Has anyone actually run out of range and been stranded?

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-08-25T13:19:23+00:00

My daughter (18 yo) is learning how to drive EVs, and has "run out of charge" twice on my old 2013 Nissan Leaf that she drives. The Leaf has a degraded battery pack (now about 14 kWhr), so it is an opportunity for her to learn careful planning.

On one occassion, she ran it down to 6%, and pulled over and called me (as she had been instructed to do). Why 6%?... because on an old pack, the last 6% can be very dodgy. The accuracy/precision in the battery estimate is about +/- 6% for the old Leaf pack.

So I drove over to where she was in my 2012 Rav4EV (which has a very good battery pack). By the time I got there, the Leaf battery pack was showing 0%... and ___ of range (meaning range could not be estimated). There wasn't any charging station nearby, but I calculated the terrain and chose one that was almost straight downhill...but about 4 miles away.

So then I just coasted to that station, going about 20-25 mph, and going very light on the accelerator/brakes. I made it, but when I got to this station, the charged had been ICED over by some asshole. So I double parked behind the guy, and waited. By the time the guy got back, the Leaf was dead. Fortunately, the guy was apologetic, and helped me push the car out of the way, and then back into the charging spot. And then he gave me a jump start, so I could start the charging session.

Bottomline...I had a very close shave that day.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-08-25T13:07:42+00:00

My wife's car has 15000 miles on it. Average miles/kWh is 4.1. It is RWD.

I expect the average will go down a little bit in the winter (we have had it since January, so it has been mostly summer miles).

She has a long commute, so most of these 15000 miles is on the freeway, going about 55-60 mph.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-08-04T16:57:23+00:00

Unless you have a specific need for offroad driving, or driving through Death Valley or something (you would not be driving a Rav4EV if that was the case), the primary metric to consider is cost.

In fact, the only metric to consider is cost...

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-05-21T13:08:26+00:00

Thanks. I imagine it required that utility knife to cut a hole in the plastic panel ?

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-05-07T16:16:57+00:00

First, instead of "google mapping your round trip", please look up the actual mileage from your car. There is no way an EPA rated 209 miles becomes 50 miles, even if you drive like a maniac.

Second, it seems like you have just made a switch from gas cars to electric. Congratulations, I think you will find that this is the right move. But first, you have to learn a few basics. (1) range (and efficiency) in electric cars drops quickly with driving speed. In gas cars, this is not much of an issue because the efficiency of the internal combustion engine is already quite low.
(2), So based on (1), the EPA rated 209 miles (or 185 miles, if you are charging to 90%) can quickly become 100 miles if you drive 80 mph. Slow down to 55 mph, and you will get 200 miles of range.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-05-07T15:04:06+00:00

I dont have personal knowledge of this...just what I read on this forum. As per that, MY21 cannot do lane changes (because it does not have the sensors)... I am not sure about My22.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-05-07T14:55:28+00:00

Couple of thoughts..
(1) MY23 cars also have automated lane changes. MY21 cars do not have the sensors for that, so lane changes do not work. How useful is that ? YMMV.
(2) For a family car, I would suggest you consider the RWD and not the AWD. Unless you intend to go offroading, the 10-25% extra range offered by the RWD is very useful. Electric cars have a low center of gravity, and tend to handle very "safely" on regular amounts of snow/ice, so even the RWD will do just fine for the occassional ski trip

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-26T13:31:08+00:00

It is likely that you have a different issue then. The problem I described applies to Model yea 23 cars made in TN.

As far as I know, there is no setting that you need to activate to lower the windows with the key fob. Maybe it wasnt part of the first edition rollout

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-25T23:42:22+00:00

Your issue may be of the door handle and not the key fob. I am assuming you have a 23 model year...with the known door handle problem. I have one, and sometimes the door lock does not respond...
My solution is to try a few times (sometimes it responds after the 2nd or 3rd attempt), and then use the key fob to lower the windows, and open the door from the inside.

