Shrinkage (Range That Is)

The forecast is for cold.  REALLY, REALLY cold.  Tomorrow morning's low is forecast to be 13°F with a high of 20°F.  But that's nothing.  Both this coming Saturday and Tuesday morning lows are forecast at 3°F!  That's cold for here even in January.  Saturday is no big deal because we won't be going anywhere, or at least anywhere far.  Tuesday I'll need to make it to the office and back.

EV of the Day

I really hope It gets to the point where I can no longer play this game. The game where my daily goal is unfulfilled until I spot an electric car. I win the game most days by spotting Tesla Model S's, Mitsubishi iMEVs, Nissan LEAFs or Chevy Volts. If I excluded the Volts I'd have a much lower win-loss ratio but I include them because they run all-electric for 30 miles or so. Those are my rules. Your game can have its own rules.

When This Van's a Rockin'...

Just the Stats, Ma'am

It's All Relative

A Facebook friend asked me a very good question about range.  What about the other uses of electricity in the Nissan LEAF such as lights, wipers, heater, heated seats, power windows and charging iDevices?  He figured that we'd have to give up most of those amenities in order to save electrons for moving.  He specifically cited the example of running the wipers in a snow storm.  But, it's all relative. Sure, you might be able to run down a regular car battery pretty quickly doing that, but you have to compare moving a few ounces of snow every few seconds to driving a 3,300+ lbs car up a hill at 40mph.  Once you think about that you realize that everything else is pretty small stuff.

A Disappointing Day

Where to begin.  First, I couldn't get the SiriusXM app on my iPhone to stream to the car on my commute into work.  No ad-free Howard.  Then work was an unproductive stream of meetings and interruptions.  Nothing special there.  Pretty much everyone experiences the same thing every day. Then the electrician didn't show up to give us an estimate for the car charger installation.

High Score!

Kerry may be after green dots. I'm after pine trees.

Collecting Green Dots

I once heard that Jerry Seinfeld had a simple but strangely effective technique for motivating yourself to stick with some daily goal. He had a dedicated calendar for that goal and would mark the day with a red "X" each time he did his task. Then, as he explained, “after a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.”

Range Anxiety Analysis

I posted the other day that I actually made it to work and back and that I'd share some analysis of the range. So here it is.

There are some different options for getting to work and back. There's a 25 mile one way route on back roads and a 30 mile highway route on the Mass Pike and 128. I tend to leave between 5:15 and 5:45am so there's no traffic on either. The highway will take me about a half hour and the back roads 45 minutes or so.

Running on Empty

Our family has lots of lessons. Currently the kids have (combined) the following activities: Kumon reading, Karate, a Bo weapons class, Russian Math for algebra and geometry, piano lessons for each, drum lessons, drama class, science club, and the town theatrical production. This translates to a lot of running around town.

Passing with Flying Colors

Yesterday was the big test. Can I get to work and back? If not we basically have a $405/month eco friendly doorstop...or giant Mophie Juice Pack for my iPhone...and I'd be investing in a high intensity headlight for my bike.

Bun Warmers

Sunday was cold.  Really cold. Like, Antarctica cold.  And on top of that it was windy as hell.  On the plus side, Wachusset should have pumped out boatloads of snow for a base we can enjoy later this year.

Anyway, we decided to bail on running outside and instead piled the family in the car and headed to the gym at the Y.  An excellent opportunity to test out the climate control on the LEAF.

Can We Get There From Here?...And Back Again?

Range anxiety. The giant roadblock for the current generation of electric vehicles. Unless of course you have a hundred grand lying around for a Tesla.

The EPA average for the Nissan LEAF is 75 miles on a full charge. But an average of what? The average of 65 and 85 is 75. 65 will get us both to work and back (a little more comfortably for me). But 75 is also the average of 45 and 105 and 45 will leave me somewhere in Sudbury on my way home.

Charge it to my Account

OK. So maybe we were a bit too anxious to get the car home. Decided we didn't need (or want?) to wait for an electrician to put in the 240V outlet. Hey! it charges off regular 120V. So what if it takes 21 hours? We can manage our schedule around that. And anyway, the first quote was for $1450. That was a bit more than the $250ish I was hoping and want to get a couple more quotes before I write a check.

So we drive home from the dealer. Run some kid drop-off and pick-up errands. And then for the inaugural charging. We promised to let Leland do it so I unpacked the charging cable, read and promptly ignored the voluminous warning label taped to it. Plugged it into the wall and handed the other end to Leland.

Taking the New Baby Home

The whole process of getting our new 2013 Nissan LEAF took about two weeks from the time when Limey said, "You know, I've been thinking. Maybe you're right. Maybe we could do an electric car." This kicked off a week of online research and a whole lot of Facebook messages back and forth exploring all sorts of calculations.

The End of an Era

Limey confessed last night that he was surprisingly sad about giving up his 2003 Maxima SE. Now, I will admit to being irrationally attached to the 2004 Honda Odyssey we are keeping, but that has 220,000 miles of childhood on the odometer. The Maxima, to me, was always just too precarious. Either I was worried about an expensive repair or hitting a traffic jam.

The Deed is Done

Trade in assessed. Credit check performed. Paperwork signed.

We are now the proud lessees of a 2013 Nissan LEAF.

Delivery to be scheduled momentarily.

Let the adventure begin.

Location:Milford Nissan