Category Archives: Electric Car

Electric Car, People

The Joy of Blogging Friends

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Last Thursday, on a very rainy day (much needed!), I took the Bolt and headed south to York, Maine, about 95 miles away from our home. My destination was the café at Stonewall Kitchen. The Bolt, our new EV,  was fully charged, with 240 miles as its estimated range, but it could be more, or it could be less, depending on how I drove. Would I be able to make it there and back again on a single charge? Only time would tell.

A trip that far, even with an EV, needs more than a café with delicious food to entice me. And so there was. The café was a meeting point to get together with two blogging friends—Judy from New England Garden and Thread and Dot from The New Vintage Kitchen. Meeting with them for lunch was more than worth the nearly four-hour round-trip drive. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Long-time readers might remember that I have been getting together with Judy in June for the past few years. We have become friends in person as well as through our blogs. We are both blogging friends with Dot, and we wondered how the three of us might be able to get together. Dot lives in Vermont, and Judy and I were trying to figure out if there was a half-way spot where we could all meet for lunch.

However, Dot solved that problem by coming to stay in Maine for a couple of days, where she could easily drive to the Stonewall Kitchen Café for lunch. As Dot has noted in a recent post, we all felt as though we had known each other for years. So true! As we ate our tasty lunch, we chatted like old friends, and the conversation just flowed from one topic to the other, from jury duty to food to gardening to television shows to family. What an absolute delight!

We hope to meet again next year, perhaps in Vermont if the stars are aligned. Plans are afoot!

From the left: Judy, Dot, and moi

After four hours of wonderful camaraderie, it was time to head home in the Bolt. Would I have enough power to get home? Or would I have to stop in Kennebunk for a charge?

Readers, I am happy to report that the Bolt made it home without needing a charge. I even had twenty-five miles or so leftover. I was pretty darned pleased.

Getting together with blogging friends is such a joy. Blogging friends, if any of  you come to Maine, or even New Hampshire, please let me know if you have time for a meet-up. I have no problem driving two or two and a half hours for a get together. Over the years, I have met some wonderful bloggers, and I hope to meet more of you in the years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electric Car, Fall, News

Fall Flurry

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September is shaping up to be quite the month. There are two birthdays—mine and Clif’s—and while our celebrations are simple, they are always so much fun. My birthday is next Monday, and Dee, Clif and l will all be playing hooky, taking time off from work, having lunch at a local noodle shop—how I love noodles—going to a movie (surprise, surprise!) and depending on the weather, enjoying tea and cookies by the Kennebec River. Finally, ice cream on the way home. Phew, sounds like quite the day. Clif’s birthday is at the end of the month, and of course the birthday boy will get to pick his birthday outings.

Between my birthday and Clif’s, Shannon, Mike, and their dog Holly will be joining us for more birthday brouhaha. Our philosophy has always been: celebrate early, celebrate often.

At the end of the month, I will be getting together with two lovely blogging friends—Judy from New England and Thread and Dot from The New Vintage Kitchen. What a treat that will be! We will be meeting at Stonewall Kitchen in York, which is about a 200 mile round trip from my home. That will give our EV Bolt a good workout. Will I be able to get there and back again without stopping at the Kennebunk Travel Plaza to charge the Bolt? I’m thinking I will, but stay tuned.

Speaking of the Bolt…how I have come to love our zippy little car. I’ve gone here and there locally, and what a pleasure it is to drive the Bolt. Best of all, we charge the car from home and therefore never have to go to a gas station. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I don’t miss that smelly experience. Not one bit. The final cherry on the sundae? It costs half as much to charge the Bolt as it did to put gas in our Honda Fit.

On a more serious matter, I was chosen for jury duty, and the trial will be held on September 16, 17, and 18. I found the jury selection process fascinating, and I was so moved by the judge’s ending speech to us, where she reminded everyone that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, that we need listen closely to the evidence and keep an open mind. This I will make every effort to do. After the trial and verdict, I’ll write more about my experience.

