Fun with an electric car
Last weekend I decided to drive to a friend's house for a party. She lives about 35 miles away, in the mountains (Boulder Creek).
Google maps said: You can go either way A or way B. I sorta recommend way A, but whatever.
CarWings (the Nissan website) said: Okay, do you want the fastest way or the shortest way?
I said: Show me the fastest way.
CW: Okay, here you go! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 7 bars of energy (out of 12) to get there, and 4 bars to get back. It'll take you about an hour one way.
Me: Um, okay. That's... a bit odd with the energy estimates, but okay. Show me the shortest way.
CW: Here it is! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 6 bars to get there, and 5 to get back. It'll take you about 45 minutes one way.
Me: Hold on, it's quicker?
CW: No, it's shorter.
Me: But 45 minutes is less than an hour.
CW: Nuh-uh. A hour is faster.
Me: You are smoking crack. Let's go the shorter way.
CW: Okay, if you're sure.
Drive there: all good! Car is happy. We drive basically flat, then up, then down. I don't get any extra bars for going downhill, but it stays at 6 bars from hitting the summit till when I get there. (Oh, and like how gas cars have a few gallons left when they show E? Electric car does the same thing, it keeps some energy in reserve.)
On the way home, we go up first. After a tiny bit -
Car: Uh-oh. We won't be able to get home with the charge I have. Can I stop for food on the way home?
Me: You're fine. We're just going uphill. It'll be downhill soon.
Car: But we're going uphill NOW. I think it'll be uphill all the way home! I can't do that!
Me: Shush.
Car: But...I want more energy! Stop and feed me sometime!
Me: Okay, okay, how about there?
Car: Oh, thanks!
... pause a few minutes...
Car: I can't make it home if it's uphill all the way.
Me: It's not.
...
Car: I think it's uphill all the way home.
Me: Shush.
...
Car: But we're going uphill now.
Me: It's okay, dear.
...
Car: Because, see, you could stop and charge me.
Me: Look. Let's get to the pass. You can do that, right?
Car: Duh! Of course!
...
Car: Look at this fine list of charging stations I compiled for you!
Me: #sigh#
...
Car: Oh! Whee! Down we go! Look at that. I can go 12 miles like this! No, 13! 14! 18! 20! Oh I can go more and more!
Me: See, I told you so. Still want to stop for food on the way home?
Car: Nah!
Happy and uneventful most of the rest of the way home. Then, at 0.9 miles away from home:
Car: Oh woe! My battery is low! I can only go 9 more miles like this!
Me: We're less than a mile away from home.
Car: Look! I have a warning light here and a warning light there and one message here and another message there and my DTE (distance to empty, or estimated driving range) is flashing (9 miles) and I even told you out loud! Woe!
Me: We're almost home.
Car: You should really really feed me!
Me: Look, okay. Where do you want to plug in?
Car: Lemme see... here's a list of places. Hey! Let's go "home"! That's the closest!
Me: yay.
So, yes, they really engineered it so at you could not say you were surprised to run out of charge. As one article said, "The only thing it could do more would be to shock you." And I didn't even that close to running out of charge - I only just hit low battery warning #1. if I had gone those 9 more miles, I would have hit low battery warning #2 (where the DTE changes to ---, and there are assumedly more announcements and flashy lights), and 5 miles after *that* I finally would have hit turtle mode (where you can just creep along for a few miles, basically just enough to get off the highway).
Totally no regrets. I brought a book along, just in case - not quite range anxiety, but slight preparedness.
Oh, and the party was fun, too! =D
Google maps said: You can go either way A or way B. I sorta recommend way A, but whatever.
CarWings (the Nissan website) said: Okay, do you want the fastest way or the shortest way?
I said: Show me the fastest way.
CW: Okay, here you go! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 7 bars of energy (out of 12) to get there, and 4 bars to get back. It'll take you about an hour one way.
Me: Um, okay. That's... a bit odd with the energy estimates, but okay. Show me the shortest way.
CW: Here it is! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 6 bars to get there, and 5 to get back. It'll take you about 45 minutes one way.
Me: Hold on, it's quicker?
CW: No, it's shorter.
Me: But 45 minutes is less than an hour.
CW: Nuh-uh. A hour is faster.
Me: You are smoking crack. Let's go the shorter way.
CW: Okay, if you're sure.
Drive there: all good! Car is happy. We drive basically flat, then up, then down. I don't get any extra bars for going downhill, but it stays at 6 bars from hitting the summit till when I get there. (Oh, and like how gas cars have a few gallons left when they show E? Electric car does the same thing, it keeps some energy in reserve.)
On the way home, we go up first. After a tiny bit -
Car: Uh-oh. We won't be able to get home with the charge I have. Can I stop for food on the way home?
Me: You're fine. We're just going uphill. It'll be downhill soon.
Car: But we're going uphill NOW. I think it'll be uphill all the way home! I can't do that!
Me: Shush.
Car: But...I want more energy! Stop and feed me sometime!
Me: Okay, okay, how about there?
Car: Oh, thanks!
... pause a few minutes...
Car: I can't make it home if it's uphill all the way.
Me: It's not.
...
Car: I think it's uphill all the way home.
Me: Shush.
...
Car: But we're going uphill now.
Me: It's okay, dear.
...
Car: Because, see, you could stop and charge me.
Me: Look. Let's get to the pass. You can do that, right?
Car: Duh! Of course!
...
Car: Look at this fine list of charging stations I compiled for you!
Me: #sigh#
...
Car: Oh! Whee! Down we go! Look at that. I can go 12 miles like this! No, 13! 14! 18! 20! Oh I can go more and more!
Me: See, I told you so. Still want to stop for food on the way home?
Car: Nah!
Happy and uneventful most of the rest of the way home. Then, at 0.9 miles away from home:
Car: Oh woe! My battery is low! I can only go 9 more miles like this!
Me: We're less than a mile away from home.
Car: Look! I have a warning light here and a warning light there and one message here and another message there and my DTE (distance to empty, or estimated driving range) is flashing (9 miles) and I even told you out loud! Woe!
Me: We're almost home.
Car: You should really really feed me!
Me: Look, okay. Where do you want to plug in?
Car: Lemme see... here's a list of places. Hey! Let's go "home"! That's the closest!
Me: yay.
So, yes, they really engineered it so at you could not say you were surprised to run out of charge. As one article said, "The only thing it could do more would be to shock you." And I didn't even that close to running out of charge - I only just hit low battery warning #1. if I had gone those 9 more miles, I would have hit low battery warning #2 (where the DTE changes to ---, and there are assumedly more announcements and flashy lights), and 5 miles after *that* I finally would have hit turtle mode (where you can just creep along for a few miles, basically just enough to get off the highway).
Totally no regrets. I brought a book along, just in case - not quite range anxiety, but slight preparedness.
Oh, and the party was fun, too! =D