Time for the soapbox/rant stool. There has been a lot of media attention about the three Tesla Model S fires. Most of the articles I've read are trying to make the car appear unsafe and by extension all electric cars are unsafe. The most recent article by CNN actually has great support for EV's in the article even though the style it was written in tends towards the anti EV side of the fence.
The great thing about the article is the numbers:
3 Tesla fires in 19,000 vehicles or about 1/6300.
Annually in the US there are 172,500 vehicle fires (Car B Que's) or about 1/1450 cars.
The Tesla fires resulted in no fire in the actual cabin of the vehicle and no injuries. That is compared to 300 deaths and 800 injuries to ICE carbequeues.
All the car fires I have personally witnessed in my lifetime have been parked cars or cars that were not involved in a collision and were off the side of the road. I have seen over 5 car fires in my life and none of them were electric cars.
Let's be honest, there are cars on the road that have no business running. They are rusted, poorly maintained and are really accidents waiting to happen. That fact does impact the numbers for ICE fires.
From the movie I Robot - Susan Calvin: [about Spooner's motorcycle] Please tell me this doesn't run on gas! Gas explodes, you know?
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Common questions
If you're a frequent visitor or co-worker of mine you know that I'm....well, shall we say, enthusiastic about electric cars. Since I tend to get in conversations about EV's and mine in particular I've also noticed a tendency to answer some of the same questions quite frequently. There are plenty of FAQ's and websites dedicated to EV's so I'm not going to rebuild the steering wheel but I am going to put out some of the common questions and answers as well as some of the more humorous (i hope) anecdotes.
Q1. How far can you drive?
A1. The estimated range is 50-60 miles all weather after 4 years of ownership. It will do more right off the log. YMMV (your mileage may vary). After 1 year of ownership I can still get 60-80 miles on a single 80% charge even with a year's battery degradation.
Q2. How much does the electricity cost?
A2. About $2/day or 2.2 cents/mile. This means for a Prius to have the same fuel cost per mile that my Leaf has, gasoline would need to be about $1.10/gallon. For an older car like the Escort Zx2 I traded in, gasoline would need to be $.55/gallon for the same cost per mile and neither of those include oil changes.
Q3. So how much gasoline does it use?
A3. None this is all electric
Q4. So you don't use any gas at all?
A4. Correct
Q5. Really?
A5. Really.
Q6. So where do you put in the gas?
A6. I don't. It's all electric but the charge point is here (in the front).
Q7. What sort of maintenance is there?
A7. Well here's a whole list of maintenance at 1 year - have a battery report completed (required to maintain warranty) and rotate the tires. Repeat every 12 months. Rotate tires every 7500 miles or as recommended by tire manufacturer. Yearly check for structural damage especially if you drive on rough roads or in Missouri <<chuckle>>.
Q8. You mean it's all electric?
A8. Yes, it's all electric. The only fluid is the windshield wiper fluid, brake fluid, a/c coolant, and the coolant for the on-board charger.
Q9. How long does it take to charge?
A9. I charge about 2 hours a night, maybe an hour longer if I've done a lot of driving but dead to full is about 4.5 hours.
A9.1 It takes about 1 minute a day to plug in and unplug the car.
Q10. Where can you refill/recharge?
A10. Anywhere there's a plug. However I usually charge at home with a 240 volt Schneider EVSE that is attached to the garage but there are over 70 different public stations in the KC Metro with more being added every month.
Q11. Is it running?
A11. Yes, can't you hear it? <<giggle>>.
Q12. So what do you do when you run out of charge?
A12. The same thing you do when you run out of gas. I call a tow truck. When was the last time you ran out of gas? (Out of gas, 1992 and 1999)
Q13. So you can't take it on long trips can you?
A13. Well, I did take it to Manhattan, KS and back in a day (took 18 hours). But how often to YOU take long trips? In the past year I've HAD to use my wife's Prius because I couldn't make the distance 3x and all were Scout campout related. If we were going to take a long driving vacation (2009 camping trip to Yellowstone) we would be renting a minivan or SUV anyway.
The question I wish people would ask but only one person has asked is "So where can I get one?"
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Q1. How far can you drive?
A1. The estimated range is 50-60 miles all weather after 4 years of ownership. It will do more right off the log. YMMV (your mileage may vary). After 1 year of ownership I can still get 60-80 miles on a single 80% charge even with a year's battery degradation.
Q2. How much does the electricity cost?
A2. About $2/day or 2.2 cents/mile. This means for a Prius to have the same fuel cost per mile that my Leaf has, gasoline would need to be about $1.10/gallon. For an older car like the Escort Zx2 I traded in, gasoline would need to be $.55/gallon for the same cost per mile and neither of those include oil changes.
Q3. So how much gasoline does it use?
A3. None this is all electric
Q4. So you don't use any gas at all?
A4. Correct
Q5. Really?
A5. Really.
Q6. So where do you put in the gas?
A6. I don't. It's all electric but the charge point is here (in the front).
Q7. What sort of maintenance is there?
A7. Well here's a whole list of maintenance at 1 year - have a battery report completed (required to maintain warranty) and rotate the tires. Repeat every 12 months. Rotate tires every 7500 miles or as recommended by tire manufacturer. Yearly check for structural damage especially if you drive on rough roads or in Missouri <<chuckle>>.
Q8. You mean it's all electric?
A8. Yes, it's all electric. The only fluid is the windshield wiper fluid, brake fluid, a/c coolant, and the coolant for the on-board charger.
Q9. How long does it take to charge?
A9. I charge about 2 hours a night, maybe an hour longer if I've done a lot of driving but dead to full is about 4.5 hours.
A9.1 It takes about 1 minute a day to plug in and unplug the car.
Q10. Where can you refill/recharge?
A10. Anywhere there's a plug. However I usually charge at home with a 240 volt Schneider EVSE that is attached to the garage but there are over 70 different public stations in the KC Metro with more being added every month.
Q11. Is it running?
A11. Yes, can't you hear it? <<giggle>>.
Q12. So what do you do when you run out of charge?
A12. The same thing you do when you run out of gas. I call a tow truck. When was the last time you ran out of gas? (Out of gas, 1992 and 1999)
Q13. So you can't take it on long trips can you?
A13. Well, I did take it to Manhattan, KS and back in a day (took 18 hours). But how often to YOU take long trips? In the past year I've HAD to use my wife's Prius because I couldn't make the distance 3x and all were Scout campout related. If we were going to take a long driving vacation (2009 camping trip to Yellowstone) we would be renting a minivan or SUV anyway.
The question I wish people would ask but only one person has asked is "So where can I get one?"
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Advertised, expected, real world and your mileage may vary
Sorry for being silent so long. No excuses but I have been busy. Lately it's been busy driving. Early on Nissan was advertising the Leaf had a range of 100 miles in a single charge. When you looked at the sticker it said EPA rated 73 miles. When I test drove the Leaf the dealer demo was charged to 100% and the Guess-O-Meter showed 100+ miles of available range. I toodled around the neighborhood and a little on a nearby busy street and fell in love with it immediately.
On a second test drive I was shocked when the GOM quite rapidly dropped from 100 miles to 70 in a short 2-3 mile test on the interstate. I was so surprised I took it for a third test drive from the dealer to the office and back all on the interstate to be sure that I felt good about the range. I was still wet behind the ears with EV's and hadn't spent the same time on the forums that I have in the intervening 12 months.
First of all, yes 100 miles is possible. I spent the last 3 days on my fourth attempt to break the 100 mile mark. My previous three tries all ended around 90 miles with range to spare but needing more the next day than the available residual. With 13k miles showing on the dash there is surely some battery degradation and I wasn't charged fully to 100% but I was pretty close. I didn't touch the highway but there were some significant hills involved during the run. There were also some abandoned roads that were perfectly suited for 20 mph driving/neutral coasting. I also ended the trip with 6 miles to the kWh for the energy efficiency.
Number, number, blah, blah, blah...bottom line you won't get 100 miles running 70 mph on the interstate. The last 88 mile trip I registered did include a trip out to Independence and 30 minutes plugged into their charger. But overall I spent less than 20 miles of that trip on the interstate.
So really what does all this mean? EV's can and do work. I'm taking mine to Lake Perry in July which is a 60 mile one way trip. Real world use of a Leaf you can easily get 40 miles of comfortable charge preheating in the winter. You can easily get 60 miles of comfortable charge in the spring/summer/fall with or without A/C and these ranges are what you can expect after two, three, or possibly even four years of ownership. I'm not done trying to get more 100 mile single charge trips to see how many I can get. But at the same time it is nice to just get out and drive.
