What Is Electric And Can Pull A Ton Of Topsoil

I bought this old trailer from my buddy Fred for $200. 

At 2000 pounds - both the car and trailer were above the approved range. Only the trailer  hitch is rated for 3000 pounds. 

I used the tarps to keep the soil from going through the wire mesh floor. 

We wanted some top soil for our yard and garden. The last time we bought some - the shop was much closer to our house. When I went to the site - I could see the soil - but no one to load it. When I called them - they asked me to visit their other yard 10 miles away. When I got there - they didn't have any topsoil there. Then Lulu looked around on line and found Roberts Sand Company - about another 5 miles farther from home. When you are driving an electric vehicle - you are always thinking of range. My Leaf said I had 30 miles of range left - I hate to cut it that close - but I went to the Roberts lot. 

The loader picked up a half ton and dumped it on my trailer - it looked good. Then he dropped the other half ton. The tires on the trailer were under inflated - and they flattened out. The loader operator said if I could get the trailer to his shop - he would inflate the tires. 

The Leaf has plenty of torque - we got the trailer to the shop - and inflated the tires. The guy was very impressed with the pulling power - imagine that - a loader operator being impressed with an electric car. 

Once the tires were inflated - I got the trailer on the road - and had about 10 miles to go to get home. The gauge said I had about 25 miles of battery left - a piece of cake. What I forgot was that with the big load - I would eat up the battery quicker. My battery has 24 kilowatts hours. Normally I can get about 4 miles per kilowatt hour or 80 miles. With the load on I was getting only 3 miles per kilowatt hour. 

As I got to the FSU stadium - it said I had 10 miles left - this was getting too close. As I climbed Capitol Hill - the gauge said 6 miles left - and it started flashing. Finally as I pulled the Leaf into our garage - the gauge flashed 4 miles left. That was way too close for me. 

The Leaf was not designed to haul a ton of topsoil - but it did so effortlessly. At no time did it lag or slow down. I watched the battery temperature gauge and it never wavered. The car is now in the garage - like a horse in the barn - sucking down kilowatts. A full charge is supposed to take 7 hours and cost about $3.30 in electricity. A usual fill takes an hour or so. It works out to the equivalent of 120 MPGe. 

Now someone has to shovel all that dirt off the trailer.

PS - Just checked the bill - and it was one cubic yard. I thought it was a ton. It was 3375 pounds!