Day Four

Flip my LEAF is an attempt to shed some light on the realities of electric vehicle ownership. At least in the 47 Continental US of A where we do business. After my 90+ day lease of a 2018 Tesla Model X, not affordable for purchase by most Americans, the Nissan LEAF offers quite a different view of EVs. Or does it?

Quick Recap

I get the bug when the Tesla Model S began shipping (2012) and test drive one in Columbus, Ohio circa 2015. "Interesting," is my remark. Not quite ready for prime time. And EXTREMELY expensive are my two takeaways.

Yes, the acceleration was amazing. But that was not reason enough to hock everything I owned to buy one. Fast forward to 2021 and what the creation of FastCHG engineering will be. It is all about really FAST charging for EVs as that is THEE "one weakest link" holding up rapid adoption.

As my good friend and partner explore the landscape we see some opportunities and that leads to my leasing the Model X for 90+ days. Another good friend stated, "Until you take some long trips in an EV, you can't understand what is real vs. all the hype." Paraphrased.

Done.

EYES OPENED

Massively. Four treks of over 600 miles each, Mission Accomplished!

How so? Well, when I laid out the first trek, it had only two stops. How cool is that?! Awesome. But totally unrealistic. If I sit at a traffic light for more than 15 or 20 seconds, I start looking for options!

Those two stops would have lasted for over two hours each! But why you ask? Because of the charge or battery curve during recharging. A picture is worth 1000 words, right?

So, after my first stop, it was obvious that a different approach would be necessary. More stops for less time. The fourth track was almost picture-perfect. I left Ohio with only 73% SOC (state of charge) and tagged my approach:

"Trip on the Bottom of the Battery!"

In other words, the less SOC, the faster the batteries recharge. In fact, one stop was only 10 minutes long! Just enough to get to the next charger. Did I mention how accurate the Tesla SOC metric is? Dead on +/- 1 Mile in my experience. With 6+ chargers at each site [most are 8 or 12 now], "Look Mom! No range anxiety."

Although the car's trip planner suggested 6 stops, one of them was for over an hour, I only needed 5 (3 it found and 2 I picked). And no stop was longer than 30 minutes. Plus, I shaved 40 minutes off the projected timeline! Instead of 12-1/2 hours it took 11 hours and 50 minutes. With plenty of time for food and restroom breaks. However, if I had not made the trip three times previously, I would not have known about two of those chargers.

So, what do I hope to learn from the purchase and driving the Nissan LEAF? A lot. Stay tuned.

Plus, help me finance this research project by purchasing the Video and PDF Travel Log for the pre-order price of just $99 [here].

P.S. Your support would mean the world to me. #TIA

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Questions? ASK! Text me, "Are you free now?" 330.992.4754

#eMobility #Nissan #LEAF #Tesla #ModelX #Roadtrips