Car is plated, and charged up last night. Went for its first commuter duty today... after a surprise 'key doesn't work' moment.
Managed to fake my way through manual unlock and re-syncing the key. So, new fob batteries were picked up today.
Car is plated, and charged up last night. Went for its first commuter duty today... after a surprise 'key doesn't work' moment.
Managed to fake my way through manual unlock and re-syncing the key. So, new fob batteries were picked up today.
this might be (hopefully?) the final update for a little while.
new key fob batteries applied, and they seem to work. took a tip from a youtube upload and stuffed a CR2032 in the fobs instead of a CR2025.
sleepywife was a bit coy about driving, other than perking up about getting the 'full-tree' to blossom yesterday. Schedule yesterday meant sleepywife had to fight through some of the gnarlier parts of rush hour, but seemed like it affected her less? I think the quietness of the drive, and some of the 'gamification' of driving the Leaf alleviated some of the stress of the drive.
The 110v charger put in ~8.4kWh last night, in a bit over 6hours. There's a bit of route testing to do, in addition to the possibility of having to spend some time at FSI, that'll probably tweak how much of the pack we use. But, so far it looks like we've got a fair amount of reserve capacity for the time being... and no particular hurry to get the Level2 charger installed in the house (not that there's any room in the garage to even consider doing that right now.
Personally... I enjoyed driving the Leaf, the few times I've managed to drive it this weekend, in making sure it was ready for 'commute duty' this week. I'd probably enjoy it more if it had a bit more power and range available, in all honesty. The more I drive it, the more I'll probably scheme and research building up an EV track car. But, I think a hybrid of some kind in the interim is more likely. Which complicates things a fair amount... since I don't particularly want to give up my TL right now. Too many ideas, not enough time or money. 
If it's anything like our experience, you'll find that it's just easy. No warm-up time, no messing with gas stations...it just works. We find ourselves going to the EV first every time we need to run errands.
It's fun, right? And that's a good tip about the key fob batteries: I remember changing them a few times during my ownership (maybe once per key?) The "never have to click the fob" feature is super cool, but clearly it takes more energy than the old-school "click to open" design.
Did you turn off the "only charge to 80%" timer? If not, there's an extra 20% of range for you there.
Another random thought: If the 12v battery goes flat at any point (sounds like it did during the trip up), the automatic window needs to be reset. Roll it down, keep holding the down switch for 10 seconds, then roll it up and keep holding the up switch for 10 seconds. Ta-dah, automatic window!
Oh, and your car keeps texting me. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, but I'm also in a committed relationship with my Honda Element. I think you have to log out of the carwings/Nissan account in the car's computer.
I find it amusing that with all of the concern about EV battery degradation, it's all the OTHER batteries in the car that are giving trouble :D
Tom Suddard said:Did you turn off the "only charge to 80%" timer? If not, there's an extra 20% of range for you there.
Oh, and your car keeps texting me. Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered, but I'm also in a committed relationship with my Honda Element. I think you have to log out of the carwings/Nissan account in the car's computer.
I'll try to dig into logging out on carwings tonight. I think I managed to de-sync your phone from the bluetooth pairing, wasn't sure if that was all I needed to do.
the 80% vs. 100% setting is in the car, right? if so, I haven't messed with that... and most likely will keep it "as is", since it's more important to try and reduce wear on the pack, than having the extra range.
Keith Tanner said:I find it amusing that with all of the concern about EV battery degradation, it's all the OTHER batteries in the car that are giving trouble :D
yeah, that wasn't entirely lost on me.
but, having a couple of younger kids running around the house... there was an element of "I seem to do this battery replacement thing all the time" resonance.
The trend continues...
albeit with a considerable hiatus
also, I'm interested in hearing any of y'alls' "lead-acid battery remediation" recommendations/techniques/recipes...
That, is gross. After pic? I tend to vacuum/wire wheel, then hit with baking soda solution.
sleepyhead the buffalo said:also, I'm interested in hearing any of y'alls' "lead-acid battery remediation" recommendations/techniques/recipes...
Looks like the 914 Hell Hole. I used to make a slurry of water and baking soda (neutralizes the acid) and paint it all over the place. Rinse well, dry even better, then Spray with a rust killer paint, maybe even soak it in some kind of plastic dip.
so, just shy of four years from purchasing this from Tom, it's now into the wholesale car system.
68752 miles, iirc. So we put on just shy of 20kmi in 3.5years, largely trouble free. Learned some great lessons, and easily dipped our toes into the EV waters.
I apologize I didn't offer it up to anyone here. But, I had a suspicion some mechanical gremlins might be on their way, and I've got some pretty significant sleepyparents health issues (as well as the everyday sleepykid duties) to navigate... so there was a priority on minimizing hassle over most any other priority.
When your gut says the pin is pulled on the hand grenade you throw it. You don't hand it to your buddy. You made the right call sleepyhead
Oooh, what happened? I'm seeing more and more of these with high mileage lately.
I was losing brake fluid, min to max in a month. I topped it up several times, and it still drives fine. but I suspect the pump is on its way out.
the range was down to 65-68miles... which is fine; although getting a little uncomfortable for my wife's drive; and it was definitely kind of a pain to drive over the winter.
and there's the reality that newer EV's with better power/range/driving-dynamics are available for "not too much".
Yikes, yeah, that would put you way upside down in the car. I've never priced LEAF brake parts, but I'm assuming they're expensive like any other modern ABS pump. You made the right call.
Yeah, "real" EVs have gotten crazy, crazy cheap.
This is probably not a "real" EV, but it fits the bill real well (small, decent range, and not too much $$)... and I've appreciated hearing the good things from Loweguy & ShawneeCreek on their's:
1 owner, 2019 w/ 25kmi. No heated steering wheel, but everything else is as needed. Plus it's quite a bit "punchier" to accelerate, and regen in "B" mode is almost like driving a stick. 126miles range should do quite nicely, and I think we'll still be able to get by on the Level1 charger for a little while longer.
Congrats!!! I've always had a soft spot for those!
Tom Suddard said:Yikes, yeah, that would put you way upside down in the car. I've never priced LEAF brake parts, but I'm assuming they're expensive like any other modern ABS pump. You made the right call.
Yeah, "real" EVs have gotten crazy, crazy cheap.
I think the other problem is it's tucked back behind the gearbox and low on the "firewall"... so I expected a sizeable labor estimate just to diagnose, let alone fix.
Tom Suddard said:Congrats!!! I've always had a soft spot for those!
Thanks, and I've got admit that between driving SleepyDad's Mk6.5 GTI, you and Andy doing so well in your Mk7, and now owning this... it's going to be hard to resist trying to pick up a 6spd Mk7 Golf or GTI to play with "too" instead of the Prius.
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