Shore Trip

[bradleydavidgood777]

Actually I thought the shore was way out of reach but I just looked again and it is within range. Now I'm going to have to try to get to my friend's beach house and back. 88.5 miles.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/39.9186855,-75.3955452/39.8185299,-75.3611784/115+E+19th+St,+Ship+Bottom,+NJ+08008/@39.5883472,-74.4144675,11.69z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m1!4e1!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c1a999aa71dbad:0xd5b2f152f4047922!2m2!1d-74.1797995!2d39.6428455!2m1!1b1!3e0

This will also inspire me to make a couple of adapters for his dryer plug.

[JoeS]

Don't even think of it, as one-way 88.5 miles will damage your psyche. Check PlugShare, as you have a number of charging spots to help you out along the way. There's only one CHAdeMO (at a Nissan dealer), so plan on this being a half-day trip. Do you have the appropriate charging cards?

[bradleydavidgood777]

I thought Nissan dealers were not happy with other brands charging these days.

I did check out Plugshare and didn't find anything too convenient to stop for. Turnersville Nissan is quite a bit out of the way since I was going to take the more southern route to stay away from Philly, coming over the Commodore Barry bridge (Rt 322) and using Elk Rd (538), which I know is nice...marked 45mph and nice thru farmland... on the route I posed there are not many options past half way other than one home charger with a Tesla plug so that won't work for me.

So I was thinking of just going for it all the way, no good? Stan did it!

I'm actually just toying with the idea at this point - not sure I feel comfortable but I was thinking of doing some trial runs, like taking that route into NJ and turning around at about the 1/3 mark and coming home and seeing what kind of distance I can get on how many bars...and maybe that would make me feel more comfortable.

Cords - I have a 100ft 10 gauge cord and I've ordered parts for adapters so I can plug into the dryer receptacle at his house. I still have to check which one he has but I'm almost certain he has the older one cause the house is way old. You can see it in google - its actually from the Sears Roebuck catalog and cost $750 I think. Its a really cool little house. I helped him put a new roof on it after hurricane Sandy.

So yea, I considered using spots along the way but I'm thinking I can make it right? Only 5k miles on the car so I should still have great range. I just have never driven anything but highway so I can't imagine going that far which is why I'm so intrigued.

Stan talks about maybe going 50mph. What speed is the most efficient? 40 like he says? The good part is that those back roads in NJ are long stretches with not that many stops and people can easily go around me if they want. But if I could go 45 or 50 that would be even better for not annoying anyone.

[bradleydavidgood777]

Just watched Stan's video again. He did the trip again at 45mph and same results. And I have better batteries right?

In his checklist at the end he says something about a warm battery. Does that mean you have to finish charging right before you leave?

[JoeS]

Study the graph below (created by jumpjack) to get an idea of what you might optimally be able to do. Takes self-discipline to always featherfoot and travel well below the speed limit for the entire trip. It's nice that you can travel the side roads and not the Interstate.



When making extended trips with the i-MiEV, you need to do your homework and have a Plan B and Plan C up your sleeve. Even though I personally think I could do it on one charge (given a large enough wager), no way would I undertake this trip without having sussed out all charging stations (public and private), RV resorts, and welding shops along the way, and verified the weather (especially wind speed and direction) before leaving. A bagful of adapters might prove indispensable. What did you say is your present battery capacity?

The good news is that this is also farm country, and most farms have a welding shop setup so you can get 240vac fairly easily. Hey, if all else fails, plan on spending a half-day somewhere on a 120vac outlet.

Be sure to peruse this Range-Efficiency-Operating Cost subforum for some hypermiling ideas; for example,
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=287

To demonstrate your hypermiling skills and gather confidence in your abilities, how about posting a photo of your full-charge RR>90.

[Don]

Stan's car was new - It will go farther than your car will. Stan also had an abundance of talent not found in the average EV driver

If you think you're a pretty good hypermiler, I would first try proving it to yourself by driving 50 miles and still having 30 miles (or more) left on the RR display, rather than 'going for broke' and needing a tow to get yourself out of trouble

Oh, and make sure you have a charge point very near that 50 mile stop too, just in case

Don

[JoeS]

If you think you're a pretty good hypermiler, I would first try proving it to yourself by driving 50 miles and still having 30 miles (or more) left on the RR display, rather than 'going for broke' and needing a tow to get yourself out of trouble...

I would have said 40 miles (or more) left on the RR display, inasmuch as the trip is 88.5 miles.

To demonstrate your hypermiling skills and gather confidence in your abilities, how about posting a photo of your full-charge RR>90.

