And at this point, we may move over to the new TimeHorse platform but for now, here's what we've been saying over there!
New Tesla Hardware and a birthday picture to boot! Hope to see you at what will mostly be our new home and spend another 11 years with us!
Visited the National Harbor Superchargers today with #CO2Fre and was surprised to see not any signage indicating the imminent closure. Spoke to one fellow Tesla owner as he returned to his vehicle and he had no idea about it. I took these pictures this afternoon which demonstrate there's absolutely nothing to indicate the garage will be closing this Wednesday!
On Thursday, 1 November, the National Harbor SuperChargers will be closed and removed as the property has been sold to a hotel company that wants to tear up the lot. My understanding is that the equipment will be returned to Tesla and the property owners for National Harbor have offered to allow Tesla to reinstall them in the Fleet Garage at Tesla's cost. This is a paid garage where you get a card on entry and use a pay machine to pay the card before exiting with the card. You will therefore be forced to pay $5 for only 30 to 40 minutes of parking instead of being on the honor system as it currently is. Overall, it's unclear if Tesla will take them up on this offer, or consider moving to free parking at Tanger's Mall down the street. The Springfield Supercharger will remain opened.
I, for one shall be boycotting the new hotel. It breaks my heart to lose these as I work very close by and have only been able to use them twice in my 9 weeks driving #CO2Fre.
As y'all may have heard, #CO2Fre got an upgrade recently. . And of course I love this car. But as someone who's already driven over 150,000 mi [240,000 km] electric miles between 3 previous EVs, I must say one of my favorite features is the free, unlimited SuperCharging that comes with it!
And if you act today, 12 September, 2018, you too can get Free, Unlimited SuperCharging. Just use my referral code!
Now get out there and accumulate those electric miles my friends!
As many of my readers know, I drive a lot. About 75 mi (120 km) a day, 1,550 mi (2,500 km) per month [for about $30–35], and about 20,000 mi (32,000 km) every year. And now that #CO2Fre (technically, she is currently white) has a mere 33,875 miles, and just over 19 months, for the first time since owning #CO2Fre2 (2012 LEAF SL, down one bar, 42,700 mi and 27 months) and #CO2Fre1 (2013 LEAF SL, full bars, 50,000 mi and 30 months), this #CO2Fre is already down two whole bars!
In fact, as you can see from LEAFSpy (Android, iOS), #CO2Fre is down to about 76.20% of it's original capacity (less than the capacity of a new 24kWh Battery LEAF) and merely just under 68% health. I will admit 64 #CHAdeMO sessions are a bit much for 19 months, but compared to 1642 Level 2 plugins, it's hardly unusual, especially within 33,875 miles.
The moral of this story, my friends, is very simple. Although I still strongly recommend a used LEAF for under $10,000 with maybe 50 mi (80 km) capacity, I have but one piece of advice for all my readers, especially on the cusp of the sham 150 mi (240 km) capacity 2018 too-little-too-late LEAF, my council is simply this: Do not get a Nissan, never again!
If only waiting for a Tesla Model 三 wasn't a sisyphean task.
A last-minute addition to Drive Electric Week: Manassas, back again! Not since 2013 has Manassas held an event and this year we return to where it all started at the BadWolf Brewing Company for a panel discussion about how the local environment effects a brewer. Hope you can make it: Drive Electric Week in Manassas
Join former Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello at the Bad Wolf Brewery for a panel discussion about the environment, How the Local Environment Effects Brewing. Bad Wolf Brewing is returning as an event host from 2013 and is excited to be a part of Drive Electric Week again this year.
We will be gathering our cars behind the brewery, near the patio, and have them available to discussion participants to chat about electric cars and how they are an important part of the sustainability equation, as well as all the other awesome advantages an electric ride can bring.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESeptember 7, 2016 |
NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Events on Saturday, 10 September in Ashland, VA, Woodbridge, VA, and Saturday, 17 September, in Arlington, VA
Herndon, VA, September 7, 2016– Drive Electric Week celebrates its 6th year in Virginia and first annual Electric Car Rally from Richmond to Woodbridge
There’s no better home for Electric Cars than in the land of Jefferson and Washington, in the spirit of keeping Virginia green.
All are invited to come and learn more about electric cars with 3 local, Northern Virginia events in 2016. Meet local Electric Car drivers who will be sharing their experiences with driving an Electric Car in the Capitol region. Nothing speaks more highly of the popularity of Electric Cars in Virginia than the experiences of those who drive them every day, rain or shine, in every season of the year.
Firstly, on Saturday, 10 September, local electric car drivers will gather at MOM’s Organic Market in Woodbridge, VA, to celebrate the electric car and kick off Drive Electric Week in Virginia. Snacks will be provided by MOM’s and anyone interested may sign up for a silent auction of various donated items from local businesses such as MOM’s Organic Market and Stone’s Cove KitBar. Lindsay Chevrolet will also be there with a new Volt.
On Saturday, 17 September, we move the event to MOM’s Organic Market in Arlington, just outside of the Nation’s Capital, across from McCoy Park and the Custis Trail. The silent auction continues in Arlington while snacks are again provided by MOM’s Organic Market. Local Electric Car dealers have also been contacted and we hope to have a number of new models on display.
Also, in Ashland, Virginia, on 10 September, we are holding the first annual Electric Car Road Rally from Richmond to Woodbridge. This event mirrors similar rallies from the dawn of the motor car in the 1910s, back when Electric Cars were as popular as gasoline cars, before the advent of the electric starter. And upon arriving in Woodbridge, at 14:00, Prince William Supervisor Frank Principi is scheduled to speak in recognition of Drive Electric Week 2016.
