Hobart to Midland Highway expeditions
Jan 18, 2017 0:15:08 GMT 11
iamlsd, EVangelist, and 2 more like this
Post by chuq on Jan 18, 2017 0:15:08 GMT 11
Hi everyone,
I'll be making a few posts to this thread - my attempts to get progressively further and further north up the Midland Highway, with the intention of (by the end of the year) making it to Launceston and all the way to Devonport!
I decided to attempt the Midland Highway in my Leaf. The Midland Highway is the main route in Tasmania, 200 km long, connecting the two largest cities, Hobart to Launceston.
It’s certainly not the first time a Leaf has travelled this far – Clive Attwater has travelled to the Devonport/Latrobe area (100 km beyond Launceston) twice. But since I plan on travelling to the AEVA National Conference/AGM in Devonport in November, I thought I should get some practice in, and find out what to expect from my driving pattern, car and charging equipment!
My usual settings for urban driving are a nightly charge to 80%, driving in ‘D’ mode, driving at the speed limit, and using AC/heating if required. For these long range trips, I charge to 100%, drive a little below the speed limit and do not use any AC/heat. This time, I wanted to minimise my consumption even more, so I decided to drive in ‘Eco’ mode, and also avoided highways.
First trek - Hobart to Kempton
For this first trip, my target destination was Kempton, around 47 km from home (although considerably higher elevation). Southern Midlands Council has installed a row of 15A power outlets, free to use, so this is an ideal first stop.
The route I took used the Main Road through Claremont/Austins Ferry, instead of the Brooker Highway, and the old road through Brighton/Pontville, instead of the Brighton Bypass. Both of these are 60-70 km/h roads instead of 100-110 km/h, so I was able to comfortably drive at a slower speed without inconveniencing other drivers.
Allowing for sections of the highway which are four lane (overtaking is easily possible) or which currently have roadworks (limit is reduced to 60 or in some cases 40 km/h), there were very few areas where I had to drive at 100km/h.
Regarding charging equipment, I have the standard Nissan EVSE (15A plug, but only operates at 10A) and also another 3rd party charger which I received from the previous owner of my car when I bought it. This charger is a no-name brand, but I’ve identified it as a Beven BEC-C1016 model. It has a 10A/16A button on it which suggests it is capable of delivering up to 16A (not that it can connect to an outlet that delivers any more than 15A). However I have not had a chance to test it out, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.
I also have an Ampfibian Mini - a 10A-15A adaptor. This will allow me to plug a 15A plug to a 10A socket. I wasn’t expecting to use this during this trip, but it is good for emergencies and no doubt will be useful on longer trips. It has safety features such as an RCD and overload protection.
My car is 4.5 years old with 10 bars of battery health. Just before leaving, it showed a range of 113 km in Eco mode.
I set off from home just after 9am. I live at the top of a hill so it’s always unusual getting used to the lack of regen when I charge to 100%. The drive to Kempton took just over an hour. I stopped to record stats at Berriedale (just outside MONA – a useful reference point since they have a Tesla destination charger) and Brighton. The drive took 1 hour and 3 minutes. On arrival I had 5/12 battery bars remaining. (see the end for full stats)
Time to plug in!
When I arrived at the Kempton public RV site there was one van parked there, so plenty of outlets to choose from. I selected one, plugged in with my highs-peed charger, flicked the switch, and all seemed to be working. I notice the 10A light on the EVSE was lit, so pressed the 10A/16A button – the 16A light came on and charging continued without an issue. One issue was that the length of cord on the AC plug side of the box was short, so the box was hanging a little - I strung the cable over the wooden rail to reduce the amount of downward force on the plug.
So, off to wander Kempton! At least I had a wander through a town that I have driven past several hundred times but never once visited. Unfortunately it was Sunday... everywhere was closed.
But fortunately, there is a service station back out on the Highway - a 30 minute walk, which would help kill the time. Mood Food is a 24 hour service station with a cafe, outdoor dining, a playground, public toilets, lots of parking around the back ... and lots of people!
I grabbed some sandwiches and a juice and sat down at the tables outside. I had a look around and noticed a double 10A power point on the side of the building, near one of the parking areas. I thought this could make a good backup in case the Kempton site was out of action for any reason, or it could be a great location for a future DC fast charger!
(click to enlarge)
The time flew by, so I started to wander back. I arrived at the car (charge light still flashing, fortunately!) just at the two hour mark, so I hopped in to see how much I had left to go. I had expected at least another hour or more here.
The car showed 11/12 bars and 113 km range! I was shocked. And not less than 10 minutes later, the car beeped to tell me it was complete!
While I could have taken this as a sign and continued my journey, I thought I'd take it one step at a time - I packed up the EVSE and headed back to Hobart.
A lot of the first part was downhill, which was great for the GOM readout - it didn't drop below 100 km until I was well past MONA. Most of the loss occurred on the hill back up to our place. The return trip only used 5 bars, rather than 7 on the way there.
![]()
I find these trips useful to benchmark my car against sites such as Greenrace so that I can then use the site to more accurately predict further travel plans. It appears that a full charge at Kempton should be enough to get me to Oatlands. Even more interesting is that from Oatlands back to Hobart should be achievable in one leg. However I'm not going to test this yet
My next trip will be to visit Oatlands to try to find a charging location there. At the moment there is nothing on Plugshare. If I do, that's a bonus. If not, I should be able to get back to Kempton without a charge, or I could move on to Ross, where there is a known charge location (but that would make it quite a lengthy day trip!)
