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I would say 72 miles is achievable
100 miles+ is achievable! Just only if the conditions are just right. I would say that 72 miles is a reasonable maximum to consider when starting out and in winter. Once you get to know the car and your technique improves so a bit more range is possible.

Mind you... I hardly ever hypermile nowadays. I prefer to drive the car just like any other car and accept whatever range I get and plan accordingly. After all... it is just a car!
 
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How does it work for you Phil? I assume you have to be there to provide the key to potential users? That's my main concern, I'd love to be able to list my charger but we are so rarely in that it would be really hit and miss as to whether or not it would actually be of any use to anyone.
Mine came with a key but I've never used it, can't see any reason to lock it, the worst case is that someone who really needs a charge and spots it uses it.... which is fine by me! If I was in dire need and spotted one (as I'm sure you would have done on your Guildford return leg) I would use it, then leave a tenner and a note!
 
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Mine came with a key but I've never used it, can't see any reason to lock it, the worst case is that someone who really needs a charge and spots it uses it.... which is fine by me! If I was in dire need and spotted one (as I'm sure you would have done on your Guildford return leg) I would use it, then leave a tenner and a note!
I'd been assuming that I had to turn the key to the off position to unplug, is that not the case? Typical daft female comment I'm sure but there I am turning it on and off when it's being used. I guess I don't need to do that then? Oops!
 
I'd been assuming that I had to turn the key to the off position to unplug, is that not the case?
I leave mine on with the key out 24/7... so if anyone knows where I live, has an EV with a J1772 socket and wants to plug in when I am out... feel free! ;)
 
I'd been assuming that I had to turn the key to the off position to unplug, is that not the case? Typical daft female comment I'm sure but there I am turning it on and off when it's being used. I guess I don't need to do that then? Oops!
Well mine is a tethered cable, so just disconnects at the car end. If yours is a type 2 socket it may be different, but as far as I know it unlocks the EVSE side once it senses you've disconnected the car side.
 
Much like Edd, I just leave mine available. Although I can monitor my electricity remotely. Things may change when the criminal fraternity cottons on, however, it's not like they can quickly steal a couple of jerry cans of electricity and leg it :)

I suspect that some of the dissonance may be the backgrounds of EV owners. Early adopters perhaps came from "hyper-miling" their previous cars and hence extracted maximum range with coasting/pulsing/whatever. Newer owners have come from a regular car driving history or in "Biker Chick's" case I suspect perhaps even what one might call "spirited" driving :) So range will be different with the different style, and if you burn it all up on the way out you can't get it back on the return leg.

I have a tendency to "make progress" where able. As the Audi S4 I followed found the other day. Yesterday my outward leg had unknown charging so I set off with 100% and arrived with 45 miles in the GOM (just over 50% used). Return leg, where I knew I had range + charging at destination, I set off with 96% and arrived home with just over 20% and probably teetering on "Low battery". Ahem.

It is a shame that new drivers are having unpleasant experiences like this - if Nissan could let the cars "share" charging locations with each other then things would be better. I don't have "range anxiety" - I know how far I can drive. I have "charge anxiety" - will I be able to charge at the listed station or will it be out of order/wrong card/blocked/not accessible.

Biker Chick may want to obtain an inductive coupler + aerial for her phone to boost the signal range. Just like the bad old days before our "modern" mobile phone network ...
 
Things may change when the criminal fraternity cottons on, however, it's not like they can quickly steal a couple of jerry cans of electricity and leg it
They would need an EV and J1772 connection to get anything out of it... so I am not at all worried!
 
On a post script to the technical note about differing electrical supplies, surely if that were a risk something official would have been said about it?
Somewhere in the LEAF manual it says not to use extension leads with the 3-pin charge lead.

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From my limited understanding, everything inside a correctly wired house is in an "equipotential zone." All the metal objects inside the house are tied together and connected to a single earthing point. Since all pipes, taps, radiators and so on have more or less the same electrical potential (voltage) as the earth wire there isn't any shock hazard.

Taking an extension lead from inside the house to somewhere outside the zone could be a shock hazard. Something metal, or even just wet ground could be at a different voltage level compared to the earth wires inside the house.
 
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Somewhere in the LEAF manual it says not to use extension leads with the 3-pin charge lead
This may be so and I can see why they say that. If you use an extension that is not 10A "continuous" rated, or one not unwound, or one that has dodgy connections or one that is not with water-tight connections outside, or one that is too long... then you could have problems! Phew!

If you know what you are doing though a 3-pin extension is fine. What is not fine though is an extension of the J1772 or Type2 cable. This can change the resistance of the data lines and the car or charge station can get confused.
 
I have mine unlocked as using key every time I wanted to charge was a nuisance. You'd have to be a EV geek to spot it and know what it was for so I am reasonably happy that anyone needing to use it would be in dire straights and would have the courtesy to give me a call. The nearest rapid or 32 amp charger is approx 10 miles so they would probably need about an hour of charge
 
Sorry it was so stressful. But you DID do the journey home. And with 5 miles in reserve.

And without using petrol! Saving yourself over a tenner :)

Depends on how you feel about risk. And accept there are different issues for a woman on her own. But I would see 100% charge as100% available to use. If you had the journey to do again you know you CAN do it. Even in the worst of conditions. Perhaps you would drive a little more slowly on the way out if conditions bad making the return less painful. Wonder also if the outward journey was more uphill. You used 43 % coming back to drive 37 + miles, though given you drove more slowly.


Your next EV will have greater range :) Meanwhile by buying a Leaf you have helped EV's continue to progress.
 
I would say you can do it in fact you did personally I would find a asda on route and just waste 30 mins of my life to make sure I could do it
 
just as a though to anyone who is having a wobble with EV ownership..........

we are still in the infancy of EV as a main stream solution. when the first ICE cars were made we had a faster option with better range in the form of horse and cart, plus there wasn't the amount of fuel stations we obviously have today. stick with EV, because if people didn't stick with ice all those years ago, what world would we live in now?
This was EV infancy ? (9 mins.37 secs in )
 
just as a though to anyone who is having a wobble with EV ownership..........

we are still in the infancy of EV as a main stream solution. when the first ICE cars were made we had a faster option with better range in the form of horse and cart, plus there wasn't the amount of fuel stations we obviously have today. stick with EV, because if people didn't stick with ice all those years ago, what world would we live in now?
If ICE hadn't caught on in those years,we would have had EV's throughout the 20th century...

Using the EPA range figures gives a far more sensible real world value.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf

Range 2011/12 models
117 km (73 mi) EPA
175 km (109 mi) NEDC
2013 model
121 km (75 mi) EPA[3]
200 km (120 mi) NEDC[4]
I thought the official EPA figure for the latest LEAF was 84 miles.
 
I thought the official EPA figure for the latest LEAF was 84 miles.
Yes you're right, it is for the 2014/5 model however the range hasn't really changed.
http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/range/
It's still an awful lot more realistic than 124 miles.
And for people like me who are down 10% the 75 mile range is about right.
From Wikipedia further down...
2014/2015 model year
The official EPA range for the 2014 and 2015 model year Leaf increased from 121 to 135 km (75 to 84 mi).[65] The difference in range is due to a technicality, as Nissan decided to eliminate the EPA blended range rating, which was an average of the 80% charge range and the 100% charge range. For the 2014 model year model only the 100% charge range figure applies.[66]
 
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