National Drive Electric Week is an annual event sponsored by Plug-In America, the Electric Auto Association, and the Sierra Club.
Save money and support the environment, all while using 100% domestically produced energy. Experience what it means to drive an Electric Car yourself.
# # #
If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Jeffrey C. Jacobs at 703-209-2976 or email at aecn@timehorse.com.
Further information:
Official Woodbridge Event Page: https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=634
Official Arlington Event Page: https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=632
Official Richmond to Woodbridge Rally Page: http://chargetonova.eventbrite.com/
Affordable Electric Car NOW: http://aecn.timehorse.com/
On 3 February, 2015, I had only two things I wished to accomplish: Attend Clean Energy Lobby Day 2015 in Richmond, Virginia and visit with some friends in Elkridge, Maryland. On any given day, Elkridge would be tricky but doable and Richmond would be a trial but to do both in one day, some might call me insane. Yet that's exactly what I did and thanks to LEAF Spy I can take you on that journey with me, through all the slow, meandering drive at 06:00 to the frantic search for the Richmond Omni Hotel to a relaxing sunset in Stafford, VA to the mystery of the South-West beltway to a dash to be home before midnight. So come with me along an exciting journey of 302 mi (486 km) in one day in #CO2Fre Nissan LEAF.
In the maps below, not only is my route shown, but my State of Charge is indicated by the colour of the segment. A green segment represents a near complete charge, a yellow segment a battery at 50% and a red segment is pretty much just the infamous turtle 
.
I had intended to wake at 05:00 that morning but ended up oversleeping and was not on the road until about 06:00, much to my chagrin. None the less, I knew it I could make it to my first checkpoint of Pohanka Nissan of Fredericksburg, 61 mi (98 km) from home. Ideally, I could have gone farther but that was the last CHAdeMO before Ashland, VA—19 mi (30 km) from Richmond—which is 97.9 mi (157 km) from my home and thus to risky for #CO2Fre in my experience. So Fredericksburg it was and to be absolutely safe I used ECO routing which meant, as you can see on the map, I avoided the Capital Beltway and stuck to the lesser roads in more or less a straight line.
I got stuck behind a couple school buses on the way there but fortunately I passed by one just before his lights flashed so no Class 6 Misdemeanor on my permanent record for me. Other than that, the drive was uneventful and although I missed the turning and took a little time to find the CHAdeMO, I plugged in and set my timer for 30 minutes. Little did I know these CHAdeMO units, unlike the NRG eVgo run units, will not stop after 30 minutes and can run until your LEAF is full—which is good because often times the CHAdeMO will cut off before reaching 80% because of the 30 minute timer.
Not charging to 100% in Fredericksburg, however, would lead to some dire consequences.
I was running late so I decided to forsake ECO routing and book down to Richmond as fast as I could.&nbps; For a spell I could see an unmarked car pacing me though so I avoided going too fast. As I approached Richmond, ideally, a mere 53.3 mi (85.8 km) from where I started, I noticed my battery capacity dropping precipitously and began to slow my roll. First, I slowed to 10 mph (16 kmph) below the speed limit. As I lost another state of charge bar, I went down to 20 mph (32 kmph) below. By the time I was down to my third bar I was going only 25 mph (40 kmph) on I95, desperate to make it.
I finally crawled into Richmond about 15 minutes late for my meeting with Delegate Robert Bell, and I still needed to park. I had sunk to Very Low Battery by the time I got near the hotel and had only about 6 GIDs left according to LEAF Spy. I just needed to find the hotel where I could charge my car using L2 since I planned to be in Richmond for several hours.
The LEAF navigation got me within about a block of the Richmond Omni Hotel so I knew I was close. As you can see, I circled and circled East Cary Steet, South 12th Street, East Main Street, back down 10th Street and round again. I eventually pulled into the Bank of America with the turtle clearly visible on my dashboard and LEAF Spy reading only 5 GIDs left. I knew from experience that at 4 GIDs the LEAF goes dead and you need a tow and the last thing I needed was to be stuck in Richmond, meters from my target, late for my appointment, waiting for an hour for a free tow to the nearest charging station and the 2013 Nissan LEAF leaves little room between 5 GIDs and the deadly 4—if you see the turtle, usually it's too late.
I finally parked in the Bank of America lot and called the hotel for directions. After going around the parking lot one more time, and paying for just passing through, I spotted a standard, NEMA 5-20 wall plug at the parking lot exit. I pulled out my charging paraphernalia and set my custom EVSE to draw 16A from the 20A socket. Unfortunately, because of the cord length, I ended up blocking the exit to the parking lot so when I car did try and exit, I had to pull out my 100 foot (30 m) extension cord and move my car to get out of the other car's way. I parked in a reserved spot, ran the cord along the exit road and resumed charging.
Eventually, the Richmond Omni Hotel and I were able to work out where I was with respect to the hotel and so I unplugged at 6 GIDs again and made my way, finally finding the hotel on South 12th Street a block below where I was. I rolled in and hotel staff directed me to the EVSE. I was saved, but alas, was an hour late for my legislative meeting and ended up profusely apologizing to Delegate Bell's staff since the delegate had already left for a General Assembly session.