When you look at the maps of Kansas City and the charging infrastructure you are always near a plug if you need one. Fortunately we are getting better about not parking our gas cars at the EV charging stations so those of us who need to charge can. Best of all people are buying EV's. Recently the most popular model of EV I have seen has been the for C-Max Energi PHEV. Each month I see more and more EV's and that makes me smile.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
On a second test drive I was shocked when the GOM quite rapidly dropped from 100 miles to 70 in a short 2-3 mile test on the interstate. I was so surprised I took it for a third test drive from the dealer to the office and back all on the interstate to be sure that I felt good about the range. I was still wet behind the ears with EV's and hadn't spent the same time on the forums that I have in the intervening 12 months.
First of all, yes 100 miles is possible. I spent the last 3 days on my fourth attempt to break the 100 mile mark. My previous three tries all ended around 90 miles with range to spare but needing more the next day than the available residual. With 13k miles showing on the dash there is surely some battery degradation and I wasn't charged fully to 100% but I was pretty close. I didn't touch the highway but there were some significant hills involved during the run. There were also some abandoned roads that were perfectly suited for 20 mph driving/neutral coasting. I also ended the trip with 6 miles to the kWh for the energy efficiency.
Number, number, blah, blah, blah...bottom line you won't get 100 miles running 70 mph on the interstate. The last 88 mile trip I registered did include a trip out to Independence and 30 minutes plugged into their charger. But overall I spent less than 20 miles of that trip on the interstate.
So really what does all this mean? EV's can and do work. I'm taking mine to Lake Perry in July which is a 60 mile one way trip. Real world use of a Leaf you can easily get 40 miles of comfortable charge preheating in the winter. You can easily get 60 miles of comfortable charge in the spring/summer/fall with or without A/C and these ranges are what you can expect after two, three, or possibly even four years of ownership. I'm not done trying to get more 100 mile single charge trips to see how many I can get. But at the same time it is nice to just get out and drive.
When you look at the maps of Kansas City and the charging infrastructure you are always near a plug if you need one. Fortunately we are getting better about not parking our gas cars at the EV charging stations so those of us who need to charge can. Best of all people are buying EV's. Recently the most popular model of EV I have seen has been the for C-Max Energi PHEV. Each month I see more and more EV's and that makes me smile.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Been busy
Sorry for the silence on the blog. Things have been crazy busy lately. I'll post a couple links right now that were neat and get a real update out the door this weekend. Thanks to everyone who listens/reads.
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/28/how-many-kindergarteners-can-you-fit-in-a-tesla-model-s/
http://www.plugincars.com/fedex-uses-plug-vehicles-increase-efficiency-goals-127355.html
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/05/28/how-many-kindergarteners-can-you-fit-in-a-tesla-model-s/
http://www.plugincars.com/fedex-uses-plug-vehicles-increase-efficiency-goals-127355.html
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Monday, April 1, 2013
Oil's well that doesn't end so well...
It was no April Fool's joke when the Exxon pipline began to leak Canadian crude oil in the yards of Arkansas residents.
http://planetsave.com/2013/03/31/oil-running-down-the-road-oil-pipeline-spill-in-mayflower-arkansas
http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-shuts-oil-pipeline-major-005905765.html
I understand not everyone can go electric for their cars. They aren't inexpensive and they are limited but they are better than this mess.
I posted it before and I'll post it again here because it's pertinent but the worst solar energy spill is simply a really nice day.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
http://planetsave.com/2013/03/31/oil-running-down-the-road-oil-pipeline-spill-in-mayflower-arkansas
http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-shuts-oil-pipeline-major-005905765.html
I understand not everyone can go electric for their cars. They aren't inexpensive and they are limited but they are better than this mess.
I posted it before and I'll post it again here because it's pertinent but the worst solar energy spill is simply a really nice day.
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Monday, March 25, 2013
It's been a while since posting, 10k miles gas free
Well it has been quite a while since I posted anything to the blogosphere. I would imagine that perhaps the opinion was that I'd quit. No, I've just been real busy reading everyone else's blogs.
Not too long ago I passed the first ten thousand miles in my wonderful Leaf. I would say still shiny new but with all the snow and a salt residue right now it's not so shiny. So 10k miles @ my old 25 mpg would be approximately 400 gallons of gas that I have not purchased. At roughly $3.50/gallon that means the cost of fuel savings alone is approximately $1400.
Now it's not really that much of a savings because my driving has increased because we're using the Leaf for family excursions around town instead of my wife's Corolla that we had been using before we got the new cars. The Corolla was getting about 35mpg and I don't have a good feel for the number of miles the family put on it. So for the sake of my math impoverished brain we'll stick with $1400 in gas savings. Or 2 car payments. Or a new laptop. Or new bicycles for everyone in the family.
And really, that's not all pure savings still. There was the cost of electricity to power my wonderful vehicle through the sweltering summer, the bitter cold of winter and the slush riddled streets of spring. The cost of electricity is much more reliable thanks to the cost estimator that is part of the CarWings application. Assuming the "OK" button was activated every, single, stinking time I started the vehicle (end of rant about the button), and using the summer electric rate year round the cost of electricity was $229.60. The reality is that the electric cost was less than that. The miles included the trip to Manhattan, KS which was free refills at public charging stations. It also doesn't discount the summer rate only applies June-Sept. The rest of the year is 1 cent/kWh less. I figure it's not worth splitting hairs over that much difference.
I must admit I also hit Very Low Battery warning again a couple weeks ago. However, given that there are more than twice as many public charging stations now compared to when I got the car, I wasn't really worried <bold and italics for effect>. The cold has affected the range significantly and that wasn't really expected but now I know what this summer and next winter will bring. This all equates to approximately 6000 pounds of CO2 tailpipe emissions that weren't emitted.
It's not much but it's a start. When I chatted with a local Leaf owner I found that I put more than twice as many miles on my Leaf than she had on hers.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to get some solar panels rocking and fill it up for "free".
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Not too long ago I passed the first ten thousand miles in my wonderful Leaf. I would say still shiny new but with all the snow and a salt residue right now it's not so shiny. So 10k miles @ my old 25 mpg would be approximately 400 gallons of gas that I have not purchased. At roughly $3.50/gallon that means the cost of fuel savings alone is approximately $1400.
Now it's not really that much of a savings because my driving has increased because we're using the Leaf for family excursions around town instead of my wife's Corolla that we had been using before we got the new cars. The Corolla was getting about 35mpg and I don't have a good feel for the number of miles the family put on it. So for the sake of my math impoverished brain we'll stick with $1400 in gas savings. Or 2 car payments. Or a new laptop. Or new bicycles for everyone in the family.
And really, that's not all pure savings still. There was the cost of electricity to power my wonderful vehicle through the sweltering summer, the bitter cold of winter and the slush riddled streets of spring. The cost of electricity is much more reliable thanks to the cost estimator that is part of the CarWings application. Assuming the "OK" button was activated every, single, stinking time I started the vehicle (end of rant about the button), and using the summer electric rate year round the cost of electricity was $229.60. The reality is that the electric cost was less than that. The miles included the trip to Manhattan, KS which was free refills at public charging stations. It also doesn't discount the summer rate only applies June-Sept. The rest of the year is 1 cent/kWh less. I figure it's not worth splitting hairs over that much difference.
I must admit I also hit Very Low Battery warning again a couple weeks ago. However, given that there are more than twice as many public charging stations now compared to when I got the car, I wasn't really worried <bold and italics for effect>. The cold has affected the range significantly and that wasn't really expected but now I know what this summer and next winter will bring. This all equates to approximately 6000 pounds of CO2 tailpipe emissions that weren't emitted.
It's not much but it's a start. When I chatted with a local Leaf owner I found that I put more than twice as many miles on my Leaf than she had on hers.
Now all I need to do is figure out how to get some solar panels rocking and fill it up for "free".
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Friday, February 8, 2013
The hazards of alternative energy
Just something to think about.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Friday, February 1, 2013
Taxes, roads and the so called 'free ride'
The ether has been buzzing the last few weeks with proposed and implemented legislation regarding appropriately taxing alternative fuel vehicles.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I enjoy smooth roads. I appreciate the efforts of the road crews to clear the snow off the road at 0300 in the morning so I can get to the office at 0700. Yes, all this takes money and I am perfectly willing to pay for these services.
