tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61327822474375420932024-03-14T00:45:35.584-07:00Living With Mi-EVThis blog chronicles some of my experiences with owning an electric vehicle. I my case, I bought a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle and have been driving it daily ever since. Although I had been accustomed to cars with sporting characteristics, I have really taken a liking to this car in ways I never imagined.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-28995123082325697672016-02-13T23:39:00.000-08:002016-02-13T23:39:56.980-08:00Gone with the wind<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Walking into the wind takes a little extra effort than
walking in still air. Walking into a
strong wind takes a lot of extra effort.
Bicycling into a strong headwind really slows you down, and that’s only
at a speed of about 15 to 20 miles-per-hour.
So, you can imagine my surprise at how quickly the power depletes from
my car’s battery while driving down the freeway into a strong headwind. At first I thought that maybe the tires were
a little low and in need of a good pumping up.
Then I looked at the tree tops.
(The palms are a dead giveaway.)
The top branches were swaying in the wind, suggesting a strong wind was
working against me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How big is the difference in energy consumption driving into
the wind? Normally, my drive from home
to the exit I would usually take for work (and to visit mom, and to drive up to
the winery) uses about three ticks of energy on the gauge. Driving into a strong wind, I noticed that
the energy used at any moment to maintain speed was slightly higher, but
shortly after taking my exit, I noticed the forth tick drop off. I cover a distance of about 13 miles,
suggesting that the extra wind load uses about 20% more energy. Considering that the battery performs a
little worse in colder weather (such as typically happens with a strong wind),
I would attribute about 10% to 15% of the extra 20% power drain to the wind itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The impact of this extra power drain is more significant
than it seems, especially for freeway trips.
Under better conditions, my now four-year-old battery can travel about
58 to 62 miles on a charge, mostly on the freeway. If I am driving into a strong headwind, that
range drops to 49 to 56 miles. Even when
I was working in Palo Alto, the 49 miles was enough to get me to work and back,
and a quick trip for tacos nearby for dinner.
But, if I had planned to visit the wine store (an “errand”) in Redwood
City during lunch, then that would add another 12 miles to my trip, meaning
that I would be at risk of not making it home from work on a windy day. When the battery was newer, the range was
closer to 70 miles, and even a 15% drop in efficiency would still get me to the
wine shop and home.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-61633321104761578652016-02-01T23:41:00.000-08:002016-02-01T23:41:04.718-08:00Charging atop a mountain<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
After losing my job due to a company layoff, and while
searching for work (a full-time dedication for an older engineer), I found
myself missing the moral support of coworkers (and a paycheck).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I decided to apply for work at a winery
that was only open to the public on weekends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would mean that I would have the option to keep the job even after
I resume my career, allowing me to build my experience working in the wine-hospitality
industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The winery is atop the
mountains in Cupertino at an elevation of 2,200 feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Home is a mere 100 feet above sea
level.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The winery also has a level-2 EV
charger available to employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having
driven to the winery twice before, I knew that the EV charger would be a
comfort more than a necessity for getting up and back on one charge.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My prior experience driving up the mountain suggested I
would use one-half of the total charge to drive up the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would also regenerate about 10% coasting
back down the hill, allowing me more than enough power to make it home (and to
the store).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, on my third trip up the
mountain for work, I learned about charging atop the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had only driven about eight miles the day
before and decided not to recharge before driving to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got to work, the power level was lower
than I am usually comfortable with, so I plugged in the car (just towards the
end of my shift).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I had
disconnected, there was just one bar remaining (out of 16) to be filled, and I
knew that the remaining energy would be generated while braking on the trip
down the mountain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Apparently, the engineers at Mitsubishi had anticipated my
very situation and had to prioritize the survival of the charging system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the car’s battery is nearly full, most
EV chargers will send less current to the car (as observed using the ChargePoint
web site dashboard).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would seem that
this is at the request of the car, not the charging station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While driving downhill, this time I noticed
that the amount of regeneration happening was a fraction of its usual
potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It dawned on me then that the
same battery-protection logic had kicked in and the battery was accepting less charge
from the brakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That meant that I had
to work harder using the friction brakes to slow down the vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the charge level approached full-charge,
the regeneration brakes were almost completely ineffective and I was relying
almost entirely on the friction brakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While this is only a minor problem, the biggest concern is having to
take the turns more slowly because the friction brakes act on all four wheels,
while the regeneration affects only the rear wheels, allowing the front wheels
to dedicate all friction to traction in turns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Only the Tesla and BMW share this rear-wheel drive configuration with
my Mitsubishi – all others are front-wheel drive.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, what have I learned from this experience?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to time my charging carefully when
atop the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I estimate the time
needed to attain a full charge (say about four hours), then I deduct an hour
from the charge time and start a timer on my phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the timer’s alarm goes off, I dash out
quickly to unplug the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This leaves
me with just enough empty battery capacity to run the regenerative brakes
nearly all the way down the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(In the winter months, I soon learned that I could drive down the
mountain in toasty comfort by channeling excess power generated by the brakes
into the cabin heater.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-32732139994687180212016-01-18T23:10:00.000-08:002016-01-18T23:10:40.880-08:00The new charging stations arrive too late<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Actually, the new charging stations at work could not have
arrived soon enough. The demand for
(free) charging at my company quickly outstripped the availability of charging
stations. Even with a four-hour limit,
there still was not the right combination of etiquette and charging points
available to meet everyone’s demands (as opposed to their needs). Of course, had there been a cost for the
electricity delivered for car charging, the situation would have changed. Adding a nominal charge (say eight to ten
cents per kilowatt hours) likely would have driven away the folks trying to get
their EV charge for free while still allowing those needing a recharge to make
the return trip home a chance to charge economically. I know this because what happened next supports
my theory.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The next week, I needed to make a shopping run at lunch time
that would add another 12 miles to my 39-mile commute. While the extra distance could be covered safely
by the full charge I had started with when leaving home, it would have been
more comfortable knowing I had some extra range instead (just in case I needed
to rush somewhere). So, upon returning
from my errands, I found that the existing chargers were oddly vacant, so I
pulled into a parking spot happy to have found the charger available. Regrettably, the company had made the
decision to stop subsidizing the cost of electricity for car charging and had
begun charging $1.00 per hour connected.
Since my car draws electricity at a rate of just three kilowatts per
hour, this amounts to about 33 cents per kwh.
At home I pay about 11 cents, so I decided to just rely on the remaining
charge in the car battery and forgo any evening driving. It would seem that with the installation of
the new charging stations, the company had decided to switch to market-rate
pricing at the same time. Had they
simply made the switch earlier, they would not have needed the new charging
stations, as there were plenty of open spaces without the new stations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alas, all of this no longer matters to me. I just received notice that my talents will
no longer be needed and I was given a standard severance package. This time, I am hoping to find work a little
closer to home where I don’t have to worry about forgetting to charge the car
one night. There are a number of
possibilities ahead for me, many of which offer EV charging on-site. I’m both hopeful and a little scared at this
point – this is my first time to be on the lay-off list since I began my career
so many years ago.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-72516449879972352532015-12-22T08:26:00.000-08:002015-12-22T08:26:55.731-08:00Range Anxiety never goes away completely<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The longer you drive your electric car the more you grow
accustomed to how much energy it will consume along the routes you regularly
drive. The occasional new route is
usually no sweat because you already know your safe driving radius from your
home. I know I can generally count on
driving 4 miles per tick (out of 16) on the charge-level gauge, with each tick
representing about 1KWh of charge. So, I
can safely drive about 60 miles without much worry and still have a margin of
about 4 miles remaining. My drive to
work regularly uses up nine ticks, leaving me with six or so to run errands
near home after work. Most places I’ll
visit are within 5 miles of home, so this works out well. The problem comes when I start traveling
unknown routes that extend to the range of my safe-driving radius, especially
when a significant elevation change is involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The case-in-point happened last Mother’s Day (actually, the
day before – to avoid the crowds). My
siblings decided to treat mom to a picnic at one of the nearby wineries in the
Saratoga foothills. Ordinarily, the trip
from my house to the winery is about 16 miles, with the final 3 miles involving
a significant climb in elevation. 32
miles round-trip is easy to do. But, it
was my turn to bring along mom, so I had to drive first to her place (14
freeway miles) and then to the winery (10 miles), for a total distance of 48
miles round-trip. But, that morning I
had to run an errand and used up 9 miles of charge already, making the total
trip for one charge about 57 miles.
Factoring in the uphill climb was starting to make me nervous about
completing the trip. Fortunately, I had
surface streets as backup options for the return trip home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The trip went better than I had expected, thanks in part to
two factors. First, my morning errand
was done entirely on city streets, which uses about 20% less charge to drive
the same distance. The second factor was
more significant. I keep thinking like I
did in my gasoline powered car … If I
started my trip with 14 ticks on the gauge,
I would need 7 remaining by the time I reach my destination or I might
not make it home. As I was about a mile
from the winery, the seventh tick cleared and I knew I would only narrowly make
it home if I didn’t plan my driving carefully.