As I had some time to spare on the top floor of the legislative building, I decided I'd stop in to see my own Delegate, Tom Davis Rust, who gave a heartfelt speech a few days later when he announced his retirement this year. Delegate Rust and I had a nice, social chat and I must say his staff, Shane in particular, was very helpful and I owe him a personal thanks too. Delegate Rust and I didn't speak much as I had another meeting to get to, but I will say from the bottom of my heart, we may not have agreed on every issue, but I will say it's very rare you meet a somone with office with the integrity and intelligence of Delegate Rust, and I know I'm not the only one to feel that way. We'll miss you, sir!
More to come…
It's funny how a coddled, privileged and very vocal Hybrid Car driver minority will do anything to make sure they keep every perk they've maintained for the past 20 years even to the exclusion of newer, greener technology like pure Battery Electric and Plug In Hybrid Electric vehicles. Indeed, many of those drivers will do anything to maintain their sense of superiority by producing Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, FUD, in the face of obvious facts to the countary. Recently my friend at Virginia Clean Cities had got a letter from a Hybrid driver who was worried about the I66 HOV in Virginia was going to switch from HOV-2 with a Tier 2 Clean Fuel exemption to HOT lanes with an HOV-3 requirement to waive the toll. Or course when you're spoiled by a right that is discriminating against folks more worthy, you'll do anything to keep those more worthy out while wishing to maintain your undeserved right.
Don't get me wrong, I like the Single-Occupancy HOV easements, I just think we need to step out of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Hybrids are yesterday's technology and EVs are the wave of the future. They're cleaner, more energy efficient, cheaper, let you fill your pack in the comfort of your own home and also run on 100% domestic energy. Yet Hybrid drivers are obsessed with making a case that EVs are as dirty as hybrids by citing the downstream sources of pollution when comparing EVs to Hybrids yet ignoring where one's petroleum comes from.
It took me a few minutes to calm down enough to respond to the FUD this coddled Hybrid driver was throwing in my face, but eventually, I tried to respond in the most reasoned way I knew how. This is what I said:
Dear [name removed], please don't be blinded by the propaganda. What you just said is naïve in the extreme because it posits the idea that some how petroleum comes magically to the pump with no consequences. I know exactly what Dominion Virginia Power's energy mix is, an Electric Car can be powered by Solar and even if not a driver can buy a 1.3¢⁄kWh Rider which requires Dominion to generate that much electricity from Renewables only. But even in the worst case, the Prius is dirtier than a LEAF:
Even at 50 mpg the Prius is 14% more polluting than a LEAF on regular Dominion. I'm sick of lemmings thinking they can compare where electricity comes from without taking into account the pollution from refining, disasters like the Exxon Valdez—when we're smack dab in the middle of the anniversary—as well as the deepwater horizon that nearly destroyed the shrimp economy of Louisiana, and folks clamouring for more of the same in the Alaskan Arctic and all the terrorism we're funding not just in the places you know but in places like Nigeria and Boko Haram. You do realize that a plurality of the foreign oil used in this region is coming from Nigeria?
The long and short of it, I am greener, and can be much, much greener. Can you power your car with photovoltaics? I didn't think so. And what's more, your car is just gonna get dirtier and less fuel efficient over time whereas Dominion is constantly installing cleaner power sources making even the worst case energy requirements cleaner over time, not dirtier.
Before you go spouting FUD, try to learn the facts first, please, dirty-prius driver. Thank you however for being cleaner than a Ford F150. Now can we move on without any more ad hominem attacks?
Okay, I'll admit it was a bit harsh of me to accuse a prius of being dirty. It is, of course, probably the most fuel-efficient non-plug-in car available outside of diesel—oh, but what a hybrid diesel could be. It's just that, clearly EVs are cleaner, from a little cleaner (on the standard Dominion Virginia Power fuel mix) to infinitely cleaner with a solar array. So can we finally stop with the fuel source FUD?
One if the most frustrating aspects of electric car ownership is when the second tier of charging priority1, charing ones electric car at work, be prevented due to outdated regulations, one can be left with being forced into the uncomfortable third tier, namely going out of ones way to get a suplimental charge, waiting for 30–120 minutes to get enough charge to go home. One of the biggest arguments employeers give against letting their employees charge their electric cars at work is that they'd be giving the electricity away for free, which is more than they do for traditional gasoline cars, even if the cars are only taking the equivalent of ounces of fuel. Of course, most electric car drivers, myself included, sympathise with employeers facing this conumdrum. Ideally, the employeer would see that providing $1.50 worth of electricity to an employee over the course of a day would hardly break the bank and would be a huge value-added benefit employees that helps retain your best and brightest workers.
However, what if your employer is the biggest employer in the entire United States of America? An organization that employed an estimated 4.231 million people in 2013? What about the United States Federal Government, including our men and women in uniform serving both domestically and abroad? How do we get the federal workforce the right to charge their cars at work? If we're not allowed to take a $1.50 of electricity for free, why can't the Government just shut up and take our money?
After all, it's not like the House and Senate didn't give themselves that same right in 2012. All I'm saying is what about the rest of us?
Well, thanks to Representative Zoe Lofgrin (CA-19), we almost got just that with her EV-COMUTE bill. Unfortunately, this bill went nowhere in Congress and now, with the 114th Congress we start again with a clean slate.
Now, I live in a conservative district of the nation. As such, the values and principles we have aren't always aligned with those in the more progressive parties such as the party which introduced the EV-COMUTE act. The EV-COMUTE act wasn't written in any kind of partisan way, but it strikes me that perhaps it should have in such a way that a conservative could in fact support it.
