LauraiMiEV wrote:
OMG I am so impressed by your courage. I haven't yet (and can't imagine doing it EVER) pulled out of the driveway knowing I had further to go than my battery would take me and trusting that I'd find a carpark somewhere to let me charge. You're a legend.
Out of curiosity, how did you charge at a Wollies carpark with a new iMiEV? Did they have a 15Amp ppt? Did you arrive at Ryde prepared with a converter?
I sleep(drive) easier now that I have a Volt charger in the car that has the std 10A plug so, if I end up on turtle far from home I'll be more likely able to find a spot to plug in.
Again, I am in awe.
Thank you kindly for your words
But it was all replanned whilst I didn't have any choice if I wanted to drive the car back to Cessnock.
I calculated, due to the distance and the large number of kilometres I'd have to travel on the Freeway, that I would have to stop somewhere regardless of being told the range was 150kms. I read around various forums, including this one, that no-one got 150kms out of a 2010 model. I guessed I may get 100kms instead and Morisset was the exact distance more or less.
About the Woolies car park - I used to work at Charmhaven, so I would travel through Morisset and occasionally do my shopping there at Woolies. I had noticed that they had those 10 amp "outdoor" type power points, scattered around the car park, whilst I've got the same here at home in the garage. So yes I made a converter. It's got a 10 amp male plug and a 15 amp female, but it has 2.5 mm wire meaning a 12 amp load should be perfectly safe.
I did try to find where the Woolies centre management office was, to get permission to use their power, but couldn't find it. So I hoped if someone walked up to me about it, I'd just offer them $5 or something and they'd let me keep going, but no one bothered me. As I waited I just grabbed some lunch, watched a couple of TV shows I had downloaded on my laptop, and the time went pretty quickly.
Needless to say I can take my converter with me anywhere, but at home I have converted the original 10 amp power point in the garage to a 15 amp one. I know the circuit is rated at 30 amps overall, so I just note the load that maybe on it if I charge the car during the da. Then again I only recharge at night, for the most part, so it doesn't really matter.