EV20Questions

I’m at the charging point in Gerona putting some electrons into the battery on my Nissan Leaf. Having a think about my last trip to the mountains where I had to drive a petrol car. The joys of being an early adopter with electric car

I do one or two trips to France for my Nissan Leaf to have small vacations. In this podcast I cover trips I made to Les Angles in the French Pyrenees and also the trip to Arles. We went to Arles to see a Van Gogh exhibition in a quarry. It was a special light and sound, audiovisual extravaganza. It was like being inside the mind and the pictures of our favourite crazy artist. Mostly I talk about the journey with the Nissan Leaf. On the way there I ran into difficulties with charges and the same sort of thing on the way back. There were chargers which didn't work when there was supposed to. There were rapid chargers which were present in the PlugShare app, but entirely missing in the street. The one really good thing is that the travel was for the most part free. I only had to pay to charge the car to 100% at home before we left. Also had to bring the car back to 100% following the vacation when we returned home. It was a trip of 800 km and really the biggest cost was the price of going through the toll gates at the motorway. It's clear that the infrastructure for electric vehicles is not ready yet. There needs to be a lot more destination chargers at hotels and places for entertainment. Having just one rapid charger in a town is not good enough. There needs to be more charging hubs where more people can charge at the same time. These triple headed charges where only one car can charge had DC rates and maybe sometimes it allows another card to use the AC charger, are not good enough.

Stupid GPS tried to squeeze me through narrow streets Maybe I was just stupid to believe what the GPS was telling me. As soon as I made the turn it looked a little bit narrow. It said turn right and then turn right again – Then there was nowhere else to go. I had to reverse back and then I saw another possibility to go forwards and took it. I should have reversed back further and ignored the instructions of the GPS completely. After squeezing through a very narrow alleyway I ended up in a pretty little French village square. I was able to ask for help from someone sitting at a table at a bar. My French is really bad but he was able to help me and tell me I had to return down the narrow street I had just come through. Blog post for this Podcast At the end of my small detour I was surprised I managed to survive. I was breathing hard and sweating rather a lot. A huge moment of relief when I made it back to the main road. I was then able to continue round to the car park I was looking for in the Ceret. My bad luck continued with finding the Museum of Modern Art was closed until next month. I won't be able to return until October because my day off is changing to a Monday. Museums tend to be closed on Mondays! So I didn't stay in Ceret very long even though it's this nice small town. Very pretty and very French. For the next part of the journey I went to another nearby town. I had used the charger in this town previously but I haven't bothered to check the charging speed. This time I wanted to see how many kilowatts were going into the car. The charger in Ceret only puts out 3 kW and I was happy to find that the charger in this other place was giving out 6 kW. The cost of using either of the charges was based upon time. It would cost much more to use the slow charger unless you are staying overnight. It was picnic time while the car was charging. I added about 6% into the battery. I would have liked to have stayed for longer but was short on time. This shortness of available time also stopped me from using a rapid charger on the way back home. When I finally got back into the house I had a 3% left in the battery. Rosie, my Nissan leaf 2018 was talking to me telling me to go and find a charger as soon as possible. I could have pressed the button on the dash screen. This would have given me options for finding the nearest chargers. I didn't need to do that as I was very nearly home. On account of not being able to use a rapid charger on the way back home and being short of energy in the battery I wasn't able to use the car in the evening as planned. I had to be a passenger in my wife's fossil fuel burning car. It would have been so much nicer if my wife also had an electric vehicle. Her next car will have to be electric. Mind you, she might never ever buy another vehicle because the last one she kept for 26 years.

In this episode having a little think about the future of electric vehicles. I am a little bit disappointed with the slow uptake and the patchiness of the charging infrastructure. In Barcelona there is plenty of charging places. When I go north into France I find charging points even in the smallest of villages. This is in contrast to when I went south to Sevilla and for such a large city it only had to rapid chargers. Both of these rapid chargers were provided by the dealerships. One of them was Renault and the other one was from Nissan. There is a possibility that they would have been closed for part of the day. I have already been to a few Nissan dealers were the electric charge is behind a fence or a door. It's only available during the working hours of the dealer. EV20Q Blog post for this podcast.

It was lovely to get out and have a drive in my 2018 Nissan Leaf. I went to St Pol De Mar which is just north of Barcelona and I checked out the charging points within the town. There were three of them and in all of the places only the granny charging speeds were available. I could plug into Shuko sockets and get 3.3 kW but it wouldn’t do me any good plug-in into the type II sockets as the Menneke’s sockets weren’t working. It was a good day out and finally I got to come Calella de Mar and I found a Type II socket which worked. I plugged in and had a wander around the town while the car was doing some charging up. I put about 12% into the battery and I was happy with that. I was able to get back home with 61% in the battery and so it was a good cheap day out driving my 2018 Nissan Leaf. Check the Web post which also has a Video.