Having made that statement, let's delve a little deeper into the murky underworld that is government, reality, and a stab at human nature.
People seem to get upset when other people get a 'free ride' or 'something for nothing' even when they have the exact same opportunity to take advantage of the same solution. The fact that I am able to plug my electric car into a charging station at the county library and spend 60 minutes adding a charge to my car for free would make some to claim that I don't deserve to charge for free.
The democratically elected county government decided that it was worth spending government dollars on EV charging stations and for that I am grateful. I'm a tax paying citizen of the county. My taxes helped pay for the device and the price of the energy. My taxes also help pay for the health and human services division. I don't receive direct benefit from that but I still support it and think helping others is a good thing.
People might seem to think that I'm still getting a free ride. Well, I pay quite a bit more in personal property tax which goes to the county and the state simply because the sale price of my car was quite a bit higher than the cars I typically buy. In fact, the last new car I bought was $13,000. My Leaf sales tax and registration is based on the $38,000 price tag when I got the Leaf in June. Math $13,000 old car X 3 = $39,000. I would say the sticker price is a significant bump on the taxes. You know what, every person who would complain about my 'free fuel' has the same opportunity to trade in the smog producing mobile explosion that is the internal combustion engine and use an emission free electric vehicle.
In Missouri there is already a registration fee associated with all alternative fuel vehicles that don't use any gasoline. It says gasoline specifically in the fee. Plug in hybrids like the Ford C-Max Energi and Chevrolet Volt would be exempt from this fee even though it is possible and even likely that city driving with either of those vehicles would result in the driver using no gasoline and thereby pay no fuel taxes or help pay for road maintenance at all.
Some of the discussion to equalize the taxes centers around a tax per mile solution. This would require government monitoring and a very invasive one at that. Talk about a Big Brother solution. Additionally, even if you only use public transit and don't directly pay a fuel tax, you still want the roads in good repair and the streets cleared. According to Missouri, the gas tax for an alternative fuel vehicle is approximately $70/year.
Here's the simple solution. Set a registration fee of $70/year (or appropriate amount based on need) for ALL class C vehicles. Wow, simple, elegant and it would also cut down on a portion of government spending that must collect and monitor the taxes paid by the filling stations so the actual dollar paid will go further because there would be a reduction in government spending on the current solution. This would also mean that the government would still maintain a steady flow of income as vehicles register over the course of the year.
Don't limit the adoption of fuel efficient, alternative fuel, battery vehicles by strange and unusual fees. Encourage adoption with incentives and equality.
Environmental plug - we hold this Earth in trust for our children and our children's children. Let's try to leave it in a better place than we found it.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Let me make one thing perfectly clear, I enjoy smooth roads. I appreciate the efforts of the road crews to clear the snow off the road at 0300 in the morning so I can get to the office at 0700. Yes, all this takes money and I am perfectly willing to pay for these services.
Having made that statement, let's delve a little deeper into the murky underworld that is government, reality, and a stab at human nature.
People seem to get upset when other people get a 'free ride' or 'something for nothing' even when they have the exact same opportunity to take advantage of the same solution. The fact that I am able to plug my electric car into a charging station at the county library and spend 60 minutes adding a charge to my car for free would make some to claim that I don't deserve to charge for free.
The democratically elected county government decided that it was worth spending government dollars on EV charging stations and for that I am grateful. I'm a tax paying citizen of the county. My taxes helped pay for the device and the price of the energy. My taxes also help pay for the health and human services division. I don't receive direct benefit from that but I still support it and think helping others is a good thing.
People might seem to think that I'm still getting a free ride. Well, I pay quite a bit more in personal property tax which goes to the county and the state simply because the sale price of my car was quite a bit higher than the cars I typically buy. In fact, the last new car I bought was $13,000. My Leaf sales tax and registration is based on the $38,000 price tag when I got the Leaf in June. Math $13,000 old car X 3 = $39,000. I would say the sticker price is a significant bump on the taxes. You know what, every person who would complain about my 'free fuel' has the same opportunity to trade in the smog producing mobile explosion that is the internal combustion engine and use an emission free electric vehicle.
In Missouri there is already a registration fee associated with all alternative fuel vehicles that don't use any gasoline. It says gasoline specifically in the fee. Plug in hybrids like the Ford C-Max Energi and Chevrolet Volt would be exempt from this fee even though it is possible and even likely that city driving with either of those vehicles would result in the driver using no gasoline and thereby pay no fuel taxes or help pay for road maintenance at all.
Some of the discussion to equalize the taxes centers around a tax per mile solution. This would require government monitoring and a very invasive one at that. Talk about a Big Brother solution. Additionally, even if you only use public transit and don't directly pay a fuel tax, you still want the roads in good repair and the streets cleared. According to Missouri, the gas tax for an alternative fuel vehicle is approximately $70/year.
Here's the simple solution. Set a registration fee of $70/year (or appropriate amount based on need) for ALL class C vehicles. Wow, simple, elegant and it would also cut down on a portion of government spending that must collect and monitor the taxes paid by the filling stations so the actual dollar paid will go further because there would be a reduction in government spending on the current solution. This would also mean that the government would still maintain a steady flow of income as vehicles register over the course of the year.
Don't limit the adoption of fuel efficient, alternative fuel, battery vehicles by strange and unusual fees. Encourage adoption with incentives and equality.
Environmental plug - we hold this Earth in trust for our children and our children's children. Let's try to leave it in a better place than we found it.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Thursday, January 3, 2013
2012 in review - quotes of the year
After a few weeks being involved on the mynissanleaf.com forum I found several enjoyable comments and decided that a quote of the year needed to be established. Additionally, some of my co-workers have made comments both positive and negative that were worthy of publication. So in no particular order, the 2012 Quotes of the Year.....
From the forum: Riding in a LEAF just makes everything else in the same price range seem primitive.
From the forum: First day, "Did anyone tell you your car looks like a suppository?" , the response was "There's a lot of science in that shape so it slips through painlessly."
From the office: (context - EV car puns) "...hard to exhaust that."
From a new EV friend: (context, waiting for his new Leaf) "I haven't been this excited since they came out with Kung Fu grip for the GI Joe!"
From the office: I like buying gas <shakes head in disbelief>
From the forum: The guy at the parts counter was about as useless as a cat flap on an elephant house.
From the office: (not EV but funny enough to post) It's ok, I already know I'm going to hell. I have my handbasket decorated.
From a local newspaper from an EV owner: (context, driving EV to California) That's not what it's for just like you can't mow your lawn with a Ford 150 truck.
And finally from the forum: I think it's a sign of how low-maintenance the LEAF is, that the Wiper Blade thread spends weeks at the top of the new posts
May 2013 bring hope, prosperity, and humor to all and an EV in every house.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
From the forum: Riding in a LEAF just makes everything else in the same price range seem primitive.
From the forum: First day, "Did anyone tell you your car looks like a suppository?" , the response was "There's a lot of science in that shape so it slips through painlessly."
From the office: (context - EV car puns) "...hard to exhaust that."
From a new EV friend: (context, waiting for his new Leaf) "I haven't been this excited since they came out with Kung Fu grip for the GI Joe!"
From the office: I like buying gas <shakes head in disbelief>
From the forum: The guy at the parts counter was about as useless as a cat flap on an elephant house.
From the office: (not EV but funny enough to post) It's ok, I already know I'm going to hell. I have my handbasket decorated.
From a local newspaper from an EV owner: (context, driving EV to California) That's not what it's for just like you can't mow your lawn with a Ford 150 truck.
And finally from the forum: I think it's a sign of how low-maintenance the LEAF is, that the Wiper Blade thread spends weeks at the top of the new posts
May 2013 bring hope, prosperity, and humor to all and an EV in every house.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
Monday, December 31, 2012
An end to 2012...one last EVSE scavenger hunt
Last post for 2012. I've enjoyed my Leaf for the last 6 months + 8 days. It is a wonderful car. I have had the opportunity to meet a number of enthusiastic EV owners and curious members of the public. This has been an awesome time for me. I've got the electric car that I've wanted for so long and it does absolutely everything I want. I charged it up Sunday to 100% and headed out into the wild.
The first stop was at the new device at the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers. I was there a couple months ago for a Boy Scout dinner and was thinking it would be appropriate to have a device there. Now there is. It appears to be supported by 24 solar panels and potentially 2 vertical wind turbines.