But, I wouldn’t have to worry about that until after the picnic at the
winery. Then, on the way home, the
second factor kicked in. Driving three
miles downhill give me back one tick on the charge gauge, meaning that I had an
extra four miles I could drive, and I used nothing for those three miles – for
a total of seven miles. (I’m telling
you, it’s a mind game driving the hills in an electric car.) The end result is that I had two ticks
remaining on the charge gauge when I pulled into my driveway, and I was even
able to run to the local store and back for dinner supplies.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-24867643325388504012015-12-04T23:54:00.000-08:002015-12-04T23:54:01.645-08:00A busy day ahead<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It all started off easy enough…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was invited to a party at my younger
sister’s place on the east side of town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, my mom called and told me that my older sister would be arriving
the same afternoon and asked if I could give her a ride to mom’s place on the
west side of town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then my older sister
called and wanted to join me at our sister’s party before heading to mom’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a reliable 60+ mile range, I was
starting to worry about whether I could drive that far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried estimating energy use in my head by
counting the charge-level ticks it usually takes me to drive each stretch and
came up with too many unknowns (and not enough ticks leftover for
comfort).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I let the real engineer
inside me solve the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, and a
little help from Google Maps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, I needed to bring supplies (ie: wine) to the party on
the east-side, wait for a phone call for a trip to the airport (and back), then
a trip from my sister’s party to my mom’s house, and finally home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I broke the trip into segments and measured
each using the Google Maps directions feature:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(1) my house to my sister’s party: 4.7 miles city/5.6 miles freeway; (2)
my sister’s place to the airport: 8 miles mixed/10 miles freeway (each-way);
(3) my sister’s place to my mom’s place: 18 miles freeway; and (4) my mom’s
place to my place 13 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I saved
time and stayed on the freeway, I would drive just under 57 miles, which is too
close to the 60+ miles that tends to limit my car on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I favored city routes where it made
sense, cutting the trip to just over 52 miles, and extending the range by three
miles or so along the way (by driving a little slower).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How did it turn out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The extra city driving added about five minutes to each leg through
town, which was easily managed and really did not impact my plans at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After driving the 52 miles, I needed to make
two more errands near home, bringing the total trip to 55.7 miles according to
the trip odometer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the car made it,
but how much charge was left?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Driving
home from the last errand, the gauge ticked down just a few hundred feet from
home, leaving three bars (out of sixteen) on the charge gauge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typically, this is enough to drive another 11
miles on the freeway or up to 14 miles around town (the range gauge suggested
15 miles remaining).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, all told, I
could have safely driven 68 to 70 miles this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately I didn’t need to run the A/C on
the car, or the results would have been different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-38226754807705991662015-06-19T22:30:00.001-07:002015-06-19T22:30:22.541-07:00Good things come of people behaving badly<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Somebody must have noticed the situation at work with the
level-2 electric vehicle chargers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lately, the EV mailing list has been fired off with regular
announcements of people leaving their car in the charging spaces after they
have finished charging while others practically beg for a couple of hours of
connection time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It doesn’t help that
nearly all the convenient parking is now in use too, leaving disconnecting
folks limited parking options.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People
are struggling to learn the new etiquette surrounding public infrastructure
sharing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all struggle to find an
opportunity to charge, but we seldom think about our impact when we fail to
disconnect and vacate the charging space in a timely manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sharing is a trait acquired in one’s youth
when growing up with siblings, although this can also lead to hoarding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Fortunately, t</span>he company decided to take the next step toward
being a good advocate of electric vehicle adoption.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">About two weeks ago, I noticed that a number of parking
spaces near the employee entrance to the building had been roped off, and
digging/trenching was underway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
followed the route (visually) of the trenching and saw that it connected to the
building and up to the roof (where the solar panels are).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked one of the construction crew members
what the project was and they said they were working on installing four new
charging stations with two plugs each, producing eight new charging
spaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Added to the existing fourteen
plugs and that amounts to more than 50% more charging points for us electric
vehicle drivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, as I walk past the
site each evening as I leave, I admire the new stations as they await final
connection in the coming days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, we
won’t have to depend quite so much on everybody’s etiquette and
consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hardly wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfe36vhgYMzMLzNzL3U_RMJAAxs5bgTfvL6JU157pJaf4mvhjXCIVGXxj82-37FVLR1sD3rBOD9i7OVE7qqfic5Te3AYh_o943LwP12grMwrvyl4cHZdDPeoPmp8wmniyhz1Ar28P6E4/s1600/ChargePointCrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQfe36vhgYMzMLzNzL3U_RMJAAxs5bgTfvL6JU157pJaf4mvhjXCIVGXxj82-37FVLR1sD3rBOD9i7OVE7qqfic5Te3AYh_o943LwP12grMwrvyl4cHZdDPeoPmp8wmniyhz1Ar28P6E4/s320/ChargePointCrop.jpg" width="317" /></a></span></div>
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-64493579236386094002015-06-06T23:09:00.000-07:002015-06-06T23:09:59.244-07:00To charge, or not to charge<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Anybody over the age of 30 remembers the first NiCad
rechargeable batteries from the 1990’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These batteries needed to be depleted completely before recharging or
they would “remember” how much you used and only recharge that amount in the
future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NiMH batteries got rid of the
“memory” issue, but did little to improve charge capacity or battery life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first hand-held device had a Li-Ion battery
and came with instructions to let the battery drain to 25% to 75% before
recharging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I followed that advice to a
large degree and managed to get three years of useful charge from the battery
before it started to dwindle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did not
follow that advice for my laptops and those batteries all failed to hold the
originally promised charge beyond two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With my first two cell phones, I was diligent about appropriate battery
charging and managed to get more than four years of nearly full charge
capability from each before the batteries started to degrade.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDi2SaiOCdQNpz3G2-QJQAJHNVMaeJUgiQbtTiAaZwOfftLuAwjELAVRUPkomF1YeuBJvbd2mxICKEoUg2dD2wHujF0OlD68ta98vlfTX7og-jyXp-d9CV8hvmvRaOEJGDg_O58XgtwU/s1600/Charge+Gauge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDi2SaiOCdQNpz3G2-QJQAJHNVMaeJUgiQbtTiAaZwOfftLuAwjELAVRUPkomF1YeuBJvbd2mxICKEoUg2dD2wHujF0OlD68ta98vlfTX7og-jyXp-d9CV8hvmvRaOEJGDg_O58XgtwU/s320/Charge+Gauge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five ticks remaining on the I-MiEV charge gauge (5/16)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, before I even bought my electric car back in 2012, I
knew how to better care for the battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wait for the charge to drop below 75% full before recharging and avoid
complete discharges when possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
commute usually draws the battery down to about 45% remaining, so this
represents an ideal point at which to recharge the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, when I know I will be working from home
the next day, should I wait to charge the car or charge it right away?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ideal choice for extended battery life
(according to articles I have read) is to complete charging within an hour or
two of when you expect to drive again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The thinking here is that maintaining a full charge for an extended
period strains the battery, ultimately weakening it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the practical choice is to have the car
ready to drive in case of an unexpected need the next day (which seldom happens
for me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I choose to charge at night
and have the car sit fully charged the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The real trouble arises when I use the car the next day to
run a short errand and I use less than 25% of the battery capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Typically 85% to 90%of the charge will
remain.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I have to drive to work on
the following day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I admit that I like
my comfort zone when it comes to the car’s range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t enjoy learning just how far I can
push the car without running out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
I can get to work and back and still have at least 25% of the charge remaining,
it reigns-in my after work activities, limiting me to a short trip to a local
store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, recharging
with only 10% to 15% drawn off the battery will accelerate its decay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I know I need to do some extra driving I
will recharge before driving to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I have no plans, I drive on the reduced charge and hope for the
best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, I have the option to
charge once I get to work, which allows me to run those after-work
errands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To date, my efforts have paid
off as I have lost less than 5% of the original driving range after 41 months
of ownership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Mitsubishi warrants that
80% of the charge capacity will remain useful for ten years.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-58110828253575076542015-05-23T00:19:00.000-07:002015-05-23T00:19:09.736-07:00Measuring Battery Degradation<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
One thing that I "miss" about driving my gasoline
powered car is being able to calculate the fuel efficiency for any
fill-up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The math was
straight-forward:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>divide the miles
driven by the fuel used to top off the tank and presto!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MPG.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Home EV chargers don't typically display the amount of electricity
consumed during a charge-up cycle, so it's nearly impossible to compute the
energy efficiency accurately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were
a number of reasons for doing this with the gas car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most importantly was to understand how my
driving habits impacted my fuel economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Secondarily, by watching for a drop in fuel economy I could detect
problems in the engine that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A misfiring spark plug, a problem with the
emissions equipment, or low (or burning) oil could all have a small impact on
fuel economy (though newer cars have sensors for these problem areas).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, why would I want to do this with an
electric car?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Anyone who has used the same cellular phone for more than
two years has noticed that the "talk time" starts to drop off after a