Had to change my plans due the chargers in the shopping centre not working. Plugged in and it looked like it was charging and when I got back to the car it was un-charged. Very disappointing indeed.

Driving electric car in France – Adding charge points to the PlugShare app After a week in the house not really going anywhere I needed to get out for a drive my car. My Nissan Leaf electric car had been sitting in the garage going nowhere and she needed some exercise. So we set out towards France to find some Révéo electric vehicle charge points and add them to the PlugShare application. I was easily able to visit five of these EV chargers just across the border in a cluster just south of Perpignan. There were some good views in the French countryside and some pretty little villages. I could see the Pyrenees nearby and it was a good day out. I use one of the chargers in a town near to the coast and was disappointed with the speed of the charging. He came in at a paltry 3 kW and in the 48 minutes I was there added virtually nothing to my battery. So instead of driving all the way to Girona to give one final top up before getting home I pulled into Figueres Nissan dealer. I stayed there until I had sent out present in the battery and then I drove home. The cost of the driving for the day was about €2.50 and it was good to get out in my Nissan Leaf car.

I heard about the new 2019 Nissan Leaf when I arrived back home from a trip to Birmingham. The new car is a bit of an upgrade to the old 2018 car - Bigger battery and faster charging. Not much else apart from a slightly larger screen in the dash. Have a look at EV20Q Website for more details.

Headed for FIgueres for a top up charge while taking a break. Next took the coastal road through Portbou on to Cerberes in France. Used the Révéo charger while eating pizza and taking advantage of free parking. Moved on to Collioure to wander around the town and the harbour. Came back home via Girona and didn't plug in at the shopping centre because I didn't want to wait in a long queue to get in the parking where the chargers are situated. Full post on EV20Q

I went to Ireland and hired a car. It was a petrol car and was like I have gone back in time to the olden days. Had to do so many things manually which the Leaf does for me automatically. Burning fossils, changing gears, switching on headlights and I even had to dip the headlights for myself. The Gen 2 Nissan Leaf Facebook group is full is helpful users willing to assist new drivers and those who come to look in and kick the tyres. Or go to the EV20Q Website and see all the blog posts about electric cars.

Traffic jams stopped me from driving to France but I did still test a CHAdeMO charger in Figueres. I also made tea in my Nissan Leaf using a 12volt kettle I plugged into the 12v socket in the car. Apple crumble flavour tea was good and I even burned my tongue.

I got an invite to go and have a look at the Tesla model three. It was being made available to look at in the Barcelona showroom. When I got there there was a model 3 to look at, but only from the outside. I was extremely disappointed I couldn't get to sit inside the vehicle. Difficult to understand why they had a vehicle and show but only limited to viewing from the outside. The salesperson told me the car was being removed later that day. The car looked like it was pre-owned and was not new. The foot wells were dirty and needed to be vacuumed. The car was covered in fingerprints and there was some minor damage to 1 of the wheels. The car still looked great. Even though my Nissan Leaf is just about perfect for my needs I still want the Tesla Model 3. It looked so gorgeous and even sexy. Excellent, sporty and aerodynamic lines. I just love the colour of blue as well. I squinted in through the windows to look at the interior. It's extremely spartan. This does make it exclusive and high-class looking.

The joys of travelling in France in an electric car. There are loads of charging points and it’s not too difficult to charge the car up using either an app or an RFID card. I just got a new RFID card I wanted a tryout for this trip. So I jumped into my 2018 Nissan Leaf and headed towards France. It was necessary to pay for the charging in Ceret. I checked the account on the web when I arrived back home. I paid €4.50 to use a very slow charger which made it quite expensive. It was costly on a per kilowatt basis but for the day of driving it still worked out pretty cheap. I stopped on the way at a Nissan dealership to add some charge while still in Spain. It was a good drive along some pretty French roads in the foothills of the Pyrenees. On the way back I got some more free electricity in the Catalan town of Girona. I love driving my electric car. The 2018 Nissan Leaf is a marvellous car and I think it’s good value for the money. You can buy cars with bigger batteries but you have to pay more for them.

A road trip to Barcelona to hunt for the Chademo's. I found a few that worked and a couple that didn't. At least I had a great day out driving my car and the 248km I did only cost about €1.75. It is so cheap to run an Electric vehicle when you can get the car battery filled up for free.

Went to Barcelona on a Road Trip to check out a few more chargers. Went to Poblenou first then to Mercabarna and on towards the airport. I would have called into another on the way near home but I wanted to get back to see the Apple Event on the TV.

I was testing out RFID cards, finding type 2 chargers in shopping centres and discovering good places next to the motorway for charging.

