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Subscribe to RSSWhat could be worse than getting a robotic nagging for letting an electric car's batteries run down too low? How about finding out that your cell phone's battery has run out at the same time?
It's just a good thing that I was at the rendezvous point for handing back my Nissan Leaf when the car started nagging me -- and when I found out that the iPhone was dead. If this happened by the side of the road, I have a feeling it would have been a long, long night. As it was, all I had to do was walk into the hotel lobby and ask the clerk to ring up my contact, Dave, who was waiting to load my borrowed Leaf onto a carrier truck.
When I started out tonight on my final Leaf trip, the car calculated that I had enough juice for 29 more miles. Since the distance from my office in Redmond, Wash., to the hotel in Kent was 19 miles, there should have been an ample cushion. However, Dave told me when I took the car on Sunday afternoon that the miles seemed to shrink away precipitously once the Leaf dipped below the 25-mile range. I was prepared for a taste of "range anxiety," the feeling you get when you're uncertain whether you're going to make it to your destination before the power runs out.
I made sure the car was in eco-mode (which boosted the estimated range to 31 miles). I also turned off the climate-control system, kept the radio off and turned down the glow of the dashboard. I was probably more conservative than I needed to be: Amid the stop-and-go, rush-hour traffic, the Leaf performed like a champ. Because of all the power-saving measures, the car made it to Kent with 20 miles remaining on the meter.
My range anxiety eased, but I was still curious what would happen if the batteries were run down further. So I drove beyond the rendezvous point and went down a couple of arterials to burn up the miles. At the 18-mile point, right on cue, two little orange warning icons lit up on the instrument panel, and the range estimate started blinking: "18 ... 18 ... 17 ... 17 ... 16 ..."
I still wasn't quite finished. I kept driving up and down the highway in front of the hotel. The numbers dwindled further. Finally, at the 8-mile mark, a voice piped up: "Very low battery. Would you like to search for a nearby charging station?" The same message popped up on the display screen.
I punched in a search, but there were no charging stations nearby: The screen just showed the locations of outlets where the car had previously been charged. Other messages followed, along the lines of "battery level is low" ... or "cannot provide information because of your low battery." Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. (This posting on PluginCars.com provides pictures showing what the low-battery dashboard looks like.)
More ominously, the range read-out stopped showing numbers and started blinking a series of dashes instead. I have to say it was unnerving to miss out on the mileage countdown I had been watching so closely over the previous hour. That's when I decided to call it quits and turn into the hotel parking lot.
Dave was glad I stopped when I did. He needed enough power in reserve to drive the car onto the truck, and drive it off again in San Francisco, the next stop on Nissan's "Drive Electric Tour." That's where my Leaf will get a thorough checkup and recharging.
The tour continues for another month, in California, Arizona and Texas. Maybe you'll get a chance to drive my Leaf at one of the tour stops. And then what?
I asked Dave what Nissan would do with the cars after the tour ends. "They'll crush 'em," he told me. It turns out that, because the cars are not standard production-line models, they can never be sold to the public.
But don't tell the car that. I can't imagine what it would say if it ever found out.
Keep checking our Green Innovation section for more about electric cars, and don't miss the earlier postings about our "Electric Road Trips" with the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page or following @b0yle on Twitter. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto,"my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Great article. This makes me feel even better about my Nissan Leaf reservation. I cringed a bit at the last paragraph where Dave said the car was going to be crushed....painfully reminiscent of the end of last decade's EV false resurgence. I think Chris Paine is right though - electric cars will have the last laugh.
I thought the "crush" thing was going to be a joke, in reference to the fate of the EV... but he was serious. Sad.
Tee hee - very good. I found exactly the same when I drove a LEAF as well. For some curious reason, Nissan have managed to program the computers to have range anxiety on your behalf. I knew I had far more range than I needed but the car started panicking when it had a 30km range and turned all the lights to Def Con 1.