The biggest issue as I see it is an outdated regulation that prevents government employees and men and women in uniform from simply paying the treasury directly for the electricity our electric cars might be using. I therefore propose the Domestic Energy Empowerment and Deregulation act, or the DEED act. The act, as I propose would read as follows:
In order to allow the use of domestically-produced energy for the propulsion of privately owned vehicles used by the nation's Men and Women in Uniform and the Civilians and Contractors who make up the Federal Workforce. Being that current Federal Regulations prohibit this workforce from paying the Treasury for the use of locally-sourced electrical energy which could be used to power these private vehicles. To remove all regulations which prohibit the use of electricity on Federal property and authorize any office of the Federal Government which owns or operates a parking area for the use of its employees to install, construct, operate, and maintain a battery recharging station in the area, and for other purposes, and to allow any such Agency which owns this property to bill and collect for any and all electricity used for which the Federal Government is already paying or has paid.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
- SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Domestic Energy Empowerment and Deregulation Act'' or the ``DEED Act''.
- SEC. 2. OPERATION OF BATTERY RECHARGING STATIONS IN PARKING AREAS USED BY MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.
- (a) Authorization.--
- (1) In general.--
The head of any office of the Federal Government which owns or operates a parking area for the use of its employees (either directly or indirectly through a contractor) or members of the armed forces may install, construct, operate, and maintain on a reimbursable basis a battery recharging station in such area for the use of privately owned vehicles of employees and service people of the office and others who are authorized to park in such area.
- (2) Existing infrastructure.--
The head of an office may carry out paragraph (1) by making use of existing parking infrastructure through the authorization of selected, US National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 5 outlets or other electrical receptacles available and convenient to employee parking. Use of existing outlets shall be considered optimal by an office head as the lowest-cost solution.
- (3) Use of vendors.--
The head of an office may carry out paragraph (1) through a contract with a vendor, under such terms and conditions (including terms relating to the allocation between the office and the vendor of the costs of carrying out the contract) as the head of the office and the vendor may agree to.
- (b) Imposition of Fees To Cover Costs.--
- (1) Fees.--
The head of an office of the Federal Government which operates and maintains a battery recharging station under this Act shall charge fees to the individuals who use the station in such amount as is necessary to ensure that office recovers all of the costs it incurs in installing, constructing, operating, and maintaining the station.
- (2) Deposit and availability of fees.--
Any fees collected by the head of an office under this subsection shall be--
- (A) deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the appropriations account for salaries and expenses of the office; and
- (B) available for obligation without further appropriation during--
- (i) the fiscal year collected; and
- (ii) the fiscal year following the fiscal year collected.
- (c) No Effect on Existing Programs for House and Senate.--
Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect the installation, construction, operation, or maintenance of battery recharging stations by the Architect of the Capitol--
- (1) under Public Law 112-170 (2 U.S.C. 2171), relating to employees of the House of Representatives and individuals authorized to park in any parking area under the jurisdiction of the House of Representatives on the Capitol Grounds; or
- (2) under Public Law 112-167 (2 U.S.C. 2170), relating to employees of the Senate and individuals authorized to park in any parking area under the jurisdiction of the Senate on the Capitol Grounds.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2016 and each succeeding fiscal year.
Won't you write your representative to introduce or sponsor this act?
1The first tier is charging at home while one sleeps, like a mobile phone.
On Tuesday, 3 February, 2015, members of the Virginia Advanced Energies Industries Coalition (VAEIC) will be gathering in Richmond, Virginia for Clean Energy Lobby Day (CELD) 2015. The event is in co-operation with Virginia Clean Cities and the Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA)—who produce the rather repetitive and wordy Solar Flare newsletter. A number of industries in the energy sector are also sponsoring CELD, including Dominion Virginia Power, Solar City, Prospect Solar, Standard Solar, and Columbia Gas of Virginia; a complete list of sponsors is available on the official CELD page above.
Unfortunately, none of the bills under consideration in the Commerce and Labour committee solve the many problems Electric Car drivers face in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which I hope to summarize in a subsequent article. None the less, it's my desire to be a part of events like this, but usually I need to be at the job and those silly AdSense ads (sorry about those) aren't gonna pay the bills. However, due to some abuse I received at my job to which I reacted exceedingly poorly I happen to have the day off so it's absolutely my plan to be there tomorrow. That is, to drive to Richmond… 115 mi (185 km) away… in #CO2Fre Nissan LEAF… which is lucky to do 80 mi (130 km) on a good day… at 05:00 in the morning… in 20℉ (-7℃) weather… and naturally no heater…
Not only that, but in the evening I'm planning to meet some friends in Laurel, MD—land of the $35 cab to go 3.5 km (2 mi). Needless to say, if I'm to try anything as ambitious as 320 mi (515 km) in a single day, I'm gonna need some quick charging; I'm gonna need CHAdeMO.
Fortunately, thanks to the folks at NRG eVgo, various Nissan Dealers and Greenlots (not to be confused with Gringotts, though they can be just as pricy), I have some hope. First, I plan to use ECO routing to get to Pohanka Nissan in Fredricksburg, VA. From there I should be able to get straigt to Richmond, however, it's possible that the Level 2 plug at the Richmond Omni Hotel will be in use (I plan to call from Fredricksburg to make sure), so as a backup I'll hit the CHAdeMO at Mac's Service Center in Ashland, VA, which is part of Greenlots. I should therefore arrive in Richmond around 08:00, or so I hope. Fortunately, the Virginia General Assembly building should be about a 5–10 minute walk from the Omni.
