; 16 cents/min verses 43 cents/kwh. You would have to get 1 kwh every 2.6875 minutes to break even or 22.32 kwh per hour on the hook. </div><div><br /></div><div>22.32 kwh an hour. Now that is an interesting number. My highest charge received on my 30 kwh LEAF was 22.95 kwh but I was on NCTC which meant being on a 30 minute timer. Now the 22.95 was on Webasto which didn't have a timer so I have to say the 22.95 probably happened because I was slightly over on my time. Back then, I generally did no more than 30 minutes as a habit especially on those one pump locations even if there was no one waiting. It was just a habit. </div><div><br /></div><div>In a nutshell, per kwh pricing helps about what? 10% of the current EVers on the road? Well, no. IF all 10% DC'd even occasionally, it would but my seat of the pants estimate from the aggregate data of several failed surveys says that "maybe" ¼ of them DC more than a few occasions PER YEAR. </div><div><br /></div><div>But Electrify America claims it was "what we wanted" so lets look at that. Our choice now is 43 cents/kwh here or 16 cents a minute elsewhere. So I could charge for 60 minutes (something that would very very very rarely happen if EVER!) and pay $9.60. Or I could spend that same $9.60 and get 22.43 kwh (EA appears to do whole kwh billing only so my choice is $9.46 for 22.XX kwh or $9.89 for 23.xx kwh. Before the slowdown, I was getting 22 kwh in less than 20 minutes so my cost "there" would be $3.52. After the slow down, it would be around $5. </div><div><br /></div><div>So why the HUGE difference? Even at the lower charging rate, my cost has nearly doubled. What about the one forth of the 10% crowd that EA is supposedly concerned about? What would they pay on each? Well, the problem with Gen One LEAFs is they don't charge to 100% on DC. They charge to about 90%, give or take. So if rolling on electofumes, they might get 16 to 18 kwh? Here, that is $6.88 to $7.74 but "there" they would be charging likely an hour so their cost is still higher but lower than the old pricing, right? </div><div><br /></div><div>IOW, at best a half assed solution no matter how you look at it. So for the 90% of us which likely consists of 99% of the DC usage, we got screwed. Yeah, that means the people cheering about the change. Yep you bud! <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If EA was DA</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, if "Dave's America" public charging was doing this. I would have gone with a mixed pricing scheme. To be clear; there is no requirement to bill by the kwh "anywhere" Now, tiered pricing shouldn't be an alien concept since EA had it already. They also had customary pricing for certain cars who were being billed tier 2 rates despite the fact that their car could achieve tier two speeds. </div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously the ideal solution is simply build more stations and make them per kwh only but exactly how much money should we pay (yeah, its OUR money EA is spending BTW) to cater to the ¼ of 10%?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now if EA's aim was more revenue, maybe they need to realize how much business they lose with one Chademo at each location. Last Summer, I saw THREE at one location. One charging, the other two talking about which station to divert to. Believe it or not, neither used Plugshare and had no idea Tumwater Webasto existed. They did know about Olympia Nissan and were discussing failed charging attempts and workarounds when I walked up. Now EA supposedly closely monitors plugshare so I started doing failed check ins every time I happened upon a site where the lone Chademo was in use and other CCS only stations were sitting around bored with nothing to do. But after more than a year and a half of doing that, it doesn't appear to be working so maybe its time to bombard EA's customer service line with calls and emails complaining about the new pricing structure. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Moving</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>I should have taken way more pictures but most of you have already been there and done it so I do have one. Because my move was two fold; one to storage and one to mi casa, I did it over 11 days and several dozen trips. 8 to pack, 3 to unpack although the last day had nearly nothing to haul. I did have one pickup truck load of help but the rest was all LEAF !</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoNoKVWkkdNcLQSifu7PWEuM-r3f0SWiJAltQZL-meS4iUG6o1V4RsYJgSjFeFxrJEK7eLCMvGGz7CuZIi-_dt92-nsA_uX7iFgk1LO-BHKeXfnq5gPvCASU4Hq9MDX5ga9xuyCDZPd4/s4032/PXL_20201003_010446259.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoNoKVWkkdNcLQSifu7PWEuM-r3f0SWiJAltQZL-meS4iUG6o1V4RsYJgSjFeFxrJEK7eLCMvGGz7CuZIi-_dt92-nsA_uX7iFgk1LO-BHKeXfnq5gPvCASU4Hq9MDX5ga9xuyCDZPd4/w640-h360/PXL_20201003_010446259.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-87443035314127214202020-09-18T15:12:00.000-07:002020-09-18T15:12:35.554-07:00August 2020 Drive Report; Back to Home Charging! <p> Ok, I admit it should be the "almost September Drive Report" but life has been hectic. First COVID canceled several planned road trips so had more money and time left over than I had planned for but being evicted quickly spent the money and monopolized all my time. So almost the entire month was done on public only charging. Luckily I was able to find a place that checked off nearly every box (I was SHOCKED at my good fortune!) and was able to plug in at home during the last week of the month. <br /></p><p>Despite having an all time high of public charging fees of $31.20, my record 106.31 kwh of free L2 courtesy of Volta mostly with a bit of PSE tossed in (more about them later) took my spending to about the norm. </p><p>For the month I went 1256.7 miles averaging 5.29 miles/kwh (a LOT of in town driving loading then unloading my storage unit helped here) with an all in cost of $33.77 or 2.69 cents per mile. Yeah, still great value but also much higher than what I am used to and looks like I will have to get used to that. (more about that later) </p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Public Charging</b></span></p><p>Electrify America quickly degraded from "the one" to "completely out of the question" unless of course, there is nothing else and that scenario of few options is slowly but surely evaporating away. </p><p>First off, they throttled Chademo. I reported here and everywhere else about getting 200 amps or more from them at a cost of 18 cents a minute prompting me to purchase my first EVER subscription to a service. But then they turned the stations down to 125 amps or less making the speed the same as what everyone provides. At 18 cents a minute, if I charged a lot, it would still be cheaper but with one plug per location, EVgo was looking better and better. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>COVID Care</b></span></p><p>In April, EVgo announced a 25% reduction in pricing with no subscription fee needed if you were affected by COVID 19. Well, as I see it, EVERYONE was affected in one way or another so the discount was simply there for the asking. In my case, I was working at another location to help cover their massive increase in orders that changed my 24 mile roundtrip commute into a 48 mile ONE way drive. So I got the 20 cents/min rate and it was extended several times and now its good to the end of the year. Great deal and nicer as most locations have 2 or more Chademos to choose from! I only had to send an email pleading my case. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pay by KWh</b></span></p><p>As mentioned above, EA's rate of 18 cents a minute was still reasonably attractive since I was still averaging 24-26 cents/kwh but then the bombshell dropped. I don't know what WA did to deserve EA's rath but did they ever put the screws to us. </p><p>Not only did they change to per kwh pricing of 31 cents/kwh with the $4 a month plan but they also dropped rates in other parts of the country to 12 cents/minute on the $4 plan and 16 cents/min ala carte! </p><p>Despite paying the lowest electricity rates in nation, we are now billed the highest rates in the nation! So if you drive a Gen One LEAF or regularly charge to 90% SOC or higher, rejoice. You got what you wanted. As for me; EA who? <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">PSE Charge and Go</span></b></p><p>What goes around, comes around. I lost one charging option only to gain another! At the beginning of September, the loooooong awaited entry of PSE (Puget Sound Energy) into the public charging arena was finally here! Now, I am not talking about a miniscule scattering of free level 2's. This was a charging complex anchored by two 150/100 KW DC's! For the eco warrior; all Charge and Go complexes will be 100% renewable energy. </p><p>Billing is handled by Greenlots and yeah that means putting money in an account that would "normally" be difficult to get out but unlike EA (EA who! 😆) where its all but impossible to run your account balance below $10, Greenlots has an option where you can turn off auto reload and run the balance to zero. Realize that when this happens your charge session ends. In the grand scheme of things, I don't care that much but still nice to have the option. I did run my account down to see how quickly they would pull the plug and they did it a bit prematurely leaving me with a balance of 14 cents. Since they are billing 25 cents a minute, guessing their system only verifies there is enough to complete that minute before allowing the charge to continue. Despite that, the 25 cents per minute charge is prorated. </p><p>But it was so nice to get my time back! I plugged in and peaked at 201 amps. Since my time is valuable (did I mention I am on a 4 day weekend and due to smoke, have nothing to do?) I unplugged when the rate slowed to a crawl of 65 KW. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6LdIYnELh7s55677toM1vMkz5vDcpRpksbgUCHWzUmsynIJih8tdXxmWVQFJgTayXvP0hjMhPR72P8D8yLNQenLMoiVPM_OtRn8qTDwQkoTw-TW3f_-kYZakJvsFst2BqYdM1WkUWIM/s2880/Screenshot_20200917-123115.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2880" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT6LdIYnELh7s55677toM1vMkz5vDcpRpksbgUCHWzUmsynIJih8tdXxmWVQFJgTayXvP0hjMhPR72P8D8yLNQenLMoiVPM_OtRn8qTDwQkoTw-TW3f_-kYZakJvsFst2BqYdM1WkUWIM/w570-h285/Screenshot_20200917-123115.png" width="570" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Notice the tiered charging? I had seen evidence of this before but this the </div><div style="text-align: center;">most defined curve yet. </div><p>Since this was more a "demo" charge than anything (the station is less than 2 miles from my house) , I plugged in at over 30% SOC which I would normally never do but despite the less than ideal charging conditions, I still managed 22.4 cents/kwh. I am confident I can get it to near 20 cents/kwh under the right conditions. </p><p>Now this is the first of only 7 locations but not bad for their maiden project. I do think that PSE will rapidly expand the program. The Puget Sound region is one of the leaders in electrified mobility and this should be a win win for everyone. Combined with a large renewable portfolio, this simply makes sense. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Sleeping In My Bed!</span></b></p><p>As we know (then again maybe some of you don't since I didn't put out a July Drive Report) I was evicted from my home of 7 years in July. I do need to thank Crystal for allowing me to stay in her home for 6 weeks while I searched for a suitable home for my car but it was not easy. Prices had gone up more than I expected. The medium rent on a one bedroom home was now $1400! INSANE! </p><p>What was almost as insane was the number of scams on Craigslist. Nearly every ad I saw there had to be cross referenced with Zillow and other sources before I could consider them a valid option so when my new place came up, I thought it was a scam. 2 bedrooms, garage w remote, 200 sq feet bigger than my old place? No way it should have been on my targeted search but it was and I was in! </p><p>Now, I mentioned above that my home charging costs will go up and the reason why? My 2.2 mile move from Olympia (wasn't actually in the city limits BTW) to Lacey came with a BIG jump in city tax. My first electric bill came out to 9.78 cents/kwh up from the 8.65 cents/kwh I was paying but that is not all. The new home has electric heat which means I will be paying tier 2 rates all winter. So the sub 2 cents per mile will likely be a summer time thing only from here on out. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Note;</span></b></p><p>Trying to get info from PSE on the other 6 locations for Charge and Go has been all but impossible so asking that anyone who sees anything to report back here! As always, I will let you know when I know! </p>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-64664175084847867882020-07-03T11:38:00.001-07:002020-07-03T13:31:30.143-07:00June 2020 Drive Report; How Roadtripping Is Done! As the weather has eased into Summer...sort of, road trips were going to be common. With the new E Plus range, it was rather easy to reach previously "very" difficult to reach places. BUT...as life does, it has tossed a wrench into the process. My landlord is dying so her family is divesting all her assets which includes my house. So the place was sold and I am being evicted July 31st so July's road trips have to be put on hold but since I only got the notice on Monday it was too late to change all my plans so I still managed to get in two trips!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Numbers</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">miles; 1396.9</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">kwh used 300.61</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">miles/kwh 4.65</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">Home charging; 320 kwh (all time record for plus)</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">Public charging cost $6.50 (16.4 cents per kwh)</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">Home cost $27.68</span><br style="background-color: white; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">Cost; $34.18</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;">Per mile; 2.44 cents per mile</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;"><i><b>Note; due to inefficiencies, the numbers DO NOT add up. The miles/kwh figure was calculated using daily trip computer numbers. </b></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
