I pulled into my local Ikea (Calgary, Alberta). They had two Sun Country Highway free charging stations for customers. I plugged in but for the life of me couldn't get the car to recognize the charger. I pressed the "start" button on the charger and made sure the "charge now" function was turned on in the car. All I could get was a blinking green light code on the charging station which means "your car cannot recognize the charger". I also saw my car's blinking green lights indicating the charger was seated correctly, but after the blinking they went out (as though the car was fully charged or waiting for the timer to start). I tried various sequences of plugging in, hitting start button on charger - but nada. The only message I got on MID was something to the effect of "please unplug charger before starting". This is the second Sun Country Highway charging station that has flummoxed me. Sigh....
It's times like that you are glad you have an ICE to get home. My daughter has a 3 year old Leaf. Sometimes she takes it shopping and would need a tow if she can't find a working charger. So far she has never been stranded. I could never live with a 80 mile electric only range. Although, it works for some people.
Yep, we were able to make good use of it for quite a while, but recently traded up to the 2nd Gen Leaf which gets 150-170 miles.
I would have extreme anxiety while driving, but the reality is I have almost exclusively used EV mode in the Prime since I got it. I drive 25mi round trip to work daily and go out on weekends. I never have anxiety because I still have ~7gal in the tank (last filled up for a weekend trip back in mid-may). I think the Leaf would work for me, I'd just constantly be worried. The most I worry about now is falling off the EcoDashboard's score board lol. That darn score board does have me driving way more conservatively and I love driving fast. The Prius is mini-game. I go as fast as possible while keeping a high eco score (staying in the blue band). That basically means I don't brake often and take corners as fast as the tires/suspension will allow. It reminds me of driving a Miata around the track, it's a momentum car with very little power. Gotta conserve energy whenever possible to maintain speed
The 2nd Gen Leaf will get you 150 or more depending on which option you buy. We find that is enough to even take small road trips. Tesla is still the only EV possible for true long road trips.