I was just plugged in long enough to step into the store and thank them for putting the devices up. Interestingly in the navigation map for the Leaf they left off the "H" in Chouteau Trafficway and on the ChargePoint map they list the device as being in Claycono instead of Claycomo. The next Walgreens is on Vivion Road and there's a huge Metro park 'n ride area there as well.
The device is active on the ChargePoint network but I guess there are signs and painting still to do. I was going to pull in and charge anyway figuring the lot was empty but there was a car to the right of the picture so I couldn't pull through. So instead I went down the street to the Cherry Street Garage with its access off Oak Street. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I thought about charging over at the Atterbury Student Success Center like I did last weekend but I was happy where I was.
**I just got an email from the IBEW, that's a 5kWh solar array. With the winter angle of the sun they're pulling 3.5 instead of 5 they get during the summer. Neat, I want one.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
The first stop was at the new device at the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers. I was there a couple months ago for a Boy Scout dinner and was thinking it would be appropriate to have a device there. Now there is. It appears to be supported by 24 solar panels and potentially 2 vertical wind turbines.
After a 30 minute charge it was off to find some Walgreens stores. The first stop was not quite over the river but it was through the woods of Loose Park. I had to wait for the deer to cross the road. Eventually I arrived at the device on Gregory Blvd. I arrived just in time for a breakfast snack of Snickers and Pepsi. I only charged long enough to eat. Even though there are plenty of areas to visit, the traffic is fast enough that it makes walking along the road dangerous. Now it was time for the longest single leg of the journey and this would literally be over the river and through the wood as I took more back roads to the north side of Kansas City and arrived at the Walgreens in Claycomo.
I was just plugged in long enough to step into the store and thank them for putting the devices up. Interestingly in the navigation map for the Leaf they left off the "H" in Chouteau Trafficway and on the ChargePoint map they list the device as being in Claycono instead of Claycomo. The next Walgreens is on Vivion Road and there's a huge Metro park 'n ride area there as well.
And just down the street in the City of Fountains (nickname for KCMO) you can see that someone left the water running.
From north of the river I drove back into the heart of the city. I was planning on stopping and using the device at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Unfortunately that device is in their parking garage. I say unfortunate because that's a $5 parking fee. If I wanted to visit the Nelson or take the family I would gladly pay the fee because it's a very nice structure and access to the museum is free. However, this was just opportunity charging and a drive around town. That's not worth $5. So I continued on across Brush Creek to UMKC because I knew there were plenty of devices there. They are up to six devices each with dual handles so 12 cars can charge at any one time. In other words, all the Leaf's in KC at once...ok that's a little exaggeration. I was disappointed that for the second weekend in a row the device in the Rockhill garage was blocked by construction barriers.
All in all it was an enjoyable trip. It's fun to get around in the city and see parts that you've forgotten about or never visited. Searching for EVSE's is a lot of fun. It's great to see the support for the cars growing and the "Oh you have an electric car? Neat." comments are also growing in frequency.
**I just got an email from the IBEW, that's a 5kWh solar array. With the winter angle of the sun they're pulling 3.5 instead of 5 they get during the summer. Neat, I want one.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience
EVSE Scavenger Hunt --update
Welcome back readers. This is an update to the post Thanksgiving EVSE scavenger hunt. As I mentioned in the original post the device at MRIGlobal was confusing. I contacted their Media Relations department. They requested a phone conversation with me to discuss their EVSE solution.
We had a very pleasant conversation that afternoon. One of their concerns is that they have to maintain security for the facility. The reason for the public parking prohibited is their need to maintain the security of their environment. They do want the EVSE to be public but they need to maintain the security of their environment.
They are going to work on public signage to ensure that we know the device is available and the best process to reach them to use it. One thing I suggested to them was to enable the reservation option for ChargePoint. Thanks again to Pam and her director for encouraging public charging and EV's in KC.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
We had a very pleasant conversation that afternoon. One of their concerns is that they have to maintain security for the facility. The reason for the public parking prohibited is their need to maintain the security of their environment. They do want the EVSE to be public but they need to maintain the security of their environment.
They are going to work on public signage to ensure that we know the device is available and the best process to reach them to use it. One thing I suggested to them was to enable the reservation option for ChargePoint. Thanks again to Pam and her director for encouraging public charging and EV's in KC.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Aighh... it's SNOWING run away
Sheesh, more snowpacalypse terror warnings from the news media. I don't mean to dismiss the real danger of winter storms but the way the news media is presenting the information is not the way to disseminate information. It is a method for generating fear.
Having said all of that my Leaf performed flawlessly in this morning's snow/ice. It was very easy to operate. My Leaf wasn't the car stuck alongside the road.
I would say the first foray into the winter wonderland that is the Kansas City streets with snow was quite successful.
Unfortunately the destination was less successful. For some reason, as yet unknown, the EV System Warning Light was flashing last night. So my snow drive this morning was to the dealer to have it evaluated. Low and behold, the snow and ice blew a transformer down south and probably also dropped some lines so they had no power.
Yes, that means no power to raise the door to the garage, no power for the computers, and worse, no power for the diagnostic equipment. Fortunately the salesman offered to bring me to the office while they wait for power to come on so they can diagnose the trouble with the system.
Here we sit like birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness
Here we site like birds in the wilderness waiting for the power to come on....
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Having said all of that my Leaf performed flawlessly in this morning's snow/ice. It was very easy to operate. My Leaf wasn't the car stuck alongside the road.
I would say the first foray into the winter wonderland that is the Kansas City streets with snow was quite successful.
Unfortunately the destination was less successful. For some reason, as yet unknown, the EV System Warning Light was flashing last night. So my snow drive this morning was to the dealer to have it evaluated. Low and behold, the snow and ice blew a transformer down south and probably also dropped some lines so they had no power.
Yes, that means no power to raise the door to the garage, no power for the computers, and worse, no power for the diagnostic equipment. Fortunately the salesman offered to bring me to the office while they wait for power to come on so they can diagnose the trouble with the system.
Here we sit like birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness
Here we site like birds in the wilderness waiting for the power to come on....
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Why not drive 55?
A couple months ago we saw where Texas raised the speed limit on an interstate to 85 mph.
Now I've driven through the Great Plains. I get it. I know there's nothing but farms and ranches as far as the eye can see. I get it that driving 30 mph over 55 gets you to point B 50% faster.
The question is at what cost? If you set the way back machine to 1983 you can meet Klaus. As you might assume Klaus is a German name and it's the name of my friend's father when they were visiting from Germany. One of the things that I remember quite clearly when he discussed driving from Florida to Kansas was that he wasn't tired at the end of the day. He said when he drove the Autobahn in Germany for any extended time he was exhausted when he was finished because of the stress travelling at high speeds caused.
Keep going back in the way back machine to the Carter Presidency and the establishment of the 55 mph interstate speed limit. The goal at the time was to reduce the amount of gasoline required for extended highway travel. The flipside of this radical effort was reduction in traffic fatalities.
Keep the way back machine going until you reach 1945. At the end of World War II we find that the United States military had enough tires in stock for the war to last another TEN years. Why did we have such a massive surplus of tires? Because people were driving less. Why were they driving less? Because gasoline was rationed. If you examine the WWII rationing of gasoline you find that the reason it was limited wasn't to keep the gasoline supply available for the military. It did accomplish that goal but it was a side effect. The goal was to reduce the dependence on external sources of rubber required for the tires. The American oil supply at that time was almost 100% domestic but rubber was an import and therefore threatened by the ongoing conflict.
As we return to the 21st century we are no longer troubled by the availability of rubber for tires. However, gasoline has become, oh..shall we say, just a little pricey. Now we need a return of lower speeds not to save rubber or even lives because technology is helping with that but we need to reduce our dependence on not only domestic oil but we need to dramatically reduce our foreign oil imports even if that import is from the Canadian tar sands.
To paraphrase Necron99 in Wizards - oil bad, go around
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Now I've driven through the Great Plains. I get it. I know there's nothing but farms and ranches as far as the eye can see. I get it that driving 30 mph over 55 gets you to point B 50% faster.
The question is at what cost? If you set the way back machine to 1983 you can meet Klaus. As you might assume Klaus is a German name and it's the name of my friend's father when they were visiting from Germany. One of the things that I remember quite clearly when he discussed driving from Florida to Kansas was that he wasn't tired at the end of the day. He said when he drove the Autobahn in Germany for any extended time he was exhausted when he was finished because of the stress travelling at high speeds caused.
