Trip to Byron Eco Park

This weekend I attended an AEVA Electric Vehicle display at the Byron Solar Revolution in the Byron ECO park (Tyagarah, near Byron Bay). It is about 340 km round trip and needs four charges.

I drove 72 km from Cleveland to the Gold Coast using the motorway. It was 6:30 am, so I drove at 90 km/h (is a 110 km/h zone) to lessen the charge time. I used one less bar than a previous attempt using the side roads.

Cleveland to Surfers Paradise using Pacific motorway

Arrived about 7:30am at the Bruce Bishop Carpark in Surfers Paradise

While waiting for the car to charge, I went to the coffee club for breakfast. When I got back I cleaned the car ready for the display.

Took about 2.5 hours to charge

The next leg was from Surfers Paradise to Tyagarah (about 80 km). When I entered the motorway at Tweed Heads, it began raining heavily and the wind was blowing hard from the side. I could barely see the cars in front, so I dropped to 80 km/h. It stopped raining about Brunswick Heads. Which was good as showing cars in the rain is a pain. I arrived with 20 km on the range meter. On a sunny day, I think I would have had 30+ km left.

I put the car on charge, but was only able to leave it for 90 minutes as the power point was not where the display was. It was enough for the range meter to display 50 km.

Surfers to Tyagarah using the Pacific motorway

Our display - Outlander, iMiEV, Custom Echo, Custom Suzuki, LEAF

I left for the Chargepoint at the Macadamia Castle at Knockrow. I had never been there before and didn't realise the hill was so steep. I travelled 20 km and had 10 km on the range meter. I parked under the solar canopy and plugged in about 6 pm. Luckily there is free wifi, so I had a snooze and read some forums.

Tyagarah to Knockrow up the gigantic hill

Parked under the solar canopy as it started to rain

It took approximately 3 hours to charge. During this time a huge thunderstorm rolled through. One thunderclap was really loud and made me jump in my seat.

The range meter was lower than normal as I had climbed the hill

I set off from Knockrow with 99 km on the range meter and 96 ish km to travel. Carwings warned me multiple times about not being able to make it to the destination, but once I descended the giant hill, the range meter stayed on 95 km for about 20 minutes. It rained the whole way to Surfers Paradise, but the wind was low. I stayed on 80 km/h as the road was super quiet (most of the time there were no headlights in sight). There was a lot of traffic round Broadbeach, so it took longer than I expected. I made it to Surfers Paradise about 10:30pm with 18 km left.

Knockrow to Surfers Paradise using the Pacific motorway

Arrived with heaps to spare

I was super hungry as I had not had anything to eat since 5pm, so I went back to the coffee club for dinner. Not sure why I went back to the same place (normally I prefer to try out new places I wander past). It stopped raining, so I took a walk down main beach and headed back to the car. I charged to 80% this time as it was 1:00am and I was tired.

Off home from Surfers Paradise

I drove about 80 km/h on the motorway with hardly any cars on the road. Sailed in home with 20 km to spare.

Home at last

Next time tho, I will book a place in Byron Bay and stay for the weekend, much too nice a place to only visit for a few hours :)

Energy consumption

 9 KW/h for 72km -> 12.5 KWh / 100km BNE to GC
15KW/h for 98km -> 15.3 KWh / 100km GC to Knockrow
 9 KW/h for 96km ->   9.3 KWh / 100km Knockrow to GC
10KW/h for 72km -> 13.8 KWh / 100km GC to BNE

70,000km Already

Hello, 

this post is very delayed (somehow forgot). Nothing much has happened since the last post. I bought a KeContact P20 from Recharging NSW ( http://rechargingnsw.com.au/products/kecontact-p20-series/ ), but have not had any time to check it out (work has been super busy). I am still looking at places to install charging stations.

Due to the installation of new chargers, I have been travelling to places that I was not able to before :)

I did a video of my trip to Binna Burra. Also I am going to Byron Bay for a car display, so will make a video about that too.

My LEAF went for the 70,000 km service ($95). The normal person was not there, so I was not able to find out any real information about how my battery is going. The page attached lists 5 stars.

70,000KM and still rolling along

Still using about $4 per day

Trip to the Beach

The Gold Coast City Council installed a charging station in the Bruce Bishop Car Park (near Cavill Avenue). http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/bruce-bishop-car-park-22661.html  I took a trip to the Gold Coast to have a swim and try it out.

About 75km using the freeway

I left with 100% charge and arrived with 30km remaining (used air conditioning as was 30C+). Car was charged to 100% in less than 4 hours (consumed about 10KWh). Parking fees were $9.20, charging was free (not sure if you can park anywhere in Surfers Paradise for free).

Bay I9 on the Ground floor (to the left, past the ramp, when entering from Beach Road). 

