If you drive a Nissan Leaf, you can choose to participate in a fun competition with people around the world who are also Leaf drivers. The Nissan Leaf comes equipped with something called "Carwings," which is a computer program that sends information from the Leaf to a database that keeps track of your driving history. It logs energy economy, eco trees, distance traveled, energy consumed by accessories, regenerated energy, and number of trips. You are also ranked according to your average energy economy, the worst being a bronze ranking, and going up through silver, gold, and platinum rankings. The database gives you daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly regional rankings as well as world rankings . It has been really fun to see how I compare to other Leaf drivers around the world so far in these first two weeks!
Twice so far I have earned top 100 rankings for a daily competition! The first time was last week I was 42 out of over 1,300 people worldwide for least amount of energy consumed by accessories. I guess it pays to drive without the heat on. Just this past Friday I ranked 95 out of 1,672 participating drivers worldwide for eco trees made. The eco trees are a fun way to keep track of how economically you are driving your Leaf. So, it would take into consideration your kWh usage and how you are regenerating energy with your braking, and so on. There are five sections to earn in order to "build" an eco tree, which looks like a pine tree. On my Friday trips I build 5.8 eco trees, which is the most I've built in a day so far. This new-found eco mode has been good to me this week!
Some other information I can share with you based on my Carwings report is that I averaged 3.7 miles/kWh. This past week my average jumped up to 4.2 miles/kWh! In total for the two weeks I've been driving the Leaf I have traveled 480.2 miles and have used a total of 122 kWh. My total takes into consideration that I've used 147.5 kWh, but have regenerated 25.5 kWh with my braking. This tells me that I need to work on perfecting my braking to recapture some of the energy that would otherwise be lost.
I'll continue to keep you posted on my savings and lessened carbon footprint. Stay tuned...
Miss Evie
She is at home in the garage charging up!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
What's In a Name?
I don't know how many of you name your cars. I wasn't always one who did. Infact, this is only the second of the cars that I've owned that I actually gave a name to. The others were just "the Shadow" or "the Celebrity." Yes, those are the names of the models and that is just what I called them.
My previous vehicle, the Honda Odyssey, had a special name. I had wanted a minivan for years, even before we had kids. We had rented one to take on vacation with some friends and I loved the roominess, how it drove exactly like a car, and the fact that it made me feel "big" on the road without being too obnoxious. When we had kids and had to tote all the gear that goes with them, I saw the benefits of the minivan in a new light. The protection that it offered for our little ones, along with all the added features, such as sunshades and cup holders were all big attractors. When my husband pulled up in our driveway with a brand new Honda Odyssey and said that it was mine, I could hardly contain myself! I went on a drive around our quaint Virgina subdivision and immediately fell in love! It didn't take long for me to name her; the first car I'd ever give a name to. I think it took me a matter of minutes to think of a name. She was Milli, because she made me feel like a million bucks! Milli is very fitting for a minivan too, don't you think?
Fast forward to buying the Nissan Leaf. The car that would replace my Milli. This Leaf is metallic silver in color and has some sleek headlights. I knew right away she had a female personality, so I was going to be looking for a girl's name to give to her. Problem was, none came to me right away. We got the car on a Monday. The only thing that I could think of that day was Daisy, because it is my favorite flower. My car was going to help keep the planet green for all the pretty flowers, like Daisies, so maybe I should name it that. But as I kept looking at her and the pictures I'd taken of her to post to facebook, she just didn't look like a Daisy to me. I decided to solicit some help in the naming process. I changed my status on Facebook to "I have to think of a name for my Leaf." I knew with the collection of friends that I have that I was sure to get some good ideas, or at least some chuckles out of that post.
The following are a list of suggestions I got as replies to my Facebook status:
Queen Leaftifah
Ericson
Garrett
Kathy Leaf Gifford
Jennifer Jason Leaf
The General Leaf
Vivian Leaf
Auto
Fern
Feuille (French for Leaf)
Bruce Leaf
Lucille
Maple
BEANO (because there'll BE NO GAS!)
Margo
Maple
Autumn
Marsh, Jan, or Cindy
While these were all very thought provoking, I was still searching myself and had thoughts of Flora, Soleil, and I still had Daisy hanging around. None of these still spoke to me. My car didn't look at me and say, "I am _______." (Fill in one of the suggested names in the blank.) We went through the entire day and night on Tuesday without a name for my Leaf. Wednesday came and I was no where closer to a name. I don't have much time during the day to think about it, as I am a first grade teacher and those kids keep me on my toes and my thoughts occupied nearly every second I am at school. So, Wednesday when I got home I was doing some reading in the owner's manual (for the third night in a row, but I still hadn't gotten to the part about putting it in "ECO Mode" mind you.) As I read the letters that are used to describe vehicles like the Leaf jumped out at me. Electric Vehicle (EV). I thought of the movie Wall-e and the machine that Wall-e had fallen in love with. Her name was Eve (but pronounced like Evie). Evie sounded to me a bit "hippie-ish" kind of "save the planet" if you will. I gave it some thought through dinner. I sat down at the computer and looked at her pictures again. She was looking at me and saying, "I am an Evie!" It was finally decided! The Leaf is now named Evie!
