When Tanya told me that she had to make, something like, 25 Tutu Totes this weekend, I read between the lines and offered to take our kids on a full-day adventure. With National Parks having fee free days over the Veterans Day weekend, I thought it would be fun to check out Mt. Rainer. After all, I had recently watched Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea, making me feel that it was a civic duty to take our children to the Parks. It didn't take long to determine, though, that getting our LEAF up to either Sunrise or Paradise was completely out. I've already detailed why the North Cascades National Park was out, so I had to figure out how to get us to the majestic Olympic National Park!
Looking at the park map and at the EV charging infrastructure on the Olympic Peninsula, Hurricane Ridge was the most accessible kid-fun place to get to. I got the all-clear from Tanya as she left the house heading for the fabric store. The kids and I finished getting ready, and as we were heading out, I realized that I forgot to grab the bluetooth diagnostic tool from my car. This particular device, paired with a powerful app called LEAF Spy, is absolutely critical when pushing the range limits of the EV. However, I was more concerned about bringing the iPad. So, with Sabrina and Charlie loaded up in the car, I ran back inside and grabbed the babysitter.
Shortly after leaving the house, I called Tanya to figure out where she was. My worries got the best of me...I did want that bluetooth tool! I swung by The Burlington Coat Factory (fabric store?), and pulled the device from my 2012 LEAF. It was about 11:00am, and we were on our way!
We did a 20 minute charge to 90% at the Level 3 CHAdeMO quick charger at Campbell Nelson Nissan in Edmonds, then we headed to catch the ferry.
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| Just missed the ferry! |
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| Waiting for the next ferry. Is that the Sprinkler Dance??? |
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| Charlie signing "more". With a look like that, what does he see? |
We zipped along the Penninsula and pulled into Wilder Nissan in Port Angeles at 2:15 with a Very Low Battery charge. I was already getting worried, because we effectively had only about two-and-a-half hours of daylight left. After plugging into the Level 2 electric vehicle supply equipment, we tried finding some food. Besides a movie theater next door, there was nothing! When I called Westside Pizza for a delivery, the employee on the phone appeared a bit amused with my plea for a delivery at the Nissan dealership.
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| Happy Kids=Happy Dad |
We pulled out of the Nissan Dealership exactly two hours later at 4:15pm with a 63% charge. The drive up to Hurricane Ridge (5200') from Port Angeles (sea level) was going to be cutting it close with only a 63% charge, however the math showed that it was possible. So, when we got about halfway to Hurricane Ridge and saw that the park was closed with a locked gate and declaring sign, I started having fantasies of punching Smokey the Bear much like Chevy Chase gave Marty Moose a blow to the nose in National Lampoon's Vacation.
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| Sorry, folks! We're closed...uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh! |
Charlie was clueless to the disappointment, but Sabrina was clearly bummed that we would not make it to "Hurricane Bridge", as she put it. To make amends, I decided to stop off at the McDonald's in Port Angeles for the kids to get a treat and me some coffee. However, I did not heed my own mantra learned from driving in the BC2BC this past summer: "If the car is parked, it better be plugged in."
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| Forty-Five Minute Layover at Mickey D's |
From McDonald's, we headed back to the Nissan dealership in Port Angeles to Level 2 charge. I needed some time to crunch numbers, looking at elevation profiles, and checking the ferry schedule. The mountain was a bust, but we had to figure out how to get home! Enter...the iPad!
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| Screen time for the kids-->giving me some screen time with my phone to figure out the drive home. |
After about an hour of charging at the Nissan dealership, I was really starting to get nervous about making it to the ferry. There was a 9:40pm sailing, then another, final, departure at 11:05pm. Sabrina and Charlie were troopers, but they were starting to wear on each other. And me. Making it to the 9:40 ferry had to happen! Charging at the dealership would've worked just fine, but poor cell service was making the ferry departure planning, mapping, and range calculations nearly impossible with the slow connection. Adding to my problems was that the lack of cell coverage was just destroying my cell phone battery, even with the phone plugged into the auxiliary outlet in the car. A LEAF driver without cell service and ample cell phone battery charge is as good as dead when pushing the limits of the car. We pulled out from the Nissan dealership just before 6:00pm, heading for a high-power Level 2 in Sequim.
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| No charging in Sequim tonight; Model S beat me to it. |
With charging in Sequim out, I had one last available charging location in the town of Gardiner before all was lost and I surrendered to finding an exterior 120v outlet on the side of somebody's house to trickle charge all night long. Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner, WA is pretty much an EV oasis. Once there, I knew that there were very few contingency plans as the LEAF would not have more than about 10 miles of range left.
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| After arriving, it took 10 minutes to find the EVSE in the dark. |
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| Clipper Creek portable unit. |
Once I saw that the electric vehicle supply equipment was a 25amp portable Clipper Creek unit, I knew that I was in a real bind. I expected to be able to pull 30amps while charging; the difference was statistically minimal, but I had to catch that 9:40 ferry! I plugged in the LEAF at 7:25pm at Wild Birds Unlimited, and watched in pain how the car was charging slow enough that making the ferry would be impossible.
Over the past year, I have become quite skilled at eking the most miles out of a given charge in our Nissan LEAFs. Typically, the trick is to drive as slow as possible. Actually, to drive slower than what one thinks is possible is pretty much the trick. The dilimea I was looking at was a new sitiuation, though. There needed to be a Range Hero drive from Gardiner to the Kingston ferry terminial, and had to be done while making some "speed limit" driving time. The stress while trying to figure out of whether or not to try for the 9:40pm ferry was crushing.
At 8:45pm, I got out of the LEAF, stood in front of our car with my hand on the plug handle. For the next minute, I just stared at the EV plug and said to myself that we would not make it. At 8:46, I quickly unplugged and dashed into the car. We had to travel 33.5 miles to the ferry, and the navigation in the car provided a speed limit driving E.T.A. at the ferry as 9:30pm.
There is not much that can be said for the driving between Wild Birds Unlimited and the Kingston ferry, other than I utilized every "hyper-miling" technique that I could think of: slow, very slow on the uphill grades; driving on the shoulder when possible with hazards flashing; gliding...rather, bombing down the downhill grades in neutral; and driving off-center in the lane to avoid the pooling water in the lane ruts.
We pulled up to the ferry kiosk at 9:36pm, and ended up with a 2.8% charge remaining when the car came to a stop on the ferry deck. Departure followed literally just moments later.
Luckily, there are a handful of EV charging stations just off of the ferry in Edmonds. While still on the ferry ride, though, Tanya and I exchanged text messages and decided that she would come rescue our kids in Edmonds while I charged.
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| Pulled in with a 2.5% charge. Phew! |
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| Rescue arrives at 10:35pm. |
I'm not sure if it is a good thing, or bad, but I tend to arrive at destinations with an absolutely minimal battery charge remaining. After Tanya left, I stayed charging in Edmonds for another hour. When arriving home at 12:22am, there was the exact same 2.5% charge remaining that I had when pulling into Edmonds. Tanya almost had to perform her second rescue of the night!
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