I far prefer the Mitsubishi i-MiEV solution. It shows you your range and comes up with a discrete battery low light if your range drops below 10 miles or so. When you get to 0 miles left on the reading the car continues for another 5 miles or so on a reserve tank and goes into a much slower limp home mode if you keep driving it.
I've been using electric cars for so long, I don't have a problem with range anxiety. But having a car having range anxiety on my behalf was certainly a new one on me.
How did the Leaf do climbing the mountain pass?
I will never buy a car that cant get me from Houston to Austin (never mind Dallas!) without a 4 hour refueling stop.
Sorry; this is not the future:
Volt maybe, Concept Jaguar defiantly, but battery alone: No way.
You would probably never buy a farm tractor or a golf cart either.
Yet another reason why I'm glad I don't live in Texas.
Hey Phil-67370,
Did cordless phones scare you? Did you decide that those bulky 'car-phones' were, as you would say, 'not the future'?
And now look - you can now yack to your weird Texan friends all the way from Houston to Austin.
It's amazing what happens in the world, despite the pessimism of short-sighted twerps.
Yay electric cars!
couldn't have said it better...
Electric yes: Micro turbines &/or fuel cells, but electric only? Never happen.
Yes I live in Texas, I am a US citizen originally from the UK where distances are short as it sounds like yours are, I choose to live in Texas because of the wide open spaces, so I guess Ive made my bed & I have to sleep in it.
However, the ideological dreamers who think electricity is the answer are fools, it has to be generated somewhere, using some sort of (fossil) fuel (OK; wind, tide, solar et.at are all out there but will never produce more than 10% to 15% of our nations needs).
A micro turbine will run on virtually any flammable liquid, it will produce steady constant power and has emissions that exceed the most ambitious of even California's draconian desires.
http://www.capstoneturbine.com/_docs/CMT380_lowres.pdf
http://www.capstoneturbine.com/_docs/CAP1100_Drive%20Solution_Range%20Extender_LR.pdf
They are building my Volt as I write this. I live in an area where 50 mile range for errands is excellent, but everything else is quite a drive. So for me the Volt is a terrific solution. And I haven't owned an American Car in 20 years. I want to support the American Auto Industry while they make this transition. I'm happy to be able to contribute to the innovation.
This of course will not be the final solution. But it's a start in the right direction. Anyone want to buy a carefully used Prius?
All electric cars are targeted as second cars that don't travel a lot of miles every day.
It's upsetting that they are going to crush the cars after they are finished with the testing. I am actually interested enough in the concept to do a little more research into it. I wonder why they can't make the battery charge itself while the vehicle is in motion.
If the car could charge itself while in motion, with no energy source other than the battery, they would have something really revolutionary- a perpetual motion machine. Cars that self-charge while driving have a gasoline engine that shares the work with the battery and electric drive.
The battery is being used while the vehicle is in motion (to make it move). You can capture energy when the vehicle is slowing down and charge the vehicle when it is stopped. You can even put solar panels on top of the vehicle that are used whenever the vehicle is sunlight. That won't give enough power to recharge the batteries, though. Adding turbines for wind power uses up more energy through resistance than it creates, if I remember correctly.
That does leave an opportunity for a "moving battery truck" business of some sort, I suppose. :)
Crush them? Nissan couldn't find a research university to donate them to? They've built a working model and it could provide all kinds of great teaching moments for engineers all over the country, and they're going to crush them? What a waste...:-(
That is a waste. There could be an important advancement with electric cars if given to the right researchers.
Alan, I noted that you never really answered the commenter from the previous article regarding the theft of electricity from your garage plug-in example.
Many locations provide convenience outlets for light-duty service, but none of them have been tested in high-draw continuous service. In addition to the basic premise of "electricity isn't free", a larger concern is the potential for fires caused by overloading of circuits ill-prepared for the load.
I would have liked to see a report of charging current draw, alongside the charging times. That would allow your readers to better calculate the total energy draw (and ultimate "refueling" cost).
A typical outlet provides 15 amps, so we can reasonably assume that a Leaf plugged into a 110v outlet is going to pull about that much.