Finally, after some testing of the camera on my phone, Clif, Clif the computer guy has determined it is the hardware that’s at fault. Therefore, next month, when this phone is paid off, I will be getting a new one, and once more there will be pictures on my blog. I have only had this phone for three years, and, yes, it burns my biscuit that it stopped working the way it should so soon. We are not ones who replace things at the drop of a hat. We like to things to last.

But, to borrow from Tony Soprano, what are you gonna do?

Note: I will be taking the week of September 15th off from blogging. Between my birthday and the trial, I know I won’t be able to keep up with reading blogs and commenting. I will back on September 22.

 

 

 

 

Electric Car, Environment, News

Bolting into Our Electric Journey

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Last week we received some bad news about our 2010 Honda Fit—it would cost about $3,000 dollars to get it to a point where it could be inspected. After a short discussion, both Clif and I agreed that the time had come to give up our trusty little Fit. We did this with sadness as the Fit has served us reliably over the years. But $3,000 seemed like too much to put into a fifteen-year-old car.

Our trusty Honda Fit, glimmering after an ice storm

The time had come to buy another car.

Longtime readers will know that we take climate change very seriously. (This dry blazing hot summer is certainly a reminder that the change is upon us. Now.) It has long been our dream to get an electric car, but in the past, they cost more than we could afford.

I am happy to report that this has changed. While electric cars are still in the minority, there are now enough on the market for good, used cars to be available.

We thought we might have to go to Massachusetts to get one, to a dealer in Tewksbury, but as it turned out, a local dealer had a used EV, a Chevy Bolt, available at a price we could afford. With 44,000 miles on it, the car has had one owner and is in beautiful condition.

And guess what color it is?

It seems as though we attract red cars, doesn’t it?

The Bolt’s battery range is about 245 miles, which suits us just fine. Both Clif and I are homebodies, and with our home charger, that range will get us where we want to go in central Maine. Dee’s EV has a range of over 300 miles, and for longer trips we can use her car. And, at least in the part of Maine we live in, public chargers are plentiful. If we needed to, we could stop at one for a recharge.

But I don’t think we’ll need to. A friend of ours has an EV with a similar range, and it gets her to southern Maine and back with no problems. (This means that I can still meet my blogging friend Judy of New England Garden and Thread for our yearly lunch at Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine.)

We are almost a completely electric household now. We have a propane hot water heater, and the plan is to replace that next summer with a heat-pump water heater, which will complete our electric journey.

The cherry on our sundae is that most of our power comes from solar farms.

Onward, ho!

 

 

Electric Car, Flowers

The Season of Susans and Tesla Update

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In Maine, the end of August is one of the sweetest times of the year. For the most part, gone are the high heat and humidity. Instead, we have warm days and cool nights, which means an adjustment with the windows. Now they are open during the day and closed at night so that the house doesn’t get too cold.

We have lost over an hour  of light since the Summer Solstice, and it is dark by 8:00 p.m. Even though this means winter is coming, we don’t mind. At the end of August, we can still sit in the screen house and listen to the song of the crickets. And, as Dee pointed out, soon it will be cool enough for fires in our fire pit. So cozy to sit in the dark with our mugs of tea and watch the fire.

The end of August is also the season of Susans, black-eyed Susans, that is.  How they brighten the gardens at our home by the edge of the woods.

In front

as well as in the backyard.

When the Susans are finally gone for the season—how long they last!—the gardens will definitely be past their best.

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Electric Car Update

Some of you were wondering just how much it would cost in electricity to run Dee’s electric car. We have had the car for a month, and although we aren’t gadabouts, we do go here and there. At least some of the time. However, we all work from home, which means much of the week, the cars sit in the driveway. Do we love our short commute? We certainly do.

Here are the statistics for Dee’s Tesla.

Total miles driven: 300

Electricity cost: $13 (78 Kwh)

Estimated gasoline cost (based on a national average) for the same mileage: $37

Obviously, the cost of electricity varies from place to place, but this was the cost of electricity in Maine. Also, all of our electricity comes from a local solar farm, so none of it was produced by coal or gas.

Step by step, we aim to reduce our carbon output. We are not perfect—we still use propane to heat our hot water—but we are trying.