I could almost hear the mosquitos slurping my blood as I sat stranded at a horribly slow charging station in the parking lot of the LA County Sheriff’s Department Crescenta Valley office. I’d flown too close to the sun with my $2000 Nissan Leaf — a vehicle that, due largely to poor battery thermal management in hot Southern California — has experienced so much battery degradation that the overall capacity is at roughly 40 percent. The vehicle originally was rated at 72 miles of range, in good condition. After 12 years, mine can really only go about 25 — or so I thought.
I was at work yesterday shooting videos with our beloved suspension engineer, Huibert Mees, when I decided to join my friend in Pasadena to volunteer with the Pasadena Humane Society. I love cats, for one, and, well, I feel even more strongly about my friend. So it was a no-brainer. Plus I had faith in the Nissan Leaf; I was stuck with it as my main car since I’d lent my BMW i3 out to Jason’s awesome wife, Sally; my Wrangler was receiving Paint Protective Film from our soon-to-be-announced partner, XPEL; and Huibert was using my J10 to visit friends located well beyond my Leaf’s 25-mile range. Over the past few days, the Leaf had gotten me (and Matt) to work with plenty of range to spare; it had been a great runabout during the Galpin Car Show; I was feeling good about it.
The problem is: The Nissan Leaf’s degraded battery didn’t care how “good about it” I felt. It cared about the steep grades I’d have to take to get to Pasadena and the stiflingly hot exterior temperatures. I found myself driving 47 MPH eastbound on the 210 praying that the miles of range expected by the Leaf’s Guess-O-Meter would remain higher than the miles-to-destination displayed on my Google Maps app.
But by the time I was 14 miles from Pasadena, the Guess-O-Meter was reading 12. And then when I was done climbing one of the many steep grades about a mile later, the range was down to 9.
Eventually, the dash started blinking and chiming and telling me that the battery had reached a dangerously low state-of-charge. I was to pull over immediately. So I did. I stopped by the nearest charging station, which was in a Vons grocery store parking lot. What did I discover? A line of cars waiting for a single charging station as the rest of the stalls were broken.
Three Broken Electrify America Chargers
This is so typical for Electrify America.
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I’d been hearing horror stories about non-Tesla charging stations for years. But I figured that this is California — the land of the EV. Surely the charging situation here would be better, right? Surely Electrify America can’t be as bad as they say it is, right? I mean, the complaints have been non-stop for so long by now. Hasn’t Electrify America gotten its shit together?
Apparently not.
Look, I’m fine with a broken charging station here and there. It happens. Nobody’s perfect. But when a station has four chargers and three of them don’t work, you’ve got a huge problem.
Here’s a look at the setup: Three fast chargers and one smaller charger that I assume was a Level 2
Only the charger that the VW ID.4 at the end was using was working — the other three were broken.
One of the chargers had two exclamation marks in red circles with the word “Unavailable” below each. The others just had a blank screen. Meanwhile, in the parking spots opposite those of the chargers, a Kia Niro EV and a BMW i4 sat and waited for some juice as I foolishly tried plugging in the CHAdeMO charger from the working charger, before I was reminded that each tower only charges one car (despite the two cables). Whoops.
Anyway, the car (I think it might have been an ID.4) using the only functional charger was only at 70 percent, and with the Kia and BMW waiting, I knew it’d be probably 2.5 hours at best before I was out of there.
I Saw Chargers On Google Maps, But I Couldn’t Tell How Legit They Were
So I desperately searched for another charger; I say “desperately,” because, according to the blinking guess-o-meter, I had only five miles of range left on the Leaf. That left me with these options (the blue Electrify America one was my starting point):
The Shell Recharge one seemed promising, with the brand name and all. But I Google Map’d it, and didn’t see anything there! Plus there were no reviews! Ditto with the Electric Circuit Charging station and the Flo Charging Station to the north. That left me with the PowerFlex Charging Station, which also featured no reviews. A quick Google search didn’t look hopeful until…
Aha! What do we have here behind that bush? It looks like a charging post! So I hit the road, and — due to the mostly downhill path to the charging station – which was in the parking lot of a Sheriff’s office — I arrived with five miles of range.
