The (R)EV Diaries - EVs in Rural America Electric Cars - Electric Vehicles

It’s Tesla Battery Day 2020, but today we are hitting the highlights and pondering the ponderables of last weeks webinar on EVs and economic feasibility.

Yesterday, EA announced it was adopting per kWh billing in the states that require per kWh billing for EV charging. This wasn’t really unexpected, but it did prompt a listener question as to why more states haven’t adopted a kWh based billing requirement. I don’t have an answer but I do have a lot of … Continue reading "Electrify America Adopts Per kWh Billing"

Lucid is finally bringing the Air to market in 2021. It has a hefty price tag, but it may be a game changer. Uber is going zero emission and outlined their strategy for doing so. Subscribe, share and thanks for listening.

Tomorrow (9/9/20) is the first ever World EV Day. Designated as so by ABB and Green. TV, World EV Day is designed to raise awareness of EVs and ask people to commit to purchasing an EV as their next car. So let’s celebrate and promote the EV revolution.

My diploma says BSEE and my business cards say PE after my name, yet that doesn’t keep me from looking stupid.

I tried my Level 1 EVSE a few weeks ago and learned a few things. In this episode we talk a little about what is Level 1, what to expect and what happened with my first time experience. I would like to hear your L1 experience. Find me on Twitter @DiariesEV.

Hurricane Laura made landfall 5 days ago and I have been thinking of how important electricity is to all of us… especially EV owners, and what we can do about it. Just some thoughts.

Cooperatives in North Carolina are getting $700,000 for charging as part of the VW Diesel-gate settlement. Small-town America needs more projects like this but not all state agencies see it that way.

Just following up from the last episode, I came across two articles showing the two sides of the ZEV mandate discussion. I believe that the biggest thing that mandates bring to the table are options. More options… more adoptions, and pickup trucks are the key.

Twelve states have Zero Emission Vehicle mandates in place requiring auto manufacturers to sell a certain percentage of EVs and fuel cell vehicles each year. The list of states is growing and today I give a cursory overview of the process for all of us in non-ZEV states. I’m sure there’s a lot in the … Continue reading "ZEV States for Dummies"

We can’t get people to wear masks, so how can we expect them to drive EVs. The stupid thing is that both wearing masks and driving EVs have become political issues. How in the heck does this happen?

I’ve had a bit of a quandary in the past week and have done some soul searching in regard to the future of The EV Diaries. I know, I’ve done this in the past, but as most things in my life, I’m figuring it out as I go along. Today, I reveal some hard questions … Continue reading "The Future of EVD?"

Listener Tina asks what is a range extender and can you put one on any EV? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Government can make or break (usually break) a good idea, but beyond the bureaucratic BS, what is there role in the course of EV adoption? Prompted by an email from Anthony in Seattle, I started thinking of some possibilities and here are a few ways state governments are helping shape EVs and the future.

Toyota was to unveil their solid-state battery and the lineup for the 2025 production at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Of course, Covid-19 determined otherwise and now we are just left with a few articles on the future of batteries and EVs in general. Faster charging, longer range… but, there are some major situations … Continue reading "Toyota’s Solid-State Batteries"

I ramble on today, rethinking some ideas on DCFC, making a new friend and pondering a day that the world goes to Hell… all while driving to the car wash.

When it comes to DCFC, theres a push for bigger and faster. Personally, I think I would like to see more 50KW chargers than 350KW chargers… at least for now.

I attended a webinar put on by the DOE yesterday. It was good info, but the interesting part to me was the future of medium and heavy duty EVs. Here’s some things to think about.

I keep getting advertisements for electric bicycles in my social media and on-line accounts. This has me reminiscing about my cycling days of yore. So, what about e-bikes in small-town America? I think its cool.

I tried to come up with something special for the 100th episode, but ended up questioning my motives. This is why I do the podcast.

Here are the details from my trip to Gatlinburg. I didn’t stay completely on battery, but that was by choice. It was small-town America from behind the wheel of a “city car”.

Fox Business posted an article saying that new Tesla registrations in California have been the past two months. Duh? They coupled it with a video questioning why Nikola and Tesla are making cars when there is no demand for them. WTH? They ignore the fact that the Model 3 is the best selling car in … Continue reading "What Does Fox Business Have Against Tesla???"

Covid-19 has reduced our coal consumption in America, temporarily at least. Solar was on an increase. What will America’s energy portfolio look like when all of this is said and done?

I went to the courthouse to register my car. A bit later I saw the words “ELECTRIC VEHICLE-SLOW MOVING”. WTH? Did they register my car as a golf cart? I called to find out. It only took about 3 hours to get an answer.

I came across an article and subsequent white paper discussing charging fleet vehicles of all makes and sizes and the economics for 25 of the largest metropolitan areas. To say the least, Detroit didn’t do so well.