Keep going back in the way back machine to the Carter Presidency and the establishment of the 55 mph interstate speed limit. The goal at the time was to reduce the amount of gasoline required for extended highway travel. The flipside of this radical effort was reduction in traffic fatalities.
Keep the way back machine going until you reach 1945. At the end of World War II we find that the United States military had enough tires in stock for the war to last another TEN years. Why did we have such a massive surplus of tires? Because people were driving less. Why were they driving less? Because gasoline was rationed. If you examine the WWII rationing of gasoline you find that the reason it was limited wasn't to keep the gasoline supply available for the military. It did accomplish that goal but it was a side effect. The goal was to reduce the dependence on external sources of rubber required for the tires. The American oil supply at that time was almost 100% domestic but rubber was an import and therefore threatened by the ongoing conflict.
As we return to the 21st century we are no longer troubled by the availability of rubber for tires. However, gasoline has become, oh..shall we say, just a little pricey. Now we need a return of lower speeds not to save rubber or even lives because technology is helping with that but we need to reduce our dependence on not only domestic oil but we need to dramatically reduce our foreign oil imports even if that import is from the Canadian tar sands.
To paraphrase Necron99 in Wizards - oil bad, go around
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
EVSE Scavenger Hunt
While Electric Avenue is still not a reality it is refreshing to see the number of electric vehicle charging stations popping up all over town. I spent some of my spare time over the Thanksgiving holiday investigating many of the stations I hadn't visited yet. The weekend before the holiday I started off with a trip down to the DMV and Roeland Park City Hall.
The Roeland Park City Hall has nice signage directing people to the device. It's a double Coulomb device with 120/240. However, they have a fatal "while charging" caveat posted as well. Since this also doubles as the patrol parking lot for the PD, be careful parking.
The DMV meter is handy to the rear doors of the building. While I wouldn't want to spend hours at the DMV at least you can charge there if you had to spend too much time there.
That was enough EVSE scavenger hunt for the day as I had a customer meeting to attend.
The day after Thanksgiving I expanded my scavenger hunt. This was a great day to be indoors as the 70* temps from the day before changed to 30* temps for the day after. The interesting aspect of this hunt was the fact that while I knew the general location of the EVSE's, I didn't know the exact locations. I decided it was time to break out the GPS and navigation instructions for the car. Fortunately for me I knew the most energy efficient way to get near the EVSE's. Unfortunately for me I drove the GPS into a catatonic coma by forcing it to recalculate the drive every few blocks. If it was a real woman instead of just a female voice I'm sure the instructions would have changed to "I don't know why I'm telling you anything, you won't do what I say and go your own way anyway".
As I coasted down Wornal and recaptured energy from the long hill, I started to actually pay attention to the instructions. I knew approximately where 4725 Tracy was located but not exactly. As it turns out it was quite easy to find and the GPS was right on the money. There were two unfortunate experiences with this plug. The first is that it's still not operational. An email to KCP&L (Kansas City Power and Light) generated a response of "we're having problems getting the billing set up but it should be available soon". Given that this is part of their urban green experience and a "one off" set up compared to the rest they sponsor, that problem is understandable. The other unfortunate experience you can see above. One hour parking limit. You would not want to stop here needing a long charge. The flipside is there are only two things to do around here. You can check out the electric park where they put up with solar panels or walk around the corner for some Gate's BBQ.
In the background of the park you can see Paseo High School. This was once a vibrant educational establishment in Kansas City. Hopefully the urban renewal will bring it positive experiences again.
The next stop on the hunt was further up the street and around the corner. This sounds very short but in reality the trip from 47th Street to 50th is much further than it sounds. MRIGlobal has a device located in their parking lot. The lot is accessed not from Volker Blvd as the address would indicate but rather off Oak St. Just like the device on Tracy; this device had a problem as well.
The device is listed on ChargePoint and on PlugShare. Both networks indicate it's available for use. I contacted MRIGlobal before posting and received a very polite response from their media contact who is investigating if the plug is actually open to the public or not. I hope to hear from her this week and I will post an update with the details. But as you can see, they have it posted as public parking prohibited under threat of towing.
The next stop was the brand new University of Missouri, Kansas City parking garage. This is right next door to MRIGlobabl. Interestingly the garage is labelled the Cherry Street Garage but the EV access is off Oak. The EVSE's here are some of the best located devices around town in my opinion. They are within (long) walking distance of the Plaza. They are covered. They are right next to the Missouri Repertory Theater which is part of the University. I checked with the University police who share the garage and they confirmed that it was open parking on the weekends. Needless to say this is starting to sound like a broken record but there were problems here as well. But there is also hope. The really neat thing about this location is they already have signs up where they
expect to have future EVSE's located. You can even see where the electrical caps are located at the end of the wires where new devices could easily be added. I even forwarded a copy of the picture to our realty team that is building the new office for us so they can see a good way to build expansion capabilities into an EV solution. The disappointing aspect was the signage. "Reserved for Plug In Hybrid Vehicles". When I contacted the University for additional information they replied that the garage is under University parking control starting Monday's at 0700 until Friday's at 1900 and guest parking is $7/day. When I also mentioned that their signs were quite specific and didn't cover battery only vehicles they didn't seem to care and said not to worry that I wouldn't get a ticket.
Across the street is actually the plug I would be using during the business day if I was in the area and needed a charge. It's a metered lot at $1/hour regardless if the car is an EV or ICE.
Just like the Cherry Street Garage, this is not a monitored lot on the weekends.
Fortunately for me I was able to set the climate control and preheat the car while it was in the Cherry Street garage because by the time my 30 minute walk around campus and to the top of the parking garage was complete, I was freezing and a warm, toasty car was calling to me. The next stage of my trip took me from the university campus across Midtown to Hospital Hill where Children's Mercy, UMKC Medical Center, and Truman Medical Center were located. Again, free open parking on the weekend but UMKC monitored parking during the week and the same $7/day parking fee for guests.
The final leg of any trip should always be a party. With that thought in mind I headed down to "the Boulevard" to find the last plug of the night. Unbeknownst to me, I was heading into conflict.
The device was in use! Very cool! The first Leaf I've ever seen except when meeting friends. Unfortunately this particular device is one of the 120/240 devices. While it has two plugs, only one is the standard L2 J1772 that is preferred. The other plug is a 120 volt that the Leaf portable EVSE can plug into. The problem is that there is a fatal design flaw in the 120. The lid on the station must make a complete connection with the magnets. When this happens the brick on the portable EVSE has to hang down. The hanging forces the plug to come out of the jack just enough to cause it to fault and not charge so even though it's advertised as a 2 location device it really only has one usable plug. Still it was a nice day to get out and about. The really nice thing about this location is that it's just down the street from two of KC's most notable Mexican restaurants, Margarita's and Ponak's. There are also many other less well known restaurants along Southwest Boulevard. This particular plug is just off 25th Street. It's in the parking lot of the appropriately named Boulevard Brewery.
The next round of the EVSE scavenger hunt was took place the next day. This plug is at the Commerce Bank location on the northeast corner of 135th and State Line Road. Yes, this is on the Missouri side. The nice thing about this plug is that it is within walking distance of over 10 different restaurants, Lowe's, WalMart and over a dozen other shops. This is a very good location for an EVSE. It's not quite as good as the two at Town Center but it comes in a close second or third for the best in town.
Since I was already on the extreme south side of town I thought I should check out the county library at 151st and Metcalf (just west). I think having an EVSE at the libraries is a great way to educate the public, encourage EV adoption, and increase traffic at the library. I know that I will be going to either one of the two with EVSE's instead of the one around the corner from now on.
Unfortunately they still don't have signs up for this device. I need to write a letter to the county. The devices at 87th Street are properly marked but this one isn't. And boy did I get an ugly glare when I was plugged in this time. A lady in a gas guzzling minivan just glared at me for a couple minutes as I sat reading on my Kindle while the Leaf was plugged in. Well, you can't please everyone and if I were driving a 15 mpg minivan I'd be jealous of an EV too.
Overall it was a great weekend to go out tripping around town and find the plugs. There are fewer than 10 devices south of the river that I haven't checked out yet. Currently on the list is a writing campaign to get some up at the Legends. With NASCAR, T-Bones Baseball, Sporting KC soccer club, and tons of restaurants, shopping stores, and entertainment, this location would be a great one to have multiple plugs.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday and are prepared to enjoy the seasonal religious festivities of your culture with your friends and families. =)
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
The Roeland Park City Hall has nice signage directing people to the device. It's a double Coulomb device with 120/240. However, they have a fatal "while charging" caveat posted as well. Since this also doubles as the patrol parking lot for the PD, be careful parking.
