by TonyWilliams (Posted Sun, 30 Jun 2013 05:06:01 GMT)
I'm sitting here in Centralia, Washington with multiple successive charge interrupts. I've lost many hours in the rally, and am probably last (to my knowledge, every car is now south of Portland).
I'm not convinced the car is responsible. I think it might be a weak breaker at the RV spot. Of course, I like RV spots and Tesla Roadster charge stations since I can pull a full 40 amps, and RV parks are virtually all 240 volts instead of commercial 208 volts.
I haven't had any issues over the last 2000 miles in about 10 days, with over 1000 to go. Of course, the charge timers are off. There are all the "features", like the idiot fuel gauge that stops at 80%. It's awesome sitting here wondering when it will be done, since the fuel gauge has long since displayed "full" with all 16 fuel bar segments. Dumb, dumb, dumb. My work around is to turn on the car, then off, so that the screen will pop up with remaining time for the charge.
A new problem has surfaced with the navigation. It doesn't appear to always show the total miles to my destination, and that has come very close to causing some big problems. I double check every distance now on Google maps. This issue isn't even repeatable. I can put in the exact same address more than once and get different distances (all on the same route).
No EV is loaded down like this one is, with hundreds of pounds of "stuff" in my car. Longest leg so far is 151.6 miles, but that was very agressive driving to go uphill almost 4000 feet!! I had hoped to do a 200 mile leg, but that's not looking good.
Compared to a LEAF, the Toyota Rav4 EV has WAY MORE ISSUES than a LEAF. Toyota will never "fix" anything on this car, since only 2600 will be made, and probably never be made again. Nissan, on the other hand, will continue to improve the LEAF every year.
The dainty batteries (cant handle heat) and limited range of the LEAF are the two biggest things holding it back. It's conceivable that their new battery chemistry planned for 2015 will address this, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The Rav4 has its own set of issues, but they keep on swapping parts.
Eh, I'd still recommend either car with very specific guidelines. Don't BUY a LEAF... Lease it. Know that in hot environments, you might lose 30% capacity before the end of a 36 month lease. In cold weather, the car will also lose a of of range from a cold battery. The Rav4 "could" have the same accelerated degradation cells if you left it exposed to heat, but any charging or driving will cool the batteries. The LEAF won't.
The increased range, physically larger size, and the solid warranty reputation of Toyota put Rav4 EV in a strong value position, even with the durability shortcomings. The same could be argued for LEAF. First, the buyer must carefully weigh the proposed mission with the known limitations of each vehicle.
I'm sitting here in Centralia, Washington with multiple successive charge interrupts. I've lost many hours in the rally, and am probably last (to my knowledge, every car is now south of Portland).
I'm not convinced the car is responsible. I think it might be a weak breaker at the RV spot. Of course, I like RV spots and Tesla Roadster charge stations since I can pull a full 40 amps, and RV parks are virtually all 240 volts instead of commercial 208 volts.
I haven't had any issues over the last 2000 miles in about 10 days, with over 1000 to go. Of course, the charge timers are off. There are all the "features", like the idiot fuel gauge that stops at 80%. It's awesome sitting here wondering when it will be done, since the fuel gauge has long since displayed "full" with all 16 fuel bar segments. Dumb, dumb, dumb. My work around is to turn on the car, then off, so that the screen will pop up with remaining time for the charge.
A new problem has surfaced with the navigation. It doesn't appear to always show the total miles to my destination, and that has come very close to causing some big problems. I double check every distance now on Google maps. This issue isn't even repeatable. I can put in the exact same address more than once and get different distances (all on the same route).
No EV is loaded down like this one is, with hundreds of pounds of "stuff" in my car. Longest leg so far is 151.6 miles, but that was very agressive driving to go uphill almost 4000 feet!! I had hoped to do a 200 mile leg, but that's not looking good.
Compared to a LEAF, the Toyota Rav4 EV has WAY MORE ISSUES than a LEAF. Toyota will never "fix" anything on this car, since only 2600 will be made, and probably never be made again. Nissan, on the other hand, will continue to improve the LEAF every year.
The dainty batteries (cant handle heat) and limited range of the LEAF are the two biggest things holding it back. It's conceivable that their new battery chemistry planned for 2015 will address this, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The Rav4 has its own set of issues, but they keep on swapping parts.
Eh, I'd still recommend either car with very specific guidelines. Don't BUY a LEAF... Lease it. Know that in hot environments, you might lose 30% capacity before the end of a 36 month lease. In cold weather, the car will also lose a of of range from a cold battery. The Rav4 "could" have the same accelerated degradation cells if you left it exposed to heat, but any charging or driving will cool the batteries. The LEAF won't.
The increased range, physically larger size, and the solid warranty reputation of Toyota put Rav4 EV in a strong value position, even with the durability shortcomings. The same could be argued for LEAF. First, the buyer must carefully weigh the proposed mission with the known limitations of each vehicle.