A Leafy Fall Day

Before the Leaf There Was the Ranger

Part 1 - The Up Side


The Leaf was not the first electric vehicle I've owned. In 2006 I purchased a 1998 Ford Ranger EV pickup truck. It had 8000 miles on it at the time, and I paid about $15,000 for it. It was originally part of a fleet of vehicles owned by Broward County, Florida. I bought it from a guy in Portland who had a passion for electric vehicles. He owned a few Rangers and at least a couple of Chevy S-10 EV pickup trucks at the time.

I'm not sure exactly how I came to be interested in EVs in the first place. I remember reading about the movie Who Killed the Electric Car? in Time Magazine. Eventually the movie was out on DVD and I purchased it. At around the same time I had a patient who owned a Geo Metro that had been converted to run on electricity. The gasoline engine had been replaced with an electric motor, and several batteries (12 volt lead-acid batteries, if I recall correctly) filled the rear compartment. Cool! A short while later he told me he had purchased an electric Ford Ranger. He found it on eBay, paying about $25,000 for it. A year or two newer than the 1998 Ranger I eventually bought, it was powered by NiMH (nickel-metal hydride) batteries, which were more reliable than the 26 lead-acid batteries in my Ranger. 

We went for a ride. It reminded me of riding in the electric city buses in San Francisco when I was a child. Their electric power came from overhead wires. Riding in one was very different from an ordinary bus – no engine roar, no jerky gear shifting, and no stinky exhaust, just quiet, smooth acceleration. (Another interesting feature of these buses was that the trolley poles often disengaged from the overhead wires, so the driver had to get out and guide them back onto the cables.) Riding in this Ford Ranger EV was quite a thrill. I had to have one! Not long after, I noticed an electric pickup truck with a FOR SALE sign on it. It was too good to be true (and in the way it was). It was parked in front of the shop of the guy who owned several electric trucks. I visited with him a bit, then came back with my wife to take a test drive. She was hooked too.

Arranging the financing was interesting. The loan officer at the credit union had never heard of an EV, much less made a loan for one. He had no idea how to estimate the value of this truck, so I sent him links to several websites that featured EVs for sale, including a couple of other electric Rangers. That was good enough to establish the market value for him. The CU got the title, and I got the EV.

She looks brand new here. The charge port cover can be seen to the right of the headlight.

Under the hood.

That Ranger was everything I hoped it would be, and less. It drove just like I expected it would: smooth (for a pickup truck) and quiet. The electric motor had a lot of torque, so acceleration was no problem. It had a top speed of about 70 mph. A dedicated 220 volt circuit was installed in my garage, I purchased a portable charger for about $300, and changed my electric utility service to a time-of-day plan so it would cost less to charge at night. I made two bumper stickers and applied them to the rear of the truck. One said ELECTRIC VEHICLE. The other announced ONLY GAS IN TRUCK IS DRIVER’S. I was having fun. (My wife strongly recommended removing the latter sticker.) There was even a gas tank cover where a service station attendant (we don't pump gasoline in Oregon) might insert a gas pump nozzle, although when you opened the cover there was no receptacle for the nozzle, just a dead end. I thought it would be fun to pull into the nearby 76 station and ask for a fill.

After removing one of the bumper stickers. Look, Ma! No exhaust pipe!

That was about where the fun ended. And this is where this post ends. 


Next: Part 2 - The Under Side.

The Nav

A lot of cars now come with GPS navigation systems, so what I'm writing about is not necessarily specific to the Leaf or to EVs in general. But I have never used a navigation system prior to the Leaf, so to me they are one and the same.

The Leaf's navigation system uses a computerized female voice that is relatively pleasant, but I wish it didn't always have such a neutral tone. A few days ago I wanted to go to Portland State University to drop off a document. Although I was fairly certain which building to go to and where it was located, I nonetheless entered the address into the navigator because I've found that it will often take me via a route I would not normally choose myself, a route that may be shorter or at least novel and even scenic. It also has helped me get to the exact location of my destination, not just the "around-here-somewhere" locale my internal bio-navigator would settle for.  