few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, sending a few text
messages drains the battery faster than a phone call, and forget about doing
anything beyond an e-mail scan using the internet, because the power will drain
quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electric cars use a very
similar battery technology, so it is logical to expect that the driving range
of an electric car will start to drop off after a few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The manufacturers even admit to this storage
decay in their warranty for the car's battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In my case, the warranty assures me that 80% of the original charge
capability will be available after ten years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, how do you know if your battery charge capacity is dropping?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFnGdQ8l338ghy-71UKKRBucUnbRd6SJyF1fOb6SMW68eDfDnyhpPdoxfKOeb66S1NR4Yt46oE1ZjIIMJXhRscXYbgq-oKL-8uyVb184dvUFUJ1weN65QhyphenhyphenThtyvcR-fbLjo-KVRMnr4/s1600/Charge+Gauge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFnGdQ8l338ghy-71UKKRBucUnbRd6SJyF1fOb6SMW68eDfDnyhpPdoxfKOeb66S1NR4Yt46oE1ZjIIMJXhRscXYbgq-oKL-8uyVb184dvUFUJ1weN65QhyphenhyphenThtyvcR-fbLjo-KVRMnr4/s320/Charge+Gauge.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The charge gauge on my Mitsubishi i-MiEV is informative but lacks precision</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To check your battery's capability, you have two
options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who are math averse,
you can drive the car until the battery is depleted (or indicates about one
mile of range remaining).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problems
with this approach are that it tends to leave you stranded somewhere, and
completely draining the battery hastens its end-of-life, making the problem
worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter mathematics ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of looking at the range, look at the
distance traveled per kilowatt hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
measure this, you have to get an accurate reading of how much electricity was
used to top off the battery, and how many miles were driven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then just track the miles-per-kilowatt-hour
(or MPkWh) over time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This way you don't
negatively impact the battery's longevity (or strand yourself) in order to
measure its performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It would seem that driving to work during Spring Break and
March Madness on a Friday is the ideal time to find a vacant charger spot at
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I arrived at work, I had
already driven an extra 16 miles from the day prior, so the range I could drive
after work was already reduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Checking
the ChargePoint network app, I found an empty charger spot right near the entrance
to my office, so I parked there and hooked up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One nice feature that public charging stations offer is a tally of the
energy used to charge your battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Often
times this is used to calculate your billing.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On this day I drove 36.5 miles and needed 7.589 kWh to recharge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This yielded an efficiency of 4.81
MPkWh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the car was less than a year
old, I was able to measure the same way and usually got about 4.95 MPkWh, which
is within 3% of the other measurement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This suggests that I have had no appreciable battery degradation in
three years, which is comforting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This
winter I was starting to think the range had dropped off more dramatically, but
I lacked any solid evidence or numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I guess it was just colder weather and stronger winds.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-2780032898035530452015-05-11T23:54:00.001-07:002015-05-11T23:54:14.239-07:00A little traffic, please?<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
When I would drive my gasoline powered cars, I would dread
having to drive through congestion on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was I slowed by the traffic mess,
but the car ran less efficiently, it was a little jerky on the frequent stop-starts,
it was irritating listening to the engine idling or running at low speeds, and
there were the exhaust fumes, from my car and the others around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, in the summer, all those hot engines
running seemed to make the freeway steam in the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always looked forward to the traffic break
when I could again cut through the air at high speeds and the car was running near
its peak efficiency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, why would I
want to endure highway traffic congestion now?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Electric cars today lack a multi-gear transmission, which
allows a gasoline engine to operate at both low and high speeds, while
optimizing for the latter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generally,
gasoline engines are rather inefficient at lower speeds, and they require a clutch
mechanism in order to stop and resume, robbing the engine of its abundant
power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The electric car has just one
speed, directly connected to the wheels because it can start turning from a
stop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lacking other gears, the electric
motor is less efficient at typical freeway speeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, the electric car can drive much
further on the same amount of electricity at lower speeds (such as found in
most highway traffic congestion).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8721GA1wvHWXJbvXtKZsZ5as1go1exOpFsJ3TR1h6NizMFVNdDdzXfI5-TBxnTJ879Lb3HP7PAD6EIeb2bAIB6aSTF_X6Ca0zPc4RX4E0QatcgxCGpVE8v7nJCCq9LGQqyBOx-psgjQ/s1600/Commute+Option+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8721GA1wvHWXJbvXtKZsZ5as1go1exOpFsJ3TR1h6NizMFVNdDdzXfI5-TBxnTJ879Lb3HP7PAD6EIeb2bAIB6aSTF_X6Ca0zPc4RX4E0QatcgxCGpVE8v7nJCCq9LGQqyBOx-psgjQ/s320/Commute+Option+2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My commute - 12 interstate miles and 7 expressway miles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Today was a case in point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My drive to work consists of 12 miles driven at 55 to 60 MPH on the
freeway, followed by 7 miles driven at 45 MPH on an expressway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lately, by the time I return home at the end
of the day (38 miles late), the ninth (of sixteen) power bars in the charge gauge
has disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of my work
hours and meetings, I typically commute after much of the heavy traffic has
subsided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, however, was
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to leave earlier for
work and dealt with congestion along half of the freeway route to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also drove home early and had to deal with
a brush fire and two accidents along the way, which backed up traffic for
nearly the entire stretch of the freeway I travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also ran a few errands after arriving at
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time that the charge gauge
had dropped its ninth bar, I had driven 44 miles (or 15% farther).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I saved nearly 1.5KWh of charge by
driving in congested traffic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, the efficiency is greatly improved in the slower moving
traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about the other issues I face
in congestion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interior noise in my
car is dramatically reduced because there is no roaring engine (especially
while idling).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every start from a stop
is delivered with silky smoothness thanks to the low-end torque available in an
electric motor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am able to save a
little time by using the carpool lane instead of being stuck with the rest of
traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, my car is not
producing any exhaust gas fumes (and its electric charging is offset by solar
power, both at home and at work).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
there were many more commuters also using electricity instead of gasoline, we’d
all enjoy the drive home a lot better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-76835132229098997182015-04-20T10:13:00.002-07:002015-04-20T10:13:34.666-07:00Replacing my Level-2 charger<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
As soon as my level-2 EV charger died, I went online to find
out what was now available for home use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(This was after a futile attempt to contact the now-defunct manufacturer
about servicing my old charger.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found
some units online at Lowes, but the only unit that looked promising was the GE
charging station, and it was also the most expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The less expensive models lacked the amperage
or the plug that I was looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
found similar results at Home Depot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then I remembered the EV charger that was being given away at the
Electric Auto Association Silicon Valley rally at De Anza College back in
September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I dug through the business
cards in my desk drawer at home and found it: Clipper Creek.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One thing that I liked about Clipper Creek is that, not only
are they an American company, but they are also a California company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, and the price of their 32-amp charger
was about $150 to $300 less than the competition’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked the Clipper Creek web site and
found some specifications and installation instructions for the model I wanted
(with a 220-volt plug).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had some
questions about my installation and sent an e-mail to Clipper Creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They responded promptly with enough
information to address my concerns, so I was ready to place my order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One change that I would have to adapt was in
the orientation of the electrical outlet and housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cord for my (now broken) charger exited
the housing from below and wrapped around to the charger box above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This new charger (and all the others I found
for sale) limit the length of the cord to just 12 inches, forcing the cord to
exit the housing from above to feed directly to the charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This was the result of a newly adopted
national electrical standard.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ovJSiNG355XX91ot43Sf74BlEXKcrD0bkeV-dCedKd_FZEwSqWfGNsGiQMmYul7FC1u8y6c-sqxrIuyhbCHJj3kouqYFJkwJaYI-CujLepNtfT5PLR2dvpNga4Bd-dQct04qH5m9-P0/s1600/CC+Charger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ovJSiNG355XX91ot43Sf74BlEXKcrD0bkeV-dCedKd_FZEwSqWfGNsGiQMmYul7FC1u8y6c-sqxrIuyhbCHJj3kouqYFJkwJaYI-CujLepNtfT5PLR2dvpNga4Bd-dQct04qH5m9-P0/s1600/CC+Charger.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Clipper Creek EV Charger installation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just then I remembered a recall for my car that concerned a
particular EV charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, the
recall was not for my charger, so I decided to wait for my annual service
appointment to address it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But suddenly
I remembered the charger brand in the recall and double-checked my recall
paperwork – the recall involved Clipper Creek chargers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I had to get the car serviced before I
could buy the charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This further
delayed getting the new charger, but only by a few days as the dealer was able
to work on my car soon after I called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, I was able to place the order with Clipper Creek (which I did
online).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Much to my surprise, the charger arrived the next day (and
on a Saturday, no less).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few days
later I had time to install it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed
to reorient the outlet, which was straight-forward and involved removing six
screws, rotating the outlet in place, tucking the wires back inside the outlet
box carefully, and reattaching the six screws in the new orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I also needed to cut a little more away from
the opening of the plastic housing for the larger plug.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a couple of drill holes in the wall, two