Things to note; I had 2 longish trips mostly freeway done on nice sunny dry days. Freeway speeds were cruise control set to 65 mph. Trips made during the week to minimize traffic issues and I didn't see much of a slow down. Trips were 4.7 miles/kwh and 4.8 miles/kwh. Those two trips goes a long way towards explaining my great efficiency as both were over 250 miles.<br />
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We also see a rare category of public charging fees. Yeah, the gravy train has reached the station so I am back to paying for most of it. Yes, we still have a bundle of free level 2's which I do use if I have business in those areas.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Electrify America Tour</span></b><br />
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As mentioned earlier, Electrify America has 50 KW DC's at their locations but they actually charge at higher rates. EA Lacey I clocked 200 amps but I am also seeing many reports of Souls (which can get to 175 amps) and other E Pluses seeing lower speeds at some stations so I had decided to take a tour of the EA locations that I encounter on various road trips to check their speed status. So far, its been all good news. Battery temps at the start of the charge noted.<br />
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Kelso; 190 amps (80.2/80.6/83.2)<br />
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Lacey; Still 200 amps. (70's)<br />
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North Bend; 191 amps. (89.2/87.8/85.8) Surprising at this temperature!<br />
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Vancouver Plaza; 202.75 amps (75.9/75.6/73.4) A great number and also the coolest pack charge with temps in the mid 70's to begin. Makes me think that a cooler pack might hit 200 amps on the above stations?<br />
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So I have done one of the first in the area and one of the newest (Vancouver Plaza opened June 18th)<br />
So anyone who has an E Plus or a 2018 and newer Soul EV who has seen under 125 amp charging at EA, chime in so I can go check it out. Eventually I plan to hit nearly all of them but that might take a while.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">RapidGate</span></b><br />
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Yes, its still here but better. I stopped at Lacey for a quick boost with pack warmer (99.8/99.0/96.8) and only saw 155 amps @ 28% SOC instead of the usual 200 amps. The charge curve was temperature controlled (nearly steady power) ending at 149.6 amps at 41.6% SOC.<br />
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We can also see on the North Bend charge that we can start with a warmer pack than the 40 kwh pack and still get impressive speeds.<br />
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There are other things to note here but too much info means only half if it gets to its destination so a deeper dive will be in a separate blog when I have more data.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Road Tripping Done Right!</span></b><br />
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Nissan reported a 226 mile EPA range on their E Plus. Yes, the S gets more range due to being lighter but mostly because it has smaller wheels. Smaller wheels means more efficiency and no smaller wheels do not mean smaller diameter or significantly so. the rotations per mile on each wheel size comes nowhere near accounting for the difference in efficiency but that is another story.<br />
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What we need to realize is that Nissan only reported the range the GOM provides us. As we now (or should) know, LEAF Spy allows us to use that hidden range of 10% which in my case is 22.6 miles (EPA rating) Obviously what you actually gets depends on how you drive, etc. YMMV!<br />
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But the real need is all about how far I want to go and how far can "I" go? So I decided it was time to take my Son to the rock, Beacon Rock of course. Its a HUGE rock sitting on the banks of the Columbia about 140 miles from home. So we charged up, drove out there and... The Rock was closed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9D7OQzM8E8OxjF0uyTy9KCLGMIgNQHkk47ajOWcijMYtBgrBsRrP2hvecscDWe2-Jxenb_GoAWtDT5zm8QeKSmizFJCt_EC8bCumbZNHzGVcvJTxPUcgwC2g3bKAhhtafzS65Kp7MpI/s1600/MVIMG_20200701_121441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9D7OQzM8E8OxjF0uyTy9KCLGMIgNQHkk47ajOWcijMYtBgrBsRrP2hvecscDWe2-Jxenb_GoAWtDT5zm8QeKSmizFJCt_EC8bCumbZNHzGVcvJTxPUcgwC2g3bKAhhtafzS65Kp7MpI/s640/MVIMG_20200701_121441.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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View of Beacon Rock taken while standing on shoulder of highway. </div>
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Yeah, directions not needed. Its impossible to miss</div>
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So we backtracked a quarter mile and stopped at Beacon Rock State Park and did the "Rock to Beach" hike. I guess we wanted to see what we were missing<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUItMNRX6pIiVubi5Vz3rcZkyWo8uAF9zvBvnKll7-SciOvHfPVSuz7_WX5meEgOraO-ZlIgWoryd42RlgpTbCM9o-uhnFyjP5zJgsRS1FUFKYMyr45jtJLYF0jT_P_u-x-RgaR_qwpFQ/s1600/MVIMG_20200701_122742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUItMNRX6pIiVubi5Vz3rcZkyWo8uAF9zvBvnKll7-SciOvHfPVSuz7_WX5meEgOraO-ZlIgWoryd42RlgpTbCM9o-uhnFyjP5zJgsRS1FUFKYMyr45jtJLYF0jT_P_u-x-RgaR_qwpFQ/s640/MVIMG_20200701_122742.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now that the side views were done, we switched to top view which meant crossing the highway and heading for the Hamilton Mountain Trailhead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYtquH39-_vLHGpgt_jVa7Cv1Fnt3fjoxZ0-lkLVD-p84Mwkg9EHVyXNt_VQzFr8AHN0IJN1jC4EDVULr1OwXzFqqPF4a5hXGahjLhtq-tkijCNI084WwLKmFiie8m7zB81fxBYlyaVc/s1600/MVIMG_20200701_131159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYtquH39-_vLHGpgt_jVa7Cv1Fnt3fjoxZ0-lkLVD-p84Mwkg9EHVyXNt_VQzFr8AHN0IJN1jC4EDVULr1OwXzFqqPF4a5hXGahjLhtq-tkijCNI084WwLKmFiie8m7zB81fxBYlyaVc/s640/MVIMG_20200701_131159.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Along the way we had several nice detours<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGZOc7b47YpOJDYHrvDT70wz-PIlRgWdMuI4T4Bp__OdUe3QZGzmv_TiSYp-REm44-uWez-bXq_DCz4ei3dVCJAWKTRtxJ2WE7InR_G8H242NJFNd1RrIJgUXv01MWCwyZlsQEPiBFR8/s1600/IMG_20200701_140217.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="898" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGZOc7b47YpOJDYHrvDT70wz-PIlRgWdMuI4T4Bp__OdUe3QZGzmv_TiSYp-REm44-uWez-bXq_DCz4ei3dVCJAWKTRtxJ2WE7InR_G8H242NJFNd1RrIJgUXv01MWCwyZlsQEPiBFR8/s640/IMG_20200701_140217.dng" width="358" /></a></div>
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But we did get our picture! I have another panorama shot but it simply didn't turn out but we can see the top of the Rock!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJBePzqpyG2ujafgcPKB03NzmoqZX3kRpyArdPEHMgCR6CHAoExaT1T-K1Am9EJRyJ3v30Yt5co4gqoiz6xpQBtcAoQPogbhVkwAPgzuW3-8dP4zBD0kV1KObCet6JcOPN_vbI0xKsLbs/s1600/00000IMG_00000_BURST20200701142437783_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJBePzqpyG2ujafgcPKB03NzmoqZX3kRpyArdPEHMgCR6CHAoExaT1T-K1Am9EJRyJ3v30Yt5co4gqoiz6xpQBtcAoQPogbhVkwAPgzuW3-8dP4zBD0kV1KObCet6JcOPN_vbI0xKsLbs/s640/00000IMG_00000_BURST20200701142437783_COVER.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was taken when we were just past the halfway mark. </div>
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After almost 6 hours on the mountain, it was time to jet. Next stop was the nearly brand new Vancouver Plaza Electrify America Station and it didn't disappoint</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLU5pf_6jDrENrK1uu4ETHp7K-OEyUBPtRQB7y9yjtiBa1fY8colq0b4mS1zjImdTK0yp_G9dTar7V1roOaHHPh8rOeV1386F7WnHXTvUTte4gLP_FD9DudUENjdMS1h_K0AnvE3aML8/s1600/Screenshot_20200701-164202.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLU5pf_6jDrENrK1uu4ETHp7K-OEyUBPtRQB7y9yjtiBa1fY8colq0b4mS1zjImdTK0yp_G9dTar7V1roOaHHPh8rOeV1386F7WnHXTvUTte4gLP_FD9DudUENjdMS1h_K0AnvE3aML8/s640/Screenshot_20200701-164202.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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202.75 amps! An all time high!</div>
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After 14 minutes, we had just about enough to make it home so we left. Realistically, it was a pee stop charge. The stations were situated at the far end of the Target parking lot so not sure we had enough time for pee and food to go! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfHwIhacMtX_WqsFS_VFujqBATopgTkJ7D-r8lsCR1NJgi5Zkz5nfvEuy9Y2gRNu4csKCcjJGRWAvFJgXgR4D8GK8dnY227L7sbtBRrkit3x1n-7rwrTDPPmOT1VCAdXI3gBjVKaWthQ/s1600/Screenshot_20200701-165752.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="758" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghfHwIhacMtX_WqsFS_VFujqBATopgTkJ7D-r8lsCR1NJgi5Zkz5nfvEuy9Y2gRNu4csKCcjJGRWAvFJgXgR4D8GK8dnY227L7sbtBRrkit3x1n-7rwrTDPPmOT1VCAdXI3gBjVKaWthQ/s640/Screenshot_20200701-165752.png" width="302" /></a></div>
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15.8 cents/kwh is more than acceptable as an on the road</div>
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expense. Again, a weird charging curve as it charged at 202 amps</div>
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for like 6 minutes then suddenly dropped to 191 amps (sound familiar?) </div>
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The final tally; a 300 mile road trip with charging that added maybe 30 minutes to the trip. I will take that any day! FYI; no I did not miscalculate the charge needed. We stopped at Red Robin on the way home and grabbed just about 8%. Realize that "6% GOM" equals "16% LEAF Spy" </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">When An Extra 14 Minutes To Charge Is Too Long</span></b></div>
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Beacon Rock was Wednesday's trip. Thursday it was the Western Olympic Peninsula; home of ZERO DC charging options. The original plan was to do the 101 loop and charge at Dan Wilder Nissan but their normally very reliable DC charger was down and the EA station is not up yet but there was still the downtown charger to use but after mulling it over, I decided that the day after the Rock needed to be a bit shorter so decided on just a short round trip instead. </div>
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The weather reports were not good and rain was predicted (in a rain forest?? How can that be!!) So the idea of a 260 mile trip in a car that did do 260 miles in very good weather, was not all that appealing so I simply added a hike that just happened to be a few hundred yards from Kalaloch Lodge near Forks, WA. (yeah, the vampire place) </div>
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Kalaloch Lodge; SemaConnect Level 2 "drive up, plug in" </div>
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We did the Kalaloch Nature Hike which is on the mountain side of Highway 101 a few hundred yards down the road. Just over 3 miles in distance allowing me to gain 6.91 kwh which was more than enough to make it home. </div>
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On return, it was time to head to our destination; Ruby Beach. I will post only a few shots because there is simply so much to see...well, if you like rocks and driftwood that is.</div>
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Soon, it was time to head home but not before detouring to the "Big Cedar" </div>
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On the way up, it rained about 80% of the time but as soon as we hit the coast, it cleared up. So Kalaloch, Ruby Beach and the Big Cedar, not a drop fell. I couldn't believe our luck but rain covered at least half our trip home with clear skies after cresting the hills just outside Olympia allowing us to bump from 4.2 miles/kwh to our final 4.3</div>
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Total distance was 266.0 miles and still have range to spare! (TBT; I only posted this pix for Gen One LEAFers!) </div>
DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-62467911502430927712020-06-19T11:02:00.001-07:002020-06-20T09:50:24.312-07:00Evaluating Range Needs In A Nissan LEAFPreviously, the car buying decision was all about deciding if the bling A you wanted was worth paying for package Z containing bling A. After that, it was pick the color, negotiate a price and go. Well, things have changed since EVs hit the street. Not only is there the dilemma of several different charging protocols, there is also pack sizes. Nissan has joined Tesla in offering more than one pack size and soon this will be the norm in the industry so what is important to know?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">In The Beginning</span></b><br />