I'll be making a few posts to this thread - my attempts to get progressively further and further north up the Midland Highway, with the intention of (by the end of the year) making it to Launceston and all the way to Devonport!
I decided to attempt the Midland Highway in my Leaf. The Midland Highway is the main route in Tasmania, 200 km long, connecting the two largest cities, Hobart to Launceston.
It’s certainly not the first time a Leaf has travelled this far – Clive Attwater has travelled to the Devonport/Latrobe area (100 km beyond Launceston) twice. But since I plan on travelling to the AEVA National Conference/AGM in Devonport in November, I thought I should get some practice in, and find out what to expect from my driving pattern, car and charging equipment!
My usual settings for urban driving are a nightly charge to 80%, driving in ‘D’ mode, driving at the speed limit, and using AC/heating if required. For these long range trips, I charge to 100%, drive a little below the speed limit and do not use any AC/heat. This time, I wanted to minimise my consumption even more, so I decided to drive in ‘Eco’ mode, and also avoided highways.
First trek - Hobart to Kempton
For this first trip, my target destination was Kempton, around 47 km from home (although considerably higher elevation). Southern Midlands Council has installed a row of 15A power outlets, free to use, so this is an ideal first stop.
The route I took used the Main Road through Claremont/Austins Ferry, instead of the Brooker Highway, and the old road through Brighton/Pontville, instead of the Brighton Bypass. Both of these are 60-70 km/h roads instead of 100-110 km/h, so I was able to comfortably drive at a slower speed without inconveniencing other drivers.
Allowing for sections of the highway which are four lane (overtaking is easily possible) or which currently have roadworks (limit is reduced to 60 or in some cases 40 km/h), there were very few areas where I had to drive at 100km/h.
Regarding charging equipment, I have the standard Nissan EVSE (15A plug, but only operates at 10A) and also another 3rd party charger which I received from the previous owner of my car when I bought it. This charger is a no-name brand, but I’ve identified it as a Beven BEC-C1016 model. It has a 10A/16A button on it which suggests it is capable of delivering up to 16A (not that it can connect to an outlet that delivers any more than 15A). However I have not had a chance to test it out, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.
I also have an Ampfibian Mini - a 10A-15A adaptor. This will allow me to plug a 15A plug to a 10A socket. I wasn’t expecting to use this during this trip, but it is good for emergencies and no doubt will be useful on longer trips. It has safety features such as an RCD and overload protection.
My car is 4.5 years old with 10 bars of battery health. Just before leaving, it showed a range of 113 km in Eco mode.
I set off from home just after 9am. I live at the top of a hill so it’s always unusual getting used to the lack of regen when I charge to 100%. The drive to Kempton took just over an hour. I stopped to record stats at Berriedale (just outside MONA – a useful reference point since they have a Tesla destination charger) and Brighton. The drive took 1 hour and 3 minutes. On arrival I had 5/12 battery bars remaining. (see the end for full stats)
Time to plug in!
When I arrived at the Kempton public RV site there was one van parked there, so plenty of outlets to choose from. I selected one, plugged in with my highs-peed charger, flicked the switch, and all seemed to be working. I notice the 10A light on the EVSE was lit, so pressed the 10A/16A button – the 16A light came on and charging continued without an issue. One issue was that the length of cord on the AC plug side of the box was short, so the box was hanging a little - I strung the cable over the wooden rail to reduce the amount of downward force on the plug.
So, off to wander Kempton! At least I had a wander through a town that I have driven past several hundred times but never once visited. Unfortunately it was Sunday... everywhere was closed.
But fortunately, there is a service station back out on the Highway - a 30 minute walk, which would help kill the time. Mood Food is a 24 hour service station with a cafe, outdoor dining, a playground, public toilets, lots of parking around the back ... and lots of people!
I grabbed some sandwiches and a juice and sat down at the tables outside. I had a look around and noticed a double 10A power point on the side of the building, near one of the parking areas. I thought this could make a good backup in case the Kempton site was out of action for any reason, or it could be a great location for a future DC fast charger!
(click to enlarge)
The time flew by, so I started to wander back. I arrived at the car (charge light still flashing, fortunately!) just at the two hour mark, so I hopped in to see how much I had left to go. I had expected at least another hour or more here.
The car showed 11/12 bars and 113 km range! I was shocked. And not less than 10 minutes later, the car beeped to tell me it was complete!
While I could have taken this as a sign and continued my journey, I thought I'd take it one step at a time - I packed up the EVSE and headed back to Hobart.
A lot of the first part was downhill, which was great for the GOM readout - it didn't drop below 100 km until I was well past MONA. Most of the loss occurred on the hill back up to our place. The return trip only used 5 bars, rather than 7 on the way there.
I find these trips useful to benchmark my car against sites such as Greenrace so that I can then use the site to more accurately predict further travel plans. It appears that a full charge at Kempton should be enough to get me to Oatlands. Even more interesting is that from Oatlands back to Hobart should be achievable in one leg. However I'm not going to test this yet
My next trip will be to visit Oatlands to try to find a charging location there. At the moment there is nothing on Plugshare. If I do, that's a bonus. If not, I should be able to get back to Kempton without a charge, or I could move on to Ross, where there is a known charge location (but that would make it quite a lengthy day trip!)
