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"  I leave the parking garage in Manhattan under cover of darkness, with 50 miles of juice in the Nissan Leaf&amp;#039;s batteries. When I arrive home, 25 miles due north, the dash readout says I have 28 miles of power remaining. I read the manual\u2014as clear as any owner&amp;#039;s manual, murky at best\u2014and plug in the charging unit via heavy-duty orange extension cord. I live in an old house\u2014a converted 18th-century horse barn, to be precise\u2014and electric outlets are few, far between and tough to reach. I have more extension cords than Home Depot.  I hear the beep when I insert the business end of the charger into the Leaf&amp;#039;s electric socket, see the &amp;quot;Charge&amp;quot; indicator light up on the black box and head inside to watch some quality TV. All the while I envision the Leaf receiving its electrical succor, charging up for my morning commute.  Come daylight, freshly shaven and suited up for work, I unhook the cord and power up for my drive to the office. Miles remaining: 28. The charge hasn&amp;#039;t worked, and as I find out later, the extension cord is probably the culprit: The Leaf requires a direct connection to at least a 110-volt outlet in order to charge properly. Still, I think I can make it. Fifteen minutes later, I&amp;#039;m cruising at 50 mph on the Palisades Parkway when the mileage indicator dips to nine. A minute after that, three flashing hyphens replace the numeral. The dashboard displays warnings that tell me, in six different ways, &amp;quot;Danger, Will Robinson, you are about to power down.&amp;quot; The nav screen automatically lists the nearest charging stations\u2014a nice gesture, but no station is close enough for me to reach it.  I exit the parkway and glide into a Lukoil station, where I ask the stubbly-faced, tattooed, ponytailed, muscle-bound manager if I can plug in. I know a full charge will take at least 12 hours. That would make me late enough for work to, well, miss the entire day. But I think if I hook up for an hour or so, I might get enough power to make it to the office.  The manager looks at me like an inmate might look at a prison guard, with a mixture of disgust and a pinch of bad attitude\u2014just a pinch. I picture a &amp;#039;69 Chevelle SS in his driveway at home, and possibly also a fat Harley in the garage. He&amp;#039;s looking at me, a freshly shaven guy in a suit and tie driving a white electric car. &amp;quot;How am I supposed to know how much to charge you?&amp;quot; he asks. &amp;quot;What would you charge a guy who needed to plug in his cellphone for an hour?&amp;quot; I answer. Clever, right? Not to the manager, apparently. &amp;quot;Okay, plug in there, by the soda vending machine, and we&amp;#039;ll figure out later how much you owe me,&amp;quot; he says, adding, &amp;quot;This is a gas station; we charge for fuel.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Whatever you decide is fine with me,&amp;quot; I say, cocking my head and holding up my hands, universal gestural language for &amp;quot;Easy, fella.&amp;quot; Just then comes a flash of inspiration: There&amp;#039;s a Nissan dealership down the road about a mile. I call and get a technician, Brian, on the phone. &amp;quot;C&amp;#039;mon down,&amp;quot; he tells me. &amp;quot;We don&amp;#039;t have a Leaf charging station\u2014haven&amp;#039;t even had an order for one of the cars yet\u2014but we do have hot coffee in the customers&amp;#039; lounge and a place where we can hook up the car for a charge.&amp;quot;  I pull into a service bay at East Coast Nissan, in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The pneumatic drills fall silent, and work on the floor halts. The mechanics swarm around the Leaf. &amp;quot;How does it drive?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Is it fast?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;How far can you go on a charge?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;How does it handle?&amp;quot; The questions are coming at me fast, and I have no authoritative answers, being a Leaf newbie who&amp;#039;s driving a PM test car. &amp;quot;Seems like a great car,&amp;quot; I say. &amp;quot;Fun to drive. Steady on the road. Quiet as the wind. But not much good to me at the moment, right?&amp;quot;  It was an honest mistake. Stupid mistake. The Leaf&amp;#039;s charging system is simple enough that I shouldn&amp;#039;t have screwed up the previous night. But still, the &amp;quot;charge&amp;quot; light on the transformer was lit, so I don&amp;#039;t feel as if it&amp;#039;s my fault that I didn&amp;#039;t know the car wasn&amp;#039;t getting any voltage.  Note to self: Learn to charge the Leaf properly. You are driving an EV. This is a paradigm shift; you can&amp;#039;t just gas up. You have to be more thoughtful, follow the instructions, plan ahead, know your (and the car&amp;#039;s) limitations. Otherwise, you&amp;#039;ll end up lost in space\u2014or stranded in New Jersey.  After two hours&amp;#039; charging, the Leaf indicates 16 miles of range. I back out of the bay, bid adieu to Brian and the boys, downshift into ECO mode and head into New York City. As I exit the West Side Highway onto 56th Street, so close to PM&amp;#039;s home base, the readout again drops to 9 miles and then the dreaded three dashes. I&amp;#039;m convinced the car will conk out just two blocks from my destination. But no! Victory! I make it with just enough juice to spare and plug into the Level 2 charging station in the building&amp;#039;s loading dock. The Leaf is safe, and I&amp;#039;ve been schooled. This EV thing will take some getting used to.   &amp;amp;gt; What to Do When Your Hybrid Car&amp;#039;s Battery Dies &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/reviews/a6961/when-the-nissan-leaf-dries-up/>