Honey, Will You Fill up the Car?

Sometimes, the last one in a couple to go to bed ends up filling up the car. (That would be me.) With the gas-powered car, that meant getting suitably clothed and shod, driving to the gas station, standing outside while the gas pumps into the tank, cleaning the windshield, possibly checking the oil, paying, and driving home, parking, and returning to prior state of clothing. All told, it was probably a 20 to 25 minute ritual from start to finish, including two wardrobe adjustments. With my EV, if I needed to fill up away from home, it would take the better part of an hour for a fast-charge. 

Living in a house with a driveway (and a garage), I am able to install an EV charger at my home. This is a tremendous convenience. Now, filling up the car involves putting on anything suitable for walking outside, plugging in the car, and walking back inside. I usually plug in at night so the car can charge while I’m sleeping. By morning, the car is waiting in the driveway fully charged and ready to go. Usually, the car reaches a full charge in about three to five hours, so charging at night is the most convenient for me.

My home Clipper Creek charger

While I no longer need to check the oil level, there are still two car maintenance tasks that I used to do at the gas station that are slightly less convenient at home. The first is cleaning the windows. Over the years, I have become adept at cleaning the windows using the gas station squeegee. Now I have to use a bottle of Windex and a cleaning rag – and to remember to do so. The squeegee does a slightly better job with less effort. The second is pumping up the tires. Luckily, I have been driving EVs with narrow tires that are fairly easy to pump up using a bicycle tire pump. I can’t imagine trying to pump up all four of the tires on a pickup truck using the bicycle pump. Luckily, this is not a task I need to do with every “fill-up”.