I should be able to bring #CO2Fre to 100% charge at the Omni by 12:30, so if anyone needs the EVSE I'll be happy to move my car during lunch; I need enough charge to get back to Pohanka and have some left over for my next two stations. Once I'm charged at Pohanka the second time, I plan to drive all the way up to the Alexandria, VA NRG eVgo CHAdeMO. Then, it's all the way over to the Gateway Overlook in Elkridge, MD for a third CHAdeMO session.
My hope is, after the CHAdeMO in Elkridge, I should have enough energy to visit my friends in Laurel and then drive straight home. At least that's the hope…
Anyway, as I was saying, I'm planning to go down to the General Assembly on Tuesday, with a focus on a couple of environmental bills before the Commerce and Labour committee. Specifically, I'm focusing on 2 bills before the committee.
Electric utilities; costs of solar energy facilities. Authorizes an investor-owned electric utility that purchases a solar power generation facility located in the Commonwealth consisting of at least five megawatts of generating capacity to recover the costs of acquiring the facility, with an enhanced rate of return on equity, through a rate adjustment clause. The rate adjustment clause for recovering such costs may be based on a market index in lieu of a cost of service model. The measure also states that (i) the construction or purchase by a utility of such a solar power generation facility and (ii) planning and development activities for solar energy facilities are in the public interest.
The idea of this bill is to give an incentive to electric utilities which buy solar power facilities within the Commonwealth. It sets a minimum capacity of 5MW so that trivial purchases don't qualify for these incentives. The only problem is that it doesn't say much about third-party interests in terms of the initial construction of a solar generating facility. But otherwise, this seems like a good thing and something I'm happy to support.
Natural Gas Conservation and Ratemaking Efficiency Act; cost-effective programs. Requires the State Corporation Commission, when determining whether a natural gas conservation or energy efficiency program is cost-effective, to base its determination upon an evaluation of a portfolio of programs as a whole and not upon an evaluation of a program or measure on an individual basis.
The idea here is that we want the elimination of non cost-effective programs to be based on whether their elimination would make the whole package of incentives and benefits more cost-effective rather than subtracting one element and because it's removed some other benefit is hindered and thus the net effect could be worse than keeping the seemingly single less-effective subsidy in place. By allowing the State Corporation Commission to take the entire package into account, it's hoped that conservations programs can be added and removed with a guaranteed overall net benefit. This is why I support this bill.
Of course, these bills aren't the only reason I'm trying to make this insane trip to Richmond, Laurel, and back again. In July, I'm planning to go to my 5×5 joint High School reunion, up in West Hartford, CT, a 360 mi (580 km) journey with, hopefully, no 4½ hour stop-over like in Richmond. Now that's gonna take some planning!
And for fans of the game The Simpsons™ Tapped Out (on iOS or Android—Yours truly is plays under the moniker of TimeHorse, naturally), here's a picture of all three premium item Electric Cars modeled by one of the rarest of premium characters, Shauna, in her Halloween She-Devil outfit.
(Finger Tenting) Excellent.
Here some great reasons to buy and some important disclaimer for folks in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is my belief as an already electric car driver it behooves me to write the caveats in hopes that Tesla and I, once we get those papers filed and service center in Fairfax Country, Virginia on Tyco Blvd., can work together to break the backs of the hybrid lobby and show Richmond and Fairfax that Electric Cars are the future.
.png) | The US government offers a $7,500 federal tax credit when you purchase a new Tesla. |
|---|---|
| Yes, the tax credit is helpful, but only if you pay at least $7,500 in taxes. As this would typically be someone earning $40,000 per year or more, I don't think it needs a caveat since no-one earning only $40,000 per year could *every* *dream* of owning a Model S at the equivalent of 2 years salary. | .png) | Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) displaying the Virginia Clean Special Fuel license plate may use Virginia HOV lanes, regardless of the number of occupants. |
| Clean Fuel plates are grandfathered, meaning the hybrid drivers ate up all the good ones and all that's left are third-generation access that only allows HOV access on a toll road in Northern Virginia. We need to work to wrest those first-generation Clean Fuel plates attached to dirty priuses and civic hybrids from those smelly, polluting, dirty cars and reissue them to the proper, truly clean, 100% cars like the Tesla Model S and the car I drive which I won't bother mentioning because I'm just here to promote Tesla and the Model S, even while I can't afford one. But maybe this point is moot since most of the HOV lanes in Virginia are being replaced by toll-based HOT lanes where the Clean Fuel plates don't even qualify. | |
| Local governments may reduce personal property taxes paid on electric vehicles. |
| Some local governments reduce your property tax burden by as much as 50%. For example Prince William County, Arlington County and the richest county in the nation, Loudoun County, all provide property tax discounts. However, the most populous and third richest county nationally, Fairfax, provides *no* property tax discounts what-so-ever, not for hybrids, not for electrics. And the property tax on a Model S can be as high as $2,500 per year. Though I suppose if you can afford a Model S, you can afford a property tax bill which represents your approximate fuel savings. And let's not forget, Fairfax County is where the Tesla Showroom and future Service Center are located. | |
.png) | Virginia Dominion Power offers reduced residential rates for electric vehicle charging. |