Electricity is priced by killowatt-hour and power costs between 7c and 15c per kwh. Electricity here in South Florida is about 11c per kwh, so let's use that figure. A killowatt is 1000 watts and 15 amps is therefore 1.5 kwh. If our author charged his car for an hour, then, it would have cost the outlet owners about $0.17. So I don't think any real-world property owner would care if Alan plugged into their outlet for an hour, as long as there are not too many of him around. If he plugged into a lot that charged for parking, they might actually be better off thanks to the hourly revenue from his having to park in order to charge.
That's not much, but of course if there are thousands of Leaves out in any given place, it's going to be very expensive to offer public outdoor outlets near parking garages in the future. On the other hand, Downtown West Palm Beach public parking lots charge $1 per hour. (Yes, I know, we are lucky to get parking that cheap :) ). Offering free charging to people using the lots, then, would actually be somewhat sustainable, and the publicity obtained from that would be likely to be positive to the image of the lot operators.
Los Angeles parking typically costs more like $7 per hour with a cap of $20 and obviously it would be very easy to roll in the cost of power into those more typical urban rates.
Of course 110 volt charging is not very usable since it only yields about 4 miles per charge hour. So it seems unlikely that people will do this except in case of emergency.
Shopping centers, which generally make more money as customers stay longer, will probably love to provide free or subsidized electric car charging with their parking.
David
run out of gas in the middle of no where - walk two miles to the nearest gas station carry a tank of gas to your car
battery runs out in the middle of no where - get a 2 mile long extension cord?
electric cars are a joke....
Amazing! Gripes & moans, but no solutions. OK, Texas and much of the western states are flat and sunny, right? So, open rental terminals next to major metro. areas that rent "ONE-WHEEL, lite-weight, (PV)'PAN-CAKE' trailers"! Those little puppies would extent the range to indefinite, the terminals would bring in revenue and prevent bulkiness of city cars. Heck, Bubba could run a terminal or it could be totally robotic...and it all could be done now. No need for all these exotic ideas. Just evolve!
So, in concert with David Dennis's idea and mine, who would nag or WHAT would nag? We (The City of Austin "Solar Explorer" project)had plans 20 years ago for PV-covered, free, shopping mall parking and it would also supplement lighting mall!
...Ah, but then how about "acts of GOD'? Hail on Texas Malls. D'oh! Hurricane's on Florida Malls...that could hurt! Earth-quakes in So. Cal.? (That would make for a bad day) Solution, weel, back to I.C.E. machines run on Dead dinosaurs ...I guess. Same goes for my "One-Wheeler", but add wind !
I'm begining to hate this all to common type of mainstream article concerning EVs. It seems the closer we get to actually being able to buy one, the more the media "pushes" the range anxiety mantra.
You even start your article with a terrriying depiction of being stranded on a roadway wthout a phone and then go on to say that you actually had all kinds of spare range and intentionally pushed the car to get all "anxious" about getting home safely?
Seems the only real anxiety had to be invented for the conclusion of your article. Why couldn't you write about what actually would have happened happened? You got home safe and sound with about 20 miles to spare. That's what really would have happened, right? Yet you felt the need to place that "range fear" in there anyway.
Just tell the truth. Your job was to highlight the tech, shmooze it just a bit, yet spotlight the range issue since that is what will keep most people away and buying IC cars...right?
Manipulative. mainstream claptrap. Range is not an issue just as it was not really for you. The whole intent is to sell just a few EVs so peak oil consumption is not effected. Only a percentage will be sold, the 20,000 limit on the Leaf is an example of this holding back and more "portioning" will be seen.
This isn't about replacing oil for some of you guys is it? It's about making up for the oil that can't be pumped fast enough to keep prices from going crazy. Only a few electrics each year are all that is needed to keep the pumps humming and the prices down so the gas guzzlers can dominate for decades to come.
And we speak of free markets. What a joke.