bolts, and connecting the plug to the outlet, I was ready to test the
unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I tested my first EV charger,
I plugged everything in without worrying about problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, after having dealt with the recall
(which was essentially a firmware update), I was more nervous because I wasn’t
confident that the firmware update would work for my new charger model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I threw the switch on the circuit
breaker and the status light came on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
connected the charger plug to the car, heard a loud click, and the car began
charging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I let out a sigh of relief
because I would no longer have to depend on the slow-charging level-1 charger
that came with the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could drive
the distance again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-56979624577806100832015-04-10T23:59:00.000-07:002015-04-10T23:59:24.895-07:00Kids and the i-MiEV
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think Dr. Seuss had a hand in designing the newer electric
cars (except for the Tesla, which has serious Jaguar design influences).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I drive the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is
odd-looking at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Nissan Leaf
is no better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And BMW tried to give the
new electric i3 a real sense of style, but missed the mark in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Fiat 500 has a little bit of
cute-ness going for it, its cramped rear quarters makes it an impractical
choice for many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Think City, the
Scion iQ, and the Smart are just as peculiar to look at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely these cars are examples of Dr. Seuss’
design works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least the i-MiEV has an
ample interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A number of my passengers
have remarked how they were surprised that the car has as much interior space
for how short it is outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, with
four doors, that interior space is easy to get to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The i3 is similarly useful inside.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it seems that the biggest fans of this
car are kids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuy69rxXGwZQZX-JwhyZoMH3INVZy5mhoqv3NeDzMndSGmYBpT-laj4Da5fJUwtNOJQuzQQn2WarltgRUR_PBzMWKZ0fPSZWMSlrFRZM2l-kI6sxh-2FTPOXokT85yLQ6DLhW0WtRBxo/s1600/DrSeussCar1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOuy69rxXGwZQZX-JwhyZoMH3INVZy5mhoqv3NeDzMndSGmYBpT-laj4Da5fJUwtNOJQuzQQn2WarltgRUR_PBzMWKZ0fPSZWMSlrFRZM2l-kI6sxh-2FTPOXokT85yLQ6DLhW0WtRBxo/s1600/DrSeussCar1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Suess' design influences</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpnVGJeH16ReaaKA4pJmsqG-TlPyQIUWi9Fr1L0F4OCuPUFAEwbla7vPfpKYV1FXn57CF8HCIUQghyphenhyphenbKb5dt0wLvL7337TkU8eQ2UGP_pnz_wouU79x9Fk65jYCuNmLNo0rO5jj__zeo/s1600/DrSeussCar2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpnVGJeH16ReaaKA4pJmsqG-TlPyQIUWi9Fr1L0F4OCuPUFAEwbla7vPfpKYV1FXn57CF8HCIUQghyphenhyphenbKb5dt0wLvL7337TkU8eQ2UGP_pnz_wouU79x9Fk65jYCuNmLNo0rO5jj__zeo/s1600/DrSeussCar2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Suess' design influences</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have a niece and nephew (seven and five years old) who
actually enjoy the car and its funky look on short trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They call it the “Purple Car”, which is the
same color as their favorite afternoon hangout in San Jose - the "Purple
Building" (also known as the Children's Discovery Museum).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes they call the car the “funny car” –
I’m guessing because of its looks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course <em>funny car</em> is both a compliment and a slap in the face from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funny is endearing and welcoming, which I
believe was Dr. Seuss’ goal in the design of all of his characters and their
possessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only problem here is
that the people forking out hard-earned money for these cars are no longer
children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUZ-Q7KPB1vRgkOE8vY6yDpwStpd392glR7MZ0lmMVMSq60FJVk7ARWm0ecEjfnXcOyxgHys-EV_RoCSCd2VlaLPJQ5_FDBdFlBGfzge9EiUZLFGC07XQRE7df3oNbuaXUa1OkJjq7fI/s1600/BMW+i3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUZ-Q7KPB1vRgkOE8vY6yDpwStpd392glR7MZ0lmMVMSq60FJVk7ARWm0ecEjfnXcOyxgHys-EV_RoCSCd2VlaLPJQ5_FDBdFlBGfzge9EiUZLFGC07XQRE7df3oNbuaXUa1OkJjq7fI/s1600/BMW+i3.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The BMW i3's awkward styling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here is my theory on why electric cars look so <em>off</em> from
normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most normal looking cars attract
a lot of buyers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sexy looking cars
attract buyers in droves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the price
of these sleek looking sedans keeps the buyers at bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, why aren’t electric cars sexy looking and
affordable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Manufacturers can only build
so many electric cars in their early production runs (typically fewer than
10,000).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, they need to reduce the
demand for these cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two
approaches: raise the price or mess with the looks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, early electric car buyers have
been very value savvy, so a jacked up price had better offer superior value
(which is very hard to deliver).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
rather than following Tesla’s expensive lead, manufacturers follow the
alternative and lean on styling to dissuade most buyers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only those drivers with a sturdy constitution
can find themselves heading down the street in a bug-eyed, Picasso-styled
driving machine, allowing the manufacturers to meet the demand
comfortably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I expect that the volume
electric vehicles to come next will be much easier to look at and be seen
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Check out the Chevy Bolt.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-11693118489682080352015-03-29T23:49:00.000-07:002015-03-29T23:49:56.081-07:00More problems with the chargers at work
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Talk about people behaving badly …<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you give something away, anything, folks will be
motivated to take as much of it as they can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can see this at “fairs” (like health fairs and employment fairs) as
people walk about with the bags, pens, calendars, and fliers from the various
commercial booths they have visited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Such is the case at work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
employees feel under-compensated or under-appreciated, they look to any perks
on the job to help them cope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
case, the perk is up to four hours of free electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funny thing is that it really does not
add up to much value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most cars will
top-off after just two or three hours, and they typically draw between 3Kw and
6Kw while charging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This amounts to as
much as 24Kwh of electricity, worth about $0.87 to $3.48, with most users
getting about $1.80.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The value of the
stuff collected at a fair is worth more than this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this were added up over five days a week
for 50 weeks, that amounts to about $450 (or much less if you have PG&E’s
favorable electric-car rates).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
this does amount to a meaningful lump of change, it does not amount to any kind
of life-changing money, especially for folks that have spent $25,000 to $40,000
on an electric car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, back to my work situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the chargers are free for the first
four hours, people feel motivated to charge up as much as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is also a parking issue on campus,
so it is very inconvenient to find a vacant parking spot once you do finish
charging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two conditions have
created a real problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folks who
connect their cars to the charging stations have to run back out to their cars
before the four hours elapses and unplug their cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they don’t move their cars away because
there is no convenient parking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today I
noted three cars still parked in front of the charging station while the
charging cable was disconnected from the car (and hanging from the
charger).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also causing desperate
folks to park in spaces beside the charges that are not for parking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one case, it was blocking access to trash
facilities, and in another it was parked along the curb where no parking is
permitted, creating a slight traffic flow issue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also heard of folks charges being
interrupted by others desperate to get some juice who unplug others to connect
to their own cars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While adding more charging stations would ease some of the
problems, I believe that the more affordable solution is to stop giving away
the electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there are so many
electric cars that 12 charging hookups won’t meet the need, I would say that
the company incentive to encourage electric car use was a huge success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, I would suggest charging a very
reasonable eight cents per Kwh delivered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would dis-incent those who only want something for free but can
otherwise drive to-and-from work comfortably on a single charge, and it would
still reward folks for driving electric by subsidizing (but not eliminating)
their charging costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That would be
$1.28 instead of $3.48.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rate could
increase dramatically after four hours of charging to ensure sufficient access
to the charging stations during the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, if it were up to me, I’d have a pool of portable solar panel
roofs that you would just prop up above your car and plug in where ever you
happen to find a sunny parking spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your car would get some badly needed shade and you’d get some free juice
for your battery too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(By my
calculations, you’d get about 13 to 14 miles worth.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-35658807264651943112015-03-17T23:13:00.000-07:002015-03-17T23:13:54.503-07:00Kids and the i-MiEV<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
I think Dr. Seuss had a hand in designing the newer electric
cars (except for the Tesla).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I drive the
Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is odd-looking at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Nissan Leaf is no better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And BMW tried to give the new electric i3 a
real sense of style, but missed the mark in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Fiat 500 has a little bit of
cute-ness going for it, its cramped rear quarters makes it an impractical
choice for many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Think City, the
Scion iQ, and the Smart are just as peculiar to look at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely these cars are examples of Dr. Seuss’
design works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least the i-MiEV has an
ample interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A number of my
passengers have remarked how they were surprised that the car has as much
interior space for how short it is outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, with four doors, that interior space is easy to get to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The i3 is similarly useful inside.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it seems that the biggest fans of this
car are kids.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr44XB9lP812TgvSWCYnlGBnozqfv0qGuBMuHd8-lDJGGCyr_cVq4LvSzyiOvtX7kjVg7hPGZ7rvlgiG1QEIxifoBH4ZG3Hhh0y8hA4ZzyDyYQwpmTGfc7MSPaZPAWkHCNeIegyP-Tn0k/s1600/DrSeussCar1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr44XB9lP812TgvSWCYnlGBnozqfv0qGuBMuHd8-lDJGGCyr_cVq4LvSzyiOvtX7kjVg7hPGZ7rvlgiG1QEIxifoBH4ZG3Hhh0y8hA4ZzyDyYQwpmTGfc7MSPaZPAWkHCNeIegyP-Tn0k/s1600/DrSeussCar1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If Dr. Seuss had designed a car</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I have a niece and nephew (seven and five years old) who