It would be an exaggeration to say that I'm developing a love-hate relationship with the navigator. It's more like appreciate-resent. When I enter a destination, The Nav calculates a route from my present location. Then it (she?) starts giving me directions; for example, "In approximately one-quarter mile, left turn onto Southwest Huber Street." (It doesn't exactly command me to "turn left," does it? It's more of a statement of fact: the "left turn" exists in future time/space, one-quarter mile hence. I think the geniuses at Nissan did that purposefully so as not to antagonize drivers who have problems with authority figures.) I get a reminder when I approach the intersection, and just a second or so before I'm supposed to turn, I hear a bell ring. It sounds like a doorbell or, actually, the sound an elevator makes when it arrives at your floor. DING! Ladies' lingerie - next left.

In addition to all these audio cues, the navigation map displays a split screen showing my current location and an image representing the directional choices currently available, clearly highlighting the recommended route. Cool! I get it! There have been so many times I've been confused trying to follow directions. Do I take the sharp right here or the somewhat less acute fork that's just beyond the sharp turn? With The Nav there is little doubt. When I hear the DING I turn the wheel. When I think of how this works I see an image of my aging father getting confused as he drove his 1965 Chevrolet Caprice while dementia slowly but inevitably took him over. Maybe he wouldn't have had to sell the Chevy and could have kept driving a few more years if he had a nav that went DING when it was time to turn. I think we all could use an internal navigation system to help us get through each day more successfully. For example, when I can't remember why I walked into the kitchen, I might hear a DING coming from the pantry and remember that I was going for the peanut butter. Or maybe the next time I push a shopping cart around the Fred Meyer store, The Nav will DING me up the paper products aisle to the TP I forgot to put on my list. I could even use it to help me remember familiar looking people. "Hmmm. Her face sure rings a bell."

A feature I've appreciated, but which I am now beginning to find irritating, is that The Nav never loses her temper when I don't follow her directions. On my recent PSU trip, The Nav directed my onto the freeway, but I prefer not to take the freeway when I'm not in a hurry, and also because freeway driving shortens the Leaf's range, as I've explained in a previous post. Whenever I ignore one of Her Navness's directional pronouncements, she patiently informs me to "continue on current route" while she does some recalculating. And Man! Is she patient! I passed two more freeway entrances on my way to PSU. Each time I was directed to take the ramp, and each time I continued on the street instead. I found myself wishing she would get just a little frustrated with me. "Sigh. Oh, alright. Continue on current route." It would have even been enjoyable to be insulted: "You moron! Didn't I tell you to get on the freeway back there?" Why would that be fun coming from Her Navness but offensive from a passenger like, say, my wife?

It turned out The Nav wasn't so Buddha-like after all. Like Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, she waited for the opportune moment to get revenge. That moment came as I approached my destination. "Left turn in one-tenth of a mile onto Montgomery Street." Okay. Here it comes, on my left, just as she predicted. But whoa! Montgomery Street is one way — in the wrong direction! Good thing she didn't tell me to get into the air-lock!

After I finished my errand I got back in the Leaf and set Home as my destination. Then I drove to work. The Nav continued her Zen concentration on the route, even as I put more miles behind me and home. "At the next exit, right turn onto Northeast 33rd Avenue." "At the next exit, right turn onto Halsey Street." "At the next exit, merge onto Interstate 205 South." I could see she wasn't going to get riled up, so I turned her off. But I fear she's biding her time, waiting for the chance to direct me up the freeway ramp, past the "Wrong Way" and "Do Not Enter" signs, onto that highway of fire. It may be quite a while before I turn her on again.

How Slow Can You Go?

I am increasingly enjoying driving slowly. I've taken to allowing more time to get to work. If I take the freeway it's a 22 mile trip from my home to work and takes 30 to 35 minutes. However, if I avoid the freeway I can reduce the distance to about 17.5 miles. That route takes 35 to 40 minutes. Remember, an EV is more energy efficient in stop and go traffic than on the freeway.