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Back in 2010 when we were all anxiously awaiting the LEAF (the only real option back then) to arrive, we all evaluated our range needs based on two things; Nissan's claim of a 100 mile range and the EPA claim of 80 something miles (later changed to 73 miles due to the 80% charge setting according to them anyway...)<br />
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But that was not real world and despite Nissan issuing a chart detailing several driving scenarios and ranges expected, most people ignored the chart or simply didn't know it existed. There is not one single report of a chart sighting at any dealership in the US... not one.<br />
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But if customers had seen the chart, they would have realized that their 100 mile EV could do no better than 47 miles under certain conditions. I would post the chart but even the chart gets it wrong... Ah! I will post the chart anyway since many do not believe it ever existed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKyrcQEGaxzlOFv2u_UZm6-_Idl7vwEaPVFlNbw3miLRy3dw52zfMrubecPqZPirNEz7IheXr18TpbU_7Bb7zUEZPd-efXNJm13THTMQZkQKNxtOQauQ8-wBaSKMQM_lQSvWwtylsl14/s1600/2011+LEAF+range+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="1248" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKyrcQEGaxzlOFv2u_UZm6-_Idl7vwEaPVFlNbw3miLRy3dw52zfMrubecPqZPirNEz7IheXr18TpbU_7Bb7zUEZPd-efXNJm13THTMQZkQKNxtOQauQ8-wBaSKMQM_lQSvWwtylsl14/s640/2011+LEAF+range+chart.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now that we see the chart, experienced LEAFers will immediately point out that the bottom two ranges are flip flopped. A/C uses nowhere near as much power as the heat. 47 miles in Winter especially with snow on the ground could make even 47 miles a challenge and you didn't have to drive 4 hours to find out!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Driving Blind</b></span><br />
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January 18, 2011 I made the journey about 50 miles to pick up my 2011 SL with charge. I expected to hit the dealership just before noon with my 3 year old Son in tow so expected to be home by late afternoon. That did not happen. This was one of the first LEAF deliveries in the state and my dealer had no clue what was going on. I had intended to purchase the car but while fighting with the dealership over sales tax (of which there was none) I had an epiphany and realized that spending over $28,000 (after credits, etc) for V 1.0 was a mistake.<br />
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So I flipped to a lease. This created another delay. So after spending over 3 hours trying to figure out how to create a lease that did not include sales tax, they finally decided to call corporate who spent about 5 minutes providing them a workaround. To make a long story short, I left the dealership around 7 PM. (I had to return a few days later to sign another lease form anyway)<br />
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Anyway, I am now driving home in the dark of a January night with heat enough to keep my son from freezing (later I realized he is MUCH more cold tolerant than I am) and my range display starts blinking and the dash lights up with all these dire warnings and I am still more than 10 miles from home. I was unceremoniously introduced to the World of range anxiety!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Scotch Tape Is Your Friend</b></span><br />
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Later, I realized that all my panic was for naught. It was a brand new car with nearly 22 kwh of energy of which I could easily use over 20 kwh to get me anywhere. Even in winter (which ours is relatively mild and nowhere near as bad as the scenario in the chart above) I had more than enough range. Soon new acronyms flooded the LEAF online community; LBW, VLB, GOM, POS... (JK on last one!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXcPONqrEdoqmDwcXyj4TS55hV2bNcqMluHl7-Yq1prqdB-Hpn9OuC0h_Av3_hTUTtej6Iaw2l88T7FD6LTYMGr32X6FtQ4UrHz1gYlYIXclHWDgO7qmKxHDcMy2hodtn_H-G20n4ooc/s1600/2012-01-26_16-59-21_23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXcPONqrEdoqmDwcXyj4TS55hV2bNcqMluHl7-Yq1prqdB-Hpn9OuC0h_Av3_hTUTtej6Iaw2l88T7FD6LTYMGr32X6FtQ4UrHz1gYlYIXclHWDgO7qmKxHDcMy2hodtn_H-G20n4ooc/s640/2012-01-26_16-59-21_23.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Jan 26, 2012; A few weeks before GIDmeter. Notice only 3 power circles remain? Proof 100 miles in Winter was possible (No, it was far far far from easy!) </div>
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By now, it was obvious that 100 miles on a charge required a lot of things to go right which means the real question is how far can the average person go? Who was willing to have a tow truck follow them to find out? Realize this was waaaaay before public charging was commonplace. In my city, we had Lacey City Halls level 1 plugs that had been there for years and the summer before, the water treatment plant had a level 2 installed and due to proactive NEVer, we had a half dozen businesses around town offering wall plugs for the needy to plug into but that was about it. Realize how little we had BUT it was much much more than nearly everywhere else in country who had NOTHING.<br />
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But the LEAF was cutting edge tech which naturally drew a lot of techies. Soon DIY projects started popping up. The main goal was digging up what Nissan was hiding under the LEAF dash. Soon, the "Gidmeter" was available in a kit you could build. It's various displays showed voltage, current but the most important thing; it revealed the actual capacity of the pack in GID's.<br />
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Now, we don't really know what a GID actually is other than it counts down as the power is taken from the pack and it counts up when power is added to the pack. Thru some reverse math, observations, etc. It was initially determined a GID was about 80 watt hours of stored power.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYY4aaygTuU-IrYxjCz2wsAzEnBpcemwR-wyIJyROiee2h30y67LgLUYU8bqJA_qxd-52ijxt_DKFIPmPvD7pKvzCm860weTr1rRpKD2lA7MVV264xbgWyj6Fa4dC5maDpxhzE59UP3s/s1600/2012-07-09_07-11-22_190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYY4aaygTuU-IrYxjCz2wsAzEnBpcemwR-wyIJyROiee2h30y67LgLUYU8bqJA_qxd-52ijxt_DKFIPmPvD7pKvzCm860weTr1rRpKD2lA7MVV264xbgWyj6Fa4dC5maDpxhzE59UP3s/s640/2012-07-09_07-11-22_190.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Later, a value of 77.5 watt hours of power was settled on. the 2011-12's had 281 GID at full power while my 2013 had 284 GID and several 2015'ers reported 292 GID (if you ever needed proof Nissan WAS working the battery issue ALL the time, this is it)<br />
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Now we knew how much the LEAF had when full and that was nice and all but not really what we needed. It was all about avoiding walking, pushing, or sitting in the front seat of a tow truck. The real question was how low can we go! (Thank you Limbo dancers for that phrase!) but the GIDmeter allowed us to report to each other what we were able to obtain. Some got to 4, some to 6 before Turtle arrived (the point when LEAF restricts current draw from battery). This allowed us to know within a few 10th of a mile how much range we had.<br />
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Armed with GIDmeter, the "100 mile" challenge quickly lost its appeal. It simply wasn't that hard any more.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgep8Kdw58wTxinXWsUCJu0Nk9lql3O6SS-ppzysZYwws5lJAxJHoeRGbt-oUplDiDyRDaBfQ1imhQhwVfQdKyvHdhdTahdUQj8InwuLAkGRPCZnLmrx18PFM99M6erv03GTX1qgKGwbpo/s1600/2012-06-12_18-19-12_397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgep8Kdw58wTxinXWsUCJu0Nk9lql3O6SS-ppzysZYwws5lJAxJHoeRGbt-oUplDiDyRDaBfQ1imhQhwVfQdKyvHdhdTahdUQj8InwuLAkGRPCZnLmrx18PFM99M6erv03GTX1qgKGwbpo/s640/2012-06-12_18-19-12_397.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Despite being a few miles from 100 with plenty to spare, it was no longer worth </div>
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circling the neighborhood like the "pre GIDmeter" days. </div>
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But despite a ton of pictorial evidence, people still freaked out over the GOM to which we advised; If you want a LEAF with longer range, tape over the GOM and get GIDmeter!</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Degradation</span></b></div>
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Soon the "good old days" (which kinda sucked actually) evolved to the life of plenty. We now have a bunch of charging options.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmKnCbT6K4pxpZ42Jj1dyVNrXQI6YevIhFLTrzhp05lQTm0Hv9Xcdy9DxjX2uJocO3pbNcWwai5C93PAW8o0h73l4V7tANiA60Xr743fzvCUcVH8sqomc2fvrxosh5020bX9hyRXgRQ0/s1600/2012-05-14_12-47-19_201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmKnCbT6K4pxpZ42Jj1dyVNrXQI6YevIhFLTrzhp05lQTm0Hv9Xcdy9DxjX2uJocO3pbNcWwai5C93PAW8o0h73l4V7tANiA60Xr743fzvCUcVH8sqomc2fvrxosh5020bX9hyRXgRQ0/s640/2012-05-14_12-47-19_201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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AV Tumwater May 2012</div>
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Packs grew and soon the challenge was 300 miles but there was still a case of packs degrading. Some went downhill fast, some lasted a long time. This caused a HUGE amount of misinformation on social media including many who thought that Nissan had "fixed" something so the reason they removed the 80% charge setting was because it was now ok to charge to 100% all the time. This couldn't be farther from the truth. There are major physical challenges Lithium based packs face and <b><i>NO AMOUNT OF TMS, BMS</i></b> will fix it and that is higher rates of degradation at high voltages. EVERY EV manufacturer knows this and EVERY EV manufacturer who has TMS also has custom charge settings to help the user preserve their packs. </div>
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To add to the confusion; LEAF battery reports which only evaluates the driver NOT the battery pack had people claiming they still had 100% SOH because they earned 5 stars. Others who admittedly never challenged the range of their LEAFs claiming no degradation while charging to 100% unnecessarily because they still had 12 capacity bars. </div>
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For some reason; many LEAFers thought the #1 reason for degradation was lack of TMS and that is simply NOT TRUE. It definitely doesn't help and heat is a problem but not the main problem. Degradation is a combination of a lot of things;</div>
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Climate</div>
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driving style</div>
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driving need</div>
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charging habits</div>
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DoD (depth of discharge)<br />
Time</div>
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Add in TMS and the list is </div>
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driving style</div>
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driving need</div>
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charging habits</div>
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DoD<br />
Time </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Tale of Two LEAFers</span></b></div>
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The Pacific Northwest, particularly the Puget Sound region of Western Washington has long been known as a sort of "EV Nirvana" Our near idyllic weather which is not too cold, not too hot, has mitigated a lot of the climate issues which minimizes the benefits of TMS here. This is illustrated quite well with Steve "the quarter million mile LEAFer" and John. Both live in the area and have long commutes but there are huge differences in their LEAF experience. </div>
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<b>Steve</b></div>
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Steve had two LEAFs; a 2011 and 2014. Both basically fared the same. Both lost their first bars at just over 70,000 miles. Steve's commute was about 67 miles one way. He charge to full on level 2 every night and plugged in immediately to level 2 charger upon arriving to work in the morning usually being fully charged by early afternoon. His commute was nearly all freeway and he drove conservatively usually around 65 mph. By 100,000 miles both his LEAFs were all but done. DC charging did help him get more use out of his LEAFs but he was all but forced to get something different and at the time 30 kwh was not enough. </div>
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<b>John</b></div>
