On my way to Wisconsin to be with my Dad for a week, I spent the night in Mackinaw City. The hotel has electrical outlets on their light posts so that semi trucks can run the battery warmers on their rigs in cold weather.
I parked the Chevy Volt and plugged in. On long trips the Volt relies on it's ICE (internal combustion engine) to run the electrical generator. My Volt goes about 300 miles at 72 mph (I drive a tad bit over limit) on 6 to 7 gallons of premium gas. The Volt gets better mileage right around 55 mph, but I drove I-75 yesterday and needed to be at interstate speed.
So adding a full charge overnight is like taking on an extra gallon of fuel since the car picks up almost 10 kilowatt hours per charge. More and more hotels are welcoming electric vehicles. When I ask at check in, they know right where to direct me. A year ago the request was meet with "let me ask someone." Now it's clear that desk clerks get an EV request often.
Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler
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