First Range Anxiety Attack

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ElectricAvenue

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
50
Location
Austin, Tejas
Yesterday the missus drives the i-MiEV to work and back and we took it over to the Black Star Co-op for a Valentine's Day dinner and beer pairing and back home and I say we should charge her back up and the wife sez " Oh I'll just charge it at the Mitusubishi Dealership (my wife works on the bookkeeping for the Mazda/Mitsu/Hyundai lots). Well early this morning two 18 wheeler's crash on I35 downtown and the freeways closed because of hundreds of batteries and battery acid that's all over so it takes her an hour and a half to get to work and she calls me and says that the gate to the Mitsubishi lot is locked and she can't plug in the car. Well the manger quit and another had to come down from Killeen to open up. So she hasn't charged the i-MiEV when she's asked to run back to the Central dealership (16 miles?) to get some paperwork. She calls me and is "OMG I've only got three bars !!!" And I asked what did the mileage gauge read and she said 17 miles and I said you'll make it. A little while later it's another call and "OMG the Kilowatt gauge is flashing and the other gauge only reads 7 miles" and I said has the turtle light come yet and she says no and I tell her it's only 5 miles more. Then another call and "OMG it says 3 miles" and I said you've only got a mile or so to go and leave the speaker on the phone so I can talk her in. She got to the lot and I asked her what the gauge read and she said 3 miles. It's only 9/10 of a mile to the house so she made it home ok and picked up her VW Beetle and drove back down south to work again.
Drama and the EV. :D
 
ElectricAvenue said:
freeways closed because of hundreds of batteries and battery acid that all over

"Spilled batteries cause massive pileup. Chevy Volt explosions and discharged Mitsubishis add to delay! Footage coming up on Fox5 at Five!" :twisted:
 
ElectricAvenue said:
Drama and the EV. :D
Yes, and 'manufactured' drama at that - She had to work really hard to scare the bejeezes out of herself :shock:

Good news is . . . . she probably learned something from it and it likely won't happen again anytime soon

Don
 
ElectricAvenue said:
... and I say we should charge her back up and the wife sez " Oh I'll just charge it at the Mitusubishi Dealership..."
I just hope that your wife treats this as a lesson learned and not as a turn-off to EVs. Stuff happens, and in our case we try to have our iMiEV charged to at least its usual 13 bars when leaving the house - case in point was today, where all five charging stations at the town 20 miles from home that we went to for some business were occupied (one ICEd, two VOLTed, one LEAFed and one FFEd)
 
It sounds like the little EV did quite a bit before running out of juice. The power gauge gives more than plenty warning that the car is running out of charge but its nothing to worry about. Your wife will need to learn to relax and think about the next steps when this occurs. For me, when I run into unexpected range issues which is rare because I usually plan ahead but it does happen - like the other day I thought I had the J1772 plug in all the way but I didn't and I came out in the morning to use the car and I only had 1/2 a charge.

Step 1: Turn off all unnecessary equipment like AC/Heat, Fog Lamps, etc.
Step 2: If on the highway, get off the highway and take surface roads. Slow down, below the speed limit.
Step 3: If your car doesn't have a GPS, get one - fire up the GPS and figure out how far you got to go to get a charge.
Step 3a: Using the GPS, plan a route that will allow for the slowest possible speed and the most coasting.
Step 3b: Look at your RR gauge and figure out what range the car is telling you have approximately, compare this to the GPS mileage.
Step 4: Work your way to the charging destination, you should be able to make it - even on turtle.

If you are way beyond your destination and the possible range, then its a big F*## up and will require a tow to the nearest Mitsubishi dealership for a charge. As EV drivers, we should never get into that situation. It's bad for the batteries and a big waste of time. But, it can be done and the car has plenty of reserves. I did 15 kilometers from the turtle once by following these steps.
 
ElectricAvenue said:
Yesterday the missus drives the i-MiEV to work and back and we took it over to the Black Star Co-op for a Valentine's Day dinner and beer pairing and back home and I say we should charge her back up and the wife sez " Oh I'll just charge it at the Mitusubishi Dealership...

One lesson here is never let an opportunity to charge-up pass you by. We don't have the luxury that drivers of gas powered cars have - an almost certain supply of gas stations within just a few blocks or at worst a few miles from wherever we might be.

I also believe that anyone driving an electric car should have a smartphone with Plugshare installed on it. These unexpected emergencies can happen to any of us and Plugshare will let you know where the closest charging station is and can also let you know the status of the charging station. I also suggest joining Charge Point because some of their charging stations are for members only.

Thanks for the story, it's a good reminder to all of us.
 
Here's some photos and news about the battery and leaked acid accident that shut down the south bound lanes of I35 for over twelve hours! Synchronicity.
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/police-crash-triggers-interstate-35-southbound-clo/nWP9H/
 
The first day I got my new i-MiEV, I experienced anxiety about my battery, too. It was my iPhone's battery -- it was completely flat -- and the fact that I forgot to put the iPhone charger in my new car! :lol:
 
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