That was enough EVSE scavenger hunt for the day as I had a customer meeting to attend.
The day after Thanksgiving I expanded my scavenger hunt. This was a great day to be indoors as the 70* temps from the day before changed to 30* temps for the day after. The interesting aspect of this hunt was the fact that while I knew the general location of the EVSE's, I didn't know the exact locations. I decided it was time to break out the GPS and navigation instructions for the car. Fortunately for me I knew the most energy efficient way to get near the EVSE's. Unfortunately for me I drove the GPS into a catatonic coma by forcing it to recalculate the drive every few blocks. If it was a real woman instead of just a female voice I'm sure the instructions would have changed to "I don't know why I'm telling you anything, you won't do what I say and go your own way anyway".
As I coasted down Wornal and recaptured energy from the long hill, I started to actually pay attention to the instructions. I knew approximately where 4725 Tracy was located but not exactly. As it turns out it was quite easy to find and the GPS was right on the money. There were two unfortunate experiences with this plug. The first is that it's still not operational. An email to KCP&L (Kansas City Power and Light) generated a response of "we're having problems getting the billing set up but it should be available soon". Given that this is part of their urban green experience and a "one off" set up compared to the rest they sponsor, that problem is understandable. The other unfortunate experience you can see above. One hour parking limit. You would not want to stop here needing a long charge. The flipside is there are only two things to do around here. You can check out the electric park where they put up with solar panels or walk around the corner for some Gate's BBQ.The next stop on the hunt was further up the street and around the corner. This sounds very short but in reality the trip from 47th Street to 50th is much further than it sounds. MRIGlobal has a device located in their parking lot. The lot is accessed not from Volker Blvd as the address would indicate but rather off Oak St. Just like the device on Tracy; this device had a problem as well.
The device is listed on ChargePoint and on PlugShare. Both networks indicate it's available for use. I contacted MRIGlobal before posting and received a very polite response from their media contact who is investigating if the plug is actually open to the public or not. I hope to hear from her this week and I will post an update with the details. But as you can see, they have it posted as public parking prohibited under threat of towing.The next stop was the brand new University of Missouri, Kansas City parking garage. This is right next door to MRIGlobabl. Interestingly the garage is labelled the Cherry Street Garage but the EV access is off Oak. The EVSE's here are some of the best located devices around town in my opinion. They are within (long) walking distance of the Plaza. They are covered. They are right next to the Missouri Repertory Theater which is part of the University. I checked with the University police who share the garage and they confirmed that it was open parking on the weekends. Needless to say this is starting to sound like a broken record but there were problems here as well. But there is also hope. The really neat thing about this location is they already have signs up where they
Across the street is actually the plug I would be using during the business day if I was in the area and needed a charge. It's a metered lot at $1/hour regardless if the car is an EV or ICE.
Just like the Cherry Street Garage, this is not a monitored lot on the weekends.
Fortunately for me I was able to set the climate control and preheat the car while it was in the Cherry Street garage because by the time my 30 minute walk around campus and to the top of the parking garage was complete, I was freezing and a warm, toasty car was calling to me. The next stage of my trip took me from the university campus across Midtown to Hospital Hill where Children's Mercy, UMKC Medical Center, and Truman Medical Center were located. Again, free open parking on the weekend but UMKC monitored parking during the week and the same $7/day parking fee for guests.
This device was actually the most difficult to find out of all the ones over the weekend. When I checked the networks I couldn't tell who owned the device. It could have been any of the three hospitals and there were no signs directing me to its location. As I noted above, it's owned by UMKC. Regarding all of their devices "The charging stations are available 24/7. UMKC has no plans to start charging for the use of the stations in the foreseeable future."
The final leg of any trip should always be a party. With that thought in mind I headed down to "the Boulevard" to find the last plug of the night. Unbeknownst to me, I was heading into conflict.
The next round of the EVSE scavenger hunt was took place the next day. This plug is at the Commerce Bank location on the northeast corner of 135th and State Line Road. Yes, this is on the Missouri side. The nice thing about this plug is that it is within walking distance of over 10 different restaurants, Lowe's, WalMart and over a dozen other shops. This is a very good location for an EVSE. It's not quite as good as the two at Town Center but it comes in a close second or third for the best in town.
Since I was already on the extreme south side of town I thought I should check out the county library at 151st and Metcalf (just west). I think having an EVSE at the libraries is a great way to educate the public, encourage EV adoption, and increase traffic at the library. I know that I will be going to either one of the two with EVSE's instead of the one around the corner from now on.
Overall it was a great weekend to go out tripping around town and find the plugs. There are fewer than 10 devices south of the river that I haven't checked out yet. Currently on the list is a writing campaign to get some up at the Legends. With NASCAR, T-Bones Baseball, Sporting KC soccer club, and tons of restaurants, shopping stores, and entertainment, this location would be a great one to have multiple plugs.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday and are prepared to enjoy the seasonal religious festivities of your culture with your friends and families. =)
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Experience at Olathe Ford dealership
A few days ago we were searching the internet. We = a couple guys at the office who are mildly to very interested in electric cars and yours truly. We were looking because there were all sorts of Black November car ads.
On the website for Olathe Ford there was listed a Ford Focus Electric. Wow, really? One of the guys was really, really wanting to get the FFE instead of a Leaf.
Below is directly from their website as it stands today:
Ok, not for sale but for ordering. That makes a whole lot of sense. The FFE is not nationally available for sale but maybe they just want to get a demo out there to get a jump on sales. Very cool we were all thinking. I wasn't planning on buying a new car right now as I've only had the Leaf for 6 months but I will need another car in a couple years when the kids are older. Plus with the experience I have with my Leaf the office guys are willing to accept my expertise in the EV field.
I was excited at the posting and with high expectations ran down there after work to see what I hoped would be an incredible car.
So let me preface the rest with a disclaimer. I hope that what I'm presenting is a simple explanation and not a judgement so the reader will come to his/her own conclusions and opinions.
Now admittedly it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Maybe they weren't fully staffed. Maybe they thought I had already been helped. But the reality is that when I arrived and parked there was no one on the lot to greet me. When I went into the showroom and walked around the 3-4 cars in the showroom, none of the people there greeted me. When I went back out to the lot and looked for the distinctive plug location on the driver side front fender, no one greeted me as I wandered between about 100+ different cars and trucks. When I went back into the showroom, a man who would later be introduced as the New Car Sales Manager proceeded to remove advertisements from the cars in the showroom and walk right by me several times.
Right when I was about to get fed up and leave, one salesman came over to ask if I needed help. I explained that I was here to research the FFE and that I was not prepared to buy one but I had some questions and would like to test drive it based on the information they had on the web. He was quite friendly and openly admitted he didn't know anything about the car but would get me someone who did. I quickly reminded him that I wasn't buying and not to interrupt anyone's deal. He thanked me and returned shortly with another salesman. Now with two salesmen about to talk to me; the Sales Manager came over to be introduced. Before either of the salesmen could say anything other than their names he quickly informed me the car wasn't there. He didn't know where it was and it was only there about half the time as it was at car shows or at nearby towns frequently and was I looking to add FFE's to my company fleet?
I explained I was there to see the car and test drive it as it was posted on their website and he said it's not available for test drives. "You can only look at it".
Needless to say I left fairly quickly after that as a test drive was the only reason I went down there. I know what my opinion is of the experience and I know what I will be doing later.
I also know that when I stopped at Bob Allen Ford (about 6 miles away) back in October and spoke with the sales team there they expressed a keen interest in my Leaf. They wanted to know a lot about it and asked if I was happy with it. Of course I'm very happy with my Leaf and I was encouraged by their intelligent questions. They said they expected to get more training on the FFE and have it available in their lot this spring. "They" in this case happened to be 4-6 different salespeople as they filtered in and out around my Leaf and the main guy I was talking to.
Given the experience I had at Shawnee Mission Ford, where a salesman refused to talk to be about a minivan without having a lead sheet filled out (this was years ago and I walked off the lot) and the experience I had with Olathe Ford when I compare that experience to Bob Allen Ford and McCarthy Nissan (where I got my Leaf and where I stop by monthly to say hi), I know where my next car will be purchased and I know where it won't be purchased.