For example:



bradleydavidgood777, Don and I have given you a couple of options (challenges?) to quantitatively prove to yourself (and us) that the trip can be successfully made on a single charge.

We just want you to avoid needless stress, not to mention the stress on your battery.

[bradleydavidgood777]

Good information, thank you gentlemen.

I have always been they type to do more doing then studying. Although I am a researcher also. So anyway, it was a nice day for a drive so....I had the car at 14 bars and I plugged her in. When full, I left immediately to follow Stan's advice on the warm battery thing. I guess 2 bars of charge was enough to warm it up. Air temp was about 80F today. Breezy but not windy. I wanted to see how I did in the first leg of the trip, because I know from my house to the farmlands is the most hilly by far and then after that it is very flat to the shore. At least I think so. I've have not taken the back roads to this friend's house yet so not sure but most of Jersey is really flat everywhere I've seen over there.

I put it in B and left. I kept the needle low in the eco zone, most of the time on the e of eco, or the c of eco, only briefly going higher if there was a hill or bridge. When I got into NJ the roads were marked 45 and 50. The car seemed to do 43-45 very nicely with little resistance. There were some small grades and I dropped below 40 a few times. I didn't want to be too perfect because I wanted to leave room for improvement next time. I could have gone easier but I would have annoyed some more people. If I do this for real I probably would.
Anyway, I had this fruit stand in mind at the end of this long road (Elk Rd 538) just before highway Rt 55. I also had the goal of going until I had used up 6 bars and turning around because then I would have 6 to get home and 4 bars buffer.

When I got to the fruit stand I had 27.8 miles on the trip odometer and 56RR. The distance from the fruit stand to the shore is 60 miles (if google maps is correct and there are no detours). So I figure I could have made it on turtle and had a mile left! Actually I think I would do better than that RR calculation because I think it is flatter for that 60 miles than it was in my last 20 before the fruit stand. So I think I might have made it without hitting turtle.

So - I didn't pump up my tires. They are at 51psi. So I could probably pump them too 56. I don't know how much that may help. Also, I think I could probably do better next time since this was really my first time driving this carefully and quite a few times I used energy so I didn't annoy those behind me. I feel like I could pinch 5 more miles out of the whole trip if I didn't worry so much about that next time.

I'm ordering the parts for the two different dryer types. I know I'll use those some day. I'm not sure about the welding ones or the RV styles. I think instead of spending all that time and money for those adapters and having to carry them all in the car I might save that money and use it towards towing costs if I ever need it. I don't mind paying for the towing if it happens, especially because it will get me there faster than waiting for a charge. I really would rather calculate correctly and do trial runs until I am fairly certain I can get to a particular destination or just don't do it. Plus I figure everyone has a dryer so If I knock on several doors someone is going to be nice right? There are no good charging stations anywhere close to the shore so I'm thinking I will look for something in the beginning of the journey, soon after I cross the bridge into NJ where I could stop and add maybe 14 miles or so and be on my way. But it really would be nice to get there in one shot, that's the whole challenge right?

RV parks are a good idea. I'm going to look at the charging options next including welding shops...but even those - won't the shop be using the welding equipment during the day? Or do they typically have multiple receptacles?

Oh, and when I got home there were 56 miles on the trip and 20RR. But I was not as careful coming home and again, this was two ways of the most hilly part.

[bradleydavidgood777]

5 free chargers and free 2 hour parking 27 miles from my house not far out of the way. Maybe I'll do that my first time going there and see how I do....

10 Mick Dr, Glassboro, NJ 08028 on plugshare.

[JoeS]

Nice exploratory trip to see how you fare.

When I got to the fruit stand I had 27.8 miles on the trip odometer and 56RR.

What was your RR when you started?

So - I didn't pump up my tires. They are at 51psi. So I could probably pump them too 56.

I'd leave them at 51, as I ran into serious trouble with Yokohamas (but not the OEM Dunlop Enasaves) at 60psi.

Oh, and when I got home there were 56 miles on the trip and 20RR. But I was not as careful coming home and again, this was two ways of the most hilly part.

Good trial run. Hills have a minimal effect if you come back down them to the same altitude you started with.

5 free chargers and free 2 hour parking 27 miles from my house not far out of the way. Maybe I'll do that my first time going there and see how I do....

Good idea, and plan on spending a long breakfast or lunch there until you're fully recharged. You'll still have some work to get to the Shore.

10 Mick Dr, Glassboro, NJ 08028 on plugshare.

= https://www.plugshare.com/location/138070 using PlugShare's Share Link URL for that location.

RV parks use NEMA 14-50, so if you have a 14-30 dryer adapter with the Neutral leg cut off, that will work. Use RVParky.com to find RV parks.