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John has a 2015 LEAF. His commute was a bit shorter at 50 miles. He charged to full every night on level 2 then stopped at a DC charger near his work and charged up to around 80-90% give or take for the drive home. Unlike Steve, the bulk of his commute was on state highways with speed limits of 55 mph that passed thru several small towns with speed limits dropping to as low as 20 mph. Although his drive seems inconvenient, it avoided the mess on I-5 so really only took a bit more time and was quite a bit less stressful of a drive. At 100,000 miles his LEAF was <b><i>LESS THAN</i></b> <b><i>halfway to losing its first bar. </i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcOW1RsvyhzIjtJTTJHasGVcIpQQ8_EdzpjlHfMYC5uH3PXAA-W2bIfMYZZQS-vGSJlBEi5gwWsb51HiifjcmpL2lwyMNnC_HR_-9hYN7mGlqSTC8AttCHAN5CTNYbIpyoLQZ3_0fkK4/s1600/150000+mile+LEAF+John+Gilligan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIcOW1RsvyhzIjtJTTJHasGVcIpQQ8_EdzpjlHfMYC5uH3PXAA-W2bIfMYZZQS-vGSJlBEi5gwWsb51HiifjcmpL2lwyMNnC_HR_-9hYN7mGlqSTC8AttCHAN5CTNYbIpyoLQZ3_0fkK4/s640/150000+mile+LEAF+John+Gilligan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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12 bars @ 150,000 miles<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b></div>
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<b style="font-style: italic;"><br /></b></div>
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<b>DoD</b></div>
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Now everyone with a 2015 will confirm the "Lizard" pack improvements were nowhere near enough to explain the disparity. So why were these two experiences so different? Climate (and TMS) wouldn't have changed anything. A deeper look suggests that DoD was a key factor. With an estimated 73 miles of range, Steve's commute used 84% DoD (based on 80 mile range) while John's commute used 63% or less. The 2015 pack had more power available but probably less than a kwh over Steve's 2014. Steve charged to 100% twice a day while John only charged to 100% once per day.</div>
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Even if they had it, 80% charging would not have covered their needs very well. It should be noted that the difference in driving conditions and styles probably plays a part. John likely used regen a lot more due to more speed changes required on his route and he prided himself on gentle driving with very modest acceleration and maintaining constant velocity as much as possible. This would have lowered his DoD needs as well. But Steve's real claim to fame (IMHO) was his ability to get over 80,000 miles from his OEM Ecopia's. Yes, he was the first LEAFer to go over 100,000 miles in a LEAF in the US but to my knowledge; his tire longevity record still stands alone with no one even close. This means his driving style was unlikely to be radical. </div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Charging (Again!)</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
I could realistically access a dozen past blogs and simply cut and paste this entire section. I have repeated this information over and over and over. Sadly, Nissan is now the ONLY major EV manufacturer without custom charge settings and it is literally KILLING their reputation. Lithium packs have the same needs and desires as people. They don't like living on the edge. They sweat in the heat, shiver in the cold. They simply want to live a comfortable stress free life just like us. So what does all that mean?<br />
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Lithium prefers life in the middle; 50% SOC as much as possible. (actually its closer to 45% for long term storage) This is the ONLY thing you need to keep in mind when charging the car.<br />
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Back in the "good old days" we charged the car daily because it simply didn't have "2 day range." Nowadays, my car has 5 day range and TBH, that includes a MONSTEROUS buffer. So my charging habits have morphed from a top 5 priority to...well nothing really. I don't even think about it any more and its hurting my pack.<br />
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My mind is literally still in "24 kwh" mode. I used to get home from work nearly every day with less than 10 GID in the tank and that was accomplished by carefully monitoring my speed, distance, and power usage. My 2013 and 2016 had an SOC meter on the dash and I venture to say the total number of times I referenced that information on BOTH cars was well less than half a dozen times. It was all about understanding how the GOM worked and how much farther I had to go.<br />
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Today in my E Plus, I glance at the GOM, see 60 miles knowing I am only going 20 and poof! No longer care about speed, power usage or charging... HUGE MISTAKE!!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Charge Every Day!</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries" target="_blank">Battery U</a> has done a lot of testing on Lithium and it is or should be well known that many many shallow DoD charges are better for long term battery life than a few big DoD charges.<br />
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In one test, they determined cycles to degrade a pack to 70% of its original capacity. In the 80% test (90 to 10% SOC) which many think is a good thing because its not charging to full; it took ~300 cycles to degrade the pack. Multiplying; we can assign a "range value" of 24,000 which is simply 80% capacity added * 300 charges.<br />
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60% DoD took about 600 cycles with a range value of 36,000 (remember the two LEAFers above?)<br />
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40% DoD took 1,000 cycles or a range value of 40,000.<br />
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My current daily commute is about 24.5 miles more or less (depending on where I park at work) and my <a href="https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2020/06/e-plus-summer-range-test.html" target="_blank">E Plus has a range of 250 miles</a> at this time of year so I use about 10% DoD daily. At 10% DoD, my range value is 60,000.<br />
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So why charge every day? As mentioned, the battery wants to be around 50% SOC. Be it 45 to 55% like me or 20 to 80% like John. Even in more extreme cases like John, the predominance of time spent is around the midrange SOC level. Another reason why its important is heat. Yes, I said its not the main cause of degradation because its not but it's still a factor and I mention it now because too many people have the wrong idea about what heat means. Even at very moderate temperatures commonly seen in the Pacific Northwest, the relationship between SOC, temperature AND time is critical. Below a chart and realize this chart should only be used for relational information only. Chemistries have improved which help but the phenomena is a simple fact of physics and chemistry. <b><i>Heat is a catalyst, not a cause.</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BxNG_f3QVd614j4HMmzejgTg8v6mjZVwRuakhMtV3oewWle4nm6a0lpoCybo0EMprei9O0sVM05zRVHx11N8xautaMTh7mA1H7lSCMSWig7N-NJ7KN-14jgcfCjJhZFFEFUQVSeN3So/s1600/Battery+u+long+term+degradation+verses+soc+and+temperature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="727" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5BxNG_f3QVd614j4HMmzejgTg8v6mjZVwRuakhMtV3oewWle4nm6a0lpoCybo0EMprei9O0sVM05zRVHx11N8xautaMTh7mA1H7lSCMSWig7N-NJ7KN-14jgcfCjJhZFFEFUQVSeN3So/s640/Battery+u+long+term+degradation+verses+soc+and+temperature.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Without TMS, this is the least controllable factor of degradation; temperature. This chart should make it plainly obvious what our options are. Looking at the 25º C line (that is 77º F) , its a 500% increase in degradation if charged to 100%. In my world, 77º is a nice warm day. Nowhere near hot. Raise the temperature, raise the degradation. Granted we are talking a year which is a good thing in that charging to 100% when you need it even if you need it a lot isn't going to hurt "a lot" but it will hurt, make no mistake on that. But its also a bad thing because the "hit" is so small. We lose the ability to understand how detrimental our day to day actions are especially when we are doing this needlessly which brings me to something that all of you have heard me say.<br />
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<b><i>Charge ONLY to the level you need to cover today's driving needs. </i></b><br />
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You and you alone are the only one who can determine what that level will be because it not only has to cover your expected daily needs but also a buffer that will cover your likely unexpected needs. Now we are all by and large creatures of habit especially during the work week. My schedule varies so little on days I work its...well boring. I have a half dozen places I may stop at on the way home but they are literally on the way so I might add 10 miles to the commute but most of the times I am adding less than 2 miles. <br />
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Now on my days off, its wide open. Road trips, family stuff, etc. It covers a very wide range of driving needs but all that is planned in advance so no real surprises and yeah 62 kwh helps a TON with that. It is nice to charge to 50% and have enough to cover my needs plus a 100 mile buffer!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">My Recommendation</span></b><br />
<br />
If you have done your charging needs evaluation and you feel you have to charge to 100% then you are driving the wrong car. FYI; the "90% to 10%" idea is BS. Anyone using more than 70% of their range should be charging to full but that is a LOT of need and few of us are there unless we are in the used EV market.<br />
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So if you want an EV that will last you 10 years, get one that covers your needs with a 40% DoDDaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-57963777946069872452020-06-12T08:13:00.007-07:002022-07-10T11:47:18.525-07:00E Plus Summer Range TestNow that most of the region was in phase 2, it was time for a range test. I could have just figured out a loop of the right length but there was no way my ass would survive nearly 4 hours in a car in one shot so decided that a goal was better so the plan was lunch in Portland and back to my home in Olympia. Round trip distance; 242 miles. There is of course the Olympic Peninsula route but a pending EA site in Port Angeles means I might just have to wait for that site to open first. The other thing was I had already promised myself my next peninsula trip would be with my Son camping... somewhere.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Plan</span></b><br />
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The route will be 90% freeway. I decided a Thursday would be best for minimal traffic. Heading down in mid morning, spending enough time in town and heading back mid afternoon, I would miss any rush hour traffic. Only real requirement. The destination has to be less than 3 miles off the freeway.<br />
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I used cruise control set to 65 mph and only needed to bump the speed in 1 mph increments up and down to account for traffic. <div><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">SOC; GOM Verses LEAF Spy</span></b><br />
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It should be well known that the dash info is not a good tool to use for a range test. Recently someone did a range test in the Plus stopping at 1% SOC (maybe it was 2%) to charge figuring that they had really "risked it for science" by going that far. It took me several minutes to recover from my uncontrollable bout of laughter which is why when anyone asks the best method to extend the range of the LEAF, my answer is "Get LEAF Spy."<div><br /></div><div>LEAF Spy allows you to set your own miles/kwh target. So simply decide where you need to go, how far it is and then use LEAF Spy to find your target miles/kwh figure. What I do is simply take off aiming for .1 mile/kwh over my target to see if I can reasonably hit it. This doesn't always work due to wind, weather terrain, etc. but if its a goal that seems unreasonable, I start planning alternate charging options while still over 80% SOC and 200 miles to play with. This trip being short enough, I won't have to worry about that. <br />
<br />GOM (guessometer) is well named and the reasons are obvious. Despite both being labeled "SOC" they don't even run on the same scale. The GOM runs 100% to Zero or "_ _ _" . LEAF Spy runs from about 98% to 1.5% and both LEAF Spy numbers are dependent on cell balance. The highest charge I have ever gotten was 99.3% but typical is the mid 97's to the low 98's. The lowest 1.4% so the usable range of LEAF Spy's SOC meter is essentially about 97% of the available capacity. Now we know that LEAF Spy shows "real" SOC and if the GOM showed "usable" SOC, I would be OK with that, but it doesn't.<br />
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So what I did is record the LEAF Spy SOC every time the GOM SOC ticked downwards. I was able to capture each reading as the GOM updated except for 7 but at no time did I miss more than one reading (IOW, I caught 77%, missed 76% and caught 75%) I used the dictation program on my phone so it was simply a question of logging the data into a spreadsheet after I got home.<br />
