E-evo

peposhi

Hi, everyone


Today was a day of mixed feelings.
My beloved ICE D-audi (I always give names to my cars) has left for good only to be replaced by the all electric E-evo, a mid spec Nissan Leaf.

I have wanted one for a good while and finally I got the option to go for it.

I have to say a massive thank you to Mad Lad off boards.ie and Paul Flynn from Barlo Kilkenny who were extremely helpful throughout the process of making a decision...

This is my blog. where I will share and discuss my experience and feelings about the whole new world of me driving an EV.

So here comes E-evo to meet you all

Nice one, well done in your decision !

I still love driving the leaf and I'm glad I finally made the move .

I love how it drives and I love the fact there isn't any toxic exhaust . Despite what the EV haters think, Petrol and diesel refining consumes vasts amounts of electricity, not to mention the energy consumed in it's extraction and transport !!!

My electricity is generated mainly from Gas and wind, yeah it does give me a lot of satisfaction driving with no exhaust fumes, I'm driving as efficiently and clean as I possibly can. My other mission is to eventually charge the car via wind and solar power.

peposhi

I would have deffinitely gotten a solar panel system in my house if Ireland was in let say - Spain. Plenty of sunshine to make the system efficient.
I still have not convinced myself that it is worth spending 4K+ on it in Ireland...

Two days gone... have not driven E-evo muc. Only home-work-home. Still trying different modes, styles of driving, adjustin'... getting used to the range anxiety factor en all

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Nice one, well done in your decision !

I still love driving the leaf and I'm glad I finally made the move .

I love how it drives and I love the fact there isn't any toxic exhaust . Despite what the EV haters think, Petrol and diesel refining consumes vasts amounts of electricity, not to mention the energy consumed in it's extraction and transport !!!

My electricity is generated mainly from Gas and wind, yeah it does give me a lot of satisfaction driving with no exhaust fumes, I'm driving as efficiently and clean as I possibly can. My other mission is to eventually charge the car via wind and solar power.

peposhi

https://plus.google.com/app/basic/photos/photo/110489658081874903802/6129283329279947490?cbp=1g6bppqvb042y&sview=20&cid=5&soc-app=115&soc-platform=1&pct=ab&pcv=6129282407335213505&spath=%2Fapp%2Fbasic%2Fphotos%2F110489658081874903802%2Falbum%2F6129282407335213505&sparm=banner%3Dpwa%26sort%3D1

peposhi

Having a hard time posting a pic...

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

Having a hard time posting a pic...

That link doesn't work.

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

I would have deffinitely gotten a solar panel system in my house if Ireland was in let say - Spain. Plenty of sunshine to make the system efficient.
I still have not convinced myself that it is worth spending 4K+ on it in Ireland...

Solar definitely works in Ireland, not as good as Spain, of course, but it does work.

Find one of the solar calculators and the proper ones should allow you input the Kwp of your solar system, enter the country and it should calculate the (average) Kwh you'd expect to generate over the year, I was very surprised.

What you will loose in winter you'll make up for in winter. And exporting to the grid means it becomes your gigantic mega cheap storage battery, you buy the leccy back at night.

I estimated that 7KwP would be enough for my needs for a year inc the house + car. I wouldn't have the roof space in a Mid Terrace though but hopefully if we ever move.

In Ireland you will only get a grant for a crappy solar hot water system, these imo are a waste of money unless you use tonnes of hot water, I mean what the hell would I do storing so much hot water ? If I have solar PV I can at least export it to the grid and get money or buy back what I need at night.

I can use leccy to heat the damn water, charge the car, cook, etc etc. What can I use a tonne of hot water for ? And besides most people have oil, gas, solid fuel to heat water in winter and the solar PV is useless unless it's integrated into the heating system which none afaik are ?

The problem is the ESB will only allow 5Kw on single phase in Ireland, afaik.

Some day I would love to be off grid and depend on 0 energy from any utility.

