Im very happy that one of my billet wheels ended up in o e of your pictures. Makes me happy.
Its still charging. Theres a series of blue LEDs on the dash. One lit, one blinking, third doing nothing. Im assuming that its a quick visual way of checking charge when walking by.
Be interesting to put it under the carport.
Dumb question: assuming its actually shut down entirely via that newfangled dash button, how long will it hold a charge? Do i need to run extension cords over and leave it hooked up to "shore power "?
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I'm going to guess that's a question for Tom, although he might have been diligent enough to avoid this situation.
9 miles will be enough for now to get it onto the next trailer to get from NC to the bottom of VA. Still working through plans on what happens once it makes its way up to sleepywife's family compound. Although, I reckon Dusterbd13 wants to make sure it's operating fine, and wants more mileage for that check.
congrats on making the Darth Nader swap. Between that, the TR3, and not getting to meet the Stampie's, I'm pretty bummed about having to be up here this weekend.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Tom said it had sat for 3 months when I picked it up. We had to jump the 12 volt battery but the Leaf then showed 44 miles of range. So my thought is the motor batteries keep a charge.
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/18/21 9:21 p.m.
Once the leaf is "running" it has a DC-DC converter that charges the 12v battery from the drive battery just like an alternator in a normal car. So if you jump it and then leave it running for a bit, it should be fine. But accessory (push start button without foot on brake, no green car with an arrow on the dash) will drain the 12v battery like a normal car.
It charges the 12v battery for 15 min when plugged into a charger, too, so I would just leave it plugged in for a bit and it should be okay.
The blue lights each represent a third of the battery, so assuming I remembered to turn off the timer I had set (pretty sure I did?), one solid means that third is complete, while the blinking third is being charged next. If instead each one blinks in series (one light "dances" across the dash), then that means it's waiting until a user set timer says to charge. I can't remember if I turned off the 80% charge limit either, but if it doesn't charge all the way that's why.
Hope this helps!
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/18/21 9:24 p.m.
Oh, and I used to leave it parked for a few weeks at a time occasionally without any battery issues. But three months left the battery dead (like most modern cars it apparently keeps stuff running in the background). So somewhere between those two data points is the answer to how long it can sit.
Fortunately you can't overcharge the main battery. Leave it plugged into the wall and the car will handle the rest and use the energy appropriately.
Under shelter and hooked up to shore power. Rain said 14 miles this morning with two of the dash LEDs lit. I'm assuming it's some sort of predictive software that got screwed up with leaving the key on and all that. Regardless it will have a full charge when you get here sleepyhead
All you guys are the best!
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 7:40 a.m.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Yeah, the car's trip computer seems to basically just average consumption over the previous 10-15 min of driving, so it's probably all sorts of discombobulated. Glad it's almost to its new home!
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 8:14 a.m.
Oh hey, apparently I forgot to log out of the car before sending it off to its new home; I just got this email. Sleepyhead, let me know if you need any help logging out of my Nissan account and then logging back in to a new one you create on the NissanConnect app.
...also, Sleepyhead, your car is fully charged :)
Tom, can you honk the horn or otherwise mess with the car remotely while you're still logged in? Not that you would do such a thing of course, but it sure would be funny if you did.
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 9:40 a.m.
Not really; the worst you can do is start charging or turn the A/C on. Here's the full menu:
Can you tell the car it wants to go to Disneyland?
The remote control aspects of the Tesla app get abused at our house because no adults live here. It's probably just as well you can't do the same to the poor guy who just bought your car.
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 10:14 a.m.
Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure the route planner is separate from the "send to car" functionality built into Google Maps. Not to disparage Sleepyhead's new car, but using the app it's clear this was an afterthought to Nissan. Then again, when it was released in 2011 there wasn't really much to benchmark it against.
In 2011, it would have been running on an iPhone 4S or so :) I can totally see how the concept of integrating a phone that closely would be new and frightening. At least Nissan has kept updating the app!
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 10:19 a.m.
Hah, so about that. The Nissan app was HORRIBLE up until a few years ago. Like, when I bought the car it wasn't even usable it was so slow/clunky/counterintuitive.
So some random Leaf dork wrote their own version of the app, and a huge portion of the community started using it. Then Nissan finally updated theirs to copy the same basic design/features/etc. Not sure if the random person actually influenced Nissan, but it's fun to think they did.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eva-leaf/id1050429958
So if random Leaf dork wrote an app, that means they figured out how to communicate with the car. Looks like it was via the Nissan site, either screen scraping or maybe he found an API. I wonder how the car communicates with the mothership? Early i3s already had to get a radio upgrade from 2G to 3G, and of course that's going away next year too.
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 10:41 a.m.
IIRC, he reverse-engineered Nissan's API. Pretty cool stuff.
And yes, the car originally had a 2G modem, then I had the dealer upgrade it to a 3G modem under a program subsidized by Nissan to console all the angry 2G Leaf owners. IIRC I paid $200 of the $1000? actual cost, at least that's what Nissan was saying.
I hadn't heard 3G was going away. That means either Nissan will have to do yet another upgrade, as IIRC Leafs only had 3G modems until like 2019, or they'll have to deal with another bunch of angry people who purchased their flagship product that represents the future of the company....
Tom Suddard
Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
7/19/21 10:41 a.m.
That wasn't a dig at the Leaf, it was just a random thought. Sunset for 3G is April 2022 IIRC.
My 2002 BMW had an analog phone, so of course anything phone-related has been dead in that car for years. It's something that's going to keep being a problem on connected cars - when LTE goes away, there are a LOT of Teslas that are going to get homesick. I hadn't really considered it until I came across mention of the i3 upgrades as part of a discussion on the death of that car :(
Its headed on the last leg!
I HAVE THE POWER
Dork. Or I would, if I wasn't a Mod.
Also, a Leaf... so Electric Power!
first leg up to the in-laws company complete.
The Leaf is very nice but I'm a bit enamored with the Featherlite!
In reply to John Welsh :
Yeah, sleepyfather-in-law, doesn't "half ass" things, when he decides to do them.
edit:
My original thoughts were to drive the Leaf back up to NoVA. But, I think I'm going to drag it up instead... and get more experience with towing.
Tom Suddard said:
Woohoo!! It made it!!
Man, I've still got 300miles before I can say that