Watch this 30 second video to see why a veteran who served in the Middle East wants us to drive electric cars. And be sure to vote for him to win a Nissan Leaf!
https://drivenissanleaf.com/Win/Vote.aspx?b=X5J85YZQJMKV
Jim- That was outstanding! It is totally amazing the LACK of thought from media and all the dunder-heads that embrace whatever they are told. (Like that GM guy in 'WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR', that said "GM would sell anything, even if it ran on Cow SH.. if it sold." Then did you EVER see the (GM)Saturn EV1 comercials? GM did not want them to sell!) And Nissan Leaf is W-A-Y-Y behind Tesla and even the Aptera! (Both in looks & performance ...as well as both cars I commented on are designed & built in California only!)
FYTHELER- Yep, you are right. The completely restricted market outlets is yet another way to keep the vehicle sales low.
Price fixing is yet another way. A mechanically able person can build this car in their garage for about the same price from off the shelf parts. They have been doing this for about 15 years now. Yet, a major auto manufacturer can't do it any cheaper when employing modern assembly line techniques and wholesale parts sourcing. What's up with that?
It's the batteries you say? Nonsense. What about NiMH? Why isn't the tech being used? There are RAV4s on the road as I type this that have been running flawlessly on NimH batteries for about 15 years now. They get about a 100 mile range and run at highway speeds. Cheap, proven, and AVAILABLE tech, yet no one seems to remember they exist. Why not? Perhaps Alan could do a write up on that, but I won't hold my breath.
No, the truth of this is that the industry sees EVs as solid and almost maintenance free. A serious threat to after market maintenance profits. Not to mention the oil barons that pull the strings with their banker buddies will lose out big time and that will NOT happen in this country.
One last question. If range is the issue and the Volt is the answer, why not just make a box like generator that can be purchased as an option or an aftermarket add on that slips into the trunk and converts the battery vehicle into a plug in hybrid for long trips? I have already seen small trailer designs that can be pulled behind the vehicle on youtube. This simple idea alone shows how range is NOT an issue even now and with the present tech limitations (excluding NiMH of course since NiMH tech isn't even discussed at all).
The saddest part of all this is that it shows a manipulation of our market that is so profound that it makes one step back and wonder just how far this type of thing goes in America.
It goes ALL THE WAY. Surely you haven't missed that?
Electric cars are machines with certain specification like any other machine. User requirements will push the market to create machines that meet its needs- this will happen with the Leif. It is great that research is going on. The idea of roving charging trucks is a smart - a new industry built on needs.
Lloyd Woods Devix co
AH-H, finally some "Common Sense" thoughts for helping The USA, as in UNITED. My Uncle worked for GM's Remy-Delco for several decades and developed (with Patent) a battery ...the size of a Motorcycle Battery to start & run a big 18-wheeler Tractor/Trailer Diesel Rig, then got a gag-order, big buy-out of patent and a healthy retirement with strings just so GM could continue using giant-tandem (heavy) batteries, then another person developed a similar product with televised results and even starting a possible new industry(...Ultimately the same results) and this was in the 80's!!!! So, now GM claims to have finally re-invented the wheel (aka: Electric Car, but can't catch Nissan Technology)? Is GM's next "TRICK" re-inventing a Horse, then Buggie? (replacing a Pick-up truck with BuckBoard...neato! Bubba, should love that, with two mighty house-power. Hey, "A GMC SMART BUCKBOARD"...no need for GPS or wide up windows & you can drink while driving! So, it doesn't go too fast.) Even the thought of ROVING CHARGING TRUCKS, PV TRAILER RENTAL TERMINALS show some possible updates on a fresh industry and we know the battery technology is out there ...just hidden & not used here in the USA. But, now the (American Public) is noticing, even if the U.S. Media can't. And the jobs it WILL create won't demand a Bachelor's degree, but will create city, state and U.S. Federal revenue. Now, that just took three human minds, not a SUPER-COMPUTER with billion$ of dollars in grants! America has not totally lost all imagination!