actually enjoy the car and its funky look on short trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They call it the “Purple Car”, which is the
same color as their favorite afternoon hangout in San Jose - the "Purple
Building" (also known as the Children's Discovery Museum).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes they call the car the “funny car” –
I’m guessing because of its looks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course "funny car" is both a compliment and a slap in the face from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funny is endearing and welcoming, which I
believe was Dr. Seuss’ goal in the design of all of his characters and their
possessions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only problem here is
that the people forking out hard-earned money for these cars are no longer
children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l1LAIm1BGaRyRNqwrOKHma01gV_CGGnHX3f3y59GtDmvOn6cUd5YrQGr16v4cS-VTWDij0KOVV4gNRHCDtXurGNrNGV2AIMGuJXqQ9Sd6XV2DbrXeuVaSEo14bmE5NqqgjMKWicmPuk/s1600/BMW+i3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l1LAIm1BGaRyRNqwrOKHma01gV_CGGnHX3f3y59GtDmvOn6cUd5YrQGr16v4cS-VTWDij0KOVV4gNRHCDtXurGNrNGV2AIMGuJXqQ9Sd6XV2DbrXeuVaSEo14bmE5NqqgjMKWicmPuk/s1600/BMW+i3.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The BMW i3 and its unconventional styling</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here is my theory on why electric cars look so off from
normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most normal looking cars attract
a lot of buyers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sexy looking cars
attract buyers in droves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only the price
of these sleek looking sedans keeps the buyers at bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, why aren’t electric cars sexy looking and
affordable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Manufacturers can only build
so many electric cars in their early production runs (typically fewer than
10,000).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, they need to reduce the
demand for these cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two
approaches: raise the price or mess with the looks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, early electric car buyers have
been very value savvy, so a jacked up price had better offer superior value
(which is very hard to deliver).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
rather than following Tesla’s expensive lead, manufacturers follow the alternative
and lean on styling to dissuade most buyers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Only those drivers with a sturdy constitution can find themselves heading
down the street in a bug-eyed, Picasso-styled driving machine, allowing the
manufacturers to meet the demand comfortably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I expect that the volume electric vehicles to come next will be much
easier to look at and be seen in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Check
out the Chevy Bolt.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-24217110832837018432015-02-25T23:45:00.003-08:002015-02-25T23:45:57.360-08:00Solar panels cut my costs<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
Before I bought the electric car, the small solar-electric
system on my roof would produce about $15 of excess electricity each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the rates I pay with my solar panels, that
amounts to about 135kwh, or enough electricity to drive over 500 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Considering that I have been driving about
10,500 miles a year, that excess amount falls far short of my electric-driving
needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I knew I would need
more solar capacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I arranged to
have four more 240-watt panels installed on my roof, with an emphasis on
collecting energy from the west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
means the panels will generate the most electricity during the afternoon hours
when the summer generation rates are highest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, I have the flexibility to charge at night when the rates are the
lowest, so I can multiply the kilowatts that my system generates to meet my
needs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxAc4k0PhhkfI4B1hH6MNP1OCRxj5OdPh1X8Sq8pKSwubWvVG50nJrcddsxYz_lRUco0mIBtuyjEWMasEAoj778HOZglYL73bcI60zRNkgkBcRjCFD4LvgDc9RZ-GulcJGZRl10L0DOk/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxAc4k0PhhkfI4B1hH6MNP1OCRxj5OdPh1X8Sq8pKSwubWvVG50nJrcddsxYz_lRUco0mIBtuyjEWMasEAoj778HOZglYL73bcI60zRNkgkBcRjCFD4LvgDc9RZ-GulcJGZRl10L0DOk/s1600/IMG_1083.JPG" height="240" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My expansion solar panels that cover the extra cost of my 10,000 miles of driving.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The new panels on my roof have generated just shy of a
megawatt hour (1,000kwh) of power per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Without the peak-hour generation benefit, that would be enough power to
propel my purple car about 4,200 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More than 75% of the energy produced by my new system is generated
during the peak season, so I get a big benefit from the summer generating
schedule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also charged about 130kwh on
the ChargePoint network, which offsets about another 550 miles of driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, I over produced enough electricity
to result in a $20 credit due to me (which PG&E drops because there was no
over-production of electricity in my case).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, the new solar panels produced enough energy (using time-of-use
metering) for me to drive about 10,300 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, the bottom line is that I spent nothing to drive 10,500
miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, I had to invest $5,500
in the solar panel upgrade to eliminate my driving costs, otherwise my electric
costs would have been closer to $260 for the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If electric rates remain constant, it would
take over 21 years to recover the costs of the solar panels from a strictly
financial perspective, but knowing that my car gets much of its energy from
solar power provides an intangible benefit akin to the “value” of gambling in
Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If energy rates jump by 25%
in the next 10 years, I can break even in fewer than 18 years.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, if you factor in the savings over
gasoline propulsion, the break-even time gets much shorter (to about four
years).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-64471062384616205432015-02-17T23:23:00.001-08:002015-02-17T23:37:27.890-08:00Back up the mountain to Ridge Winery<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
After driving up successfully once, I was comfortable to
drive up the mountain to Ridge Winery again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This time, without the range-anxiety gnawing away at my mind every mile
I drove, I was able to drive more relaxed knowing well what to expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, on the way up to Ridge Winery, I
used up four bars (about 25%) of the charge, and coming back down I regenerated
about a bar and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If nothing else,
watching the bars reappear makes the whole trip worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That, and the fantastic wine at the top of
the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>… and the views.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The only oddity that I noticed was that towards the bottom
of the hill, the regenerative brakes would fade momentarily and I’d be using
the friction brakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My guess is that
this is due to overheating, but it happened only once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other thing I noticed is that you have to
get the car going about 25 MPH (or so) downhill before trying to use the
regenerative brakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t get
going this fast, the car will try to maintain the slower speed and you won’t
generate as much electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
faster speed, more electricity is generated while you coast downhill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It would seem that when going downhill at about 35 MPH, the car
generates nearly the maximum electricity to keep the car from going any faster,
but this speed is often too fast for many of the tight curves on this
road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it is better to maintain a
somewhat slower pace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdRy_F21whC3HuQ8OGghFEkNpSvJoQDpL4X9oENeY9st25yXvtyteGNYBzTnUenat74l7-kYSgHWrs2FW6jeefasm7B2WghNjutvzM8DXekC66ZB1zfcp_dhnmQAWdaEMNsnY0gxcb68/s1600/At+Ridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdRy_F21whC3HuQ8OGghFEkNpSvJoQDpL4X9oENeY9st25yXvtyteGNYBzTnUenat74l7-kYSgHWrs2FW6jeefasm7B2WghNjutvzM8DXekC66ZB1zfcp_dhnmQAWdaEMNsnY0gxcb68/s1600/At+Ridge.jpg" height="216" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1,800 feet up at Ridge Winery in Cupertino</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-11535360884273739922015-02-01T22:42:00.000-08:002015-02-01T22:42:13.026-08:00Driving slowly
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The thrill of driving a powerful gasoline powered car hard
is sensational, from the forces exerted upon you to the sound effects emitting
from the engine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should know, having
owned a number of performance cars over the past three decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From my 1982 Mercury Capri with its powerful
5.0 liter V8, to the 1987 BMW 325i with its five-speed gearbox, to the 2001
Dodge Dakota Quad Cab with its pavement shredding V8 (coupled with trailer
gearing), to my 2005 VW GTI turbo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
of these cars are great fun to drive up hills, roar down the interstate, and
pull away from a traffic light with great aplomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also share the same drawback: trying to
move slowly is a painful mix of lurching and clutch wearing strain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Switching to an automatic transmission does
little to resolve this either, as I have experienced in a Passat, an Audi A4,
and a Toyota Corolla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is,
gasoline powered cars were never designed to be driven slowly.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWeSMC0O9JrcM9vg01kU3EaVausMBzZkWgDlN1yFazV70VuOvC3jUJV4wwDU1ImSYhw6VlEfiR5B6oKOnD8nZVEfmerYrxpFGNTrthUnzl3GVTTDzIs3qSQM2hqvvYZG5LsWHn7mBYYkk/s1600/IMG_4512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWeSMC0O9JrcM9vg01kU3EaVausMBzZkWgDlN1yFazV70VuOvC3jUJV4wwDU1ImSYhw6VlEfiR5B6oKOnD8nZVEfmerYrxpFGNTrthUnzl3GVTTDzIs3qSQM2hqvvYZG5LsWHn7mBYYkk/s1600/IMG_4512.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My (former) 1982 Mercury Capri in its new garage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Who needs to drive slowly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Consider these situations …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
are stuck on I-405 approaching Century Blvd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, the traffic inches forward (literally, about 8 feet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, you need to back into a gently sloping
driveway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, while visiting San
Francisco, you have to stop at a stop sign on a 25% grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, you need to back your car into your underground
parking space around the concrete pillar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Too much gas, and you could slam your car into something not-soft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too little, and you could stall, changing
your direction of travel unexpectedly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of all of these, the most annoying is trying to follow slow-moving
traffic on the freeway that seems to lurch along.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I never expected that the electric motor would solve these
issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The instant-on torque of the
electric motor and the ability to deliver very precise amounts of current allow
the electric car to thrive in these slow-motion environments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my Mitsubishi, the (software) engineers
who programmed the motor controller were able to simulate the gasoline engine’s
inability to stand still while in gear by allowing a small amount of current to
flow to the motor while at “idle”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
software does a spectacular job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
backing into a gently upward sloping driveway, I was able to remove my foot
from the “gas pedal” and the car backed itself up the driveway at about two to
three MPH, allowing me to position the car deftly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another (software) engineering feat is just
how smoothly the car transitions from standing still to a full run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no jerk at all, and you can control
