Plug Me In

My Chevy Volt will roll 52,000 miles sometime in the next few days. I'm still in love with this great car, if indeed one can say that one is "in love" with a machine like a plug in electric vehicle (PEV).

Last Friday I was in Rochester Hills and parked at the charging station in The Villages at Rochester Hills. There are two spaces for electric vehicles to park but the cords on the charging station are really long and can easily reach a third space.

I parked, plugged in and went about my errands. When I returned to my Volt, there was a note in the door of my car. "Please plug me in. . ," it said.

So, for the first time, I got to figure out how to plug in a Nissan Leaf.

One of the things I love about driving an electric vehicle is the camaraderie that develops among owners. Those of us who drive PEVs have stories to tell of miles per gallon, miles per charge, kilowatts used, carbon avoided.

I look forward to a day in the very near future when three PEVs lined up in front of one charging station will be a rarity because we will all be using some form of alternative, non gasoline powered vehicles and "plug me in" will be what we do when we park our cars.

Charging the Chevy Volt, Free (No Fooling)

Credit card in hand, I pulled up to a double charging station in Rochester Hills one day last week. Usually I have to run my credit card through a card reader, choose how many hours or kilowatts the car needs, and plug in my Chevy Volt.

Lo and behold, this station, sponsored by Detroit Edison, is free. When I returned to get my car, another Volt was beside mine, also charging, at the free station.

I picked up 29 miles of range, just from three hours of charge. In a way, that's like getting almost a gallon of gas free.

Now there are not a lot of plug in electric vehicles (PEVs) on the road yet. And the cost of such a car is high for those of us who are "early adopters." So, it is a pleasant surprise to have a free charge when I stop at this particular parking lot (corner of Adams and Walton Boulevard, west side of Villages at Rochester Hills).

Thanks, Detroit Edison, for providing the charging platform for electric vehicles. I know it's only one place, but it is good to see times changing in the automotive world. No fooling.

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

First 20,000 Miles

It was a Red Letter Day yesterday when the Chevy Volt's odometer turned 20,000 miles yesterday on the way back from Sunday brunch, a drive that is about 40 miles round trip.

Most of the trip was made running in EV (electric vehicle) mode. The trip down the shoreline to Mary's Diner in Port Sanilac is pretty much straight, flat driving, so I can't pick up much regen charge. The Volt hit the 20,000 mark while it was running on electric. Smart car.

Yesterday was also National Plug In Day, a national event sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Association to bring attention to the benefits of PEVs (Plug-In Electric Vehicles). I thought that it was pretty cool that my Chevy Volt hit the 20,000 mile mark in a rural Michigan county on a day when people in over 50 cities across the U.S. were learning more about electric vehicles.

My Volt is still the only PEV in Huron County that's regularly running the county's roads and highways. Like I keep saying, it's a great car.


Copyright 2012
Wanda Hayes Eichler