As car owners my wife and I have owned:
1979 Ford Pinto - (gifted from Dad in '85)
1985 Lincoln Mercury - (aka Ford Escort) for graduating high school '87
1992 Ford Ranger- traded in Merc in '94
1998 Saturn SL - traded in Ranger in '98
1995 Ford Escort (gifted from Dad in '99)
2000 Saturn LS - traded '98 Saturn in '00
2002 Saturn SL - (mine) traded Escort
2002 Saturn SL - (wife's, bought on same day) traded Saturn LS in '02
2010 Toyota Corolla - wife's Saturn transmission died Dec '10 so traded dead car
2002 Ford Escort (purchased from Dad Oct 2010), sold my Saturn in '10 to Carmax
2012 Toyota Prius - traded Corolla
2012 Nissan Leaf - traded Escort
It's worth noting that all four Saturns were purchased at the same dealer and the Prius was deliberately not purchased at the same dealer as the Corolla. I will still not go back to Shawnee Mission Ford because of shopping experience in 2000.
The point of this long winded rant? Customer service matters.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
On the website for Olathe Ford there was listed a Ford Focus Electric. Wow, really? One of the guys was really, really wanting to get the FFE instead of a Leaf.
Below is directly from their website as it stands today:
Ok, not for sale but for ordering. That makes a whole lot of sense. The FFE is not nationally available for sale but maybe they just want to get a demo out there to get a jump on sales. Very cool we were all thinking. I wasn't planning on buying a new car right now as I've only had the Leaf for 6 months but I will need another car in a couple years when the kids are older. Plus with the experience I have with my Leaf the office guys are willing to accept my expertise in the EV field.
I was excited at the posting and with high expectations ran down there after work to see what I hoped would be an incredible car.
So let me preface the rest with a disclaimer. I hope that what I'm presenting is a simple explanation and not a judgement so the reader will come to his/her own conclusions and opinions.
Now admittedly it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Maybe they weren't fully staffed. Maybe they thought I had already been helped. But the reality is that when I arrived and parked there was no one on the lot to greet me. When I went into the showroom and walked around the 3-4 cars in the showroom, none of the people there greeted me. When I went back out to the lot and looked for the distinctive plug location on the driver side front fender, no one greeted me as I wandered between about 100+ different cars and trucks. When I went back into the showroom, a man who would later be introduced as the New Car Sales Manager proceeded to remove advertisements from the cars in the showroom and walk right by me several times.
Right when I was about to get fed up and leave, one salesman came over to ask if I needed help. I explained that I was here to research the FFE and that I was not prepared to buy one but I had some questions and would like to test drive it based on the information they had on the web. He was quite friendly and openly admitted he didn't know anything about the car but would get me someone who did. I quickly reminded him that I wasn't buying and not to interrupt anyone's deal. He thanked me and returned shortly with another salesman. Now with two salesmen about to talk to me; the Sales Manager came over to be introduced. Before either of the salesmen could say anything other than their names he quickly informed me the car wasn't there. He didn't know where it was and it was only there about half the time as it was at car shows or at nearby towns frequently and was I looking to add FFE's to my company fleet?
I explained I was there to see the car and test drive it as it was posted on their website and he said it's not available for test drives. "You can only look at it".
Needless to say I left fairly quickly after that as a test drive was the only reason I went down there. I know what my opinion is of the experience and I know what I will be doing later.
I also know that when I stopped at Bob Allen Ford (about 6 miles away) back in October and spoke with the sales team there they expressed a keen interest in my Leaf. They wanted to know a lot about it and asked if I was happy with it. Of course I'm very happy with my Leaf and I was encouraged by their intelligent questions. They said they expected to get more training on the FFE and have it available in their lot this spring. "They" in this case happened to be 4-6 different salespeople as they filtered in and out around my Leaf and the main guy I was talking to.
Given the experience I had at Shawnee Mission Ford, where a salesman refused to talk to be about a minivan without having a lead sheet filled out (this was years ago and I walked off the lot) and the experience I had with Olathe Ford when I compare that experience to Bob Allen Ford and McCarthy Nissan (where I got my Leaf and where I stop by monthly to say hi), I know where my next car will be purchased and I know where it won't be purchased.
As car owners my wife and I have owned:
1979 Ford Pinto - (gifted from Dad in '85)
1985 Lincoln Mercury - (aka Ford Escort) for graduating high school '87
1992 Ford Ranger- traded in Merc in '94
1998 Saturn SL - traded in Ranger in '98
1995 Ford Escort (gifted from Dad in '99)
2000 Saturn LS - traded '98 Saturn in '00
2002 Saturn SL - (mine) traded Escort
2002 Saturn SL - (wife's, bought on same day) traded Saturn LS in '02
2010 Toyota Corolla - wife's Saturn transmission died Dec '10 so traded dead car
2002 Ford Escort (purchased from Dad Oct 2010), sold my Saturn in '10 to Carmax
2012 Toyota Prius - traded Corolla
2012 Nissan Leaf - traded Escort
It's worth noting that all four Saturns were purchased at the same dealer and the Prius was deliberately not purchased at the same dealer as the Corolla. I will still not go back to Shawnee Mission Ford because of shopping experience in 2000.
The point of this long winded rant? Customer service matters.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Thank you
Well it's been just over two months here at blog central for ksnogas. I wanted to take the time to say thank you.
Thank you to the friends who have stopped by to read the random thoughts that I've posted to the ether.
Thank you to the followers on Twitter.
Thank you to all the techy followers following the blog via readers who are missing the Link of the Day options.
Thank you to the two commenters who've posted comments back.
It does my ego a lot of good to review the statistics and realize that I'm not just shouting out to the darkness. Someone out there actually is listening.
So again, thank you. I hope to continue to provide thoughtful and interesting posts.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Thank you to the friends who have stopped by to read the random thoughts that I've posted to the ether.
Thank you to the followers on Twitter.
Thank you to all the techy followers following the blog via readers who are missing the Link of the Day options.
Thank you to the two commenters who've posted comments back.
It does my ego a lot of good to review the statistics and realize that I'm not just shouting out to the darkness. Someone out there actually is listening.
So again, thank you. I hope to continue to provide thoughtful and interesting posts.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Monday, November 12, 2012
trip addendum
And now I remember the last point I wanted to include on my trip blog and thanks to Dave for triggering my memory.
Things that ran out of juice:
1. Car - while I had enough power everywhere the VLB warning in Manhattan was an 'almost out of juice'
2. Phone - the wife was concerned that I didn't know what I was doing and so she turned on the locator on the phone to track me. That means the phone used more juice than normal and had to be recharged. I recharged it by plugging into the usb jack of the car.
3. DVD player - the portable dvd player lasted for all of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone and part of the Prisoner of Azkaban. Fortunately when the first one died under warranty they didn't ask for the battery back so we had a spare battery to finish off the trip.
4. Laptop - co-pilot brought his laptop to play FTL and it ran out of juice and I wasn't going to plug that energy hog into the cigarette lighter so it was down for the count.
Things that didn't run out:
1. My tablet - my Nexus 7 powered through Men In Black and still had plenty of juice but wasn't used after that movie.
2. My Kindle - my third gen Kindle never even got close to running out of battery. Of course I didn't use it either I used my phone since it was handy and the Kindle was at the bottom of the bag underneath the dvd's.
3. Good weather - the good weather stayed all day long. And it was awesome.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Things that ran out of juice:
1. Car - while I had enough power everywhere the VLB warning in Manhattan was an 'almost out of juice'
2. Phone - the wife was concerned that I didn't know what I was doing and so she turned on the locator on the phone to track me. That means the phone used more juice than normal and had to be recharged. I recharged it by plugging into the usb jack of the car.
3. DVD player - the portable dvd player lasted for all of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone and part of the Prisoner of Azkaban. Fortunately when the first one died under warranty they didn't ask for the battery back so we had a spare battery to finish off the trip.
4. Laptop - co-pilot brought his laptop to play FTL and it ran out of juice and I wasn't going to plug that energy hog into the cigarette lighter so it was down for the count.
Things that didn't run out:
1. My tablet - my Nexus 7 powered through Men In Black and still had plenty of juice but wasn't used after that movie.
2. My Kindle - my third gen Kindle never even got close to running out of battery. Of course I didn't use it either I used my phone since it was handy and the Kindle was at the bottom of the bag underneath the dvd's.
3. Good weather - the good weather stayed all day long. And it was awesome.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Over hill, over dale, and it was a dusty trail
Well, I'm back. The advertised trip to Abilene required modification. We had to abort the final destination of Abilene and stop heading west in Manhattan. We also started a little late because I wanted a car wash and donuts before leaving Lenexa. The trip covered a total of 237.7 miles and approximately 18 hours.
