Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

My first vehicle had no radio at all, no AC, no PS, no PB, no power anything at all. At least not when I bought it. Oh, and it had 32x12" tires, so you had to really put your back into steering it.

#29491 of 32430 Leaf by qbrozen

Jan 23, 2013 (8:08 am)

So, I know what they mean about "range anxiety" now. I drove the Leaf to work yesterday. After finally getting here, I was a bit concerned about the trip home. It showed I was on target for about 77 miles on the charge. It is 29 miles to work and the car was showing 48 left to travel. However, it was showing just half the battery capacity left (6 bars out of 12). Although, temps below 30 are supposedly the worst conditions for an electric car. Range is greatly reduced. And we are below 20 degrees this week in NJ in the morns. So its a harsh test.

I started the warmup like 20 mins before leaving the house with it plugged in and then drove the whole way with climate control off. Have warm socks to do this! I drove the speed limit, which I never do, and took all the backroads, which are half 50 mph and half 40 mph. Seems to me that getting up to speed at a good pace is better than creeping up to speed. I would see 2 to 3 miles disappear off the range when accelerating slowly, while rapid acceleration and then coasting would see 0 to 1 mile decrease.

Where I saw the biggest decrease was on the 50 mph road. The range just kept dropping quickly. When I left the house, it read 102 miles. By the time I had travelled 15 miles at 50 mph, it was down to 50 miles left. But that's where speed limits dropped to 25 to 40. So the rest of the way it stayed right around 50 until I got to work, and then dropped to 48 as I parked.

When I left work, it was reading 45. I now discovered the biggest problem driving it in the cold ... I couldn't pre-warm it and I couldn't use climate control and be confident I'd still make it home. This time, since it used so little in the lower-speed areas, I drove BELOW the speed limit in the 50 mph zone. This is SO HARD for me to do! Luckily, I had nobody behind me. It was a cold and long drive home, but I made it with 12 miles of range to spare. So could I have used the climate control for a little while? Maybe. Could I have driven the speed limit on the way home? Possibly. Could I have done both? Probably not. Will I drive it in 20 degree weather again? Hell no.

Replies to this message:

oldfarmer50 (Jan 23, 2013 8:55 am)
- ateixeira (Jan 23, 2013 9:36 am)

#29492 of 32430 Re: New Job [sandman_6472] by oldfarmer50

Jan 23, 2013 (8:36 am)

Replying to: sandman_6472 (Jan 22, 2013 9:07 pm)

"...forever thankful..."

Is that the transporter job? Great! Tell us more.

To get paid to basically test drive new cars is indeed the dream job.

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