The Charging Apps Need To Stop!
The PowerFlex charging station ended up working, but the problem with the non-Tesla charging situation is that there are too many damn EV charging brands: Electrify America, Chargie, ChargePoint, PowerfFlex, Shell Recharge — I’m honestly tired of downloading all these damn apps, especially in times of desperation.
My phone was dying, I had very poor service, the charging spot was infested with mosquitos, and there I was outside a slow Level 2 charger in a Sheriff’s parking lot trying to download a damn app. And then once it was on my phone, I had to input my vehicle information, my personal information, my payment information, and on and on. It’s a huge pain in the ass. I don’t have to download an app to pay for gas at any gas station; why do I have to do it to charge my car?
It’s idiocy.
There needs to be a single app for every EV charger, and it needs to be standardized like… yesterday.
I Eventually Got Home, But It Cost Me Time
I needed about 4kWh to get back home, which was 15 miles away. My Leaf does about 3.5 miles per kWh, and I had five miles of range left on the guess-o-meter (which probably translated to about 3 miles of real-world range). The 6 kW Level 2 charger didn’t actually put out 6 kW, because they never do. It was 3.5 kW, which meant I had to wait in that creepy ass lot for over an hour.
There was no one else there, just me, waiting for those electrons to fill up that severely-degraded battery. It was deeply, deeply boring, but I considered myself lucky for having found a charging station at all. I could have been stuck in that Electrify America line for three hours; this was at least a bit better than that.
Still, I wasted two hours of my day desperately trying to find a charging station and then waiting for the only working one in my vicinity to slowly trickle its juice into my car’s battery. It wasn’t pleasant.
Should I have known better buying an EV for $2000? Absolutely. But that’s sorta beside the point; anyone could have found themselves in my position, searching for a charger near La Cañada Flintridge. And they all would have faced the same problem that I had; hell, it could have been so much worse. My house was only 15 miles away. Imagine if you were 100 miles from home. You’d have to trickle charge the car at this PowerFlex station, and then hope you could get the car to a fast charger that actually works.
So I was lucky. I wasted a few hours (whereas I’d have needed just 10 minutes if the EA fast charger had worked), suffered half a dozen mosquito bites, and ended up missing my cat-volunteering appointment (and dinner) with my friend. Not ideal, but hardly catastrophic.
I am glad this happened. Buying this car was just for clicks and you should have some suffering for lowering to that level. EV’s suck.
While I think the obvious answer here is just “don’t buy an EV because the infrastructure isn’t there to reliably support it”, might be time to pop on down to Harbor Freight and buy a Predator generator to keep in the Leaf. Voila, (slow) charging station anywhere.
Beat me to it! Some YT guy even put one in the trunk and wired it as a hybrid.
Or just don’t buy an older Leaf. Anything else is going to have enough range that it won’t need to stop and charge just getting around town.
Buy a new battery and the water cooling kit, ive heard people almost doubling their range!
Can you please just buy a new battery!!!
…from Alibaba to make things more interesting
YES!!!!
then what would he write about?
“So I stole the battery from Jason’s Changli for my Leaf and it caught fire twice in 10 minutes”.
COTD, LOL!!!!
I had been looking at a used cheap Leaf for about three years with this idea in mind. Buy a cheapo, find a decent battery, change it out.
Sadly, there is really no cost-effective way to change the battery at this point. I figured that there would be inexpensive replacements, but there is no such thing. You can buy a new one from Nissan at staggering cost or you can get a used one from a salvage. Neither are anywhere near cost effective.
The only thing that approaches reasonable is to buy an entire pack, cherry pick the best cells and sell the rest down the line. Swap your bad cells with the better cells from your salvage. Now you’re in the game of selling and shipping heavy ass batteries all over the place.
I think that there will be a lot of these things headed to junkyards far before they’re used up.
Sounds like a business opportunity to me.
Nice silver XJ in that Vons parking lot.
And this is why ICE cars are still relevant.