the speed as slowly as you need, down to one or two MPH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This came in very handy while inching into
the parking lot for the electric car rally and parade recently, as the backup
was over ½ a mile just to enter the parking lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It takes a while to get 500 cars into a
parking lot at the same time.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While my
electric car may be no faster than a cheap economy car on the highway, it more
than makes up for it with its slow driving manners.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-60263442237701234602015-01-24T00:18:00.000-08:002015-01-24T00:18:01.677-08:00Replacing my Level-2 charger<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
As soon as my level-2 EV charger died, I went online to find
out what was now available for home use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(This was after a futile attempt to contact the now-defunct manufacturer
about servicing my old charger.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found
some units online at Lowes, but the only unit that looked promising was the GE
charging station, and it was also the most expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The less expensive models lacked the amperage
or the plug that I was looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
found similar results at Home Depot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
I remembered the EV charger that was being given away at the Electric Auto
Association Silicon Valley rally at De Anza College back in September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I dug through the business cards in my
desk drawer at home and found it: Clipper Creek.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One thing that I liked about Clipper Creek is that, not only
are they an American company, but they are also a California company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, and the price of their 32-amp charger
was about $150 to $300 less than the competition’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked the Clipper Creek web site and
found some specifications and installation instructions for the model I wanted
(with a 220-volt plug).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had some
questions about my installation and sent an e-mail to Clipper Creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They responded promptly with enough information
to address my concerns, so I was ready to place my order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One change that I would have to adapt was in
the orientation of the electrical outlet and housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cord for my (now broken) charger exited
the housing from below and wrapped around to the charger box above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This new charger (and all the others I found
for sale) limit the length of the cord to just 12 inches, forcing the cord to
exit the housing from above to feed directly to the charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This was the result of a newly adopted national
electrical standard.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just then I remembered a recall for my car that concerned a
particular EV charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time, the recall
was not for my charger, so I decided to wait for my annual service appointment
to address it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But suddenly I remembered
the charger brand in the recall and double-checked my recall paperwork – the
recall involved Clipper Creek chargers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I had to get the car serviced before I could buy the charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This further delayed getting the new charger,
but only by a few days as the dealer was able to work on my car soon after I
called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I was able to place the
order with Clipper Creek (which I did online).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzS59W1J_2EuHdYL074U9K9rFcIQyxbZiMjKpQ-obgah1upIHjB9TE9TAsNE7frtPCXCdUfeeK860LeHyyYOwBY4dm1kv1rfFzW3ZE2LlCAJDJjCssC3GtaMTIq8FXoD7Neg0a35sVDM/s1600/CC+Charger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzS59W1J_2EuHdYL074U9K9rFcIQyxbZiMjKpQ-obgah1upIHjB9TE9TAsNE7frtPCXCdUfeeK860LeHyyYOwBY4dm1kv1rfFzW3ZE2LlCAJDJjCssC3GtaMTIq8FXoD7Neg0a35sVDM/s1600/CC+Charger.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new Clipper Creek charger mounted on the wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Much to my surprise, the charger arrived the next day (and
on a Saturday, no less).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few days
later I had time to install it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed
to reorient the outlet, which was straight-forward and involved removing six
screws, rotating the outlet in place, tucking the wires back inside the outlet
box carefully, and reattaching the six screws in the new orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I also needed to cut a little more away from
the opening of the plastic housing for the larger plug.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a couple of drill holes in the wall, two
bolts, and connecting the plug to the outlet, I was ready to test the
unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I tested my first EV charger,
I plugged everything in without worrying about problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, after having dealt with the recall
(which was essentially a firmware update), I was more nervous because I wasn’t
confident that the firmware update would work for my new charger model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I threw the switch on the circuit
breaker and the status light came on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
connected the charger plug to the car, heard a loud click, and the car began
charging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I let out a sigh of relief
because I would no longer have to depend on the slow-charging level-1 charger
that came with the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could drive the
distance again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-84499430260018000202015-01-16T22:40:00.000-08:002015-01-16T22:40:07.521-08:00Pile it in<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
When you drive a car the size of a pill-box on the outside,
it’s sometimes hard to believe what you can carry on the inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While my car is about the length of a Mini
Cooper, inside there is much more room, especially with the rear seats folded
flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the Mini (and most other
tiny cars), the Mitsubishi i-MiEV was optimized for an electric
drivetrain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no bulky three- or
four-cylinder engine, no transaxle with spinning cogs and flywheels, no
muffler, and no gas tank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The car is
propelled by an efficient electric motor that is installed between the two rear
wheels, with the batteries stored beneath each of the seats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By raising the roofline to compensate for the
batteries underneath, nearly the entire length of the car can be devoted to
passenger (and cargo) space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Admittedly,
the car will carry only four people, which is an acceptable limitation for
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I can squeeze six into my four-door
pickup on those rare occasions that I need the extra people capacity.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the real value of this car’s interior
dimensions lies in its ability to accommodate cargo with the rear seats folded
down.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On the few occasions I have taken my car in for service, I
always toss my bicycle into the back with the front tire removed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bike fits easily like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(When taking my old 1987 BMW 325i to the
mechanic, I would have to remove both wheels to fit the bike into the
trunk.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That the bike would fit came as
no surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What surprised me was when
I undertook a repainting project that spanned a few weekends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I brought supplies to this
apartment being repainted in multiple loads, I was astounded that I was able to
return with all the supplies in one load.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>See for yourself in the photos below, but the load contained several
storage bins full of supplies, a few paint cans and a five-gallon can, drop
cloths, cleaning gear, and a full-size dolly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, as you can see, my view to the rear was
not obstructed by the cargo either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since that job, whenever I check out an electric car, I first look at
the rear cargo area and whether the seats fold flat before I even consider the
car for my future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Sorry Ford Focus,
but this was a major deal-breaker.)</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VPRg7Z-PH1-cLF5qsQK36XP4b5r6fYa1Yx6P-W_3BLMbbXCrVzxCtqgn-HKdUnRxQlCDBMkAqxCOlpDUZLWIBuuuvXNXEIl1SdyIHTv8vhot9bM1jjzba6i1ZNj50PdQC-ssXniy_Uk/s1600/IMAG0408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VPRg7Z-PH1-cLF5qsQK36XP4b5r6fYa1Yx6P-W_3BLMbbXCrVzxCtqgn-HKdUnRxQlCDBMkAqxCOlpDUZLWIBuuuvXNXEIl1SdyIHTv8vhot9bM1jjzba6i1ZNj50PdQC-ssXniy_Uk/s1600/IMAG0408.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All this stuff just came out of the I-MiEV (see next picture)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdA36NXXzBek_STzAbcb8hbNYV2qLLEoFNqLH7IiB9fmoEZgd6L7VIa5H0MOTGBd5J-9bJFMTOPDx6if3836mhQPIfCYebi8-nub7v1MkAan3fTFkdlCRXpgmDlckPdARdnU-LO-E3Zg/s1600/IMAG0407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdA36NXXzBek_STzAbcb8hbNYV2qLLEoFNqLH7IiB9fmoEZgd6L7VIa5H0MOTGBd5J-9bJFMTOPDx6if3836mhQPIfCYebi8-nub7v1MkAan3fTFkdlCRXpgmDlckPdARdnU-LO-E3Zg/s1600/IMAG0407.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the stuff that fits easily inside the I-MiEV with the rear seats folded flat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-88203385894578525382015-01-11T12:40:00.000-08:002015-01-11T12:40:05.919-08:00Demand for charges at work increases<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
My company recently installed enough level-2 EV chargers to meet
the electric-car driving needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
not always available, it was usually easy to find an open spot or two after
3:00 or so in the afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, since
all of the new chargers are hooked into the ChargePoint network, it was easy to
go online and see which, if any, of the chargers are available at any given
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, there was EV peace on the
campus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, in a cost-cutting effort, one of the other campuses (which
also was home to a substantial EV population) was closed and all the folks
moved to the site where I work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, the
infrastructure that was barely adequate to meet the needs of its employees is
now taxed and stretched thin as twice the number of people make a vailed effort
to cooperate and share the charging spots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each charger is set to charge for free for the first four hours, and then
the cost jumps to $10/hour while connected (whether drawing current or not).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, there is a financial incentive to not
remain hooked up to the charges for too long, but this is still
inadequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mailing list has been set
up so that the early arrivers can announce when they disconnect (as a heads-up
to others), but only two or three people use it regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every day there is rivalry for the charging
spots (to the point of bad behavior).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Recently, people have been sending out reports of being
disconnected, of others not moving their vehicles as soon as they have finished
charging, and people parking in spaces not designated for parking in order to
connect their car while someone else neglects their now fully-charged
vehicle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(After all, once you have your
charge, your own needs have been met.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
see some possible solutions to this big problem, all of which may be needed to
remedy the situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) Add more
charging stations, both free and some that are reasonably priced (for all-day
recharging).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2) Reduce the number of
free-charging hours from four to three (or two and a half?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3) When installing chargers, cluster two units
with four hookups so that eight (or more?) cars can share them without having
to move the cars (think spoke and wheel pattern).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would allow busy people to leave their
cars a little longer while others responsibly take over their charging
connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever designed the
