Wow – Is there an official Electric Vehicle Driver’s Degree? After only three months, I think she’s graduated! My wife drove our Fiat 500e to her hair appointment in Portland for the second time. That’s 56 miles round trip. The first time, to avoid range anxiety, I recommended and mapped her a charging station just blocks from her destination. That worked out fine, hair done – car charged. This time, she felt confident she could make it there and back on one charge. She called me when she arrived in Portland to tell me again, “I love this car!” Something about zipping, or zipping past a traffic jam. She made it home with a comfortable miles-range margin.
A couple of days later, with growing confidence and little concern about range anxiety, she planned a three-stop trip to the east side of Portland, 108 miles by my calculations. She would need to charge and did so at her second scheduled stop. She was suspicious when she plugged in the car but didn’t hear the “thunk”. She didn’t hear the thunk because I forgot to fully explain about overriding the charge timers. She called me later when it was apparent the car didn’t charge, but she was on to her next appointment before heading home, making one more unavoidable stop in Tualatin to charge about an hour – enough to get home (about midnight).
I didn’t put the car on the charger until around noon the next day, not realizing that unshaken, she planned to drive the Fiat to meet her sister and niece at an Athey Creek women’s event that evening. It got less than 5 hours on the OEM charger plugged into 240 volts. It was nearly 50% charged when it was time for her to leave. The range display indicated 55 miles. Its 35.6 to the church and back. I told her that was about as close as I would care to cut it – she may need to stop and charge on the way home. I don’t know if she flipped a coin in her mind – the Caravan or the Fiat? I think she was feeling lucky, and ready to zip. I reminded her – no heater, and keep it under 55. She drove it, enjoyed the event, and made it home with three miles to spare.
This car might help our relationship with God, it does encourage us to pray.
Stories On The Side 