Soarer

Many would say you've been off the grid for a while now Mad Lad!

googled eyes

Sorry lads but the ESB is no longer paying people to export to the grid. This country is ****ing backwards when it comes to renewables.

http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/news/esb-ends-scheme-for-homeowners-who-want-to-sell-power-30706655.html

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/power-to-the-people-why-does-ireland-make-community-energy-generation-so-difficult-1.2126185

Check out the solar forum here. People are installing a diverter from there PV system to their immersion switch to heat their water when they have surplus electricity.


In Germany GlenDimplex ( an Irish company) is involved with installing a system which uses solar PV to power storage heaters. In Ireland the government and esb are trying to dump renewables


http://m.independent.ie/business/glen-dimplex-in-100m-german-electricity-play-30746279.html


When I eventually get my EV i'd love to be able to afford solar panels aswell. I think it would be a great move.

peposhi

What would be your recommendation for car seat covers. I have never been fond of leather, so fabric is y thing. I searched online for it and got some prices from American sites.
Did anyone bought a set in Ireland?

air

Mad Lad, out of interest can your 6kW charger be throtted back to lower power in software somehow?
You would need at least 20kW of PV to maintain 6kW of output on an average Irish day.
It would be sweet if the Leaf charger could adapt to solar input like an immersion diverter.

air

air wrote: »

Mad Lad, out of interest can your 6kW charger be throtted back to lower power in software somehow?
You would need at least 20kW of PV to maintain 6kW of output on an average Irish day.
It would be sweet if the Leaf charger could adapt to solar input like an immersion diverter.

I'm sure you could do this in software but you'd have to find out how to hack into the Charger controller and I don't know if anyone has done this.

If you use the home charge point installed by the ESb then it will charge the car at 3.5 Kw Or you could use the Portable EVSE (aka the "Granny cable" ) which charges at about 1.8 Kw.

The ideal way to use renewable energy to charge an EV in Ireland is to export to the grid when you're not home and buy it back at night, the ESB would be your storage battery.

The ESB have cancelled this program so Micro domestic energy in Ireland has just been Killed and will stop for all existing micro generators next year.

So until there is an Irish Government who insists on some kind of micro generation Scheme to make it worth while to install Solar PV and Wind then it simply is not viable in Ireland. This means giving something back to the tax payer which this Government will Never do.

The Irish Government are useless ignorant backward fools and have no "green" thinking what so ever and can only increase taxes. There could be a good economy and a lot of jobs created by a good micro generation program.

There will be a lot of anger for those who have invested in wind and solar PV installations because they will be exporting their excess energy for "free" to the ESB. And without being tied to the grid the system can not work without a storage battery of some kind which is also not a viable alternative doe to the cost of batteries.

The Government will make sure our tax money goes instead to commercial Wind energy companies and importing fossil fuels. What a backward little Island we live on !!!

nokia69

Deleted User wrote: »

There will be a lot of anger for those who have invested in wind and solar PV installations because they will be exporting their excess energy for "free" to the ESB. And without being tied to the grid the system can not work without a storage battery of some kind which is also not a viable alternative doe to the cost of batteries.

better cheaper home storage batteries are on the way, Teslamotors will be selling them in the US latter this year, will take a while to reach Ireland but its coming

nokia69

nokia69 wrote: »

better cheaper home storage batteries are on the way, Teslamotors will be selling them in the US latter this year, will take a while to reach Ireland but its coming

But as usual it will cost probably twice what it does in the USA once it comes to Ireland.

Add import duty and VAT is applied it could make it out of reach for us.

I can't wait for the day I can get away from the Utilities, driving for free or almost would be just amazing.

Unfortunately for those living in places like apartments will continue to be forced to bend over for energy companies. People in housing estates will have a bit more freedom but are limited via the amount of roof space for solar and can't install turbines.

nokia69

Deleted User wrote: »

But as usual it will cost probably twice what it does in the USA once it comes to Ireland.

Add import duty and VAT is applied it could make it out of reach for us.

I can't wait for the day I can get away from the Utilities, driving for free or almost would be just amazing.

