michelel72 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
michelel72) wrote2011-10-16 03:26 pm
michelel72) wrote2011-10-16 03:26 pm
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My new toy
So I have a new toy, as of this past Thursday.
The 2012 Chevy Volt
It's fun. It does have drawbacks relative to the Prius (primarily storage, OMG, I've never seen a wimpier glovebox, and the rear storage is both small and hard to access); but since I've been thinking about changing vehicles for a while, it's probably best to do so before the snow and ice start for the year ... and seeing a claim that I'm getting 250+ mpg is nice.
I'm not yet really charging from my solar panels**; the charge cord is short enough that I have to park under the "bird bench" (electrical and cable service lines), so I charge at night and then move the car to the other side of the driveway before the birds arrive for the day. (I'm looking into the service to install a high-speed charger in a better location.) I can get all the way to work and halfway back again on one charge in this weather, which is sweet, and it'll be sweeter if work does in fact approve on-site charging. We'll see.
Hee hee hee.
**(The electrical supply is largely fungible. I try to keep my usage to the daytime when I can, so that it's more directly tied to my solar panels rather than to the coal/nuclear network; I pay extra per net used kWh to add renewables to the mix; blah, blah. I would rather have a large solar array and battery system to go completely off-grid, but "clean" battery technology isn't really there yet. On the whole, I'm probably doing better environmentally than if I were using a straight-gas engine.)
The 2012 Chevy Volt
It's fun. It does have drawbacks relative to the Prius (primarily storage, OMG, I've never seen a wimpier glovebox, and the rear storage is both small and hard to access); but since I've been thinking about changing vehicles for a while, it's probably best to do so before the snow and ice start for the year ... and seeing a claim that I'm getting 250+ mpg is nice.
I'm not yet really charging from my solar panels**; the charge cord is short enough that I have to park under the "bird bench" (electrical and cable service lines), so I charge at night and then move the car to the other side of the driveway before the birds arrive for the day. (I'm looking into the service to install a high-speed charger in a better location.) I can get all the way to work and halfway back again on one charge in this weather, which is sweet, and it'll be sweeter if work does in fact approve on-site charging. We'll see.
Hee hee hee.
**(The electrical supply is largely fungible. I try to keep my usage to the daytime when I can, so that it's more directly tied to my solar panels rather than to the coal/nuclear network; I pay extra per net used kWh to add renewables to the mix; blah, blah. I would rather have a large solar array and battery system to go completely off-grid, but "clean" battery technology isn't really there yet. On the whole, I'm probably doing better environmentally than if I were using a straight-gas engine.)