Anyone drive a plug-in electric car?

[drfuzzy]

Whoa, really, Cthulhu!  Congrats!  
Did you get one with navigation, or a bare-bones model like mine?  
I have all sorts of suggestions for free car-monitoring phone apps (if you have navigation), care and feeding of the battery, and installation of a good (CHEAP) home 240V charger.  If you have any questions, just ask!  Welcome to zero-emissions, silent running, no more gas stops world!

It's a model S, so no fancy navigation.  I may replace the head unit so I can have Android Auto.

Absolutely, I'm interested in apps and any information you have on home chargers would be cool.  I have a few fast charging stations near home and Level 2 chargers are everywhere, including several where we park while at work.  But I would like something other than the trickle charger to charge cheaply at home.

Yeah, mine is an S model too.  No navigation limits your choice of apps - I have LeafSpy and Nissan Leaf EZ Charge on my phone.  LeafSpy is supposed to connect to your car and monitor all sorts of functions, starting with battery efficiency.  But I don't have a data plan on my phone either, so the only place I can see it trying to pull in information is when the car is running and my phone is connected to my home wifi.  Not optimal.     https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...Lite&hl=en   If you have an Android phone and are running on trickle charge, EZ Charge is good to have.  https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...leaf&hl=en   It shows you where ALL the charging stations are, which ones are in use/are free, etc.   You are SO lucky to have chargers at work!  You really could trickle charge at home and top up at work very easily!

When I was new to the car, I foolishly thought that keeping it close to 100% charge all the time was a good idea.  It's not.  Most Nissan dealers, and the online bloggers, will tell you to try to keep the machine between 20 and 80% charge as much as possible.   Here is a good write-up on the subject:  http://livingleaf.info/2012/07/care-and-...f-battery/   So trickle charge and your work chargers - - who knows, that might be all you need.

I was lucky.  I had a dryer outlet in my garage.  The 240V outlet was just there, waiting for the car.  If you're rich enough to have your dealer contract someone to install a charge port, you'll fork over a couple of thousand dollars.   But if you already have an outlet, (or if you have a good buddy who can wire in an outlet for you without charging you a lot of $$$) you just need a cord.  I found the Ebusbar charger, and it's working perfectly.  It runs around $230 on Amazon, you can almost always find one on eBay for less - I did.  There are other options too - here's a list.  
https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-electric-veh...6OEALw_wcB

My only gripe right now is how much the air conditioner drains the battery.  Wow.  I have to plug in the car every other night!  The charging timer is a handy thing.

What else for now?  Oh yeah.  If you're driving in the city, and the terrain isn't extremely hilly - the machine likes ECO mode.  It likes it a lot.  It feels like a big cut in power, but all of that regenerative braking will take you further and extend battery life.  So I've been told.  

Welcome to the world of silently rolling past the gas stations you won't need to use!   Enjoy those new wheels.  Maybe post a picture?           --- Fuzz