Unfortunately for those living in places like apartments will continue to be forced to bend over for energy companies. People in housing estates will have a bit more freedom but are limited via the amount of roof space for solar and can't install turbines.

true we won't get as good a deal on price, we never do

but I think the falling price of PV and batteries will kill the big utilities in the next ten years, they are a bit like land lines just before mobile phones came along

also I don't think you will be driving for free, the PV system will still need to be paid for, TANSTAAFL, well so far

air

Micro CHP has an even bigger potential to displace the utilities than huge battery banks IMHO.
If the majority of houses had 4-5kW of PV installed and those on the natural gas lines had gas micro CHP units to keep things going in the dark / winter, it would be a serious combination and great for energy efficiency.
As ever reducing demand is where it's at though. I have 4kW of PV (soon to be more) installed & I hope to get my average consumption down to 3kWh per day this year.

nokia69

air wrote: »

Micro CHP has an even bigger potential to displace the utilities than huge battery banks IMHO.
If the majority of houses had 4-5kW of PV installed and those on the natural gas lines had gas micro CHP units to keep things going in the dark / winter, it would be a serious combination and great for energy efficiency.
As ever reducing demand is where it's at though. I have 4kW of PV (soon to be more) installed & I hope to get my average consumption down to 3kWh per day this year.

I think PV is better because its maintenance free, its not hard to buy a generator and produce electricty but its a hassle

but PV is different it just sits on the roof producing power everyday for decades

air

nokia69 wrote: »

I think PV is better because its maintenance free, its not hard to buy a generator and produce electricty but its a hassle

but PV is different it just sits on the roof producing power everyday for decades

I'm not sure you're understanding me fully. I'm all for PV but on it's own it's never going to be viable without massive amounts of storage.
Micro CHP is a good partner for it because people demand heat for their homes on winter mornings and evenings when it is dark and PV produces nothing.
A small CHP with 5kW electrical output would output approx 10kW of heat and provide electricity to around 10 other homes apart from the one it's in.
It would be close to twice as efficient as the best CCGT plants in overall efficiency as almost all the energy in the gas would be used.
Anyway totally OT.

peposhi

After the PV discussion here I spoke to 2 separate PV installers. Both have said that unless I can sell the e to the grid and buy it back in the nigh it is not good to me. And with the latest changes ESB have made this option is gone. A reason for me to install PV would be if I have a serious demand during the day. Again this won't happen as I am at home only evenings, car would be charged during the night and etc...

air

This is true however there are strong rumours of a new feed in tariff being announced in 2016 & several large scale commercial installations being planned as a result.

peposhi

I am getting my HCP installed tomorrow. Up until now I was charging at work and at the SCP in the town. No issues.

I went on the motorway the other day heading to Naas. I can clearly say E-evo was not really happy. I also had my worries so on the way back I chose an alternative way, much calmer and suitable to the ecar. Arrived back home with 33% so I guess I could have easily gone back via motorway.

I took a friend of mine, mechanic, for a spin... Haha, his face... I should have had a camera... When I floored it... Priceless reaction haha

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

I am getting my HCP installed tomorrow. Up until now I was charging at work and at the SCP in the town. No issues.

I went on the motorway the other day heading to Naas. I can clearly say E-evo was not really happy. I also had my worries so on the way back I chose an alternative way, much calmer and suitable to the ecar. Arrived back home with 33% so I guess I could have easily gone back via motorway.

I took a friend of mine, mechanic, for a spin... Haha, his face... I should have had a camera... When I floored it... Priceless reaction haha

Long range you'll have to restrict yourself, I don't think if doing 100-110 is too much of a restriction on the motorway. If I get the work charge point I can go 120 all the way if I wanted to.

I do 85 miles a day @100-120 Kph, requiring a 15 min qc at Naas, could probably get away with 5-8 mins but I don't want to get home with under 20% in the battery. Not every day anyway.

"The ESB has ended a pilot scheme which allowed householders to receive 9 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of power produced, prompting complaints that consumers would lose out on cheap power."

"The move comes as the company announced it has secured a €100m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund upgrades of the electricity network in the south east to allow more renewables on to the system."

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news...-30706655.html

Why then are they cancelling the feed-in-tariff for existing customers ?