The first stop was Lawrence, KS, the home of the University of Kansas. I took old K-10 because the speed limit was 55 mph which meant going 45-50 mph on what was essentially an abandoned road was not a problem. That early in the morning I passed exactly 1 car once I got outside the 'burbs and into the more rural area of the county.
It's really hard to see in the picture but that is KU in the far background. This is about 10 miles east of Lawrence. As you can see, yes Kansas is indeed flat. KU is on the top of Mt. Oread ( or ee add ) and you can see the dorms and Fraiser Hall from quite a distance away.
The first charge of the day was at the University of Kansas Center for Design. It's a standard public 240 volt Schneider EVSE. The parking around it was not what I expected. Gravel drive up to two concrete pads is not what you typically find. Off to the west of the building was a wind turbine spinning like crazy. This would be the second time that I know of where the electric supply to the EVSE was provided by a wind turbine. <<edit -I've been informed there are also solar panels on the actual Design Building to the west of the barn.>> During the trip the wind would blow almost exclusively from the south around 25 mph sustained and 40 mph gusts and yes, there were small dust storms created as we passed farms and construction areas. It was also about 68* that morning and the forecast was for a beautiful day.We arrived in Lawrence after travelling 36.5 miles. The miles per Kilowatt hour were 5.0. The car said that a 100% charge would take 3 hours and our average speed for this leg of the trip was 45 mph. I have to say average because I didn't set the cruise control.
After we plugged in we started hiking from the far west side up campus up to the dorms. I regaled my co-pilot (youngest son) with my experiences as a student there in the late 80's and early 90's. We crossed campus and ended up at the student union. This killed about an hour and started a really nice set of blisters on the balls of my feet that would last all day. We headed back to the car and I estimated that we had enough charge to get to Topeka and beyond. But there was no Pepsi on campus. I guess Coke got a campus-wide concession and I wanted Pepsi. So on the way out we stopped at the Hy-Vee nearby and plugged in again and got some drinks. Even though it was only 10 minutes of charge, this would later prove to be fortuitous.
We headed out west again along US HWY 40 from Lawrence to Topeka. Again due to the lower maximum speed limit I was able to go slower than nearby I-70 which paralleled my route. I also saved the $.75 toll. Of course as fate would have it, we ran through a localized rain shower. It was so localized that it didn't rain on the interstate less than half a mile from where we were driving. Talk about a waste of car wash.
We arrived a short time later at the Kansas capitol. Westar Energy has EVSE's at their offices to charge their fleet Volts and they are mostly publicly available. In the case of this device they even worked with the city to provide unmetered parking.If you look closely enough in the picture and get out your magnifying glass you can see my reflection in the windows.
Around the corner is the Kansas Capitol Building. You can clearly see our tax dollars at work. What you can't clearly see is the blue port-a-john at the top of the scaffolding where they're working on the dome.
Near the Capitol there was a sculpture of a Meadowlark, our state bird. There was also a sculpture dedicated to the pioneer women who helped shape our state.
The time spent charging here was about an hour and a half. We arrived after a trip of 26.2 miles and the miles/Kwh were 4.7. I drove at 50 mph with the cruise control and the car said it was a 3 hour time to charge to get to 100%. This is where the extra 10 minutes spend at Hy-Vee in Lawrence are going to come into play.
We left the middle of Topeka and headed out the north side of town. Down along the train tracks there is an industrial park. This park is near the US HWY 75 and I-70 interchanges. I decided to check the charging station here during the day to ensure I could find it later that night. I felt this was a better place to charge in the middle of the night than in the middle of town where there are bars and problems.
So it was about 12/1230pm and we're on our way to Manhattan. As before I avoided I-70 and it's 70 mph speed limit for US HWY 24 and it's 65 mph limit but limited traffic so going 50 mph wasn't a problem. Passing through St. Mary's was no problem. Passing through Wamego was no problem. Doing math and getting an actual % state of charge of the Leaf, now that was a bit of a problem. The stretch from Wamego to the Nissan dealer in Manhattan is 17 miles long. When we passed through Wamego the GOM registered 24 miles. When we got halfway between Wamego and Manhattan, 8 miles, the GOM registered 17 miles and 2 battery bars. Now I'm really starting to get worried. The wife chastised me for not having a back up plan in case I ran out of energy. I explained I had roadside assistance and that I was not silly enough to leave without enough energy to reach the destination. Well hubris had other ideas. I did some quick math and felt that my earlier calculations were inaccurate and I slowed from 50 mph to 40 mph and paid attention to what was going on behind me so I could put the emergency blinkers on to alert the drivers coming up behind me. However, due to silent running I didn't want them on all the time because the constant click click was already annoying me. As we got closer to the outskirts of Manhattan the anticipated Low Battery warning and light were activated. The GOM indicated 8 miles and the battery was down to one energy bar. I didn't have a perfect address for the Nissan dealer so I couldn't get the miles to go. I just knew where it was. Fortunately we got into Manhattan and I was able to slow down to 30 mph and no annoy too many other drivers and that also allowed me to hit the traffic lights green so there was limited start/stop. The GOM was now down to 4 miles and I was starting to get a whiff of the impending Very Low Battery warning. But, in the distance there was a large sign. NISSAN. Yeah, I was there....almost. I had to drive past the dealership to get to the turn off and pass under the road. At the end of the off ramp the Very Low Battery warning appeared and the GOM started flashing --- . This was the third Low Battery and the very first Very Low Battery warning I've experienced but I felt sure I could go the quarter mile to the dealership and you know what? I was right.
Remember that extra 10 minutes I spent at Hy-Vee? Those extra 2 miles were the difference between arriving or not arriving and calling roadside assistance.
Anyway, we made it. We were now 59.2 miles from Topeka and the car said it needed 6.5 hours to charge to full. I achieved 4.7 miles/Kwh and drove 50 mph most of the way there. It was now about 1:45. I introduced myself and my son to Cole Bachamp the Leaf salesman at Briggs Nissan in Manhattan. He assured me they would leave the power to the EVSE as long as I needed it and offered the hospitality of their waiting room complete with donuts, granola bars, and soda. I explained my son wanted to catch a movie and we needed a place to eat as well. He recommended Willie's bar and grill which was right next to the theater.
So we made it to the theater in time for all but the first minute of Hotel Transylvania. It was a really good movie. We both enjoyed it. That was followed with lunch/dinner at Willie's. I had the John Madden Burger and my son had the Muss Burger. We then went shopping at Home Depot and watched the Christmas displays. After that we went back to the dealership and killed time until 7pm at which point we left for Topeka.
I made sure we left Manhattan with more charge than we left Topeka with so arrival in Topeka was uneventful if with only two battery bars left and about 10 miles on the GOM. That leg was 52.4 miles long at 50 mph and 4.5 m/Kwh. We charged in the industrial park for 2.5 hours, watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and took a nap. This was also the third wind powered charge. Ironically there is a nice sized wind turbine in the back yard of Governor Brownback who wants more coal electric plants in the state instead of more wind power.
The weather for the trip was beyond awesome. It was still 68*F at 1230am when we were in Lawrence. We also kept a family tradition of being chased across the plains by a severe weather front. In the rear view mirror I could see the lightning and when I woke up this morning I could see the freezing rain collect on the back deck. So I had 6 bars of battery heat at 0100 and it was 68* F. When I woke up at 0800 it was 40* and raining. When I got back from getting stuff for breakfast it was freezing rain.
The final numbers when we got home at 0130 this morning were a leg distance of 28.7 miles and another Low Battery Warning, 4.2 m/Kwh and I drove 55 mph. The CarWings telematics when we left in the morning my month-long miles/Kwh was 5.1. Upon our return it was 4.9. The whole trip made a small impact in my monthly statistics so I get a new high score of distance but I'll be lucky if I can get my m/Kwh up to my minimum desired results of 5.0+ m/Kwh.
It was a fun trip. I enjoyed spending time with my youngest son and we both enjoyed the movie. But I don't think I'll make a trip like this again. It was a very long day and a very long night.
Edit - 11/12
For those who may be interested this is a picture of the elevation changes between Lenexa and Abilene. There was one other thing I meant to include in this post and I keep remembering when I'm away from a pc but forget when I sit down. Sigh.....
Lenexa is on the left of the chart and Abilene is on the right. I used http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/# to generate the information.
Signing off for today
KSNOGAS
-------------
Try reading a book, it's a novel experience.
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