No more gas stations

I always think about how amusing it would be to pull into a gas station in my i-MiEV and ask for help finding where to connect the gas pump.  Somehow, the rational side of my brain says not to do that, so I only visit the gas station on those rare times that I have forgotten to clean the windshield and I’d really like to see out of the car.  That amounts to six or ten visits to a gas station a year.  My new service station is in my driveway. 

Every night, after 9:00pm (when the electric rates drop for me), I plug in the car.  The next morning I awaken to a full charge.  This is the trade-off with a gasoline powered car: no more hanging around the gas station.  The biggest problem is dust and dirt build-up on the wind shield, but that is easy to clean off (if you remember to do it).  Checking the tire pressure is more important in an electric vehicle, and I find that the skinny tires on the electric car need only about a dozen pumps from a bicycle pump each month to keep them maintained.  There is no oil to check.  And best of all, there’s no waiting for a pump.  Of course, I don’t get many opportunities outside of work to interact with the world, and the gas station used to be one of them.  Somebody needs to combine electric-car charging stations with coffee, laundry, and other social activities to get us back into the world.

An ordinary bike pump easily keeps my tired inflated.