The "upgrade" will probably take 10 years to complete !

air

The FIT is only guaranteed until year end for existing customers.
They had been extending it annually for the past few years.

peposhi

Got my HCP installed yesterday. I was not able to wait for the installer to come up, so I had to leave him in my wife's hands. When they rang me about the days and availability I asked for a tethered cable. Most likely this is not an usual request, so when I confirmed the time of install yesterday morning, the guy asked me if I was the one who was looking for a tethered unit. So he did keep and install one for me. It was not as close to the car's normal parking position as I wished, but still with the 3 metres cable it is OK.
The CP is not yet operational as he has to come back and do some extra work on it. He said that the builders have left the wires in the e-meter box in a disgraceful state and will get me an ESB letter to push them to comeback and get it sorted.

Not sure what he meant, as I was not there, but it will be seen soon.

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

Got my HCP installed yesterday. I was not able to wait for the installer to come up, so I had to leave him in my wife's hands. When they rang me about the days and availability I asked for a tethered cable. Most likely this is not an usual request, so when I confirmed the time of install yesterday morning, the guy asked me if I was the one who was looking for a tethered unit. So he did keep and install one for me. It was not as close to the car's normal parking position as I wished, but still with the 3 metres cable it is OK.
The CP is not yet operational as he has to come back and do some extra work on it. He said that the builders have left the wires in the e-meter box in a disgraceful state and will get me an ESB letter to push them to comeback and get it sorted.

Not sure what he meant, as I was not there, but it will be seen soon.

Nice one getting the tethered charge point, they wouldn't even entertain the idea when I asked, all I heard was "no not possible"

Did the so called poor cabling in the meter box stop the completion of the installation ? He shouldn't need to even go near the meter box to do the installation.

peposhi

Not sure what stopped him from completing the install. He said to me,wife he will comeback on other day for 20 min

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Nice one getting the tethered charge point, they wouldn't even entertain the idea when I asked, all I heard was "no not possible"

Did the so called poor cabling in the meter box stop the completion of the installation ? He shouldn't need to even go near the meter box to do the installation.

peposhi

Update: I got an email from the installer saying that all photos and report was sent to Patrick Foley, an ESB ecars dept. Only with his approval I may get the unit powered up and working. I have to get a call tomorrow fromn Patrick to clear up the situation...

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

Update: I got an email from the installer saying that all photos and report was sent to Patrick Foley, an ESB ecars dept. Only with his approval I may get the unit powered up and working. I have to get a call tomorrow fromn Patrick to clear up the situation...

Is it your meter box or consumer unit that's the problem ?

peposhi

From what I understood the wiring in the meter box is done in an unacceptable way and it has to be sorted. The installer's exact words were - dangerous, sloppy builders work.
Nothing to do with the cp unit

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

From what I understood the wiring in the meter box is done in an unacceptable way and it has to be sorted. The installer's exact words were - dangerous, sloppy builders work.
Nothing to do with the cp unit

Take a few pics and post them here.

googled eyes

I agree. Give us a few photos

TBH there isn't a lot of wiring in the Meter box, 2 wires +Earth come in, go to the meter and 2 go out of the meter to the consumer unit +earth. I don't think even I could make an ass of that part of wiring!

googled eyes

I'm actually an electrician which is why I'd love to see what has made the wiring so dangerous.

peposhi

My meter box:



How it should look like:



The HCP installed:

peposhi

E-evo

peposhi

The journey continues...

We had a serious taste of range anxiety (self inflicted)
The other day I came back from work and my wife said she wanted to go to Portlaoise for a quick shopping. I only planned to get the car charged next day at work, as I still have not resolved the wiring issue at home, so i had only 45km GOM juice. The choice was the ICE of Eevo... i risked and took Eevo. when we got to Portlaoise I found out (better planning needed here) that only slow chargers were available in the city centre. And of course, the one I stopped at was not operational. Wifey got thick that we had to go to Midway station and said we are finished with the shopping and going home... off we went... well i had to drive with 50 and less, no AC to get to the charger in my town... We made it but it was a bit unnerving to have the anxious wife and lil' baba in the car...