Today I drove to work on the freeway, but only about half of the way. I was behind a slow DOT truck. He was doing between 45 and 50 mph, and I just stayed behind him for about 10 miles. I find it relaxing to drive slowly, don't you? I recommend you try it sometime. Just get in the slow lane and stay there. If someone in front is moving slower than you, don't pass. Just slow down some more. If someone tailgates you, slow down a little more; they'll pass you. But don't be a road hog!

As I was dawdling along I looked in my rearview mirror and saw another Leaf following me at a respectable distance. Cool! It was black. I wouldn't want to own a black Leaf, or just about any vehicle of that shade, but it occurred to me how stealthy a black Leaf could be. Picture this car on a dark, tree-lined lane at night without its headlights on. Leafs make an electronic noise at low speeds so people nearby can hear them approach, but that sound can be turned off. STEALTH MODE.

I pulled off the freeway about half-way to work because I had to drop off some x-ray films at a clinic on my way. When I got to work I had used less than 25% of my range. Normally I use up nearly 50% of my charge. Wow. Now I can drive home at top speed with the AC going full blast and still have enough charge left to go out for ice cream after dinner! (Banana flavor, of course.)

It’s Not Really Yellow, You Know

I am sorry if I gave anyone the impression that my Leaf is yellow. (You didn’t think my head was bigger than the driver’s window, did you?) It wouldn’t be an electrical banana if it wasn’t yellow, so I relied on the reality-altering abilities of Photoshop for the desired appearance. Here’s what my Leaf really looks like.

But why “Electrical Banana”? I think because Donovan said it very well in his 1966 song:

Electrical banana
Is going to be a sudden craze.
Electrical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase.

And given the overwhelming preponderance of gas-powered vehicles everywhere you look, together with the vast infrastructure necessary to support them, driving an EV is as extraordinary as an electrical banana.

By the way, if you want to see a video that is ostensibly about an EV called Electrical Banana (although it’s mostly a long segment of a lava lamp made from a Bacardi’s rum bottle) click here. The sound track is Donovan's Mellow Yellow (the Electrical Banana song). And I had nothing to do with the creation of this video. I just found it on YouTube when I Googled “Electrical Banana.” Really.

e- you next time!

The Price of Zero Emission

Michael's Nissan Leaf averages 4.6 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh). He drives his car to work and back 5 days a week. The distance is about 23 miles each way. He charges the car at night when the rates are the lowest. The off-peak rate is 7.7 cents per kWh. How much does it cost Michael to travel to work and back each day? What would be the equivalent cost in gasoline if he drove his other car, a Subaru Outback that averages 23 miles per gallon? How much does he save in energy costs each day? 

If you are expecting me to give you the answers, dear reader, forget it. I made the problem so easy you shouldn't need a calculator or even a pencil and paper. And even though I deliberately made the numbers easy to calculate, they are very nearly accurate. Of course, the point is that the cost of electricity to “fuel” this EV is cheap cheap cheap! (Speaking of cheap, or actually cheep, see the photo and caption that accompany this post.) 

Recently Rocky, one of our hens, spent several days in the aviary hospital for a problem affecting her posterior parts. When Rocky came home she had to be isolated from the other chickens while she continued to heal. We put her cage in the garage, right in front of the Leaf. There was barely enough room to park it and still close the garage door. Maybe the electromagnetic field emanating from the charging Leaf helped poor Rocky to heal.

I just received my electricity bill for the month of July. It went up about $20 over the previous month, and that time period corresponds almost exactly with the time I've had the Leaf. Coincidentally, the average daily temperature for July 2011 was 66°, the same average daily temperature for July 2010. Last year I averaged 9.6 kWh per day at an average daily cost of $1.08. This year my average kWh per day use was 22.5, and the average cost per day was $2.08. That calculates to an increase of $29 for July 2011 compared to July 2010. (This is based on a 29 day billing cycle.) About $20 of the increase is attributed to the cost of charging the Nissan Leaf. Perhaps the remainder is because our son, Nathan, has been living with us this year. Increased use of the washer and dryer, and perhaps the dishwasher, probably account for the extra energy expenditure. 

Nathan. He’s worth it.

