Skip to content

Guest Post

The New West EV Family Goes to the Great Wolf Lodge

In late March 2016 during spring break, the New West EV Family made the trek south of Olympia, WA to the Great Wolf Lodge all the way from New Westminster, BC. Great Wolf Lodge is a hot and humid indoor water-park and thematic hotel in the middle of no-where Washington state. There are a dozen or more of these monstrosities across the US and this one is perfectly situated, equidistant from Seattle and Portland, for frazzled parents to whisk away their kiddos for some distraction in the middle of the gloomy winters. For us Canadians it was a welcome escape from our cool, damp, and grey winters. We had really wanted to get someplace like Palm Springs or San Diego for some authentic sunshine but since our loonies and toonies don’t go as far these days the artificial tropics of the Great Wolf Lodge was just what we needed and what the pocket book would accept.Read More »The New West EV Family Goes to the Great Wolf Lodge

Day Trip: The New West EV Family goes to Whistler for the Day

Day Trip: The New West EV Family goes to Whistler for the Day!

Please be sure to read to the bottom for our Bonus Features.

Over one two three months ago, when the fall weather was still clear and dry, we decided we needed some outdoor time and out-of-the-city time.  The plan was to go to Alice Lake for a picnic lunch and a hike. We would also use the opportunity to zip up to Whistler for dinner, to get out of town, and participate in some electric vehicle (EV) tourism.

Read More »Day Trip: The New West EV Family goes to Whistler for the Day

New West EV Family Goes to the Zoo – Part 2/2

Hello again from the New West EV Family!

This post is the third in a series and discusses the second half of our Seattle Zoo trip in our 2013 Nissan Leaf. My first guest post was an introduction and review of charging requirements for the trip. In part one of my trip report we discussed the drive plan and our trip south from New Westminster to the Seattle area and our stops for charging along the way.

On my last post we ended day one enjoying a nice meal at the Cheesecake Factory while charging to 100% on L2 at the Bellevue Square mall. We returned to our hotel in Everett with 73% remaining and 7 battery temperature bars while Leaf Spy showed the battery temperature to be nearly 40 degrees C. Now for most of you in California or Arizona this isn’t an uncommon temperature but we barely saw 6 bars this summer, 5 is normal, and we will probably see 4 bars all ‘winter’. Regardless, the battery cooled to about 24.5 C overnight on this trip. (note: the ambient temperatures I am guessing were ~12 C overnight; high battery temperatures are something to be minimized over the long term).Read More »New West EV Family Goes to the Zoo – Part 2/2

New West EV Family Goes to the Zoo – Part 1/2

Hello again from the New West EV Family!

In my last post we discussed planning our road trip south to the Seattle area with our 2013 Nissan Leaf and the preparations required to access the charging networks we would need to visit. In this post I will discuss the energy planning and the results of the first half of the trip south.

Read More »New West EV Family Goes to the Zoo – Part 1/2

Hello from the New West EV Family

[Editor’s note:  the post that follows is the first of a series of posts from David on a recent trip to Seattle, and the planning he had to undertake to utilize the Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) network south of the border.  He is also located in BC, in New Westminster, owns a 2013 Leaf SL, and has an EV Family!]

Hello from the New West EV Family! Ha! Sorry Andrew- I’m copying your blog title out of a complete lack of originality on my own part. This is my first blog/guest blog post ever, on any blog. I have contemplated blogging for many years. Nissan Leaf ownership has pushed me over the edge and Andrew has volunteered to humour me by hosting these guest posts on his blog! Please be gentle as my thoughts unwind on you. Please let me know how I can improve too and perhaps soon I’ll start my own blog.Read More »Hello from the New West EV Family