Fast forward a half year. While reading excerpts from one of my heroes, John Wooden, I came across what Wooden described as "never flinching at failure." (p.18) Wooden described this persistence, "If you are not making some mistakes, you're not doing anything--not trying to make things happen," and later, "act, initiate, and be bold in execution rather than hang back in fear of failure." (p.19)
For those who have plunged themselves into electric vehicle ownership during this early adopter phase, there are really two camps. One, the EV driver who is only comfortable in driving within a tight radius around home and work. The other encompasses the pioneers of the EV movement. These are the EV drivers who are determined to make driving electric work in their lives, and push the envelope to do so. There are failures, yes. If folks are not pushing the envelope--in whatever the endeavor--change...growth...progress will never happen.
Wooden's words worked. I was inspired, and ready to take on the world! So, naturally I started plotting how I could overcome one of my own (EV) failures. I remembered that attempt back in November wherein I nearly stranded my kids and myself at least two times in one day, and failed at reaching our ultimate destination.
Driving from the Seattle area to the Olympic Peninsula in a Nissan LEAF presents some unique challenges. Getting to and from the peninsula was first on my planning agenda. Washington State Ferries, the largest ferry system in the U.S., does not have 24 hour service on the ferry route that I needed to take to get over to Olympic National Park. One of the mistakes I made on my last attempt to the Olympics was to plan the trip with the idea that I just had to make the last ferry of the night. This time, though, I switched my thinking; I planned everything around catching the first ferry run of the morning.
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| Topping off the charge before driving onto the ferry. |
We left home at 5:30am and pulled into a local PCC Natural Market by 6:00. With the ferry departure at 7:10, there was about 45 minutes of Level 2 charging to be had before getting underway again. This "top off" was very important because I was able to make the drive to the town of Port Angeles without stopping for additional charging.
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| On board the Puyallup, the largest class of ferry in the Washington State Ferry fleet. |
The town of Port Angeles really can hold its own as a destination location. It is wedged between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the base of the Olympic Mountains. The two, or so, hours that we were in Port Angeles were great. It was yet another time that we had an opportunity to be "stuck" in a town that I would have unfortunately driven straight through when our family had an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle.
With about a 95% charge, we departed Port Angeles with our sights set on Hurricane Ridge and Mt. Olympus. The 17-mile drive to Hurricane Ridge was from sea-level (literally) to more than 5100'. Using LEAF Spy, an app for Android devices, and my trusty OBD-II bluetooth dongle, I logged data for comparing the expenditure of energy going up the mountain as compared to how much energy was recaptured via regenerative braking on the way back down.
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| Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park |
The drive from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge consumed 160 "GIDs" of energy. A GID is a Nissan LEAF-specific measurement of battery charge that represents 80 watt hours. After walking around for a while to enjoy the sub-alpine meadows, we loaded back into our LEAF for the return trip down the mountain and eventually home.
On the decent we regenerated 40 GIDs--just 1/4 of the energy that was used to climb the mountain! I was really surprised that more energy was not recaptured on the 17 mile decent. I suppose, though, that I shouldn't have expected otherwise, as my previous record of downhill power regeneration only netted 24 GIDs on a similarly steep decent from Mt. Baker in Washington state's Cascade Range.
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| The hills are alive with...blacktail deer! |
Our remaining trip home went smoothly, and was almost uneventful. The one hiccup came while charging in the town of Sequim. After plugging into a Level 2 charging station in the alley behind Nikola Broadband, we hoofed it across town to a burger joint. And just after we sat down with said hamburgers, I decided to check the LEAF's charging status via a smartphone app called Carwings. The status update was disheartening, as it showed that the car was plugged in but not charging. After wolfing down our food and trekking back to the car, I was surprised to see that the car was still charging! I think that the issue actually stemmed from the lack of cell phone service in that neck of the woods. The LEAF's onboard communication couldn't even catch the requisite 2G wireless network needed for the Carwings service to work properly. While I was just glad that the car was charging, I couldn't help but think of the irony that proper cell service was not available in the parking lot of a wireless network provider. Go figure.
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With our trip now completed, I have again returned to the wise words of John Wooden. The kids and I were determined to make our trip to Hurricane Ridge happen. It was a wonderful lesson of perseverance as an EV pioneer. It was a wonderful experience, too, as a father.
Wooden, J. (2006). The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
