EV Driving

Chargepoint Mobile App

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Just the other day I was running a number of errands and knew that I needed to charge in the middle of the day. I use my iPhone Wallet case as my primary wallet but keep a second wallet with lesser used cards in my back pocket. Today though I was in shorts and decided not to carry my secondary wallet. What I forgot though was that my Chargepoint card was in that wallet.

I got to the place where I was going to charge and then realized why I should have brought my wallet. I was out of luck to charge then, but then I remembered that I had the Chargepoint app on my phone.

I went and checked to see if the location was included in their system. I knew this was a Chargepoint system but in times past it did not appear on the Chargepoint map.

It was listed so I asked it to authorize me to charge and presto the cable released and I was able to charge my EV.  This is one great feature for EV drivers to know about. I suspect most charging vendors will be moving to this model but this was my first experience remotely authorizing a charge session.

Whatever service you are subscribed to you should check to see if they have a mobile app that will allow you to do the same, it is incredibly convenient and in my case a day saver.

 

EV Lifestyle

US EV’s are Suburban, not city cars.

Today on Green Car Reports there is a post which refers to Tom Moloughney a resteraunteur who believes that EV’s in the US are suburban not city vehicles. The article goes on to describe the average ay in which EV’s are used in the USA.

Indeed because of the lack of Charging points in major urban areas EVs are at a stark disadvantage to suburban areas. For in suburban areas the likelihood of a residential level 2 charger is much higher.

It has been my experience that I as a commuter in the Saint Louis, MO area. I live about 30 miles from Saint Louis and regularly go into the city for work and other commitments. It is really easy for me to get into the city and back home with the range I get in the Ford Focus Electric.  I even am able to run several errands if the need arises.

With proper planning you can even take longer distance rides as I have done multiple times. It will only be a matter of time until someone develops an affordable 200+ mile EV.  Until then I will thoroughly enjoy my Suburban Car.

EV Buying

Electric Vehicle Heads-Up-Display… Kinda

A.T. & T. has now developed a system for drivers looking at getting an EV to lesson there anxiety about buying one. It actually looks kinda clunky. When I first read about this on Inside EV’s I thought it would be some tech that we could add to our EV to get a Heads Up Display. That would be very cool in my opinion with similar info as what is included in our nav systems.

There are other options than this for users of smart phones. I used iEV 3 for the iPhone. This has a similar functionality to the above simulator. It has each available EV listed as an option. You can find it in the Apple App Store and in the Google App Store for Android.

Each person will have a different experience with whatever system they use but I find the smartphone way to be much more reasonable and accessible for the average user.

EV Driving

Warmth, who knew…

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After a regular drive I make every Friday I plugged the car in to charge it up. It is a 70 mile round trip when all through. I started the day with 97 miles on the GOM (Guess-O-Meter) and ended with 27, right on the button for the GOM today. Well I just had to check and see what it was after the recharge. You can see the result in the picture above. I doubt I will ever see this range fully but it sure is better seeing this than the 70 mile GOM of mid winter.

EV Buying, EV News

Georgia To Kill $5,000 Electric Car Credit, Will Impose $200 Annual Road-Use Fee On EVs

Georgia To Kill $5,000 Electric Car Credit, Will Impose $200 Annual Road-Use Fee On EVs.

Another state moving to shutter its EV purchase credit program. Not only that but they then want to impose a $200 Annual tax on EV’s. All this to eliminate a hole in their transportation budget.

Georgia has been one of the most active EV adopting states, I wonder how this will affect the future of EV purchases? Time will only tell.

EV Driving, EV News

Could smarter parking lead to lower CO2 emissions?

MEGATRENDS USA: Ford’s open electrification strategy – it’s all about reducing CO2 – Automotive World.

Well in the above linked article it seems that Ford believes that using smart parking technology in conjunction with Hybrid and Electric Drive Trains will lower the emission of CO2.

Mike Tinsey of Ford says that  “Electrification is a big part of this target. But what does not get talked about is why the EV is more efficient.” 

I only hope that Ford is really committed to the concept of Electrification.  I really want an affordable 200+ Mile EV, whether it be a Ford, or a Tesla.  Ford has the pedigree and production capability to make it a reality if only they follow through.

Here is to hoping they do what they say.

 

EV Driving

My 106 mile day

Trip Charge LogYesterday I knew I was going to drive a little farther than I would on a normal Friday. I usually go to a meeting on Friday mornings in Saint Louis and come home. That is about 63 miles round trip. I fully charge the my EV (Ford Focus Electric) and make the round trip with no problem and plenty left in the battery.

This trip was complicated in that the day before I had left my winter jacket at the dentist’s office and had to go and retrieve it. This left me with a problem, I had a feeling it would be well outside of the range of my car this time of year. I would have to do mostly highway driving and this uses more juice. Well I knew that there was a charging station near my first destination so I left a little early and topped off my battery for the rest of the day.

After having topped off the battery I went on my merry way, got my jacket, went to my meeting and ran an errand. All this amounted to about 63 miles. I had about 55% of the battery left for the trip home.

I made it home after another 43 miles and had 10 left on the battery. I almost could have made it without the supplemental charge but I would rather have been safe then sorry.

I am very glad that the weather is getting warmer, with each increase in degrees the car just gets more efficient.

Well that was yesterday, my 106 mile day.

 

Other

A new home…

Well after some time on a free site, I have decided to build up my EV blog into something bigger. I invested a little cash and now I am working to make this a bigger more beautiful site. Please let me know what you think

frbill @ gmail . com