Well, it is only Tuesday night, we have owned the Leaf for 3 days, and we have added almost 200 miles.
General thoughts & lessons learned so far:
- I LOVE it! It drives great! The a.c is cool and the ride is smooth.
- I am averaging 3.8 to 3.7 miles per kWh
- 75 miles goes TOO quick. I am putting the max setting back to 100%, batteries be damned.
- The QuickChargers seem finicky, aka prone to break downs. Bummer.
- My very large suitcase I exchanged at Sam's Club today fit nicely in the trunk with my groceries on top. Nice!
- The Prius trunk was flush with the bumper making it a PERFECT changing table, unlike the Leaf. I used the front seat today, not as good. Perhaps the cargo sorter they sell would fix that? (My son will be out of diapers soon though.) And you would give up a lot of depth for carrying tall/bulky items.
- No cup holders for the rear on the center console - I miss this from the Prius. (They do have a door bottle pocket.)
- I learned I need to use PlugShare AND the ChargePoint app to find unlisted yet public and free charging stations.
- I enjoyed educating the man at the window at Starbucks about my car. He asked about my funny shift knob, I explained it's an electric car (not a hybrid.) It reminded me of my days on solar car. Even my daughter thought it was fun. ("Do you think most people don't know we don't use gasoline?" she later mused.)
- The stadium seating makes the kiddos easier to buckle in their car seats since they are higher off the ground (less bending over, more like an SUV/mini-van in back seat height.)
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On Sunday, I drove it to church and around town. I parked in a parking garage for lunch to keep it cool. My husband had other ideas and went driving around looking for a outlet (just for fun - we had plenty of battery). He found one on the roof (full sun) and plugged in. He left the a/c on - he said it will keep it cool for 2 hours while charging.
We came back up after lunch and the car was unplugged! We had a "ticket" on our windshield and a VERY hot car.
Our first charging "warning". I will call them later to follow up no what is their official policy & the rationale behind it. (It is about 80 cents to charge up a full tank, about 13 hours of charging.)
For dinner, we used the app PlugShare to find a location with charging and near restaurants. We didn't NEED to charge, but we wanted to try out this whole "use a public charging station" thing.
Apps I installed today:
There is a charging station in the Central West End - with three different 6.6 KwH chargers (and 120 V plugs). We had to pay to park (~$1.50 an hour.)
We called ChargePoint since the site was not listed on the ChargePoint app so I couldn't activate it from my phone and we have not yet received our physical cards in the mail. They started the charging (free) remotely.
On Monday, I changed the max to 80% to preserve battery life. I drove all over and barely got home!!
The funny thing is, I had no power at home. I couldn't stop to charge at the Nissan Dealership, because I didn't want to miss my appointment with the electrician. (Our main circuit breaker was faulty as my husband discovered that morning.) Below 8 miles left of range, it switched to the 3 dashes on the right (above). I was less than 2 miles when it went to dashes, so not much range anxiety. However, I would need my power back on!! (I am sure I could ask a neighbor . . . )
Well, the electrician did fix it and I was able to charge up all night. (I kept the battery limit/max at 80 % though. Today, Tuesday, I had to drive all over to do returns, take my daughter to camp, etc. I stopped at a Nissan Dealership in West County to charge. They have stations out front. Their Quick Charger was broken (Thermostat Error.) I had to use the 6.6 kWh charger. I had about 30 minutes. I asked at the desk if I could charge and she said, "Of course! We have a play room and snacks in the back." My son watched cartoons and ate gold fish and a banana while I drank a warm Diet Coke.
On the way home, I had to stop at the Nissan Dealership where we bought the car (Bommarito) to give them my key to the Honda Fit we sold them. I went inside to get their card for the QuickCharger, the receptionist had no clue what I was talking about. I asked for our car salesmen. He said the repairman just fixed it this morning (it has been broken for a few days), but his card would not work. I told him to call and they could remotely turn it on. They did. We went inside to get free ice cream. When I came back out, about 15 minutes later, the QuickCharger was now BROKEN! (Thermostat Error!) Oh no! I did manage to get about half a charge in, so that is good. I had a little bit of trouble getting the "pump" handle off. I forgot I need to slide the hook down off the pump lever and THEN press the release button the top. Not bad for my first go though.
Stay tuned for more fun adventures and insights!
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