I just chose an ICE car over an EV because I need something reliable. I can’t charge at home and I don’t have time for that.
Time for a LS swap*!
*(As a REX)
“Um, I’ll take Crappy Nissans and bad luck for 200 Alex.”
I think the biggest takeaway from this article is “How do you know so many people in Los Angeles who do not own cars?” DT owns FOUR CARS, and three of them were loaned-out to others?!? I do not know one person in this city who does not own or have access to a car. (And that is not a privilege thing, my neighbor is dirt poor but still needs a car for any travel outside the immediate metro area.)
But they are people who are visiting and in town for the Autopian booth at the car show.
He also has a running mustang that I’m pretty sure was his daily before the i3. He could have driven the leaf to pick that up.
Desperately driving from the valley to Pasadena in a crippled EV to volunteer at an animal shelter screams “Bumble date” to me.
I’m confused. Didn’t you buy an i3 for daily driving?
I thought the Nissan was to be part of a project. Why are you driving it around getting stranded? Is the i3 actually worse than an old Nissan, so that’s why you’re driving it?
Nevermind. I read that you lent it out. You’re nice, but lending out your only reliable car that you need to get to work may not be the best idea.
so he could write this article, DT has gone hollywood, fake scripts and all.
This article was …..in a word…..electrifying. Maybe the Dinosaur gods don’t approve of your choice in transportation. I, on the other hand wholeheartedly approve, gif i’m going to get these gems of prose. CBS Cares……
Mosquitos in SoCal is a pretty new plague, by the way. We’ve only suffered them for the past three or four years.
BTW, there are free Chademo-equipped chargers on the top level of the Pasadena Paseo’s west parking garage (and some not-free ones there as well, if the free ones are all full up). It’s a pay lot that’s free for 90 minutes with validation — so maybe kill some time going to Starbucks.
Those mosquitos are everywhere and are on your ankles in seconds. I’ve always kept four or five bottles of sunscreen in various places in case I forget (truck door, gym bag, golf bag, motorcycle tail bag, bathroom) but now I also keep mosquito repellent.
This is exactly why the US is not ready for electric vehicles and the government and it’s talking heads need to back the F off until the charging network is ironed out.
Your other problem facing your Rangeless Rover is that the fast charging plug (Chademo) chosen by Nissan is rare here in the U.S. at the public charging stations, which face big reliability issues as you mention.
Nissan should be lauded for moving swiftly on EVs back in the day. That being said, they made a series of cost-based decisions that limit the long-term usability of the car. That would be fine if the EV market was established. It’s not, so articles like this (while entertaining), just reinforce the incorrect notion that “EVs don’t last” with the average reader.
When Nissan refreshed the Leaf a few years ago, the two big issues (that it had years to ponder) went entirely unaddressed: Chademo for the L3 plug, and air-cooled batteries. I believe that the Leaf still uses both to this day.
Yup. You’re right.
I don’t know if it would be even possible, but DIY converting the Leaf to a plug-in hybrid would make an interesting read.
Theoretically, is the Leaf allowing you to drive while it’s charging?
You could maybe add a small displacement 1-2 cylinder as emergency range extender.
Ms Mercedes may have a motorcycle engine to spare.
Buy an electronic generator keep fuel in it and charge in an emergency.
Creepy parking lot? It is a Sheriff’s office how much safer can a white man be?
Anyone think Elon and his flying monkeys are damaging other chargers?
You have manned gas stations so pumps don’t get damaged. Isolated charging stations are catnip to scum who vandalize stuff. And CA has millions of them. Hey charging stations are electronic just like EVs. They don’t break on their own. Don’t blame the charging company blame scum
It is a Sheriff’s office. In a county where the Sheriff’s Department has a long-standing problem with gangs. Gangs whose members are Deputy Sheriffs. To the point where there’s a wikipedia article about them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LASD_deputy_gangs
Yeah still safer than Detroit
The fact that ev chargers dont have a credit card reader as standard is such peak StartUp tech bro culture bullshit. Out of touch people designing things they will never use very poorly.