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Now LEAF Spy only shows SOC in .1% increments but does not actually calculate it that way and there were a few times when LEAF Spy incremented a split second after the GOM so I took the lower reading in those cases. This means a .1% variance is possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0Gvj_MnoC5acsfm-5sbZAKLqGYz5SsFZM9h89lyro-5H9cwK6GDyHzNRCWPCuPMMOIOh55jEb43OmFoJBV2e2iGgxIj7xVGlh-lO9GSaZjck3u7PLExC9hPaSc-RwA5KhqflOk_Tdd4/s1600/Graph+GOM+verses+LEAF+Spy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="911" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0Gvj_MnoC5acsfm-5sbZAKLqGYz5SsFZM9h89lyro-5H9cwK6GDyHzNRCWPCuPMMOIOh55jEb43OmFoJBV2e2iGgxIj7xVGlh-lO9GSaZjck3u7PLExC9hPaSc-RwA5KhqflOk_Tdd4/s640/Graph+GOM+verses+LEAF+Spy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i><b>Points to Ponder</b></i><br />
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** In ECO mode, I had an estimate of 251 miles but in D mode, the estimate was 235 or just a touch over EPA. LEAF Spy estimate was 252.2 miles at 4.5 miles/kwh to 1% SOC (my average over past 3 days before test was 4.4 miles/kwh) Both the miles/kwh and SOC target are selectable. So choose your comfort level. <br />
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** At 88.0% SOC, Both the GOM and LEAF Spy AGREE!!<br />
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** At 59% SOC GOM/ 63.0% LEAF Spy, the range estimate agrees (LEAF Spy set to 4.3 miles/kwh to match GOM)<br />
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**The largest gap happened at 22 and 21% when the gap was 10.7%. This a radical change from previous versions of the LEAF which includes the 40 kwh LEAF where the reserve continues to grow all the way to zero which means...<br />
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** <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vs3HYM9gTwcrJHSz427Z1oR8a5djVaXMgPL3axm08qY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The data</a> Click the link if you want the specifics. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">LEAF BMS/LBC</span></b><br />
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There are many scientific reasons why we should not charge beyond our needs. We all know full charges increase the rate of degradation but the ideology that 80% is a golden number is also wrong. You want to stay around 50% SOC as much as possible for longest life. But I recently came across a LEAF Spy screenshot that I was convinced was altered or "something"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlGQJv021X1pD3WctCh4diuf2EU66sKRju3jwWAD-IkdK4xBW2o5w2TVIP6NZC6V4aUsZ95IbO5q47R7B_FFRYvWsAPyaNLnLd6Y-SqKkYSGOSw7uxczLBAZeZP6MJs62QNn_R3PkPF8/s1600/40+kwh+ahr+102.22+SOH+88.55+Hx+118.54+15753+miles+Peter+Haas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="443" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlGQJv021X1pD3WctCh4diuf2EU66sKRju3jwWAD-IkdK4xBW2o5w2TVIP6NZC6V4aUsZ95IbO5q47R7B_FFRYvWsAPyaNLnLd6Y-SqKkYSGOSw7uxczLBAZeZP6MJs62QNn_R3PkPF8/s640/40+kwh+ahr+102.22+SOH+88.55+Hx+118.54+15753+miles+Peter+Haas.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
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Notice something here? Ok forget the ultra tight cell balance, the HUGE degradation, etc. Look at the lower left corner; 100% SOC??? WTF!!! This explains the degradation issues.<br /><br /><b>**EDIT** Now that I have over 2 years on the Plus, I have hit 100% and 99.9% SOC twice despite only having 15 lifetime full charges. More evidence the Gen two BMS isn't telling everything! </b></div><div><b><br /></b>
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I was shocked when my 40 kwh pack charged to 99.3% It only did it once and 2nd highest was 98.54% The rest were in the 97% range. In an effort to see how high I could go I bumped my charge twice (unplug when charge is complete and plug in to restart) and got no more than 98.3% (poor top end balancing I guess? This was only the 2nd time at 100% per dash. The first time was when I picked it up from the dealer)<br />
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But this "playing with fire" should be enough to make anyone nervous. Just another reason why charging to full on a regular basis is a bad idea and should only be done when the need is that great and immediately after the charge is completed. The reality is BMS/LBC programming is apparently still work in progress!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Charge</span></b><br />
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On my <a href="https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-olympic-peninsula.html" target="_blank">Winter Range test</a> of sorts, the end balancing of the pack too much longer than expected so I unplugged at 98% SOC. The car was only pulse charging between 4 to 7 amps so wasn't missing a whole lot. Well, the same thing happened here. I get roughly 10% per hour of charge and the timer was set to start at 4 AM and add about 36% of charge. At 8:30, I checked it expecting to be finished and it was still charging this time around 8 amps. Ok, this was familiar.<br />
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Notice the OAT of 73º? Garage was nowhere near that warm. Looks like thermometer is too close</div>
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to the inverter which does get warm during AC (doesn't heat up during DC charging) charging. </div>
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98% implies that there is still nearly 1.5 kwh to add. My meter which only shows one kwh increments did not change but its maximum error could be 1.5 kwh so we will consider that if deciding to upgrade the meter some day. BUT....<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Hitting The Road!</span></b><br />
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So after completing the charge AND bumping it twice, I am now at 100% SOC per the GOM and my range... has gone down. I guess cell balancing is not very efficient! Yeah well, its the GOM, right!<br />
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So everything was set...except for the weather. It was raining. The weather stated 40% chance of rain so it was kind of a coin flip. Taking off, I decided to aim for downtown Vancouver instead which was a 15 mile shorter drive round trip. The wet roads lasted until around Castle Rock, then we flipped to partially cloudy skies and by the time I got to Vancouver, the A/C was on.<br />
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Arrival Vancouver</div>
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I was beginning to think my alternate route was a mistake since the weather was now quite gorgeous but then again </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGTf9WTNEmYyYK9SjCb9w7BM93kg1IiMuEZesZ8KlD-eONyis1bRBUdMIALekCQd9bZb_cnOnYXFbgnpWpX_suGKBq4CGZjgRr6d-1RyuIEE330B-2Ezfbd8NAjACBZTsb27Qi0XKE3s/s1600/IMG_20200611_115458_MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGTf9WTNEmYyYK9SjCb9w7BM93kg1IiMuEZesZ8KlD-eONyis1bRBUdMIALekCQd9bZb_cnOnYXFbgnpWpX_suGKBq4CGZjgRr6d-1RyuIEE330B-2Ezfbd8NAjACBZTsb27Qi0XKE3s/s640/IMG_20200611_115458_MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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FREE parking downtown Vancouver until June 30th!</div>
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So Vancouver was turning out to be as good a decision as the weather! Using Yelp, I found a parking space that had at least a half dozen highly rated eateries within a few blocks. I was literally 2 blocks down the street when I saw this</div>
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Outside dining on the covered porch was simply too good to pass up! But I elected to do the A/C inside and that turned out to be the right decision as it got very warm in the direct sun and after a large bowl of pho noodles, I was more than warmed up! </div>
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Another reason I selected Vancouver was due to a city park surrounding Lake Vancouver near by. They had a lot of walking trails so after lunch I headed over there. </div>
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Obviously someone with COVID 19 had been swimming here! 😏</div>
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After a few miles of walking off the food (Got a sandwich as well!) It was time to head back. My plan was to get back to town before the afternoon rush started. The drive home was uneventful and warm. A/C was on most of the trip. My A/C does not respond to the thermostat which means despite it being set to 84º, it gets a bit too cold sometimes. So I toggle the compressor on and off. I guess its better than not cold enough. </div>
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LBW came on at 14.6% SOC per LEAF Spy and soon after that, I hit EPA!</div>
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I got back to town a few miles later but couldn't stop since my SOC data was not complete so I wandered around town a bit, did make a few quick stops and finally</div>
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Zero % SOC on GOM achieved at 237.4 miles. Yeah, was slow taking picture due to voice control issues? The picture phone is mounted on a holder and I simply instruct Google to take a pix. For some reason, Google decided to ignore the first few requests? Increment from 1% to zero was 1.8% SOC on LEAF Spy! </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Why LEAF Spy Adds Range You Didn't Know You Had</span></b></div>
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So for all intensive purposes and for any writer reviewing the LEAF, the car has given its all, right? The GOM range has been all dashes since 230 miles, the SOC has been all dashes since 237.4 miles so we are done, right? On the verge of entering the "Towing Hall of Shame" right? </div>
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Yeah well, we shall see. I decided to swing by the West Oly EA site to see if the cut cables had been replaced so that was a quick jaunt on the freeway there and back and then to the store and then home. Remember the 251 mile estimate on the GOM this morning? Well, I have been bashing the GOM all day and well, lets face it; The job was not complete until... </div>
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GOM exceeded and LEAF Spy says I still have enough for a MiSo run! </div>
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NOTE; I briefly thought about driving around until I hit the well known 24 GID but I thought that would be rubbing it in a bit too much. </div>
</div></div>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-13422342584524049392020-06-06T12:33:00.000-07:002020-06-06T12:33:13.670-07:00April/May 2020 Drive ReportIt appears no one missed last month's report so I felt a reminder that you should be anxiously awaiting each month's report was appropriate. 😊<br />
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Since this report is covering 2 months, a report on the battery's 90 day adjustment is next and yes it happened pretty much right on schedule. If you recall, the first adjustment was the largest ever (2 cars!) so being a bit apprehensive was a bit of a concern despite multiple reports of milder adjustments coming from all over the World. This one started April 25 (the first one started January 25th and lasted 9 days) and ran 4 days. I lost 1.29% SOH this time so hardly a good thing but at least it wasn't an extreme thing like the first one when I lost over 2½%. Probably not a factor but in 2 of the 4 days, I DC'd and drove over 90 miles.<br />
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Either way, my current stats has me at ahr 167.90, SOH 95.18% with just over 8800 miles. My mileage totals would have been much lower but had a unique opportunity to be part of a labor shift at work in order to address rapidly escalating needs caused by COVID 19. This meant my normal 25 mile round trip commute went to 47 to 50 miles one way. Yes, I was paid a bit more to do this but the real incentive was being paid 57 cents per mile from my home. <br />
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I had only intended to do this for a few weeks just to see what it was like but after getting my first two reimbursement deposits, I quickly decided I was riding this cash cow into the ground! I mention this as justification for my driving over 3000 miles during the height of the stay at home phase. I ended up doing 6 weeks at 4 days a week banking over $1300 in travel reimbursements. All my charging during the first 3 weeks used my EVgo promo received when I picked up my E Plus. EVgo sweetened the pot by dropping its lowest per minute rates 25% and removing the subscription requirement due to COVID. This COVID pricing was recently extended to June 30th. I suspect that will be extended again. The last 3 weeks, I only used EVgo on the last day of the work week, charging at home for the rest of the week. This was mostly done to gather info on best charge timer settings.<br />
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For the month of April, I drove 1668.2 miles averaging 3.93 miles/kwh using 400.54 kwh from EVgo and 6 kwh from home costing me an all time high for the Plus of $5.57 (8.44 cents/kwh) In May I traveled 1354.2 miles averaging 4.11 miles/kwh using 118.57 kwh from EVgo and 236 kwh from home costing me $20.41. (Guess that record didn't last long)<br />
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Neither month saw me using public AC charging. My main use is at Capital Mall in West Olympia when seeing a movie. Looks like that won't be happening any time soon... Hopefully Cinemark does not go under before then. Their movie club is a bargain.<br />
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Managing SOC<br />