And that is what went into Evie's name!
My previous vehicle, the Honda Odyssey, had a special name. I had wanted a minivan for years, even before we had kids. We had rented one to take on vacation with some friends and I loved the roominess, how it drove exactly like a car, and the fact that it made me feel "big" on the road without being too obnoxious. When we had kids and had to tote all the gear that goes with them, I saw the benefits of the minivan in a new light. The protection that it offered for our little ones, along with all the added features, such as sunshades and cup holders were all big attractors. When my husband pulled up in our driveway with a brand new Honda Odyssey and said that it was mine, I could hardly contain myself! I went on a drive around our quaint Virgina subdivision and immediately fell in love! It didn't take long for me to name her; the first car I'd ever give a name to. I think it took me a matter of minutes to think of a name. She was Milli, because she made me feel like a million bucks! Milli is very fitting for a minivan too, don't you think?
Fast forward to buying the Nissan Leaf. The car that would replace my Milli. This Leaf is metallic silver in color and has some sleek headlights. I knew right away she had a female personality, so I was going to be looking for a girl's name to give to her. Problem was, none came to me right away. We got the car on a Monday. The only thing that I could think of that day was Daisy, because it is my favorite flower. My car was going to help keep the planet green for all the pretty flowers, like Daisies, so maybe I should name it that. But as I kept looking at her and the pictures I'd taken of her to post to facebook, she just didn't look like a Daisy to me. I decided to solicit some help in the naming process. I changed my status on Facebook to "I have to think of a name for my Leaf." I knew with the collection of friends that I have that I was sure to get some good ideas, or at least some chuckles out of that post.
The following are a list of suggestions I got as replies to my Facebook status:
Queen Leaftifah
Ericson
Garrett
Kathy Leaf Gifford
Jennifer Jason Leaf
The General Leaf
Vivian Leaf
Auto
Fern
Feuille (French for Leaf)
Bruce Leaf
Lucille
Maple
BEANO (because there'll BE NO GAS!)
Margo
Maple
Autumn
Marsh, Jan, or Cindy
While these were all very thought provoking, I was still searching myself and had thoughts of Flora, Soleil, and I still had Daisy hanging around. None of these still spoke to me. My car didn't look at me and say, "I am _______." (Fill in one of the suggested names in the blank.) We went through the entire day and night on Tuesday without a name for my Leaf. Wednesday came and I was no where closer to a name. I don't have much time during the day to think about it, as I am a first grade teacher and those kids keep me on my toes and my thoughts occupied nearly every second I am at school. So, Wednesday when I got home I was doing some reading in the owner's manual (for the third night in a row, but I still hadn't gotten to the part about putting it in "ECO Mode" mind you.) As I read the letters that are used to describe vehicles like the Leaf jumped out at me. Electric Vehicle (EV). I thought of the movie Wall-e and the machine that Wall-e had fallen in love with. Her name was Eve (but pronounced like Evie). Evie sounded to me a bit "hippie-ish" kind of "save the planet" if you will. I gave it some thought through dinner. I sat down at the computer and looked at her pictures again. She was looking at me and saying, "I am an Evie!" It was finally decided! The Leaf is now named Evie!
And that is what went into Evie's name!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
ECO Mode
Well, after driving the Nissan Leaf for a week, I finally read far enough in the owner's manual to know that I can save even more energy and money than I already have been saving! There is an "ECO" driving mode, that had eluded me for the first six days. While riding in the passenger's seat for the first time I could do an indepth study on the question my husband was trying to answer. "How do you put the car in ECO mode?"
On the shifter there are only two directions you can shift; three if you count the fact that in the middle is Neutral. If you shift forward the car goes into reverse. If you shift backward the car goes into drive. I had no idea there was any other mode that I could shift into. My husband "knew" there had to be more to it. So I delved into the owner's manual.