A believe this is part of the learning process and getting to know the car. I can clearly say that I am getting more and more confident with the range and abilities of the EV.
In the sugar weather we had over the last few days I managed to get 108km out of 100% charge until the low battery warning started flashing on the dash...

It must take some good planning to people who are doing plenty of mileage. One of the EV owners said he's done 3500km since 14 Feb this year...

I go by the % for the battery not the GOM. The GOM will adjust based on terrain and driving style/speed etc. One minute it could say you've 80 Kms left then it could say 50kms after 5 mins or so if you've climbed a steep hill or driven at 164 Kph !

Usually I get just over 1 km per 1% of battery and that's not driving too easy !

You'll get used to it.

I've no doubt someone could get 160 Kms or 100 miles in a Leaf at 60-80 kph and that's fine on suitable roads.

We're heading to Killarney next weekend but We'll take the diesel because I can't be arsed charging 2-3 times, In theory I should get away with 2 fast charges but because it's really only practical to charge to 80%, (anything above is a waste of time and unfair to someone waiting) so you'd need to be at the next fast charger by 80 Kms. Again you could probably do more off the motorway or at 80 kph.

If we decide to go for a long trip around Kerry then we'd be stuck because there are only 2 fast chargers in Kerry. Though having the 6.6 Kw charger in the Leaf means I can replace 50% in 2 hrs. Technically I could do the Ring-Of-Kerry with the 6.6 kw charger with a 2 hr stop. it's 180 or so Kms. But I'd need to start with a full charge. But in reality for my sanity I'd just take the diesel.

I love the Leaf and have 6,300 Kms since about the 24th of January but it has it't limitations and I will be the first to admit it. It does suit a predictable form of driving such as my 85 mile daily commute but longer trips are possible with planning and patients, for instance if it's your only car and you do the super long trip 2-3 times a year then you could either borrow another car or use the fast chargers. Without the E.U funded fast chargers this would not really be possible.

Leaf II or Opel Bolt in 2017 will be a far different story, but for now I am more than happy with the leaf and know for certain I will never go back to ICE for my main car !

peposhi

Deleted User wrote: »

I go by the % for the battery not the GOM. The GOM will adjust based on terrain and driving style/speed etc. One minute it could say you've 80 Kms left then it could say 50kms after 5 mins or so if you've climbed a steep hill or driven at 164 Kph !

Usually I get just over 1 km per 1% of battery and that's not driving too easy !

You'll get used to it.

I've no doubt someone could get 160 Kms or 100 miles in a Leaf at 60-80 kph and that's fine on suitable roads.

We're heading to Killarney next weekend but We'll take the diesel because I can't be arsed charging 2-3 times, In theory I should get away with 2 fast charges but because it's really only practical to charge to 80%, (anything above is a waste of time and unfair to someone waiting) so you'd need to be at the next fast charger by 80 Kms. Again you could probably do more off the motorway or at 80 kph.

If we decide to go for a long trip around Kerry then we'd be stuck because there are only 2 fast chargers in Kerry. Though having the 6.6 Kw charger in the Leaf means I can replace 50% in 2 hrs. Technically I could do the Ring-Of-Kerry with the 6.6 kw charger with a 2 hr stop. it's 180 or so Kms. But I'd need to start with a full charge. But in reality for my sanity I'd just take the diesel.

I love the Leaf and have 6,300 Kms since about the 24th of January but it has it't limitations and I will be the first to admit it. It does suit a predictable form of driving such as my 85 mile daily commute but longer trips are possible with planning and patients, for instance if it's your only car and you do the super long trip 2-3 times a year then you could either borrow another car or use the fast chargers. Without the E.U funded fast chargers this would not really be possible.

Leaf II or Opel Bolt in 2017 will be a far different story, but for now I am more than happy with the leaf and know for certain I will never go back to ICE for my main car !

I've noticed the GOM is not really helpful. I actually prefer to have it removed from my display... But I guess this is not possible... Yet hahahah

On 16.04 we are going to Waterford. Fast charge in Kilkenny (Barlo), both ways. Will have the car ready to go with 100% charge...