one-car-per-connection model was clearly not thinking about maximizing use
among busy employees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-49269991857185343712015-01-02T17:48:00.000-08:002015-01-02T17:48:26.775-08:00Living with my Level-1 charger and charge-anxiety<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You never know how much you depend upon something until it
breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My home level-2 charger worked
perfectly for over two and a half years before it stopped working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Repairing it was not an option, so I have had
to live with the level-1 charger until I can find (and pay for) a suitable
replacement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the recent EV car rally,
I remembered Clipper Creek offering a decent product, so I looked into it
online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The unit with the wall plug will
meet my needs after I alter the installation of my 220-volt outlet to reorient
the plug for the new charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
about to order the unit when I remembered one of the recall notices that I had
yet to perform on my Mitsubishi i-MiEV involved a level-2 charger problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I scrambled through the myriad of papers
floating about my car and found the notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sure enough, the recall applies to Clipper Creek level-2 charging
stations, so I have to wait until I take my car in for the recall to get the
charger (to avoid damage to my car).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Doh!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Meanwhile, I am growing ever more tired of the slow charging
level-1 charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being able to add a
20-mile range to my car in about two hours is great with a level-2 charger, but
the same range requires six hours from my level-1 charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, my drive to work and back needs about 12
to 14 hours to recharge using my level-1 charger, which just gives me enough
time to get to work the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Thank
goodness for morning meetings handled online at home.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I need to stray from my route home, I
cannot get a full charge by morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
I need to make two long trips on the weekend, that is impractical as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, the level-1 charger is suitable for
folks that drive fewer than 35 miles a day or don’t need to drive every
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It’s worth noting that my level-1
charger draws only 1kw, while many newer level-1 chargers draw 1.4kw, reducing
the charge time by almost 30%.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, now I have learned a new anxiety that EV drivers face,
one that causes more stress than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">range-anxiety</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This angst, that nobody seems to be talking
about, is probably best called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">charge-anxiety</i>,
and has more to do with not knowing how you are going to manage to recharge
your battery before you need it again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The level-2 charger is a great soother of charge-anxiety because you
know that during your sleep, however short that might be, you can fully
recharge your battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(While level-3
chargers work much faster, they don’t finish the job – they stop once the
battery reaches 80% charge to avoid over-heating and over-charging the battery
pack.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can you reduce charge-anxiety
when you are stuck with a level-1 charger?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Find a nearby public level-2 charging station (at a store or parking
garage), plug in for about two hours, then return home to finish the job using
your level-1 charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am fortunate
enough to have several public level-2 chargers close to home, but that is not
the case for most folks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-32071168413985423682014-12-25T23:50:00.001-08:002014-12-25T23:50:07.382-08:00Gasoline prices drop<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Based on a price of about $4.00 per gallon of gasoline, I
ran some calculations to compare the cost-per-mile of driving an electric car
versus the cost of a gasoline powered car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The result was that it costs roughly 3.6 cents-per-mail to drive my
electric car and about 19 cents to drive the same mile in a gasoline powered
car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That made my savings after driving
10,000 miles about $1,540.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This assumes
an average price for fuel of about $4.00 per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In California, the last few years have seen
prices fluctuate between $3.40 in the winter and $4.60 in the summer, so the $4.00
makes a reasonable (and convenient) average.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What happens when the price of fuel drops substantially
lower in the winter months?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some recent
oil-market manipulations have dropped the price of gasoline to about $2.55 per
gallon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming that the summer price
swings by a similar amount to $3.75 per gallon, the average price over the year
might be $3.15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does this
substantially lower price affect the per-mile cost of gasoline-powered travel?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the assumptions that I listed in my
earlier post titled “Only 3 cents a mile”, the new cost-per-mile is 15.5 cents,
or about 3.5 cents less per mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
the money I would have saved during this abnormal year of relatively low fuel prices
will drop by about $350.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does this mean
I lost this money?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No … my own costs are
determined by the cost of my electricity (which was $0 last year, thanks to the
sun).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means that had I not bought my
electric car, I would have been paying less per mile this year to drive a
gasoline powered car (which lowers my hypothetical “savings”). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My biggest concern here is that the lower price of gasoline will
motivate more people to purchase bigger, heavier, gasoline-powered cars,
trucks, and SUV’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These larger vehicles
require more power to move them, which demands a larger engine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, to compete in the race for ever more
horsepower and faster acceleration, these bigger vehicles need even larger
engines to be able to keep up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of
this generally means that more people driving these vehicles will burn more
gasoline needlessly, without much concern for how the emissions from these
larger engines impact our planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High
gasoline prices were actually helping to slow the rise in emissions by
motivating people to favor better fuel economy when it came time to buy a car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-30814132056969726232014-12-16T23:05:00.001-08:002014-12-16T23:07:59.882-08:00My home charger dies<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What a shock!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(pun)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I plugged my car in,
activated the charger, and then went to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the morning I needed to take a short trip and was surprised to see
that the car had not charged at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was running short on time and had to drive on the remaining charge in the
battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I returned home, I again
connected the level-2 charger and activated it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It came on for about three seconds, then shut off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This repeated about five times until I
abandoned my attempts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to
drive to a nearby public charging station to determine whether my car was at
fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I connected and the car began
charging without any problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, now I
am faced with two problems:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First, I have to charge using my level-1 (110-volt) charger
until I am able to install a replacement charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means that I must plug in the car the moment
I return home from work in order for it to charge fully before I need to leave
in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should take about 13
to 14 hours to fully recharge after my drive, and plugging in at 8:00pm gives
me just enough time to accomplish this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can plug in even later
and expect a full charge before noon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, the level-1 charger is working for me, although just barely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really do need to replace the level-2
charger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Second, I have to find a level-2 charger that meets my
needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My charger is installed outdoors,
so this means I need a weather-proof enclosure for the charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also have a 220-volt outdoor outlet with a
weather case installed, which means I cannot easily adapt to a hard-wired
charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two requirements eliminate
most chargers from consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
those that do remain have only a 12-inch receptacle cord, which is not very
compatible with an outdoor installation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My old charger has a 3-foot cord to plug into the wall and I was able to
mount the opening to the weather-protecting box on the bottom side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To accommodate these new chargers, I will
need to remount the box (and outlet inside) so that the hole is on the upward
side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll also need to add an O-ring to
the cable to further block any moisture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(It seems that new national electrical standards require that the wall
cord be 12-inches long.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHc559Jmy77eRcfY7cdNGVDv6rA2YPr2ZJ_zFpTyeolXxU7Tnh921UZlxjcnSWfcAoAV4KWWlWQWXX76t_mOxSceWEaS0XqSVe-_TEUHCBHXDxTvs1FfKfnTplWg5tQ5lQ9L4kni_iL4/s1600/IMAG0498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHc559Jmy77eRcfY7cdNGVDv6rA2YPr2ZJ_zFpTyeolXxU7Tnh921UZlxjcnSWfcAoAV4KWWlWQWXX76t_mOxSceWEaS0XqSVe-_TEUHCBHXDxTvs1FfKfnTplWg5tQ5lQ9L4kni_iL4/s1600/IMAG0498.jpg" height="320" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My original level-2 charger by EV-Charge America</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I did try to have the two-year old charger repaired, but
apparently I was one of the luckier customers of this charger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many customers never received a charger (or a
refund), and others received defective units that never worked (and were
leaking a black ooze).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My charger worked
flawlessly for 31 months before giving up the ghost, so I guess I should count
my blessings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While researching repair
information, I found a few articles mentioning law-suits against the
manufacturer and a jail sentence for the company's owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The irony is that I felt that this product (when working) was superior
in many ways to the competition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
just too bad that EV-Charge America could not have found a way to bring this
product to market successfully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll let you know what I buy as a replacement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-61250006509178552002014-12-09T23:19:00.000-08:002014-12-09T23:19:51.714-08:00First trip up the mountain<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
After driving the i-MiEV for several months, I wanted to
test its capability and range under more unusual driving conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew that the car used more electricity
driving uphill than on a level surface, and it had been a while since my last
visit to the mountaintop winery near me, so I decided to head up the
mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first thing I checked was
the distance to the winery from my home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The routing suggested by Google Maps was the obvious and most direct
route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This route starts off with 11.2
miles of freeway (each way) which would draw down the battery by about 7kwh
