Tom’s 2012 Nissan Leaf SL

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Is it exciting looking back at the trailer and saying to yourself "That's one bad ass car!"

Stampie said:

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Is it exciting looking back at the trailer and saying to yourself "That's one bad ass car!"

Sleepywife might have; although that was likely via the sideview mirror.  I definitely looked in the rearview mirror a couple times and got surprised by 'that car right there'... pause... oh, right, that's mine.  Which then had me think about the trailer selfie thread.

The real excitement, though, was all the windy, curvy, hilly, skinny roads we ended up navigating.  Fortunately, most of those were with the trailer empty... and it gave me a lot of practice for keeping the trailer where it should be in the lane.  Until we ended up on some small lane near Richfield, I think?  I had one trailer tire on the 'outside' double yellow line, and the other tire on the white road edge line... and was happy it was Sunday, and I could do 25mph through a 35mph zone and not impede anyone.

What vehicle was pulling the trailer? MDX? 

John Welsh said:

What vehicle was pulling the trailer? MDX? 

Nope.  It's sleepyfather-in-law's 2016? Ram 1500? 4x4 Hemi, (Dual Cab? Quad Cab?), short bed truck thing?

You were going to drive the Leaf 300 miles? Talk about jumping into electric car ownership with both feet!

sleepyhead the buffalo said:

John Welsh said:

What vehicle was pulling the trailer? MDX? 

Nope.  It's sleepyfather-in-law's 2016? Ram 1500? 4x4 Hemi, (Dual Cab? Quad Cab?), short bed truck thing?

Sweet combo.  The Featherlight probably weighs less than 2,000 lbs leaving lots of hauling capability to the truck. 

In other irony, the trailer probably cost more than the car it is hauling!  

Here's the full rig... after botching the first 'pump approach' a tiny bit:

A bit over half way:

Buffalo Logistics...

A VW and southern Virginia...did you buy something from The Wagners? 

Last fuel stop for the day...

Towed car #2 is sleepydad's GTI.  I.e. my ride back north, then out to GridLife Mid-Ohio.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Do you have burn out videos yet?

Stampie said:

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Do you have burn out videos yet?

unfortunately, no

i could probably get away with it since the tires need replacing... when not send off the fronts with the rears?  But, I don't the neighbors up there would go for it... and without plates, I can't get it somewhere to do a burnout... afaik.

Also, made it back to sleepy-inlaws-land

TBD if I drive back up tomorrow.  I think, though, that might get slid to Wednesday.

Tom Suddard said:

You were going to drive the Leaf 300 miles? Talk about jumping into electric car ownership with both feet!

So, checking 'A Better Route Planner', it looks like there's pretty decent independent charger coverage along I-81 and I-66 from Blacksburg-ish all the way in to Alexandria.  I was figuring on taking Rte-11 which parallels I-81, to be able to keep my speeds down, and not get run over by all and everyone on '81.

One of the troubles for my trip, was the planner didn't think the Leaf would make it the first 60miles up the mountain from sleepy-inlaws up to Blacksburg.  And, I've been doing so much running around, I hadn't set up accounts to charge with... and that seemed like a high risk to end up getting stuck somewhere with a dead battery.

Maybe I'll do that with the next EV?  If/when that ever happens?

Leaf has new shoes...

Thanks to TireRack and their "ASAPTire" mobile installer.

Now, I just need to get it past state "safety" inspection... and fight the dmv booking system to get it registered... and then it'll finally be "on the road here"

Tom Suddard said:

You were going to drive the Leaf 300 miles? Talk about jumping into electric car ownership with both feet!

That's how we met ours - a 300 mile trip across rural Utah - but it's a different vehicle. Great way to kick range anxiety in the nuts from the start though. 

I was wondering how the Leaf was doing; thanks for the update! And what do you mean new tires? The old ones were perfectly fine for Florida!

Have you driven it at all yet? What do you think?

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Only driven it around the block at Dusterdb's and on/off the trailer.

Sleepywife is quite tickled with it, even with just that much.  I _almost_ ordered a the tires pre-installed on a set of Enkei J10's... for weight savings.  Which would have been the first time Sleepywife would have allowed a modification to 'one of her cars'.

She's actually spent some time on forums, and researched a bit the fact that you can upgrade the pack.  Something she is considering. So, She's taking a very different view to owning this car than any of her previous ones.

Very cool! Glad to hear she's into it.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Told you I should have built a custom battery box for it.

Stampie said:

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Told you I should have built a custom battery box for it.

If I buy a second one, and prep it for TrackEV things, including a ~64kWh pack, you'll be the first call/text

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Never thought I'd say this but that's one sexy Leaf.

Stampie said:

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

Never thought I'd say this but that's one sexy Leaf.

I bet you tell all your salads that. 

First gen Leaf is one good looking car.