Somewhere I think I should have spent the extra €900 for the 6.6kw version... The RCI would not lend me money, so I had to reapply for lower repayment ....

peposhi

the other day i drove me ICE car in town and as I reached the town parking with a scp i looked at it and said to my self -"Oh someone else has left his car to charge" only to realise a few seconds later it was my car charging... silly me hshaha

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

I've noticed the GOM is not really helpful. I actually prefer to have it removed from my display... But I guess this is not possible... Yet hahahah

On 16.04 we are going to Waterford. Fast charge in Kilkenny (Barlo), both ways. Will have the car ready to go with 100% charge...

Somewhere I think I should have spent the extra €900 for the 6.6kw version... The RCI would not lend me money, so I had to reapply for lower repayment ....

The 6.6 Kw charger would be very handy if you get the opportunity to use the normal street charge points.

I think the GOM is ok if you don't drastically change your driving style, speed , acceleration etc or suddenly climb a steep hill.

If I'm driving at 80-100 kph and the GOM tells me 100 Kms remaining and I suddly drive at 140 Kph and it tells me 80 kms remaining then I've no doubt that at that speed I will have 80 Kms left or close enough but I'd want be plugged in after 60 Kph or definitely plugged in by the 80 Kph, however by the time I reach my destination I could have reduced my speed back to 80 Kph so it's very hard for the car to guess based on so many variables.

peposhi

As you know, when things go according the plan, everything is OK... But if something goes wrong... Hahaha

Well... I decided to take the Leaf to go to Waterford last Thursday with a mid stop Barlo Kilkenny for a 1K car check up. Everything was going brilliant. Got my service. Got a boot line. Got mats. Ordered mudflaps. Charged the car and half way to Wаterford I realised we have forgotten my suit, shoes and my wife's dress... Holy-moly... Had to go back to Barlo to top up, drive notrh, top up in Midway (10 min wait as there was another Lef already there), go home & get the stuff, back to Barlo to top up with another 10 min wait and eventually arrived in Waterford at 19.30. Once the visit was over, had to find the fast charger in Waterford... Some challenge was that. I found it behind a closed for business (too late probably) petrol station on Cork road... Nearly had a heart attack before I knew it was there and it was working... Phew...
Charged up to and headed straight home. I possibly would have made it, but to be on the safe side topped up for 10 minutes in Midway before I went home.
So from 9am to 00.30 am on the road with stops here and there... It was wrecking experience. Especially that I had the little lad at the back and screaming wife (around 8pm) at the passengers side.
I used 6 times a FCP and the battery level went to 6. Not a happy battery
But I can clearly say now that next time I'd do home to Waterford on a single charge with a reasonable driving...
Oh, i forgot...
I got 5 trees on the dash... Whatever that means...

On Friday - had to drive to Dublin... Such a pleasure... Went to D4, spent a fantastic day out, not planned, on the way home charged it in Naas and arrived safely with no issue... Loved it, my beloved ones liked it too...

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

As you know, when things go according the plan, everything is OK... But if something goes wrong... Hahaha

Well... I decided to take the Leaf to go to Waterford last Thursday with a mid stop Barlo Kilkenny for a 1K car check up. Everything was going brilliant. Got my service. Got a boot line. Got mats. Ordered mudflaps. Charged the car and half way to Wаterford I realised we have forgotten my suit, shoes and my wife's dress... Holy-moly... Had to go back to Barlo to top up, drive notrh, top up in Midway (10 min wait as there was another Lef already there), go home & get the stuff, back to Barlo to top up with another 10 min wait and eventually arrived in Waterford at 19.30. Once the visit was over, had to find the fast charger in Waterford... Some challenge was that. I found it behind a closed for business (too late probably) petrol station on Cork road... Nearly had a heart attack before I knew it was there and it was working... Phew...
Charged up to and headed straight home. I possibly would have made it, but to be on the safe side topped up for 10 minutes in Midway before I went home.
So from 9am to 00.30 am on the road with stops here and there... It was wrecking experience. Especially that I had the little lad at the back and screaming wife (around 8pm) at the passengers side.
I used 6 times a FCP and the battery level went to 6. Not a happy battery
But I can clearly say now that next time I'd do home to Waterford on a single charge with a reasonable driving...
Oh, i forgot...
I got 5 trees on the dash... Whatever that means...