Several years ago CA tried but apparently failed to pass legislation that required credit card readers on public chargers. Of course they really want people to join their network, for a monthly fee. The thing is that they could recognize your credit card number and if it was one that is used to pay for a membership and charge at the member price and if the credit card isn’t linked to an account charge the non-member rate.
Ahh David, learning the cruel mistress that is discharging curved and how much elevation impacts range. Think of your EV like a bike to decide how much energy you can use going places uphill.
Also, you got a great deal on an extremely useful and nice golf cart. You should drive it and plan charging the exact same way!
I bought an extra Kindle just to keep in the car for this type of situation.
hoopla app on my phone, lets me borrow books from my library anywhere I have a connection.. it’s a lifesaver 😉
Kindle battery would probably give more miles than whatever’s left of that Leaf battery. lol
You are asking for problems with the old Leaf. You would of had plenty of range with a ‘full’ battery. You are using the faulty Leaf battery to blame the charging infrastructure. If the Leaf had it’s full range, you wouldn’t have experienced these problems.
With your life experiences I recommend to move to Nashville and write C&W songs. I read your whole piece in Johnny Cash’s voice in my head.
I got my shades on, top back,
Stranded with the chargers jacked,
One on the wheel, one downloading apps
Little sun left, feels like a trap
Swattin’ off the bugs buzzin’ through the windows of my ride
Heat blowin’ in, mosquitoes blowin’ round
I’m scanning through the bushes lookin’ for a pole that can’t be found
My good friend waiting at the cat meet,
Nowhere to go, somewhere to be.
Bwahaha!
These stories happen a couple times a week on this (and every other) car-related website
-There aren’t enough chargers
-Chargers are in out of the way locations
-Chargers are broken
-Chargers operating at reduced output
-Charger apps are broken
-There isn’t enough power in the grid for all these chargers
-There aren’t enough technicians to service chargers
-There aren’t enough electricians to install chargers
Gee, where do I sign up for the EV revolution??
It’s more like “when do I sign up?” And the answer for many people is “later.” And that’s okay!
I’m pushing 60. I figure I’ve got 20 years left, tops. And I’m trying to figure out which pure ICE vehicle I can buy that will last 20 years. So my answer is “never”.
You’re answer is a used Buick. With a 3800.
That’s too funny! I’m having the same conversation in my head before I consult with the clouds!
Amen brother Amen.
On the bright side, if chargers are broken, who cares if they’re far out of the way!
The caveat is that most people can just charge at home. I am looking at an EV for my next car, the Volvo EX30 or a Bolt, cheap, basic, simple. It won’t be an only car, and I will get a charger in the garage so if we are going more than 100 miles from home then we’ll take the ICE, if we’re staying close, we’ll take the EV and I have no intention of ever messing with expensive public chargers. It’s not a solution for everyone, but it will work for me as a second car. I am also looking at the new Prius Prime though, and that might be where I go because it is the best of both worlds. EV when I keep it charged, but still able to travel long distances with the engine.
I went slightly upscale from basic (Kia EV6), but had very similar plans – primarily for commuting, but for an occasional longer, well-planned trip. Talked to a lot of folks before taking the EV plunge (including Tesla owners), and the vast majority use their EV the same way – in fact, if you think about it, isn’t that how most people use their cars (commute most of the time, with an occasional road trip).
In the 17 months and 23K miles, I’ve charged away from home only about a dozen times (and several of those were just because it was free).
Know your limits, and stay within – just like you wouldn’t go camping without taking a ten.
Yeah exactly. I don’t use my car for family trips now because it’s smaller and less practical than the van. If I am going more than 100 miles away, it’s flying for work, or it’s a family trip with gear than wouldn’t fit in my car even if I wanted it to. I get it if people don’t have garages why this would not work, and if you don’t own and or cannot for some reason get a charger installed, then yeah that’s not going to work, but for most of us it would be fine.
The EV6 is nice, but I like small. If there was a small hatch or coupe EV at a competitive price, I would be all over it. I want a mini EV, but they’re the same price or more than the bolt and EX30 with less than half the range. No thanks. So more than basic, I want the smallest thing out there.
