Golden to Breckenridge - Nissan Leaf Experience

[timpierc]

Hey guys. I know this is a Tesla forum, but I'm guessing some of you have had Leafs at some point, and have tried what I'm about to ask.

So there's a family reunion next week (June 5-8) in Breckenridge. I'd really like to take the Leaf there if we could. I'll be starting out in Broomfield, but the point of the journey that worries me is after I leave the DCFC in Golden, and head down I-70.

What did your usage rate look like? Would the battery be able to make it to Silverthorne/Frisco, or even to Breckenridge? I know there's a level 2 charger at Whole Foods in Frisco I can rely on, and there's another Idaho Springs as well. Of course time is money so the less charging the better. I have an 11 Leaf, so only 3.3 kw charger, not 6.

Let me know your experience if you've done this before.

Many thanks,

Tim

 

[kort677]

I don't think that your car is up to the task. Charging on a l2 would take you hours

 

[dgpcolorado]

Here's a Denver to Grand Junction thread that gives more info on Denver to Breckinridge:

Denver to Grand Junction - My Nissan Leaf Forum

You ought to be able to do that drive with a stop in Idaho Springs, although you are going to be there several hours, most likely. I assume that you have Tony William's range chart to help with planning and know how much battery degradation you have, to determine your current battery capacity. You need to calculate elevation gain but if you can make it to the Eisenhower tunnel I expect that you can make it to Frisco. It would help if you have destination charging in Breckinridge.

Taking US-6 from Golden, versus I-70, would help a great deal, due to slower speeds. Years ago I calculated Denver to the tunnel at about 25.1 kWh in mild weather at 65 mph. That was using 3.6 miles/kWh for distance and 1.5 kWh/1000 feet of elevation gain. Starting from the Golden DCFC, especially via US-6, would be a bit easier.

Going home would be easier.

I once did 92 miles from Durango over Red Mountain Pass to my home but my LEAF was newer then than yours is now and speeds are a lot slower over that route.

FWIW.

 

[timpierc]

Here's a Denver to Grand Junction thread that gives more info on Denver to Breckinridge:

Denver to Grand Junction - My Nissan Leaf Forum

You ought to be able to do that drive with a stop in Idaho Springs, although you are going to be there several hours, most likely. I assume that you have Tony William's range chart to help with planning and know how much battery degradation you have, to determine your current battery capacity. You need to calculate elevation gain but if you can make it to the Eisenhower tunnel I expect that you can make it to Frisco. It would help if you have destination charging in Breckinridge.

Taking US-6 from Golden, versus I-70, would help a great deal, due to slower speeds. Years ago I calculated Denver to the tunnel at about 25.1 kWh in mild weather at 65 mph. That was using 3.6 miles/kWh for distance and 1.5 kWh/1000 feet of elevation gain. Starting from the Golden DCFC, especially via US-6, would be a bit easier.

Going home would be easier.

I once did 92 miles from Durango over Red Mountain Pass to my home but my LEAF was newer then than yours is now and speeds are a lot slower over that route.

FWIW.

Thanks dude. I tried searching the mynissanleaf forums and this post never popped up. My 11' Leaf had the battery swapped out in summer of 2015, so the fact this guy in his 2015 Leaf made the trip easily, gives me confidence I'll be fine. I don't have Leafspy or anything, but I'm still showing 12 capacity bars. So I think if I just stick to the Idaho Spring charger for a couple of hours, I'll be good.

 

[timpierc]

So I wanted to follow up on this thread about the Denver to Breckenridge trip with my Leaf.

Made the trip to Breck on Sunday. And I have to say it was quite pleasant, and wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. Started out in Broomfield, battery heat gauge was at four, and stopped at the DCFC in Golden. Waited about 30 minutes, and had the battery up to 11/12 bars, even though the charger was saying the battery was at 98%. (weird) The temp was around 85 degrees.

On the way to Idaho Springs I was either going 5 mph below the speed limit on I-70, or if someone was going reasonably slower, just got behind them. (I did not get behind the semis struggling to go up the hill.) When I pulled into Idaho Springs at Beau Jo's I had 7/12 bars of charge remaining, and average usage was around 4 miles/kwh.

I charged at the level 2 Beau Jo's charger for exactly two hours. Grabbed lunch and lollygagged around town during that time. Awesome weather for lollygagging. I was expecting to get 6.6-7kwh in that time (my 11' Leaf has a 3.3kw charger). To my surprise the chargepoint station said it had delivered 8.2 kwh. Left Idaho Springs with 11/12 charge bars.

On the way up to Eisenhower Tunnel, I was once again going 5 mph below the speed limit. Right before I got to the tunnel, had 4/12 charge bars, and was averaging 2.5 miles/kwh.

After the tunnel, it was all downhill from there. Pulled into Breckenridge with two charge bars remaining. The parking garages at the Village Hotel have wall plugs that can be used (I'm guessing they were originally put there for diesel engine heating). I just used that for the week, but the city of Breckenridge does have a level 2 free charger that can be used if needed.

Made the trip back home last night. My battery heat gage was showing a three. Had battery charged to 100%. Once again going up to the tunnel on I-70 I was 5 mph under the speed limit. When I got to the tunnel I had 6/12 charge bars left. Can't remember the miles/kwh usage.

Got home with one charge bar left. Hit low battery warning about 5 miles away from home. Average usage was 5.9 miles/kwh. Total distance was 90.5 miles. Went the speed limit the whole way down, tried to draft off semis if I could.

Now having done this, I'll probably use the Leaf from now on to go into the mountains in the summer. It'd be interesting to try in winter to see how much temp would affect performance. For those of you who have Leaf's on this forum, if your battery isn't degraded I'd say don't be afraid to try the trip over Eisenhower. Keep in mind I don't have LeafSpy, so I made this trip with limited amount of knowledge of my battery.

The next adventure would probably be to try and get to Winter Park.