I don't know how many of you have looked at an owner's manual for a new car recently. There are so many different sections and supplements. It is crazy! There are two pretty thick books to get through, if you count the navigation system manual, and two thinner books. All four of these books are bundled together in a neat little case that fits securely into the glove box of the car. Why do they call it a glove box anyway? No one I know keeps gloves in theirs. Anyway, I digress... I will be honest with you, that owner's manual package is a little daunting. I was determined to answer my husband's question, though. I needed to find out where the "secret button" was that would put this amazing machine into power-saving mode.
When I finally found the section that could answer my question, I couldn't believe how simple the answer really was! There was no secret button or hidden touch screen application. All we had to do was shift two times backward on the shifter and instead of drive, the car would then be shifted into "ECO Mode" I couldn't believe it! As soon as my husband shifted the car into this new magical mode, miles were added onto the life of our charge! I believe it was 10 in all, but 10 more miles is a lot when you are talking a car that only has a possible range of 100 miles/charge.
The ECO Mode allows the car to use less power for the engine and for the accessories, such as the climate control. That is right, climate control to me now is an accessory. I often drive without the heat on to save power on my battery. My commuting partner doesn't seem to mind. She just bundles up and wears her new purple gloves that she bought (after I had to let her borrow an extra pair of mine, since her old pair seemed to have gotten lost in her move).
The first week's average without using ECO Mode was 2.5 cents/mile in electricity. Compared to a gas-powered car, that under conservative estimates of getting 25 miles/gallon at $3.00/gal for gas, going 12.5 cents/mile. I am gaining a dime for every mile I go in my new car. Now that we have found "ECO Mode," stay tuned for how much more we save in week two!
On the shifter there are only two directions you can shift; three if you count the fact that in the middle is Neutral. If you shift forward the car goes into reverse. If you shift backward the car goes into drive. I had no idea there was any other mode that I could shift into. My husband "knew" there had to be more to it. So I delved into the owner's manual.
I don't know how many of you have looked at an owner's manual for a new car recently. There are so many different sections and supplements. It is crazy! There are two pretty thick books to get through, if you count the navigation system manual, and two thinner books. All four of these books are bundled together in a neat little case that fits securely into the glove box of the car. Why do they call it a glove box anyway? No one I know keeps gloves in theirs. Anyway, I digress... I will be honest with you, that owner's manual package is a little daunting. I was determined to answer my husband's question, though. I needed to find out where the "secret button" was that would put this amazing machine into power-saving mode.
When I finally found the section that could answer my question, I couldn't believe how simple the answer really was! There was no secret button or hidden touch screen application. All we had to do was shift two times backward on the shifter and instead of drive, the car would then be shifted into "ECO Mode" I couldn't believe it! As soon as my husband shifted the car into this new magical mode, miles were added onto the life of our charge! I believe it was 10 in all, but 10 more miles is a lot when you are talking a car that only has a possible range of 100 miles/charge.
The ECO Mode allows the car to use less power for the engine and for the accessories, such as the climate control. That is right, climate control to me now is an accessory. I often drive without the heat on to save power on my battery. My commuting partner doesn't seem to mind. She just bundles up and wears her new purple gloves that she bought (after I had to let her borrow an extra pair of mine, since her old pair seemed to have gotten lost in her move).
The first week's average without using ECO Mode was 2.5 cents/mile in electricity. Compared to a gas-powered car, that under conservative estimates of getting 25 miles/gallon at $3.00/gal for gas, going 12.5 cents/mile. I am gaining a dime for every mile I go in my new car. Now that we have found "ECO Mode," stay tuned for how much more we save in week two!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
We've Gone Green
Little by little our family has been trying to be nicer to our planet. We started growing our own vegetables and fruits two years ago. We expanded the second year and have already expanded more going into our third year of "small farming" We are even going to add chickens and a chicken coop to our "farm" this spring! I am excited to have fresh eggs and know exactly where they came from and how the chickens are fed and raised. Our family makes a conscious effort to recycle and reuse as much as we can by utilizing the local recycling program, creating a compost area in our backyard, shopping with reusable bags and so much more. We aren't what you would consider "tree huggers," but we are environmentally conscious.
That being said, we are continually looking for ways to improve and reduce our carbon footprint. It doesn't hurt if we save a little money in some way by doing it, infact, that is a bonus in many cases in addition to the peace of mind in what we eat, how we live and what we are teaching our children. So in the midst of all of this constant improvement, how do you reduce your carbon footprint when you have a person in the house who has a daily commute of 57.2 miles 5 days a week when said person drives the minivan that is used to haul the family of four and all their "stuff?" It gets quite expensive when pulling in to the gas pump in the family minivan, that is for sure! It was a blessing to finally get a new co-worker this year that I could commute with everyday. That helped to cut the driving down significantly and was saving us money as well. So, the carbon footprint that we were creating was cut down, right? Well, if you consider that on the days I wasn't driving all the way to work in my minivan, I was still riding in a car that was putting carbon into the air, my footprint didn't really get all that much smaller. What is a family to do when we are saving money, but still not doing it in an environmentally friendly way?