| Dominion's rates are why I used to pay $2,500 on fuel before getting an EV and now pay less than $300 per year for fuel. The electric cost per kWh out of pocket (including tax, generation, distribution and all riders) can be as low as about 6¢/kWh. But there is a caveat for this too, since Dominion now requires you to put your whole house on Time of Use for this rate, meaning if you have a stay-at-home parent and kids you'll be running the air conditioner and if you have a heat pump the heater seasonally at peak rates, though the rates fall into 4 tiers so the evenings aren't too bad and the overnights are dirt cheap. They used to offer a two-meter solution but having gone this route I will say for me it's hard to consider it worth it. While the whole house solution has effectively no cost to the customer to install, the two meter solution added perhaps $1,000 more installation costs after EVSE tax credits, which would take years to realize in saving relative to the whole-house option. Then again, I calculated this based on the fact that I don't have a stay-at-home parent in my house. | |
| Electric vehicles are exempt from biannual emissions inspections. |
| True, but safety inspections are still required. Let's not let drivers forget this lest they wish to get a ticket for failing to get their car inspected annually. | |
| Most importantly… NEVER PAY FOR GAS AGAIN! |
| Again, true, but what anti-EV Richmond did, secretly in the dark of the Hybrid Lobby highly public excision of a $64 surtax is leave that surtax on Electric Vehicles, in addition to a $50 per year tax already imposed on Electric Vehicles. So effectively, Electric Vehicles are taxed $114 annually for use of the Virginia Roads (fuel taxes) which is, as far as I can tell, the highest fuel tax in the nation on EVs. Compare this to a 50 mpg Hybrid driving the average 15,000 mi per year. This represents only $48.60 in taxes for fuel at the rate of 16.2¢⁄gal as of 1 January 2015. Thus, for 15,000 mi traveled per year an EV pays more than twice that of a hybrid in Virginia. This is something which we need to fix. Never should a hybrid be taxed less than an EV. It's wrong for Tesla, and wrong for all of Teslas EV-driving supporters. | |
Thank you for reading
My friend Alex Santos in Canada recently went to get petrol at a gas station and snapped this photo. I couldn't resist the image as one of the biggest concerns we Electric Car drivers have is the problem of ICEing, which is when a driver of a car, typically powered solely by an Internal Combustion Engine parks in a spot designated for Electric Vehicles and containing an easily accessible EVSE. Signs informing the driver that the location is reserved usually don't help and notes without enforcement are often thrown away as my friend Lanny Hartmann has video to testify. And although enforced towing does tend to succeed, that can sometimes cause a backlash among a business's customers. To that effect, sometimes pictures speak louder than words and in that I hope this Public Service Announcement can help bridge a gap and explain why we Electric Car drivers are so concerned about the issue of ICEing.
Denis drives a Chevy Volt and is always prepared to give folks advice about electric cars. Feel free to email him at virginiavolt@yahoo.com; he's more than happy to answer any questions as a Volt driver about how great it is to drive an electric car. He has a wonderful information sheet he loves to share with folks that I should likewise share here at some point. He often encourages me to write a similar sheet for CO2 Fre, but then, isn't this website enough?? ☺
In my interview I quoted my estimated mileage cost as 1,500 miles per month and a household electric bill on the order of $25. My regular readers may remember my excitement for and analysis of the current Dominion Virginia Power Time-of-Use (ToU) power rates two years ago. Since then, I've picked up my Nissan LEAF and driven over 34,000 miles in 21 months of ownership and have a much better handle on how much it costs to drive electric. As I announced that October, I went with the Schedule EV dual meter rate plan.
Now, MOM's is a very EV (Electric Vehicle) friendly business. Employees even get a $5,000 rebate towards a qualified electric car like the Nissan LEAF. Part of MOM's commitment to EVs is that at most of their stores, including Herndon, they have free EVSEs where a patron can charge his electric car. So I went over to MOM's and introducing myself and explained my situation. That's when I met extremely affable and helpful store manager JP Exon who was more than happy to have me leave CO2 Fre plugged in over night while I waited for Dominion to install the second meter. I needed the EVSE at MOM's because I drive almost 70 mi (113 km) a day, which is most of my Nissan LEAF's battery pack. Because a wall outlet could only charge my car to about 90% of the amount used in a day in the 12 hours I'd have it plugged in at home, it meant I had to use a full, Level 2 EVSE with at least 3.8kW power. Thank goodness, therefore, for MOM's!
So in early December of 2011, my EVSE was disconnected, after just over one month of at-home charging, and I started to plug my car in every night at MOM's in Herndon, then walk home. In the morning, when I couldn't get a ride, I'd walk all the way back and then drive my car to work only to do it all over again the following night. This went on for weeks while Dominion dragged its feet about installing my second meter. As the year drew to a close, and Dominion still hadn't scheduled my second meter install, I started getting anxious. After a number of calls and e-mails they finally installed my second meter just before the end of the year and I could finally plug in at home again.
As you can see from the chart, my power spikes at around 01:00 (1:00 am) because that's when the Super-Off Peak rate begins. There's a small component before that when I want want to get a little extra charge to cover a severly depleated pack but for the most part I start at 01:00 (1:00 am) and finish by 06:00 (6:00 am) on weekdays, just before Peak rates begin, or 05:00 (5:00 am) on weekends, just before the regular Off-Peak begins.