round-trip, or a little less than half the charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That left more than half the charge to get up
the mountain and back down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
another 3.5 miles to the start of the mountain climb, and 4.3 miles up the
mountain (about 1,500 feet of elevation change).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figured that if I could make it up the
mountain on 6kwh, I would get home safely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(That amounts to 0.72 miles per kwh, which is terrible.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I decided to go forward with the trip.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ciCMWTKWpiEY9HioFH8WPMKZ3DXbm2TPyAcqnT097rrVnOC6hPVn3EySc05_85ysb3ThSTXCnQ5_7dReNkrZlIM-OHfYPQlvsWebMRBeTIIjVYx7FrssYRcSfQhYQGIbSLHostnpU2s/s1600/Monte+Bello+Route.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ciCMWTKWpiEY9HioFH8WPMKZ3DXbm2TPyAcqnT097rrVnOC6hPVn3EySc05_85ysb3ThSTXCnQ5_7dReNkrZlIM-OHfYPQlvsWebMRBeTIIjVYx7FrssYRcSfQhYQGIbSLHostnpU2s/s1600/Monte+Bello+Route.gif" height="159" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Google Maps' proposed route up to Ridge's Monte Bello tasting room</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I started driving, I created turn-back thresholds for the
battery consumption in my mind, beyond which I would have to turn the car
around and head home before reaching my destination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the sad impact that range anxiety has
on us poor fools who overthink or over-worry about their electric cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, it’s better to be prepared for
failure than to deal with the consequences of going too far up a mountain
road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I reached the base of the road
up the mountain, the charge meter showed that I had used four ticks (which
amounts to 4kwh), as expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I
continued up the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can imagine
my <em>shock</em> after driving the first mile and watching another tick (1kwh)
disappear from the gauge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, at this
rate, I would make it to the winery with energy to spare, so I trudged on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second and third ticks disappeared with
less of a shock as I noticed the rate continued at about 1kwh per mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally I arrived at the winery with about a
half a charge remaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive home
would use less energy, so I knew I would make it home safely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After enjoying a modest wine tasting and giving my body a
little time to process the tasty stuff, I left the winery for my drive
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the drive down the
mountain required very little energy, and often times I was regenerating while
the road sloped downward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nearly as
shocking as watching the first tick disappear while driving up was watching the
first tick <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reappear</i> on the way back
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, the shock put a smile
on my face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I had reached
the bottom of the hill, I had regenerated about one and a half ticks (1.5kwh).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I was faced with driving the remaining 12
miles on the highway with the 9kwh charge remaining in the battery (about 30
miles of range), which I could do easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, in all my worry about getting up the mountain, I forgot to factor in
the regenerative effect of driving back down the mountain, which changes the
amount of charge needed to complete the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So, here is the mind game about driving an electric car with
regenerative braking up and down a mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I used about 3kwh of electricity to drive about 9 miles up and back down
the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This rate of energy
consumption is a little worse than it is when driving on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the trick is that without at least 4kwh
of charge in the battery, I never would have made it to the top of the
mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I needed more than I used on
the whole trip just to get half-way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It is conundrums like this that have me thinking </span>I’ll stick to being a flat-lander.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-48012101552032443922014-11-29T14:44:00.000-08:002014-11-29T14:44:00.884-08:00Level-2 chargers arrive at work<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When my company moved me to its consolidated location, I was
no longer one of the only electric cars on site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would seem that there were nearly a dozen
of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To accommodate the need to
recharge our electric vehicles, the company allowed the electric cars to make
use of the various landscaping outlets that could be found around the
campus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These few 110-volt plugs were in
high demand and provided very little distance to anyone who connected late in
the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my case, six hours of
charging would give me about fifteen miles of range, so most of the time it was
not worth the effort to hunt down an open outlet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My employer even made an effort to install
three new 110-volt outlets by the main entrance to the facility (which was over
½ mile from my desk), and these three outlets quickly became the most popular
on campus.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Then, Tesla released its Model-S sedan and electric cars
became fashionable accessories for the executive set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two level-2 (220-volt) charges were installed
in close proximity to the executive offices, allowing four cars to get a
reasonable charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was installed in
the small parking lot just outside the executive offices, and the other was
installed in the guest parking outside of the new executive reception
center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither of these level-2
chargers was convenient for the rest of the workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, I was able to walk the ten minutes and
climb the four levels of terraced buildings to be able to plug in my car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even after 4:00 (when the early chargers
would rush home), I could still get in about 2.5 hours of charging giving me an
extra 25 miles of range.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Luckily for the environment, electric car popularity in
Silicon Valley boomed and more electric cars were showing up at work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately for me, that meant fewer
opportunities to charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about the
same time that my office was moved closer to the original level-2 charges, four
new level-2 charge points were added to the campus, bringing the capacity to
twelve electric cars charging at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They also installed solar panels on all the roofs to generate clean
electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, to ensure greater
access to all EV drivers, they imposed a limit of four free hours of charging,
with subsequent hours being charged a fee (fine?) of $10.00 per hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea is that the company would help you
complete your trip, not provide all of your driving electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now there are more access points on campus,
two of which are fairly convenient, and I am usually able to find a vacant spot
after 4:00 for when I could use the extra comfort-zone for my drive home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05229348586384579146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6132782247437542093.post-86856584716794836332014-11-21T16:50:00.001-08:002014-11-21T16:50:07.849-08:00Eco versus Drive
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Although the electric car comes with a transmission (and a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shifter</i>), this is not your traditional
transmission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A gasoline engine cannot
stop turning, and its range of efficient operation is more limited than an
electric motor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To work around this,
gasoline cars had 2-speed transmissions in the 1950’s, 3-speed transmissions in
the 1960’s, 4-speed transmissions in the 1980’s, and so on to the point that
Chrysler has released a 9-speed automatic transmission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these transmission speeds (or gears)
are designed to improve how a smaller gasoline engine can work harder when
needed and slack off while cruising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
back up, the transmission includes a gears with reverse threading to turn the
wheels backwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The automatic
transmission also includes a slippage mechanism that allows the vehicle to
remain at rest while the engine continues to run, costing it low-speed
efficiency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By contrast, the electric vehicle has just one <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speed</i> that is always engaged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is possible because of several
factors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The electric motor can start
turning from a standstill (without a slippage mechanism), and it requires no
complicated change of gears to get up to speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also, direction can be controlled by changing electric polarity to the motor, so there is no
need for a separate gear for backing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, in an electric car, most of the transmission functionality is
handled virtually via an electronic controller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1F6cYqIMiKZLaQPEx-E4VbFoM6-tSb6vTrIwXIUf0RYcpSkmt3Fm7Ko2NdQV7BiTz6rWsiIa-vaELkKoyQdd3wPgdC_oDqJfeKb7dUsJemx6uK4CdygHfwX-SitULYf_RIMmNRKNuRY/s1600/i-MiEV+Shifter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1F6cYqIMiKZLaQPEx-E4VbFoM6-tSb6vTrIwXIUf0RYcpSkmt3Fm7Ko2NdQV7BiTz6rWsiIa-vaELkKoyQdd3wPgdC_oDqJfeKb7dUsJemx6uK4CdygHfwX-SitULYf_RIMmNRKNuRY/s1600/i-MiEV+Shifter.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "shifter" on my Mistubisih I-MiEV in its usual position (Eco)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of course, maintaining a familiar set of levers and knobs to
operate the electric car makes it easier for most people to adopt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Mitsubishi i-MiEV includes a traditional
shift lever for selecting the different operating modes (just like a
conventional transmission selector) and includes positions for drive (D),
economy (E), and brake (B).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These three
modes affect the programming of the electric motor controller and how much
electricity flows between the motor and battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In drive (D), the motor is delivered maximum
electric current, but regeneration when not braking is minimized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In economy (E), the power delivery is slowed,
smoothing out accelerator pedal response and reducing energy consumption while
increasing the regenerative effect when not braking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, brake (B) combines the drive (D)
mode responsiveness with stronger regeneration than economy (E) and is most
useful when driving on long hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note
that regeneration is the same in all modes when using the brake pedal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I usually drive using economy (E) because my route is mostly
level and this mode results in a smooth delivery of power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to increasing my driving range
slightly, it makes for very comfortable acceleration and makes it easier to
maintain a steady pace on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In drive (D) mode, the motor response is more <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">punchy</i>, with more immediate response at slower speeds and making it
harder to maintain a steady pace on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For nearly all driving situations, economy
(E) is the more comfortable, predictable, and economical mode for driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This changes the moment I get into
stop-and-start traffic on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because regenerative slowing does not light the brake lights, I do not
feel safe relying on regenerative slowing in heavy traffic, so I switch to
drive (D) whenever traffic gets slow on the freeway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This way, I communicate my slowing clearly to
the drivers behind me. </span></div>
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