No they can’t. If you live in a condo or an appt, chances are you have no access to charging at home.
Most was definitely an overstatement. But with that, a ton of newer apartment complexes and condos have charging stations. Our beloved DT here lives in an apartment and he charges 2 EVs there. I have always lived outside of cities, where nearly everyone has a 2 car garage and most would be able to get a charger hook up in there without a problem. If this is not the case, you’re definitely right, that’s not an option and I recognize that this is the case for most people, but there is a very significant amount of people who could charge at home.
Certainly. The other issue is of course the costs involved, and many apartment dwellers, especially in the larger cities, likely can’t afford EVs, and will be at the largest disadvantage.
Kinda like carpool lanes out here in CA. They are all being converted to paid “FastPass” where only the folks who can afford it get carpool access.
I’ll also mention that mosquitoes hovering around you weren’t really a thing in SoCal until about 10 years ago. I remember when my family moved from TX to San Diego in the late ’90s, one of my favorite upsides was that there were no mosquitoes or flying bugs in San Diego, and I was happy to pay for the privilege.
Not the case anymore, the aedes aegypti mosquito invaded California in around 2014 and now I can’t work in shorts in my garage without bugs swarming my feet and ankles. A couple weeks ago there were literally 3 mosquitoes sitting on my foot. I hate it.
Last time I got bit up by mosquitoes I ended up with West Nile. Not fun. Now I keep a pump bottle of bug spray in the car.
Mosquitoes just don’t like me. Can walk through a swarm and not get bit. Get drunk they can’t even start sucking blood.
I hate you.
You must be a mosquito
I am a person whom mosquitos absolutely love. I was hiking with a friend a few years ago and had forgotten the DEET. He walked bug-free while I was continuously swarmed. It was hell.
Hey Scott!! Agree about the skeeter problem here in San Diego. Working in the garage almost always ends up with me getting a bite or two. Currently have one on my elbow from the last time in the garage. :-/
The Asian Tiger mosquitos are also real bad here in SoCal, and they are AGGRESSIVE.
We have a shipment of used tires from Japan to think for these awful pests. We’re all miserable so some asshole could make a tiny bit of money selling people literal garbage.
I highly recommend bug sprays with picaridin as the active ingredient. The “T” in DEET is Toluene, and it is a solvent that destroys most plastics. Overspray and you will permanently etch glasses lenses, plastic watch crystals, car interior surfaces, etc… Nasty stuff.
I would never be able to use it without saying “ENGAGE!”.
Make it so!
Disappointing but not surprising. This echoes Aging Wheels’ latest video where he went on the same road trip in his Polestar using whatever charger he could find vs the same trip in a Tesla. The trip in his Polestar seemed downright stressful.
David needs to team up with Aging Wheels to rebuild his battery pack…
Using Ryobi batteries.
When we bought our Polestar, I expected that it would be more challenging to deal with on a regular basis than an ICE car, given that we live in an apartment without access to a charger. However, I wasn’t expecting our infrastructure to somehow get worse over the time we’ve owned it.
I live in Seattle, also a place that theoretically should have it’s shit together. Seattle City Light, our utility, is actively working on developing city-owned chargers, particularly in under-resourced parts of the city. So, that’s great, except…none of it exists yet, really. We’re dependent on Electrify America for most of the local options.
Now, theoretically, this wouldn’t be an issue. There’s four chargers about a quarter mile from us at the local grocery store, so it would be perfect to quickly recharge while I popped into the store. For the first month of EV ownership, this worked great.
Then one charger broke and never got fixed. Then another. Then another broke and now only provides reduced charging (which would take 2+ hours for a 10-90% charge). So we’re left with a single working fast charger, shared in a busy area in a major city. This has been my experience with all the other locations as well–not a single one has all four working, and most more than one.
And, worst of all, I’ve never seen one fixed. Because I drive a lot for work, it means I spend a ton of time charging or hunting down a charger. Don’t regret buying an EV, but am infuriated with Electrify America.