One interesting aspect of my ToU data is there's always a gap at 02:00 (2:00 am) when Daylight Savings begins. The data has blanks for the two periods from 02:00–02:30 (2:00 am to 2:30 am) and 02:30–03:00 (2:30 am to 3:00 am). Interestingly enough, when we gain an hour by going back to standard time, there's no corresponding double entries for those same hours. What my power utility and EVSE are doing then, I have no idea.
For any reader interested in the full, massive data set of charging events, please send me a note and I'll be happy to share it.
One thing I've noticed over time, watching how my itemized electric bill has changed over the past 21 months is how in general, at least in the short term, my costs for driving CO2 Fre have more or less been steadily decreasing. So while my fuel cost was $28.32 in January, 2012, my most recent, July 2013, cost only $23.61. So while I may have averaged $25 per month early on, I'm now paying slightly less. The following table summarizes all the Riders associated with my Electric Bill and how they've changed over time:
| Description | Rider | Initial | Current | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table 1: Schedule EV Distribution Constants | ||||
| Basic Customer Charge | EV | $2.90 | $2.90 | Unchanged |
| On/Off Peak | EV | 2.5200¢⁄kWh | 2.5560¢⁄kWh | Increased on 2012-12-01 |
| Super Off peak | EV | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | 0.0360¢⁄kWh | Charge instituted 2012-12-01 |
| C1 | EV | 0.0110¢⁄kWh | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | Phased out on 2012-12-01 |
| Peak Shaving Increment | C1A | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | 0.0070¢⁄kWh | Instituted 2012-05-01 at 0.0100¢⁄kWh; Decreased 2013-04-01 |
| C2 | EV | 0.0250¢⁄kWh | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | Phased out on 2012-12-01 |
| Energy Efficiency Increment | C2A | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | 0.0460¢⁄kWh | Instituted 2012-05-01 at 0.0240¢⁄kWh; Increased 2013-04-01 |
| Schedule EV Supply Constants | ||||
| On Peak | EV | 10.7690¢⁄kWh | 10.7690¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
| Off Peak | EV | 1.4290¢⁄kWh | 1.4290¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
| Super Off Peak | EV | 0.6840¢⁄kWh | 0.6840¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
| Transmission | EV | 0.9700¢⁄kWh | 0.9700¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
| Fuel | ||||
| Fuel Charge | A | 3.2890¢⁄kWh | 2.9420¢⁄kWh | Decreased 2012-07-01 to 2.6970¢⁄kWh; Increased 2012-10-15 to 2.7060¢⁄kWh; Increased 2013-07-01 |
| Other ESS Rider Constants | ||||
| Biomass Conversion | B | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | 0.0230¢⁄kWh | Instituted 2012-04-01 at 0.0120¢⁄kWh; Increased 2013-04-01 |
| Bear Garden Generating Station | R | 0.1460¢⁄kWh | 0.1470¢⁄kWh | Decreased 2012-05-01 to 0.1420¢⁄kWh; Increased 2013-04-01 |
| Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center | S | 0.3730¢⁄kWh | 0.4660¢⁄kWh | Increased 2012-07-01 to 0.4740¢⁄kWh; Decreased 2013-04-01 |
| Base Rate Credit | BRC/BRX | -0.1320¢⁄kWh | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | Decreased 2012-10-15 to -0.1850¢⁄kWh; Ended 2012-12-31 |
| Transmission | T1 | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | -0.2670¢⁄kWh | Instituted 2012-08-01 to replace Rider T |
| Warren County Power Station | W | 0.0000¢⁄kWh | 0.1560¢⁄kWh | Instituted 2012-04-01 at 0.0660¢⁄kWh; Incremented 2013-04-01 |
| Tax Rate Constants | ||||
| Sales and Use Tax | Surcharge | 0.0500¢⁄kWh | 0.0610¢⁄kWh | Increased 2013-01-01 |
| Consumption Tax (< 2.5 MWh) | Tax | 0.001520¢⁄kWh | 0.001520¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
| Consumption Tax (> 2.5 MWh; < 50 MWh) | Tax | 0.000970¢⁄kWh | 0.000970¢⁄kWh | Unchanged |
Given that, here is the breakdown of my monthly electrical usage:
On 30 October 2012 I finally became a member of the EV Project. My good friend and absolute favorite elecrician, Sean Ryan, came out that day to add a second circut to my sub panel and install the free Blink charger from ECOTality. Obviously I'm biased but not a better electrician could I ever recommend, so thank you Sean!
Now the Blink unit is a great charger, apart from perhaps a overly flimsy connector. With it, I can schedule a charge on the EVSE and leave the LEAF set to always charge when plugged in. And I can schedule the EVSE timer remotely so if I need to make a change I don't have to walk down to the car, turn it on and fiddle with the timers. The only problem is the LEAF doesn't realize it's plugged in and then sends me pedantic and eroneous text messages to tell me to do so; so bad is this that when I do forget to plug in I neglect the message because more often than not it's in error. When I get up the next morning, let's just say the shock and horror on my face would make you think I was in the scariest movie possible.
Of course the disadvantage of being able to schedule a charge remotely is that the Blink EVSE is always on. In itself this isn't a problem but the unit is even on during Peak Time-of-Use rates. As you can see in Table 2, since the install I've consistently had to pay about a dollar a month to cover the cost of the EVSE's daytime power. Since this is power I'm not actually taking advantage of, it's called Vampire Power, indicating that it's power being sucked out of my wall in order to feed a hungry device.Interestingly, last week I plugged in CO2 Fre to find my Blink unit in a constant rebooting loop. I called ECOTality to let them know about the issue and since then I've been using my Clipper Creek CS-100 again, so at least the Vampire Power should be low next month. But now that I'm back on the car's timer, I need to be extra cautious to press the charge timer disable button when I want to charge at a public EVSE.
