http://mountainx.com/blogwire/local-blogger-documents-the-his-experiences-driving-an-electric-car/ Local blogger documents the his experiences driving an electric car January 13, 2016 Max Hunt
[image / chucka_nc/flickr http://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/8236604038_e37ccb019c_z.jpg (2 Leaf EVs charging) ] Electric cars have their fair share of proponents and detractors. Questions regarding the longevity of a batteries charge, the practicality of owning an electric vehicle in the mountains and whether the benefits an electric car offers environmentally and financially loom large, even as automakers roll out more advanced and efficient models each year. Local green energy advocate and blogger Boone Guyton recently wrote about his experiences with a completely electric car in an online post on the WNC Green Building Council’s website, seeking to offer insight into some of these questions. Entitled “A month with an Electric Car,” Guyton documents purchasing a used Nissan Leaf for $10,500 dollars. He describes being anxious during the first few trips: “We live 12 miles outside of Asheville [NC] with some elevation changes on our route to town and most drives in the area.” While a new Nissan Leaf is advertised at getting up to 84 miles on a single charge, Guyton notes that those estimates are based off completely new cars driving in flat terrain. In his slightly used model, the “charges only up to an average 75 miles of range as the battery loses some of its power with use.” Despite these inconveniences, he says that his overall experiences with the car have been positive: “The seats and the steering wheel are heated and don’t reduce the range noticeably which allows for a comfortable enough ride without the cabin heater on or on all the time for most trips.” He reports that the car reliably gives the driver feedback on the amount of battery power left at any given time and notes the perks of not having to gas up or change the oil as well. All in all, Guyton seems to have been left with a positive impression of his Nissan Leaf. “It is a nice car to drive with lots of pick up and good balance for our curvy roads,” he says. “We drove about 1000 miles over the month of December and our bill from Duke shows that we used 36 kilowatt hours more than we did last year in December,” which he expects to be largely offset by the energy produced by his home solar panels during the warmer months. He also notes that future generations of electric vehicles are expected to expand battery life up to 200 miles, making “a trip to Knoxville Tn or Charlotte NC doable.” [© 2016 Mountain Xpress] http://wncgbc.org/blog/boone-guyton/a-month-with-an-electric-car/ A month with an Electric Car [January 13, 2016] Boone Guyton [image http://wncgbc.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Leaf--768x576.jpg Leaf EV ] North Carolina dropped the tax credits for renewables for projects after 2015. This stuck us as a dumb move for jobs creation, staying ahead of the innovative curve, fighting climate change and empowering people in their energy choices. It did inspire us to go ahead with a plan to add 2.5 kw of solar onto our 3.8 kw existing system. While our existing system produces a little more than we use in our house the added 2.5 kw we plan to use to charge an electric car and provide back up in case the grid goes down. Looking around at the state of the electric car world I couldn’t help but think that it was on the verge of becoming a lot better soon. ( The Chevy Bolt just revealed at the CES looks like a big improvement). We shopped around and found we could get a low mileage used Nissan Leaf from the dealer for $10,500. We drove it, liked it and bought it. The first few trips were interesting or maybe anxious would be the right description. We live 12 miles outside of Asheville with some elevation changes on our route to town and most drives in the area. Our 2012 Leaf had 26,000 miles on it. New the range is advertised as 84 miles. Those are clearly flat miles in a new car. Our Leaf charges only up to an average 75 miles of range as the battery looses some of its power with use. On a typical round trip to town, about 35 odometer miles with errands, the Leaf goes through about 45 miles of range and that is without running the cabin heater. If you run the heater to stay warm you loose another 5 miles of range. One day of widespread errands I got home with 7 miles left. I got to experience the famous range anxiety. Now there are some things that help a lot. The seats and the steering wheel are heated and don’t reduce the range noticeably which allows for a comfortable enough ride without the cabin heater on or on all the time for most trips. Also the feedback of range and driving style quickly lets you know how to get the most miles possible. Stops have no effect as there is no motor running and you never have to stop at a gas station or get an oil change. Also there are a few public charging stations around town where you could plug in for a fast charge giving you 80% in 30 minutes. So far we have not had to do that. All in all we are now comfortable with how to drive and how far to expect to go. It is a nice car to drive with lots of pick up and good balance for our curvy roads. The next generation of Electric cars that will get more like 200 miles of range will relieve any anxiety for any local trips and even make a trip to Knoxville Tn or Charlotte NC doable. We drove about 1000 miles over the month of December and our bill from Duke shows that we used 36 kilowatt hours more than we did last year in December. So we used a little more for our driving than we produced with our expanded solar system but this is during the shortest solar days of the year. Hopefully with longer days we can generate as much solar electricity as we use to drive our LEAF. [© wncgbc.org] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Mountainous-NC-driving-10k-used-Leaf-noob-sez-nil-EV-angst-comfortable-tp4679876.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