The answer to our question was the Nissan Leaf! My husband poured over blogs, research, articles, statistics. He created spreadsheets, attended a special event to drive the Leaf in Philadelphia, continued to work on his spreadsheets and look for more research and data. You can certainly say he did his homework. He got me on board after continual problems with our van resulting in numerous trips to garages, and much money being put into it. Although, I still don't understand all of his numbers and charts and graphs. We discussed it all, thought about it, and in December, 2011 the Nissan company opened up Tier 4 states to ordering their Leaf model. That meant that we could actually place an order for the vehicle in our state of Delaware!
Our car was ordered during the last week of December, 2011. Originally the date we were given for delivery was about 2 months after initial ordering. Much to our surprise, only a few days later, an email came that said our car would be delivered the week of January 23rd. A few days after that our delivery date changed to January 20. Again, an email came two days after that one that stated our deliversy date would be January 18th. We couldn't believe that it was happening so fast! On January 12 I came home to find a message on our voicemail from the Nissan dealer who took delivery of the car we'd ordered. Our Nissan Leaf had been delivered that day and we could go pick it up as early as Friday, January 13th! We weren't quite ready to go pick up the car just then. We had to get our game plan set and practice our negotiation faces.
On Monday, January 16th, after much negotiations (on the dealer's part, which will be the subject of a future post) we brought our brand new, 2012 Nissan Leaf home. We were officially "green" with our driving! It was exciting to think that we own a car that will no longer require us to make weekly trips to a gas pump. A car that has no tailpipe.
Driving this Nissan Leaf is sure to be a journey with many lessons to learn and also lessons to teach. If you are interested in finding out more about the Leaf or my journey, or both, feel free to follow me here. I'll be on the road, driving Miss Evie.
That being said, we are continually looking for ways to improve and reduce our carbon footprint. It doesn't hurt if we save a little money in some way by doing it, infact, that is a bonus in many cases in addition to the peace of mind in what we eat, how we live and what we are teaching our children. So in the midst of all of this constant improvement, how do you reduce your carbon footprint when you have a person in the house who has a daily commute of 57.2 miles 5 days a week when said person drives the minivan that is used to haul the family of four and all their "stuff?" It gets quite expensive when pulling in to the gas pump in the family minivan, that is for sure! It was a blessing to finally get a new co-worker this year that I could commute with everyday. That helped to cut the driving down significantly and was saving us money as well. So, the carbon footprint that we were creating was cut down, right? Well, if you consider that on the days I wasn't driving all the way to work in my minivan, I was still riding in a car that was putting carbon into the air, my footprint didn't really get all that much smaller. What is a family to do when we are saving money, but still not doing it in an environmentally friendly way?
The answer to our question was the Nissan Leaf! My husband poured over blogs, research, articles, statistics. He created spreadsheets, attended a special event to drive the Leaf in Philadelphia, continued to work on his spreadsheets and look for more research and data. You can certainly say he did his homework. He got me on board after continual problems with our van resulting in numerous trips to garages, and much money being put into it. Although, I still don't understand all of his numbers and charts and graphs. We discussed it all, thought about it, and in December, 2011 the Nissan company opened up Tier 4 states to ordering their Leaf model. That meant that we could actually place an order for the vehicle in our state of Delaware!
Our car was ordered during the last week of December, 2011. Originally the date we were given for delivery was about 2 months after initial ordering. Much to our surprise, only a few days later, an email came that said our car would be delivered the week of January 23rd. A few days after that our delivery date changed to January 20. Again, an email came two days after that one that stated our deliversy date would be January 18th. We couldn't believe that it was happening so fast! On January 12 I came home to find a message on our voicemail from the Nissan dealer who took delivery of the car we'd ordered. Our Nissan Leaf had been delivered that day and we could go pick it up as early as Friday, January 13th! We weren't quite ready to go pick up the car just then. We had to get our game plan set and practice our negotiation faces.
On Monday, January 16th, after much negotiations (on the dealer's part, which will be the subject of a future post) we brought our brand new, 2012 Nissan Leaf home. We were officially "green" with our driving! It was exciting to think that we own a car that will no longer require us to make weekly trips to a gas pump. A car that has no tailpipe.
Driving this Nissan Leaf is sure to be a journey with many lessons to learn and also lessons to teach. If you are interested in finding out more about the Leaf or my journey, or both, feel free to follow me here. I'll be on the road, driving Miss Evie.
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