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As mentioned, my long commutes enabled me to play with charge timers and I found the easiest way to control SOC was to set the timer so the car is still actively charging when you get up or are planning to leave. Since I was normally up 90 minutes to 3 hours before my scheduled departure for work, I had that much leeway as far as how long I wanted to charge. This meant not having to adjust my settings every day. But even if adjustments were necessary, it quickly became a 10 second task after learning the navigation settings to the correct place.<br />
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Now I am still using the EVSE I got for my 2013 LEAF which did have a 6.6 KW AC charger but my panel was not up to the task. Living in an old house, my panel is a Zinsco which has since been banned for new construction or upgrades. This means getting breakers for the panel is all but out of the question. Luckily, I had an unused 30 amp breaker than had been used for a pump on the old septic system so I am restricted to 24 amp charging which is fine by me. I have never been inconvenienced by this but then again, if you have followed this blog you would know I have done minimal home charging over the past 3½ years.<br />
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Well, that gravy train is all but gone. I have only a few bucks left on the EVgo promo, my NCTC expired in February so I am on my own. Either way, it took all of a few days to see that I charge about 10% per hour. I say "about" because the LEAF SOC meter is not linear.<br />
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Now what makes sense is the meter on showing usable capacity and that would be great...but it doesn't. It has a hidden reserve that slowly grows as the SOC drops. When the SOC meter hits zero you have about 20 miles of range on the Plus so keep that in mind before you complain you didn't hit the EPA numbers.<br />
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With the Plus, the error is a non issue. Whether I charge to 60% or 65% is not important to me. Its more than double (in some cases quadruple) the range I expect to need that day and its in the "good for battery" zone so all is good.<br />
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Decoding the Algorithm<br />
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Another thing I wanted to look into is why these 90 day adjustments are happening. The 2018's all seemed to follow the exact same pattern. Numbers never rose. They either went down very slowly or stayed the same then after 90 days they would drop a chunk. This went on for nearly everyone for 12 to 18 months then nearly everyone saw an adjustment that went up. There was also adjustments that stayed the same or simply were too small to notice (not everyone checks the LEAF Spy daily like I do)<br />
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Then the Plus came along and the 90 day adjustments are still there but this time there is a twist. Most are seeing small adjustments between ¾ to 1¼% but then we started seeing reports that people on their 2nd or 3rd adjustments saw numbers go up! Remember the <a href="https://daveinolywa.blogspot.com/2020/04/march-2020-drive-report-all-kinds-of.html" target="_blank">March 2020</a> Drive report? I quoted a LEAFer in Phoenix who has gone double the miles I have and has half the degradation. But unlike me who has done 90% DC charging, he mostly does AC charging AND he always charges to full!<br />
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Now its one thing to state the obvious that Nissan is making progress towards a cell chemistry that doesn't need active cooling but to do it in Phoenix is way over the top! Either way, I still do not recommend charging beyond what you need. So if you need 200+ miles that day, charge to full! But if you need 50 miles that day, I don't see any good reason to charge over 70-75%.<br />
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But maybe there is another reason for these adjustments? Could they be evaluations or predictions of how our pack will go? It isn't really possible for a pack to gain capacity so what other explanation is there for the increases? What if our habits during one 90 day period were particularly bad so we got a very large drop but then the next 90 day period our habits were very good. Would that cause a change to the algorithm that created that very large drop so extreme that it results in an increase? <br />
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Now I know this is pretty far out there but then again, I am in a unique position in that I am going from nearly all DC charging to nearly all AC charging. Will this make a difference in my next adjustment? <br />
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Breaking Down the Adjustments<br />
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As mentioned my first adjustment started Jan 25 or 2 months and a week after I picked up the car. This implies a build date "around" October 25, 2019 and 10/19 is the build date of record. Unfortunately, there were several other unusual events preceding the start of the adjustment including my 2nd full charge (the first was done by the dealership) for my Olympic Peninsula drive.<br />
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First Adjustment</div>
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First thing you will notice is nearly all my charging was DC @ 648.489 kwh. Adding that it was winter this means I was charging the car every 2-4 days so my battery temps were generally low in the upper 40's to 50's most of the time. Don't know if that matters but just putting it out there. </div>
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Second Adjustment</div>
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My 2nd adjustment the high DC usage continues. During this adjustment I drove 3534.7 miles, adding 835.66 kwh of DC recording 875.1 kwh usage from the dash. So pretty much the same charging pattern as before. This adjustment started during my 3rd week of labor share commuting. </div>
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Currently I am now 50/50 on DC/AC charging since the 2nd adjustment. We shall see at the end of July if it made a difference. The results would be more valid if it was still Winter but I am planning a quarter of near 100% AC charging right after next January's adjustment so stay tuned. </div>
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If you have any questions about the data presented, chime in thru the comments. If you are wondering, there is probably someone else wondering the same thing. </div>
DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-1103307872420970142020-04-03T09:55:00.000-07:002020-04-04T08:31:48.942-07:00March 2020 Drive Report; All Kinds of Range and Nowhere To GoCOVID 19 has arrived and despite the lackadaisical response from the trump administration, it has hit us just as hard as it promised. California all but closed its doors on the 19th. WA closed all dining areas on the 18th. I predicted our daily death toll would exceed 1,000 by April 1st and sadly, I was right. So driving is minimal, work is not. But things are calming down somewhat on the supply chain side anyway. A lot of that is due to restrictions put in place to eliminate panic buying. But at least this is the first time in the past 5 weeks I am not working overtime. So I am back to my normal 3 day weekends for the time being and...not a whole lot to do.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Numbers</span></b><br />
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For the month, I traveled 1098.8 miles @ 4.21 miles/kwh costing me $4.22 (8.44 cents/kwh) in home electricity costs. I did use 234.9 kwh from my current EVgo <b style="font-style: italic;">Nissan Perks Program </b>that would have cost me $73.25. As it stands, I have $149.63 in credit left to use. Because the theaters are closed down, my use of Volta has trickled down to near zero with only one stint gaining 13 kwh. What can I say? With no sit down restaurants working, no movies and only a handful of shops open (against State COVID guidelines, I might add) there just isn't a whole lot to do there. The one time I did plug in was to walk around to check out possible places to go and to check the progress of the West Olympia EA station which was only 2 blocks away.<br />
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Since this was not an adjustment month, not a whole lot to report on the degradation front. I ended the month with ahr of 170.72 (down .18) and SOH 96.78% (down .09%). In monitoring other E Plus stats from around the World, I am realizing that my first adjustment was double the norm. So does this mean I won't see another adjustment for 6 months instead of the usual 3?<br />
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I have also wondered if my large drop was due to nearly 100% DC charging? Tesla heats up its pack to better accept a charge and they are doing fine albeit with different chemistry and my charging has only been during the cold weather season so I am rarely seeing batt temps over 80º with DC charging and now wondering if cold pack charging is a good thing like it used to be? More on that below.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Pandemic Promos </span></b><br />
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Both EA and EVgo have lowered costs to charge at their stations during the COVID Crisis. EVgo has dropped their per minute rates to 20 cents from 25 cents. This drops my average cost to charge to roughly 27 cents/kwh. Better but far from good. If you are on the road and need a charge, its fine but there are cheaper options.<br />
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And EA is one of them. They normally charge $4 a month to get their lowest price which in WA is 18 cents/minute. But EA stations charge faster if you are driving an E Plus so my average on those stations was down to 17.2 cents/kwh. Since my cost per kwh is lower than the cost per minute, this means I am averaging more than 60 KW during the session.<br />
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Now EA still only has one Chademo per location but the locations have doubled in the past year. 5 new locations are now being built including another one in my town in West Olympia. Again, not what I would like to see as far as placement especially when everything west of me is still uncovered including the entire Olympic Peninsula.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Clock</span></b><br />
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This is weird. On my previous LEAFs I don't remember this being an issue but for the 3rd time, I had to move my clock forward 2 minutes. This means for some reason, the clock is either<br />
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counting time too slowly<br />
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stopping briefly for some reason.<br />
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Now the losing time slowly does not "seem" to be the case since the last time I had to reset the time was a few months ago. Losing time slowly is something I would have noticed sooner I would think. But it was jump in the car and notice the clock is not right. Now 2 minutes here and there is something that "most" people don't notice or care about. I am not one of those people and never have been. Back in the dinosaur age of computers, my PC was always on Atomic Time where it sync'd with some sort of super accurate Timex in Colorado or some place (just a joke there...) . With the advent of cellphones and their tight integration with GPS; being on the same page with time is critical so my phone now takes care of that. With my car being connected to my home Wi Fi ALL the time its home (I see the "disconnected from ..." message every day when I get out of range) one would think...<br />
No... ALL except Nissan apparently, would think that time would be one of the things the connection would keep in sync.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Heat Is ON!</span></b><br />
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Many times I had commented on the 40 kwh pack not seemingly being affected by differences in climate from ALL over the World. It seemed like the degradation rate of every pack was in lockstep with variances very small.<br />
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This trend has continued with the E Plus packs and one of the earliest E Plus owners posted his recent stats.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Here are a couple of data points from my car: Initial <a class="interlinkr" href="http://www.amazon.com/Turbo3-Leaf-Spy-Pro/dp/B00PMLTPN0/?tag=myelecarfor-20&" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(54, 138, 210); border-image: initial; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #368ad2; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; unicode-bidi: embed;" target="_blank">Leaf Spy</a> reading at 64 miles on 8/11/2019: 175.15 AHr, 99.29% SOH, 98.19% Hx, 1 QC, 6 L1/L2, 64 ODO. Tonight at 14,164 miles on 4/2/2020: 172.77 AHr, 97.94% SOH, 113.77% Hx, 4 QC, 103 L1/L2, 14,164 ODO.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: #fbfbfb; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />
<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; color: #111111; font-family: "open sans" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The car was manufactured in July 2020 and purchased on August 10, 2020 with 30 miles on the odometer (my dealer picked it up the day it was delivered to a dealer across town).</span></blockquote>