Rosie gets a break. three or four days not going anywhere except for a short trip to an art gallery in St. Feliu de Guixols, She did get a wash though and only slightly caught in the rain on the day after. The Kärcher pressure washer is great for car washing with the foam soap attachment and the pressure spray. Load of rubbing and carressing of my Nissan Leaf.

Having electric car you might need to plan A, Plan B, Plan C and maybe even a plan D. It will be good when there is more infrastructure for electric cars available generally.

The charger had been fixed. Last time I went to it there was nothing there, it had been beheaded. Got chatting to a Welshman who is an EV driver in a Renault Zoe and I was able to pass on some information about getting charged around Spain.

Electric vehicle day out to the salt mines of Cardona. Experiences of a Nissan Leaf 2018 on a longer trip. How to plan for charging on the route.

Rapid charging in Barcelona The idea for this mini trip came from when I first got my car I wanted to make a trip to Barcelona airport. I tried using a charger which was near to the airport but was unable to get it to activate. I had to do some research and asked some questions on Twitter for someone to tell me exactly how to make the charger work with the application. So this is my story of going down to Barcelona to do some testing of the rapid DC charging available in the city. My first port of call was to Mataró there was a charger just by the beach. I got there and it didn’t work. It was completely dead as a door now and out of action. All part of the fun! Got back into the car and headed to a charger which was only 20 minutes away in the same town next to Barcelona. The charging point was easy to find and those only a little bit disappointed by there being a large lorry in the charging bay. I would still have been able to plug-in and get charging.

Plenty of range the battery to go halfway up the mountain. No worries and most of the trip done with free electric.

Why is the horn so weak sounding in the 2018 Nissan Leaf? How accurate is the GOM Guess O Meter A rant about Smelly Dirty Diesels - Do you notice the filthy cars when you are on the road.

Trying to tidy things up in the boot of the Nissan leaf. I have bought the boot organiser from eBay and I’m looking forward to getting it and being organised. No more losing stuff in the cavernous space in the rear or the car

Trip to France charging along the way #Rapidgate

RFID CARDS and the saga with the radar sensor on my Nissan Leaf 2018

Visiting France. Visiting charges and details of the radar sensor to be replaced and calibrated on Monday

Talking about podcast rumours and how long it takes to charge my electric car.

Good road trip in the Nissan Leaf2018 some charge worked and some didn’t.

While I was looking for specific charger and was detoured due to roadworks we found another one and I was able use it after little bit of messing around.

My grandson has learned to plug the car in the garage with my level 2 charger. A quick update on the pro pilot assist on my car.

One day I was not able to lock the car. I must’ve done something wrong with the key. It’s fixed itself. My next trip will be to Barcelona Airport , looking forward to that

I went to the local council to get the card for free charging and then took a trip to a volcano town

I have a date for the replacement of the radar sensor. I also talk about going to find a charge point locally. News from Apple telling us will be able to use Waze in Apple CarPlay.

Going to Barcelona to get papers and finding the pro Pilot assist is not working properly. There is an intermittent fault with the radar sensor.

Just a few words to say what is been like for the first few days of running this car. Obviously I totally love this car to pieces

Hoped to take control of the car today and drive home. Red tape and inaction by the dealer and Traffic department putting up the road blocks. I sometimes think there is a conspiracy keeping the car away from me. I will overcome these difficulties and get my car. I'm hoping tomorrow is the day. Mind you I said that yesterday.

It could be tomorrow or it could be the day after when I have my Nissan Leaf Tekna.

Norway is the centre of the world for Electric vehicles. Half of all cars sold in the country are electric. Halldor is one of those who's bought and electric car there recently and taken advantage of all of the incentives available.

James just bought a Nissan Leaf 2018 40kWh model and has a YouTube channel on which he tells us loads of great information about how to get the best from the car. He regularly drives the car between Scotland and Newcastle and looked hard at how to charge the car and not get the battery too hot. #Rapidgate doesn't seem to affect him much and he's driven many miles in the New Leaf.

Nissan Leaf owner talking about his new 2018 Nissan Leaf. First impressions of the car from the first few weeks of ownership.

Talking to Mike Ward about running a family of Nissan Leafs. Mike now has the 2018 Leaf 40kWh and is loving it.

I made a trip to the showroom to have a good look at my new car. Here are my first impressions of my Nissan Leaf

Drives a Tesla Model S and also has a Renault Zoe in the family

More about buying and the Leaf has arrived

Comparing three electric cars and making the decision on which to buy. There is a lot of thinking to be done.

Annoying or what

Hyundai vs Leafs

Will I get the Leaf in three weeks time or am I just dreaming?

I’ve been let down by a Nissan dealer in Madrid now. I’ve already been let down by the Nissan dealer in Barcelona. I’m a bit miffed!

Disappointment and let down from one dealership so moving to a different one.