On Friday - had to drive to Dublin... Such a pleasure... Went to D4, spent a fantastic day out, not planned, on the way home charged it in Naas and arrived safely with no issue... Loved it, my beloved ones liked it too...

How far was that trip each way ?

I still can't believe there is only one Fast charger in Waterford. It's a good distance from the M9 too !

So you got the blame for forgetting the Clothes ? :rolleyes: That sounds like something I'd do !

I called in for My 1000Km inspection at about 7,000 Kms ! I'm not worried about going over the service intervals either because there is simply nothing to service on the Leaf. But I will not go too much over for warranty purposes. It's no harm to give it the once over just in case something comes loose lol.

peposhi

Deleted User wrote: »

How far was that trip each way ?

I still can't believe there is only one Fast charger in Waterford. It's a good distance from the M9 too !

So you got the blame for forgetting the Clothes ? :rolleyes: That sounds like something I'd do !

I called in for My 1000Km inspection at about 7,000 Kms ! I'm not worried about going over the service intervals either because there is simply nothing to service on the Leaf. But I will not go too much over for warranty purposes. It's no harm to give it the once over just in case something comes loose lol.

Yes, it makes you wonder why for such a big city there's only one FCP. Well, the same goes for Kilkenny, although I was told in Barlo that soon 2 more FCPs would be installed in the city.

Simply nothing to service, I'd agree, but people still pay between €85 to €250 for service so I read in a few places. IIRC €60 for a pair of wipers, OEM... Ridiculous!

As for the trips... Hmmm

68km - FCP - 45km - FCP - 68km - FCP - 68km - FCP - 57km - FCP - 105km -FCP - home

Once I done that I now have a lot better feel for the car and trust it to get me from home to Waterford on a single charge. Next time around.

This weekend we are going to visit my cousin in Cork... I shall do it again hahahah this time clothes go first in the car though as well as double/triple check of the trip list before we hit the road

peposhi

peposhi wrote: »

Simply nothing to service, I'd agree, but people still pay between €85 to €250 for service so I read in a few places. IIRC €60 for a pair of wipers, OEM... Ridiculous!

I certainly won't be paying anything close to 250 € for a Leaf service !

peposhi wrote: »

68km - FCP - 45km - FCP - 68km - FCP - 68km - FCP - 57km - FCP - 105km -FCP - home

peposhi wrote: »

Once I done that I now have a lot better feel for the car and trust it to get me from home to Waterford on a single charge. Next time around.

Once you experience winter driving of wind and cold then you'll know the worst case. I Reckon at 110 Kph I could do 110 Kms in this calm milder weather.

peposhi wrote: »

This weekend we are going to visit my cousin in Cork... I shall do it again hahahah this time clothes go first in the car though as well as double/triple check of the trip list before we hit the road

Cork, yeah that will be a good Spin.

Peposhi, Have you used the Google send maps to car yet ?

I downloaded https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jvanier.android.sendtocar&hl=en

Then go to google maps on your mobile slide up the screen from the bottom and click "share link" then send to car.

Go into the maps settings and then the Google send to car and it should then pull down the map data from your phone. Pretty Cool !

peposhi

So...

After the trip to Waterford I decided to trust my Leaf and do another long one - to Cork.
Left Junction 14 with 100%. On the way to Cork I picked the old Portlaoise/Cork road. Was worried to go on the motorway yet. Managed a total of 105km to Cashel with 19% left in the "tank". Luckily there was one parking space at the charger , the other 3 were ICED... In 41 min I had 91% and no it was time to go. The last part of the road was quite hilly but still managed to get to Cork with 16% left. Me cousin lives in the city centre so all chargers were within reasonable distance I had slow and fast chargers. The South Mall SCP would not accept my card, so I drove to Topaz FCP. Got a top - up and headed off to sleep. Next morning I got ESB to unlock the South Mall charger remotely, plugged the car and went for shopping. By the time we finished the charging was nearly over and ready to go.
On the way back I took the motorway. Holly-Molly, the up-hill was some challenge but still managed to get to Cashel with 18%. Lucky again with no ICE-ing, charged to 86% and arrived home with 16%. Overall very happy and I would not be worried to take the motorway both ways next time.

