Finding the chase and cutting to it

The past few weeks have seemed really busy.  End of financial quarter, new aspects to my job and a lot of travelling.

I am currently racking up around 1,000 miles a month in the diesel which feels terrible.  It’s all the best kind of travelling for the beast but still, averaging 40mpg in a 275bhp car is only being offset by the fact the other 750miles I do a month is in an electric car.

It feels dirty 😮

Whoa, that’s a big change

Mmm.  It being late in the year, my manager was almost insistent that I did the miles in an ICE but after doing the majority of miles in the Leaf the past two years, it is really odd.

Let’s start with the whole getting the car started.  It’s noisy, really noisy.  It is slow, it’s a good 10 secs before I am allowed to put the car in to gear.  Yes, gears, there are 6 of them.

The car still opens without the key and there is a start button.  But it makes the weird, low level shaking once the start button has been pressed and there’s this weird, smelly liquid you have to put in.  I filled up the car yesterday and that’s definitely a procedure that is no longer a habit.

When I am stopped at lights, there is this noise coming from the front and underneath of the car, which you do get used to after 10 or so miles.

I am not convinced it will catch on.

The title is ICE’d?

I am off on my ICE’d (internal combustion engine) travels tomorrow.  I appreciated the Leaf today.

Monday afternoon, post piano lesson, is when I typically charge the Leaf.

I approached the chargers outside of work to find a VW and Nissan taking the two spaces in front of the Evalu8 charges.

Thankfully, there are other chargers on site and I drove over to my favourite only to find a beautiful Ampera charging up.  Or not, as it seemed to be finished.

The dilemma: to see if it would surrender the polar charge cable from the pod or not.  I was pretty sure it would not let me unplug if it wasn’t charged.  So did the deed and closed the Ampera’s charge port door.

Which set off the alarm! 😮

At this point, despite not causing any damage, I felt as guilty as hell and was probably the same colour red as the Leaf.  I froze only to see some colleagues walking across the way looking with interest my way.  Or possibly towards the screaming Ampera!

I waved, left handed as the charge cable was in my right hand – what else do you do?

Deciding that either the owner would come or not, be happy and cool or not, I tried to plug my car in only to find my considerate park meant that the cable just wasn’t long enough.

I carefully place the cable on the ground and repositioned my car.  It was a pretty good park, shame I didn’t have a camera to hand.  Both the Leaf and the Ampera could have their driver’s doors opened but a paper back could not have been slid between the narrowest gap.  Think of a V with the Ampera facing forwards with the Leaf lined up frontwards in against it.

Not for the first time did I thank the person in Nissan who said an all round camera would be useful on the Leaf.

Plugged in and started the charge.  I left the cable unlocked, just in case the Ampera did need a top up.

I returned to get the car early – today was never going to be a long stay in the office.  The Leaf still had the cable and a charge of 80%.   I returned the plug and cable to the pod and manoeuvred out to start the journey homewards.