Electricity isn't the only cost involved, however. The Leaf is the first brand-new car I have purchased since 1986. Unless you absolutely have to have a virgin car, it's far more cost-effective to buy a late model one with low mileage. So I paid a lot more money for the Leaf then I would have for a slightly used car in excellent condition. Of course, there are not too many used electric vehicles for sale, and the ones that are use older technologies, tend to have mucho problems, and don't come with a warranty. Also, none of them are nearly as cool as the Leaf. (I've heard that Leafs occasionally can be found for sale on Craig's List for between $5000 - $10,000 over MSRP.) I don't really own this car though. I have some equity in it, but the credit union holds the title. If I forget this fact, I can remind myself by listening to the Cake song Waiting: “But the car that you are driving doesn't really belong to you.” So the largest cost factor for me is the extra $210 per month in car payments I'm making compared to the monthly payment on the Subaru. I expect to get a $7000 tax credit next year for my investment in this energy efficient, nonpolluting car of the future, and when I apply the credit toward the amount I financed I will be back in car payment la-la land.

But I'm not complaining. Really. I have a good job, a satisfying career, and I think that some things I do may actually help other people. So the costs of being a new adopter of this technology are worth it to me. Besides, what are my alternatives? I could chain myself to an endangered old-growth tree or perform some other questionably worthwhile act of civil disobedience. However, I think the opportunity costs of this type of activism far outweigh my current expenditures.

It’s About the Infrastructure

I just bought a squeegee to clean the windshield of my Leaf. I haven't been to a gas station in almost a month. I used to clean my windshield when I bought gasoline. If that's the only downside to not patronizing service stations, I can live with it. I suppose I might have to visit a gas station occasionally to put air in my tires, but that's no longer a free service anyway. Both are do-it-yourself, but I could clean my windshield for free; air costs a quarter. The squeegee cost me about $5.

Of course, I much prefer washing my windshield at home to frequenting a service station for a fossil fuel fix, even if I don't have to pump my own gas here in Oregon. As an EV owner I pump my own electricity at home, and this is also preferable.

I didn't do anything notable by buying a Leaf. It did not take any particular talent, competency, or a higher intelligence quotient. Anyone who has enough money or can qualify for financing (and who has the patience to wait a year) can get one. The requirements are about equal whether you buy an electric vehicle or one that runs on gasoline. Perhaps I am helping in a very small way to slow the rate of climate change, but I'm not sure this is any better than buying carbon offsets. What I would like to believe is that I am helping drive the creation of an infrastructure that will support electric vehicles. 

In my daily commute and other sojourns around the city I only infrequently see other electric vehicles, certainly less than one per day on average. What I am most aware of are the thousands of other cars on the road, all burning fossil fuel. Even the hybrids rely on gasoline more than they do electricity. When plug-in hybrids start appearing on our thoroughfares, I suspect that nearly all of them will exceed the limits of their electrical ranges on most days. All of the cars rolling off the assembly lines in Kentucky and Michigan and Indiana and Korea and Japan and Germany and wherever else automobiles are being built, are designed to run on fuel pumped at gas stations. They combine the fuel with air, a cylinder compresses the mixture which is then exploded, causing the piston to turn the crank shaft. The end products are force (desirable) and exhaust (not so desirable). I suppose when the first Model T rolled off the assembly line, gas stations were few and far between. Most of the roads in those days were ruts created by wagon wheels, dusty in the summer and muddy or frozen in the winter. But as people bought those cars, the need for conveniently located refueling and a better medium upon which to drive at the faster speeds those horseless buggies were capable of created a market for service stations and tar-bound macadam. Eventually gasoline burning vehicles evolved to the stage where large fuzzy dice hanging from rearview mirrors and scrotums dangling from the rear bumpers of pickup trucks became necessities (which, it occurs to me, is an argument against intelligent design).

The more electric vehicles there are on the road, the greater will be the demand for public charging stations and other methods to make electric vehicles a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine. What the early adopters are doing is foregoing the luxury of unlimited range which the gas guzzlers take for granted. Terms like pioneer and new frontier do not come to mind.