The following day I had a bit of a bummer.
I charged only to 80% at the local SCP as I had no plans going anywhere but Athy and back. Off we went. The plan changed so we had to go to Carlow as well. It is all uphill from Athy to Carlow so i lost a bit of a charge. Even though I was running low, I skipped the FCP in Carlow with the thought to use the SCP in Athy as we were staying for the day there... Back in Athy I found the 2 FCPs not working or unaccessible (train station and Clanard Hotel, bad planning from my side, never checked it). At this stage I was getting into the fcuk,fcuk,fcuk mode... As I was with my other half and the little one and did not want to get caught with them on board I run to Junction 14 for a quick charge... I got so nervous and driving with 50-60 did not help. Eventually arrived at J14 with 1% (at least that what the FCP showed when I plugged the car). Phew... That's was close. Don't want that happening often, must improve self organisation :):)

So nearly 3000 km driven already and more to come

Yes you should check the charge point map for updates. :rolleyes:

The SCP in Athy is down well over 2 months. It took a few ear fulls from me before they reported it down on the charge point map.

When you pass a fast charger you should get a 10 min top up if you're unsure about range.

The AC points are a disaster, just look at the amount of them that are down, then the amount of spaces that are iced.

peposhi

Deleted User wrote: »

Yes you should check the charge point map for updates. :rolleyes:

The SCP in Athy is down well over 2 months. It took a few ear fulls from me before they reported it down on the charge point map.

When you pass a fast charger you should get a 10 min top up if you're unsure about range.

The AC points are a disaster, just look at the amount of them that are down, then the amount of spaces that are iced.

True...

The dilemma now is if we should travel with E-evo to the airport and park it there for two weeks, FCP at Topaz and comeback home or leave the car home and get the bus to the airport...

You can fast charge at the Topaz provided the taxi's get out of the way !

The ideal thing to do with the leaf is plug it in at the airport charger and head off but I don't know what the cost of that would be.

So you'd plug in and remote start the charging from the internet 10 hrs or so before you want to get in the car so it's as little time as possible at or near 100%.

Unfortunately if the leaf has no timer set it automatically starts to charge as soon as it's plugged in. You could set the charge to 80% but even 80% isn't an ideal storage charge for the battery but it's better than nothing.

You can then set it to charge the rest of the way remotely the night before to charge to 100%.

If you can get home with 80% then happy days.

Make sure and set only set the charge to 80% in the timer and not set the long life mode which charges to 80% and won't let you charge to 100% unless you disable this function.

The long life mode is handy for people who don't use timers and just plug in each time they need which is great if you never need more than 80%.

peposhi

Deleted User wrote: »

You can fast charge at the Topaz provided the taxi's get out of the way !

The ideal thing to do with the leaf is plug it in at the airport charger and head off but I don't know what the cost of that would be.

So you'd plug in and remote start the charging from the internet 10 hrs or so before you want to get in the car so it's as little time as possible at or near 100%.

Unfortunately if the leaf has no timer set it automatically starts to charge as soon as it's plugged in. You could set the charge to 80% but even 80% isn't an ideal storage charge for the battery but it's better than nothing.

You can then set it to charge the rest of the way remotely the night before to charge to 100%.

If you can get home with 80% then happy days.

Make sure and set only set the charge to 80% in the timer and not set the long life mode which charges to 80% and won't let you charge to 100% unless you disable this function.

The long life mode is handy for people who don't use timers and just plug in each time they need which is great if you never need more than 80%.

My plan was to FC to 50-60% at Topaz once I arrive at the airport. Park the car. Comeback, FC to whatever can get me home (80% will do easily)...

Meanwhile I booked a 15 days quickpark deal for €48... Why would I bother going by bus when 2 return tickets would cost me €40