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At 100,000 miles his Ahr (estimated amount of charge in the pack) will be 158 ahr or 90.4% of his original capacity. Now realize that time is a degradation factor that even Tesla's suffer from so his stats will be a bit better looking than most due to his averaging 20,000 miles a year driving. That is the "not so good" news. His location? He lives in the area world renowned for battery longevity; <b><i>Phoenix Arizona. </i></b>DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-17551761121511345002020-03-10T19:56:00.000-07:002020-05-17T12:58:03.036-07:00LEAF Battery Upgrades Comes to Washington!I have seen dozens of 2011-12 LEAFs on sale ranging in price from $3,000 to as low as $500. Granted, they are 8 and 9 year old cars and some people are simply hard on their vehicles. But even showroom new LEAFs were selling well below their value and the reason? Range. In my last blog, I detailed how Nissan is giving some of those early adopters viable options for restoring that new range to their LEAFs and this is a good thing. Many of them have a LOT of life left in them. (if not range)<br />
<br />
But Nissan made a mistake when introducing the 24 kwh version. The first adopters were generally higher income, techies, greeners or whatever and most tended to have high paying jobs in city centers that allowed them the luxury of living in the more desirable suburbs and its higher quality of life.<br />
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This meant the average 38 miles a day driven in America was frequently their one way commuting distance. This was simply too much strain on the smaller pack. Tesla understood this immediately when ending their 40 kwh option. It simply wasn't enough for proper battery maintenance and longevity.<br />
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Now there are a lot of reasons early LEAF packs degraded quickly and deep cycling of the pack may not have been a chief cause but the limited range of the 24 kwh pack, no or very little public charging, and range anxiety meant many were charging to 100% in less than desirable conditions. This mean few battery management options for most.<br />
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As mentioned in the previous blog, Nissan is having a bit of a fire sale on 24 kwh packs pricing them at $4500 after exchange (yes, you MUST give up your old pack) plus labor and parts (bracket required for 2011. 2012 and Japanese made 2013 models.) That meant a like new car for well under $10,000. Two have done it so far but with the multitudes of 24 kwh LEAFers out there, why is there not a rush to the dealership to get this done. This is the reason I switched from buying to leasing at the last second. I realized that 24 kwh would never work for me long term no matter how well the pack stood up. It simply wasn't enough range. I wasn't alone.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">DIYers To The Rescue!</span></b><br />
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You may have noticed that EVers have had relatively little support. Many dealers stock EVs on the lot but do everything they can to not sell them. Even when a dealer is motivated to sell, they simply don't have the knowledge or intentionally misleads the buyer into believing something that is not true. This has been mitigated a bit by social media where I recommend one go to get advice before making any purchase decision. Advice; the more detailed you are in your ask, the more likely you will get information you can use. Generalize and you will get general answers you must sort thru and no one should make a purchase decision based on that!<br />
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Early on, two apps emerged quickly as the go to for the adventurous LEAFer; Plugshare and LEAF Spy Pro. Both were basic grass roots campaigns that came into being mostly on the backs of a handful of people; most of which were simply EVers looking for some help. Instead of waiting for manufacturers to give us tools, they went out and filled the need.<br />
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As LEAF pack capacities started to grow (while battery cases did not) the common question became "why can't I pay extra to get the bigger pack?"<br />
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Nissan's blanket answer was simply "Due to programming changes and other issues, that is not technically possible nor financially feasible." And that was the end of it. Thankfully, some people just can't take no for an answer.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Success!! If You Are Willing To Travel... A LONG Way</span></b><br />
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Undeterred by Nissan telling us it was impossible, tinkerers went to work. Just over a year ago, stories of progress started emerging. New things were learned and shared and others took that knowledge, added a bit of their own.<br />
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Soon, working success stories started populating social media. Last summer, A 24 kwh LEAF with a 18 kwh extender by Muxsan in the Netherlands. A great solution perfectly integrated into the BMS and charging system. But it took up space. Still something that would be useful for many. But that solution was 5,000 miles away on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean. Yeah, Europe was happy but...<br />
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During this time, stories from New Zealand from people discovering more about how the LEAF recognizes battery packs. Soon, they would have a way to allow different battery packs to communicate with the BMS.<br />
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Then last fall, news of a working gen one LEAF with a 62 kwh pack hit the internet! This would have been monumental news for the LEAF community in America but this time it was Canada (which is good since "Western" Canada is only 150 miles away) but this was Eastern Canada (which is bad) Granted, not Europe, but still 3,000 miles away. So if you are near enough to Trois-Rivieres, Quebec Canada, then Simon Andres is the man to see. He has upgraded a few LEAFs now so his process is verified to work.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">America's First 100,000 mile LEAF; Steve Marsh's 2011 SL # 1561</span></b><br />
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But Simon's location was still a problem. It was simply too much of a logistical challenge. I did follow several threads on Facebook with people living near one of the international bridges (Michigan has 3) to Canada but even that "semi" close proximity had huge hurdles to negotiate.<br />
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But then I got a call to come test drive THE most famous LEAF in the Pacific Northwest. This was LEAF # 1561 driven by the Quarter Million Mile LEAFer Steve Marsh. He put 141,000 miles on the car in just over 3 years and then passed it off to his Mother who added another 10,000 miles but by this time, its range wasn't even enough for her.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT3lYhDpEIJzA0v6ttMFPE4Hl2x2kY30jl-oC5rHjTsiDKGeBCaTitB84i_Y1DHxxInEPAdlvciglp76QRzOuCMGeKAVoR1ajEzlml_bNCbgvRTVgbKAFq6EBGnqp1riwd1D29L0qHgQ/s1600/steve-marshs-2011-nissan-leaf-electric-car-showing-150000-miles-may-2016_100555118_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgT3lYhDpEIJzA0v6ttMFPE4Hl2x2kY30jl-oC5rHjTsiDKGeBCaTitB84i_Y1DHxxInEPAdlvciglp76QRzOuCMGeKAVoR1ajEzlml_bNCbgvRTVgbKAFq6EBGnqp1riwd1D29L0qHgQ/s640/steve-marshs-2011-nissan-leaf-electric-car-showing-150000-miles-may-2016_100555118_l.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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7 capacity bars at 150,000 miles. Barely a 1,000 miles later, it lost another. </div>
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A full charge with its remaining 6 capacity bars barely netted her 35 miles. Despite the interior being in very good condition, Steve was unable to sell it for any reasonable amount of money. His $2,000 sale price didn't even garner a single inquiry.<br />
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Luckily someone did see the value and long time DIY EVer and SEVA (Seattle Electric Vehicle Association) member Jay Donnaway bought the car. Immediately they put in a salvage 40 kwh pack and ran into the normal compatibility problems. The car was in limp mode unwilling to accept the interloper. But Jay reached out to the reigning battery upgrade guru, Simon Andres for some advice.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">We Have A Local Source!</span></b><br />
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Yes, one still has to cross a body of water for this solution, but this time the location is closer and even better; it has a ferry terminal!<br />
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So I charged up my LEAF (needed 34 % SOC to make it there going the "long" way) and drove the 80 miles to <i><b>EV Works</b></i> on Bainbridge Island, Washington.<br />
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Being a long time DIYer, I expected Jay to have several projects non LEAF going and was not disappointed. He had just gotten life from an ancient NEV as I walked in. This Dynasty IT NEV is slated for duty doing local delivery for <b><i>Proper Fish</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxbJsU4Xi5eQki4bEWC6ljNiF_pI7eWE7dmo2wRssf0xGkHcFpTOSy4ozdJTCBNuFrHAYdWTvoehwJPlRE6eMwQW0xB6P4TlFq1e8IzcSgdys0s3IkCFzPZep6EimOXI0fUq_vC2aS8Y/s1600/IMG_20200305_110833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxbJsU4Xi5eQki4bEWC6ljNiF_pI7eWE7dmo2wRssf0xGkHcFpTOSy4ozdJTCBNuFrHAYdWTvoehwJPlRE6eMwQW0xB6P4TlFq1e8IzcSgdys0s3IkCFzPZep6EimOXI0fUq_vC2aS8Y/s640/IMG_20200305_110833.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>***Shameless Plug Alert***</b><br />
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If you want a great plate of English Style Fish and Chips, <i><b>Proper Fish</b></i> is the place. The fish was moist, tender and delicious!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVv7K7l5lxKfA5ZeU0EgpTO3rio41FW8rxyWHKNT2PChUTSntNBof8iEFOpwrwKtIwpAuN2hvNadlSc5jENQE2X_1sq3h6p3g_BJ7Y1Pm7V9h_3dFVmn1wSPWBu9RQj1D8D2sKbvxGG0/s1600/IMG_20200305_114601.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVv7K7l5lxKfA5ZeU0EgpTO3rio41FW8rxyWHKNT2PChUTSntNBof8iEFOpwrwKtIwpAuN2hvNadlSc5jENQE2X_1sq3h6p3g_BJ7Y1Pm7V9h_3dFVmn1wSPWBu9RQj1D8D2sKbvxGG0/s640/IMG_20200305_114601.dng" width="640" /></a></div>
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There was also a VW Bus EV... not the new one, mind you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zol62pEyFQ-u4xmTQ5AOxxkSUI-O3pnP0La1sd34-Gi15EUKlG5lxk6oYorDZjh3Z4ivkENH5NNYVGlFgBax3QMiXHFUws5tD4Bx_ACjthOBkca2BsS1MpdkS9RWvJfKGNsDqUThBmw/s1600/IMG_20200305_110816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zol62pEyFQ-u4xmTQ5AOxxkSUI-O3pnP0La1sd34-Gi15EUKlG5lxk6oYorDZjh3Z4ivkENH5NNYVGlFgBax3QMiXHFUws5tD4Bx_ACjthOBkca2BsS1MpdkS9RWvJfKGNsDqUThBmw/s640/IMG_20200305_110816.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Complete with its 31 kwh Tesla battery pack<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5x1naZxe94BeX254EupsmJilYsPZXfUT6VTuYM5N8zirua3dRO99eJ56tRsPO2em2vRdNpMwAP2iGI5uvwG_wAy5HizGiiMhSD0wJnunt-Pq18CwqV24LEtEDUTrkYVbOsM_Qbs7JdTA/s1600/IMG_20200305_103752.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5x1naZxe94BeX254EupsmJilYsPZXfUT6VTuYM5N8zirua3dRO99eJ56tRsPO2em2vRdNpMwAP2iGI5uvwG_wAy5HizGiiMhSD0wJnunt-Pq18CwqV24LEtEDUTrkYVbOsM_Qbs7JdTA/s640/IMG_20200305_103752.dng" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now this one was in the process of being converted to a camper van, a relatively sedate one. They had another van waiting on Tesla Model S motor and drive components that will enable launch mode. Definitely something to see!<br />
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One of their bigger projects currently going is converting an entire van fleet to electric. <b><i>Pac Westy</i></b> rents vans for camping, excursions or whatever else you have a hankering to do on the Olympic Peninsula. They have full kitchen vans, simple sleepers with pop ups, (two stories!) and so on. One is done, the others are patiently waiting their turn. Being located next door to <b><i>EV Works</i></b> definitely helps!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFS098iemM0Yto0jd_1ynTQFZtEjFx2YQTvt_DCUFjWES0koLJJINFyV7fC3VOsG_miupfUg08jp6rQsqWypegOca0F4EF_PAR13y4ELqHG-FNLe80lNJYQ5qD1psqqiGRIccMQo5ISo/s1600/IMG_20200305_111116.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdFS098iemM0Yto0jd_1ynTQFZtEjFx2YQTvt_DCUFjWES0koLJJINFyV7fC3VOsG_miupfUg08jp6rQsqWypegOca0F4EF_PAR13y4ELqHG-FNLe80lNJYQ5qD1psqqiGRIccMQo5ISo/s640/IMG_20200305_111116.dng" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TvPU_u-V8mSJmfe1T2AtehtKrU5W9TBW3Zaaci8xevQQq67N5QtggkNEteH6U9mZvvxk37QcpqKusvwDdac8oZd-BLNhSHrr_Qxax4ipe7RiyqOfeWUwq_f0ffxf_Ay0WPQiefqWXDQ/s1600/IMG_20200305_111240.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TvPU_u-V8mSJmfe1T2AtehtKrU5W9TBW3Zaaci8xevQQq67N5QtggkNEteH6U9mZvvxk37QcpqKusvwDdac8oZd-BLNhSHrr_Qxax4ipe7RiyqOfeWUwq_f0ffxf_Ay0WPQiefqWXDQ/s640/IMG_20200305_111240.dng" width="640" /></a></div>
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Interested in a weekend getaway? <a href="https://pacwesty.com/">https://pacwesty.com/</a> for more details.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Drive</span></b><br />