Charger is free. You need a Chargepoint card to activate

 Also I went for a Tram ride from Griffith University to Broadbeach. Was fun to zip around in the air conditioning. No need to travel to Melbourne anymore :)

68,000km and 9 Bars of Range

Hello,

I lost another bar of range today. Happened when I was sleeping :(
Luckily I have moved and the daily commute is now 64km per day (was 80km+), so no range issues.
Will have to see what Nissan say at the 70,000km service.

Someone stole my Capacity bar :P

80% Charge is now 100km ish (in ECO)

100% Charge is now 120km ish (in ECO)

Also, I had good news today, The Gold Coast City Council has installed a Chargepoint brand charger in the Bruce Bishop Carpark at Surfers Paradise. So be good to go to the beach :)

60,000 KM

Today I passed 60,000 kilometres and lost my second capacity bar (complete coincidence).
I have not really noticed anything out of the ordinary. Will have to take it in for a 60k service (I think they do the brake fluid replacement this service).

My tyres (original) still look good, so maybe I will get another 10 - 20k out of them.

Hopefully I find a home for my old chargepoint station soon. It has been harder than I thought to find good spot with a car park open all hours and has something to do and they don't mind taking a car space (and hopefully no vandalism).

Currently I am using the 2.4KW brick (staying at a friends house), so the KW per 100KM has risen.

Friendly Email confirming my loss of battery capacity

Click over the 60k on the way to work this morning

Summary screen (different looking as the application had an IOS 7 makeover)

Currently I am using the 2.4KW brick, so using more energy than normal

Yes you can!

If you think your Nissan LEAF cannot make it somewhere, give it a try, you will be very surprised.
Recently I have been traveling a bit and found that I can go much further than I had ever tried before.

On the weekend I travelled from Waterford to Caloundra and back twice. I used roads that went through Chermside, Strathpine, Petrie, Burpengary, Caboolture and Landsborough (Australia Zoo).

Travelling to Caloundra, I had to use a charger at Moorooka, but I think this is due to the hills I have to climb in Logan. I needed about 45 minutes of charge (leave with 10 bars of power).

I made it home on two occasions using a 100% charge (travelling 132km). Previously I had used the motorway and tried to stay between 80km/h and 90km/h, but it used too much energy and I had to charge at Moorooka to make it home.

In the future there may be a charging station near Burpengary, which I hope will make it easier to travel between Brisbane and Sunshine Coast.

Map of the roads I used to travel between Caloundra to Waterford

50,000km and still going

Woo, have done 50,000 km in my Nissan LEAF and still going happily. I have not had any mechanical repairs and my tyres are looking good.

Fuel costs are low, only $1960 of electricty. My old Toyota Corolla would have used $5512 ($3552 more) of petrol (7.5litres/100km @ $1.47/litre). I don't use petrol anymore so I don't have records. I used ACCC Petrol Pricing and QLD Gov Stats Office to estimate an average of $1.47 / litre (for Brisbane).

Service costs were $820, higher than I expected. A Toyota Corolla is $650 (this comparison is due to previously owning Toyota Corolla's). I suspect that could change after the Toyota capped service pricing expires at 60,000 km (Nissan's expires at 120,000 km).

I don't include the purchase price in my cost calculations. It was costed when I bought it and did not weigh heavily into my purchase decision. I find when looking at the differences between various cars, I ignore / justify the price, using other measurements (like features/safety etc.), only using price as a guideline.

If the purchase price of the car is the most important factor to you (i.e. keeping it to a minimum), then you are not going to purchase a new car. So perhaps wait for 2nd hand LEAFs (ex lease) from 2015 - 2016 onwards. They should be cheaper than a new petrol car and still have more than 80% battery left.

When I purchased the LEAF, I was thinking about

• Do I like the look of the car? - YES
• Does it drive well? - YES, very fun
• Is it comfortable to drive? - VERY, low noise and lot of headroom
• What extras does it come with / can purchase? - Almost everything was standard
• How reliable is it? - UNKNOWN - but I am hoping more than a petrol car
• What is special about the car? - High Safety Score, Reduced impact on the environment
• Can I afford it without pushing financial security? (i.e. did I have 25% income left after paying bills) - YES
• Does it cost more / less to run than my current car? - Much Less

My main reason for purchasing was because it drove really well (much nicer than previous cars I had owned). I also loved that you only need three things to make it go

1. Sun
2. Solar Panel
3. Battery

Also, I have put my home charger on PlugShare. If you install the application on your phone (iPhone / Android), then my charger should appear on the map. It is handy if you are on your way to / from the Gold Coast and need some juice (Is in my garage, so ring / SMS me if you need it [number is in the app]. I can leave the cord hanging outside if I am not home).

Pulled over on the side of the road to take a picture of the dashboard

KW/h per 100 km (falling as this summer had very few hot days)

Price per 100 km (there was a 4c per KW/h price rise half way along)

Summary of the running costs (excluding car repayments)

Bridgestone tyres still have lots of tread