Comparing unusually popular cars in red and blue districts

Oh, how I love those punny Japanese names.

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This is what it looks like under the hood mounted ā€œfueling hatchā€ of our Nissan Leaf:

CHAdeMO on the left, J1772 on the right.

The J1772 can accept 120 or 240 volts, depending on how many of the pins are live; 15 hours to charge at 120 VAC, 5 hours at 240 VAC.

The CHAdeMO can deliver 500 volts DC at 125 amps, so the cable is like a firehose, but it’ll charge the car in under an hour, and you can get 80% charge in about 30 minutes. This will permanently damage your battery, so you might not want to invest in the $10,000+ CHAdeMO charger.

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I wasn’t talking about a hybrid; in fact, I said specifically:

I have more than a decade’s worth of experience with an all-electric truck (my dad’s), and in a proper Midwestern winter it’s basically not usable. I also know someone with a Tesla and he learned quickly that it needs to stay in the garage over the winter, except on unseasonably warmish days.

I look forward to the day they either figure out a solution or I move to a gentler climate. Or hey, when climate change MAKES my area have a gentler climate!

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So, essentially, Tesla is working against its own interests?

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I don’t think so. I think working on making the battery better, in multiple ways, is very much part of R&D there.

edited to add: it’s been a long day. I didn’t get the climate change reference. Golf clap for you!

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Which is why I agreed with you!

Oh, but a Nissan Leaf would be usable. As long as you are hooking it up to an electrical outlet - preferably a 240VAC EVSE - at each end of each journey, and program the car correctly. The batteries will be kept toasty warm. Note that usable and practical aren’t 100% synonymous :wink:

What kind of truck did your dad have? A converted S-10, or a purpose-made truck? I’ve always wanted an electric pickup truck, I’m totally jealous.

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It’s not that you can’t use it, but that the cold cuts the range dramatically, and you can find yourself stranded despite the gauge saying everything is still OK. (Yes, I’ve found myself stranded a few times!)

Purpose made: a road-legal (not just off-road) Bad Boy. Well, two of them over the years. I prefer using them when possible because the diesel truck makes so much noise it’s harder to see wildlife/birds before they run away.

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How do you feel about rolling billboards?

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The gauge misreading won’t happen in the Leaf; but if it’s Chicago-winter-cold you’ll see the ā€œremaining mileageā€ indicator going down faster than you are driving. Which can still end up stranding you!

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Even worse than I feel about cargo-grade trucks being used as commuter vehicles, actually. At least people commuting to work is a theoretically useful purpose. I make it a point to avoid businesses that advertise in this way, which I’m sure would be more of a concern to them if they ever advertised anything in which I was remotely interested.

(I’m not objecting to advertising on vehicles that serve other purposes, of course.)

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I’ve seen you documented on the BBS Lounge restroom wall…

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