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Although decorated, Steve's old LEAF was unmistakable and actually looking pretty good considering the miles it has seen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvC0CF3lIc7kOkRBWoTDj_V8ZlRdrQOY71zpiV71vWvx3NHSjnOR4dL_VPsPin7NnvDJ4p2yrIeLuFxSyjafnZQJoFtS_6-40nIDSbIVALqBLhwLP4YdKyolUPYnx04uBsjvAW1mvQcU/s1600/IMG_20200305_105300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvC0CF3lIc7kOkRBWoTDj_V8ZlRdrQOY71zpiV71vWvx3NHSjnOR4dL_VPsPin7NnvDJ4p2yrIeLuFxSyjafnZQJoFtS_6-40nIDSbIVALqBLhwLP4YdKyolUPYnx04uBsjvAW1mvQcU/s640/IMG_20200305_105300.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Yes that is my LEAF in the lower right corner! </div>
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I started the car and the familiarity came flooding back. Both the good;</div>
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As we all know, the LEAF BMS is slow to react to changes. After several cycles, </div>
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the car started displaying 12 capacity bars. </div>
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And the uhh... not so good?</div>
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Doing my usual double shift, ECO bumped the GOM to 180 miles. So far so good! Now, I will say that the car drove differently than I remembered but then again, I'm used to driving a car with double the horsepower. But other than the quiet hum of the motor, the car was completely silent. Not a buzz, a rattle, shimmy, or clink of any kind. The car was still rock solid. This came as a surprise to me. I quickly realized why so many people were reluctant to give up their beloved LEAFs. Even with the degraded range, they were still nice cars to drive! </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">BYOB (Bring Your Own Battery) </span></b></div>
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Right now EV Works is sourcing their LEAF packs from salvage, auctions, etc. This means each pack currently coming in has a different cost which means I cannot give you a specific price for how much this is going to cost you to do this. </div>
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You could simply bring your own battery. Installation, testing, and software upgrade is $1999. They also offer all types of EV repairs, upgrades, etc. at $125 an hour. </div>
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For more information you can contact <i><b>EV Works</b></i> www.ev-works.us or Jay by email jdonnaway@pacific-mobility.com</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">EDIT</span></b><br />
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<i><b>EV Works</b></i> has completed upgrades on a few more cars and it would be more but the challenge of getting 40 kwh and 62 kwh packs has been a challenge. <b><i>EV Rides LLC</i></b> in Portland, Oregon has also completed its first Gen One 40 kwh upgrade so even if you aren't in the Pacific Northwest, keep your eyes open for a local shop doing the same thing. The technology to do this is out there and spreading fast! </div>
DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3022888953328060401.post-16380568787283808292020-03-06T16:18:00.000-08:002020-03-06T18:47:01.584-08:00February 2020 Drive Report; More LEAF Battery Options Coming! It was a short month so only went 1055.9 miles and this signifies the beginning of regular charging expense. I home charged 44 kwh with power at 8.44 cents/kwh for a cost of $3.72. I lost .09% SOH which was expected since my adjustment happened last month. Technically one day of the adjustment happened on February 1st but since March 1st saw no changes in SOH from February 29th, I did some creative accounting sliding the month over a day. This accomplishes the feat of making February look better than it was along with making January worse than it actually was. Kinda like the Federal jobs report. 😎<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">EVGO's $250 LEAF Charging Credit. </span></b><br />
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For anyone getting a LEAF from November 1st, 2019 on, EVgo provides a $250 charging credit. Since my NCTC ran out February 16th, it was time to start using that perk. To get the best rate, I signed up for a monthly subscription thinking the $7.99 fee would be covered and it was not. Right after I signed up, a $7.99 credit was applied to my account making the balance - $257.99. A few weeks later, I received a notice that my CC was billed. Well, I had planned to only use the EVgo credit while away from home since I had until Nov 16th to use it up. But since $7.99 subscription fee wasn't part of the credit, it became financially wiser to use up the credit faster rather than slower since each month would increase my overall cost per kwh.<br />
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I had been tracking my charging performance and with EVgo's 25 cents per minute rate (Only 22 cents per minute after 8 PM), I was still averaging 32 to 33 cents per kwh despite not charging more than a minute or so past the knee. IOW, I was getting the power for about as cheap as possible for the time of day and it still wasn't great. Cheaper than Blink for sure along with others but nowhere near what EA was giving me when I was averaging 17 to 19 cents per kwh on their stations.<br />
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Now EA bills a $4 a month subscription rate but their higher charging speed along with their 18 cent per minute rates meant I only had to charge 57 minutes to overcome that $4 sub fee advantage EVgo provides (EVgo credits the first $7.99 of charging costs every month so the subscription fee is essentially zero'd out)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">EVGO's Maintenance Issues</span></b><br />
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I happened upon a tech worker from the manufacturer of the DC station in DuPont and we got a chance to talk a bit about the issues both at DuPont and Chehalis. Acheron had had a comm error message since Thanksgiving and apparently a part was ordered that was expected in two weeks which means by my reckoning, the station should be up and running this week. It is my plan to swing by there today sometime to check it out. Chehalis had different issues and he was leaving DuPont to upgrade various components there. Apparently he had already been there several times to repair it. I did verify it was working when returning from the Portland Auto Show a few weeks ago. Lets hope this station stays up for an extended period of time which would be the first time since it was turned on last year.<br />
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Edit; I just checked Acheron and he/she is still down. I also found a disturbing situation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEChluBXWn7rBYJAFjh7827HZdKRPggGSjQFWPrMDcs7bro9VoE8ugdEpqIgAUcV-dyZn440v_iBt9kWofjwGDfwaDP0tSAk41AhNW0YDvF5w9xvbywdZpEPSj0vjaNwwxkwFg4ixF9O8/s1600/IMG_20200306_142649.dng" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1199" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEChluBXWn7rBYJAFjh7827HZdKRPggGSjQFWPrMDcs7bro9VoE8ugdEpqIgAUcV-dyZn440v_iBt9kWofjwGDfwaDP0tSAk41AhNW0YDvF5w9xvbywdZpEPSj0vjaNwwxkwFg4ixF9O8/s640/IMG_20200306_142649.dng" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, the stations have a proven track record of fragility and this is what we do? Zoom in on the pix. Its raining, the handle is wet. "Shouldn't" matter but a Bolter tried to use it and had 2 failed attempts. I hope she knows that EA is only 8 miles down the road.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">EA Expansion</span></b><br />
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Electrify America is well into phase 2 of their 5 phase penalty and this phase promises a bit of redundancy, some connections to lesser traveled corridors, along with simply beefing up metro areas. Despite their coming soon page, we have a surprise entry to announce. Today someone alerted me to new stations in the ground at Target Plaza in West Olympia!<br />
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This came as a complete surprise and now makes me think I need to check out the Walmart in both Aberdeen and Shelton! Both would be VERY welcome locations to EVers vacationing on the Olympic Peninsula. If anyone living in the area happens to notice something, let me know.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Nissan Battery Pack Upgrades</span></b><br />
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Believe it or not, Nissan has done a bit of an about face and is providing relief to LEAF owners with degraded packs in two ways;<br />
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The price of the <i><b>24 kwh pack</b></i> which is no longer under warranty has been dropped to $5500 minus a required $1000 exchange credit. This puts the cost at $4500 plus installation and in some cases (2011's and 12's) parts. Remember in WA State; anything EV is still sales tax free and that does include parts AND labor.<br />
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<b><i>30 kwh LEAF</i></b> owners are the ones really making out...if they qualify for a warranty claim that is. Nissan is now replacing degraded 30 kwh packs with 40 kwh packs! Like WOW! This is not a rumor as 4 people have confirmed the higher capacity packs were installed. BUT... Anyone with a 30 kwh LEAF who simply wants more range cannot buy the upgrade for anything less than a ridiculously exorbitant price!<br />
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What is even more confusing is that Nissan has NOT updated the parts price list for these packs and a few dealerships were unaware of the new price until they actually went and ordered a pack to see the price come in at the $5500 cost instead of the $7,000 catalog listing.<br />
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The same issue exists for the 40 kwh packs. Various reports (non really confirmed since no packs have been purchased) range from $12,000 to $18,000!! With the 24 kwh pack costing $5500 or $229 a kwh, it would make sense the 40 kwh pack would be no more than that and normally bigger means a better price per kwh but even using the low end of the reports of $12,000 that is $300 per kwh.<br />
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One possible explanation is another rumor that Nissan is only offering the discounted price on the 24 kwh packs until the current supply is exhausted. This would explain why the catalog price was not changed or why the 40 kwh pack price is "seemingly" out of sync. If this is the case, a $300 per kwh price point won't have many takers and that is a shame because...<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Another Option</span></b><br />
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Recently I celebrated a famous LEAF's 9th birthday with a drive! (build date 03/11 #1561) It was amazing on several different levels. For one thing; a year ago, this LEAF had a 35 mile range and 6 capacity bars.<br />
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As I settled into the "very" light cream colored microfiber seats, I quickly wondered if I swapped seats with my E Plus, if they would notice? I started the car and took off. Despite the age, the miles, the degrada... oh wait. Ignore that last comment. Anyway, I marveled at how really nice the first LEAF was. No rattles, no vibrations. Just the quite hum of the motor. I quickly realized that other than the motor sound which is all but gone in the E Plus; this car was in every way, nicer than mine.<br />
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Part of it was simply the owner. He really knew how to take care of cars and he might have amassed over a quarter MILLION miles on his two LEAFs, but I am still more awe struck at how long his tires lasted. By now, this person is no longer a mystery to most of you and in a few days (sorry but have a gag order til Tuesday) , much more details on how this drive was even possible will be revealed.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">LEAF Spy</span></b><br />
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Or Nissan instrumentation. Remember LEAF Spy only parrots back what it reads, right? Since I have more than tripled my level 2 charging this past month, I have noticed that Hx seems to go up when DC charging but goes down while AC charging? What does that means? (not a rhetorical question!)<br />
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Since the super high Hx thing started with the 40 kwh packs, now wondering if its some sort of number that may indicate a score or evaluation of charging habits? Since Nissan isn't really on board with LEAF Spy, they are not providing any kind of help to the developer and other than Hx is acting radically different since the 40 kwh packs, all we have is conjecture.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">CARB Is In The House!</span></b><br />
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Well, actually the house just passed the bill which means WA will join California and others requiring all major auto manufacturers to provide us zero emission options (which means plugs!) in the near future. Unfortunately, after it becomes law, manufacturers have two years to comply so the wait is not over yet but the light at the end of the tunnel is on!DaveinOlyWAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16745403231379474738noreply@blogger.com5