On 2 November 2012, CO2 Fre celebrated her first birthday! 🎂 For that entire year, apart from a fortnight spent visiting the favourite landing spot of the TARDIS, the birthplace of the Beatles and home of Nessie—for the first time in my life I got to watch Doctor Who live: Asylum of the Daleks and Dinosaurs… On a Spaceship!
Yes, this author is a huge Doctor Who fan and runs a mailing list, a facebook group and a meetup site dedicated to it. Let it not be said I'm only interested in Electric Cars and I'm well aware and have been psyched about the fiftieth anniversary special, and have been since around the twenty-fifth and Silver Nemesis! And for the record, Peter Capaldi is going to be the best Doctor ever. All that said, my heart will now and forever still be with Project Kronosphere.
In any case, since my first 19,000 mi (31,000 km), I've added another 15,000 mi (24,000 km) for a total of over 34,000 mi (55,000 km). And of course 19,000 mi (31,000 km) divided by 12 months comes to about 1,500 mi (2,400 km) per month of average driving, which is where my favorite statistic derives its other value.
Folks, this is a round-about way of getting to a correction I wanted to make in my broadcast interview. I somewhat erroneously stated my annual electric cost was near $200. Clearly $25 × 12 months is $300, not $200. But then, as you can see from Table 2, I actually pay a little less than $25 per month, and thus less per year, which is why I was thinking about $200. In fact, if you sum the last 12 rows of the table, you get an exact cost of $261.21, closer to $300 than $200, to be sure, but then that's what I meant by near, as long as near classifies about 31%. ☺
Back in October of 2011 I estimated my annual cost to run CO2 Fre would be $486.66. As you can see above, however, it's turning out to be substantially less than that. Part of the discrepancy stems from not taking into account vacations like my UK trip or CO2 Fre's stint in the D.C. Auto Show earlier this year. Falling Electric Fuel costs have also contributed, but the main effect is that I just drive less in my EV than I did in my old ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) Vehicle. I do probably drive just as much or even more around town with my LEAF, but when you cut out the odd trip to New York or Asheville, NC, you cut out a lot of the miles I used to drive in my old car. Those kind of trips are just too impractical in my LEAF. I could, to be sure, probably make it to Rehoboth Beach, all be it with about a 5 hour layover on the way, maybe 2, but the number of 5 hours stopovers to get to New York are just not practical. Maybe with more CHAdeMO, this'd be different—and thanks to eVgo more CHAdeMO is coming to the area, and quickly—but for now, my range is about 70 mi (113 km) one-way from my home for any comfortable day trip. But even then, I'd not be charging at home so those costs wouldn't be reflected in my Dominion data.
I just hope even if you can't see my segment on the Arlington Weekly News that everyone, whether you have an EV or not, try to make one of this year's International Plug-In Day events! This is your Northern Virginia PiD Captain, signing out—take care and let those electrons roll!
Generous readers, I'm happy to announce it's that time of year again! Time to show your friends, neighbors and general passers by our shared love for Electric Vehicles. Yes, it's International Plug-In Day, the day we all go out and display our love for cars powered by the ubiquitous plug.
This year, Plug-In Day is a two day event, and here in the greater Washington, D.C. area, we're taking it to the neighborhoods! So mark your calendars, 28 September 2013!
Because we have 2 days of events, we've decided to have regional events on Saturday and one huge event in downtown DC on Sunday. We hope everyone can show their support at their local Saturday event and then everyone come down to Washington for the regional event Sunday on the steps of the U.S. Capital.
Hello from your Herndon Event team captain! As the organizer of this event, I hope it to be the biggest of all the regional events. This is the only gathering scheduled for Northern Virginia. As such, I hope folks from Arlington, Alexandria, Loudoun, Prince William, Manassas and even Stafford Counties and Cities can make it out to western Fairfax to join us in sharing our love for EVs. Come and commiserate over our failed attempt for equal taxation regardless of propultion and the $64 tax we now have to pay for as both hybrid and electric vehicle owners. We're planning to have LEAFs, Volts and Tesla Model S a plenty to show, as well as all kinds of electric vehicles. Learn about Dominion Virginia Power's Time-of-Use Rate Schedules and the Green Option for energy credits. And teach folks about the around 50% Personal Property Tax discount for Electric Vehicles in Arlington, Prince William and Loudoun Counties. (Sorry fellow Farfaxians, we still have to pay full price for our tax in our unprogressive county.)
For the regional Sunday event, we're extremely fortunate to be getting permission to have our display right in front of the U.S. Capital building, on Third Street SW, in front of the Reflecting Pool and near the US Botanical Gardens. This is thanks in no small part to the work of Maryland's Senior Senator Barbara Mulkulski (D). This website would therefore like to express their personal thanks to Senator Mulkulski. We're working on sixty spots to display our EVs so that visitors to the Capital can see just how affordable, obtainable and ubiquitous Electric Cars have finally become!
At each event, we hope to have opportunities to test drive our electric cars including, in Herndon and Washington, CO2Fre, yours truly's very own Nissan LEAF. So come one, come all, see how easy it is to plug in your car at the 2013 International Plug-In Day events! And if you'd like to show off your car, just click on the link at the start of each event to register with the Plug-In Website. Hope to see you there, and thank you!