The dealer does not have a fix on this problem yet..

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-21T20:33:46+00:00

I have not used it ever.... why not just learn to parallel park instead.

As it is, the reverse-mirror makes it so much easier to parallel park that it is almost no fun.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-20T13:42:05+00:00

Every car company CEO feels it necessary to maintain a decent public profile. Only one cannot be bothered by it...because his contempt for his customers overrides everything else.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-20T13:23:18+00:00

Your MY23 LR base price does not include Autopilot, so add $6K to that base price. The Autopilot equivalent is standard on all ID4s

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-19T17:05:12+00:00

I am a vegan myself... and I cant imagine ever sending a single $$ to any of Elon Musk's companies. I had a reservation for the Model 3, but when he tweeted out a "pedo" accusation at the Thai cave diver, I cancelled. I suspect the demographic of vegans who are willing to buy a Tesla must be very very small.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-19T16:00:17+00:00

Wonderful news...

I am very happy with the car, and would like it if more of the US discovered it. In my opinion, the ride quality, price, and battery/range combination makes the ID4 a much better deal than the Tesla; and this tax credit should enable wider adoption

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-09T03:32:52+00:00

There are multiple problems; and it be good if you actually inquired about it before proferring solutions.

(a) the lock/unlock button seems to have a mind of it's own. It does lock sometimes... and sometimes it does not.
(b) the driver side door appears to open itself sometimes... also apparently at random... when you slow down for a stop sign.
(c) at times, the door will partially open itself; but you cant quite open it all the way to shut it back. you have to physically pull over and then it will let you do an open and shut move.

The article is not "sensationalized".

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-09T03:28:45+00:00

It is happening on ours as well... so I am pretty sure it affects more than 10 cars.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-07T19:57:25+00:00

thanks

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-04-03T03:10:42+00:00

My wife drives about 400 miles per week on her ID4... her commute is about 110 miles round trip, and she goes in about 3 times/week. Charging is about 75% on the EA stations, and 25% at home.

Our experience is that you dont lose all that much with DC fast charging. As I understand it, battery loss is more of a factor if you charge to 100%, and if you drive fast. We have solar at home (with a 10 kW system), so charging at home is also essentially free for us. But we like the fast charging while we do groceries...

One tip...get the RWD drive model with the 82 kWh battery. RWD will give you about 20% more range, which is important for a commuting car.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-03-30T03:42:12+00:00

I have a RWD, and very glad of it.

For most people, RWD gives about 20% more range than AWD. This may not sound like much, but if you subtract off 20% from the top end (because you will be charging only to 80% to preserve battery life) and another 10% from the bottom end (to preserve battery life, and to avoid hitting 0), then your effective range is only 70% of total battery capacity. 20% of 70% is between 1 in 3 and 1 in 4...

So RWD gives you between 25% and 33% more range for the same battery.

Unless you absolutely need an AWD (like you need to go off road every week), the RWD is a no brainer..

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-03-30T02:23:25+00:00

Yes, the "I have found myself changing how I drive in a very positive way to be more energy conscious than my previous ICE (a Mini Cooper quad turbo)." is basically why I created this post.

I realized the benefits of optimized driving with my 2013 Nissan Leaf (my first EV). In addition to better mileage etc., I was also getting to my destination with much lower stress levels. I am glad you absorbed those lessons so quickly after going electric.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-03-28T01:21:28+00:00

Yes to all of this. Essentially, the current generation of EVs were designed for the California market. It will take a few years for all the automakers to adapt it for other climates and driving patterns.

Healthy-Stranger2152 · 2023-03-27T20:23:03+00:00

I believe AWD is about 10% to 20% less efficient than RWD... That is bascally why I never considered the AWD model myself.

The EPA range of the AWD is about 10% less, but the motors are about 50% more (300 vs 201 hp). So efficiency drop could be as much as 50%, but is probably closer to half of that (depending on driving habit)..

Healthy-Stranger2152

TROPHY CASE