Author Archives: lukefrugalev

Recently I had to do a work trip to Ottawa from my home in Toronto. I had to lug a fair bit of gear, so I opted to drive my 2018 Nissan Leaf. Door to door time was 7 hours, a little longer than 4 hours and 30 minutes suggested by google. I find googleContinue reading “Toronto-Ottawa”

As gas prices increase, interest in electric car’s has increased. But it seems you can spend more on charging than gas (source). As always, in these click-bait times, the devil lies in the details, or more specifically in the math. So lets do some math and see how much I need to pay to driveContinue reading “Cost of fuel: Electrons vs Gas?”

Much ink (digital and otherwise) has been spilled discussing the state of charging infrastructure for electric cars. While it is true, as electric cars go mainstream, we will need more charging stations to keep the fleet well charged. However, an interesting trend is emerging, with gas stations closing as increasing real-estate prices make their ownersContinue reading “There are more charging stations than gas stations in downtown Toronto”

While a favorite summertime destination, Sandbank provincial park offers lots of fun year around. In fact, one surf-blogger https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Sandbanks-Provincial-Park claims the best surfing conditions are in the late fall. Its an easy drive from Toronto along Hwy 401 East, with ample charging along the way, certainly a wonderful spot for a weekend getaway. It isContinue reading “Sandbanks Provincial Park”

A short drive along the 401 about 150 km east of Toronto sits Presqu’ile Provincial Park. If the waves are up, surfing can be a lot of fun along the sandy beach. Nearby the big apple offers fuel for both your EV and your belly, along with numerous hiking oportunities. Whats not to like. IContinue reading “Camping trip, Presqu’ile Provincial Park”

Driving more than 500 km in a day in the Nissan Leaf requires careful planning. While rare in my life, my inner engineer is scheming if it would be feasible to add an aftermarket battery cooling system to the Nissan Leaf. As a first step, lets do some thermodynamics and see how much heat weContinue reading “Aftermarket battery cooling: The math.”

On a recent trip to North Bay, ON, I brought along LeafSpy and managed to get some data on battery heating. As #rapidGate is known, when rapid charging the Leaf, the battery heats up, sometimes by as much as 20 C, which then influences charge speed on subsequent charging sessions as Nissan very much likesContinue reading “Battery Thermodynamics”

A lovely day-trip from Toronto, Kelso Conservation Area is found just west of Milton,ON. Its about 60-70 km along the 401, so close enough that you need not charge my 2018 Nissan Leaf. We do wind up stopping at the Mary-Browns Chicken outlet in Milton, which has a Flo station across the road allowing theContinue reading “Kelso Conservation Area”

From 24 kWh in 2011, to 30 kWh in 2017 to 40 in 2018 and 2019 to now either 62 or 40 kWh. Nissan has somehow stopped growing the battery in the leaf. Could it be that 62 kWh is enough? We compare Nissan to a few other brands in the EV market, and alsoContinue reading “How big of a battery does your EV need?”

We look at a potential solar panel installation on my house, to see mathematically at least what a solar setup would look like on my roof. We find that we can satisfy about a third of my overall energy needs just from the roof. As I live in Toronto Ontario, where the energy mix isContinue reading “Solar Economics”