electric-vehicles – Dave Saari

Pat and Dave’s Winter Warmup – PART 1: Overview and Starting Out

April 8, 2025 by davesaari

While we truly love our homes in the great state of Minnesota, a condominium in Minneapolis and a cabin in Grand Marais, we love them a lot less during the winter than the other three seasons. By the time February rolls around, we’re usually tired of the snow and ice and cold weather, so we start looking for a getaway to someplace a bit more hospitable to human habitation. This year, we hit on the idea of trying an extended stay in one place as well as a bit of a road trip. In fact, the extended stay idea was implanted in our brains by some friendly upstairs condo neighbors who have taken to spending time every February and March at a resort in Green Valley, AZ. This implantation occurred in April of last year as they regaled us with tales of the lovely accommodations and the many fun things to do in the area. They explained that a long-term stay (more than 30 days) qualifies a guest for a reduced rate, as the short-term hospitality taxes and fees are waived. Pat was sold on the idea rather quickly, and suggested that I take charge of getting us a reservation for February and March of 2025.

“So, what’s this place called?” I asked. “The Canoa Ranch Golf Resort,” our neighbors replied, and provided me with the contact information I’d need to make said reservation. Upon hearing the word “Golf,” I immediately agreed to take charge. “I’ll get right on it, dear,” I told Pat.

Fast forward to September 20. I was at the cabin in Grand Marais while Pat was back at the condo, and I suddenly realized that I had not yet “gotten right on it,” having forgotten to call for the promised reservation. After a bit of telephone tag, I finally managed to complete my assigned task, although due to my procrastination no rooms were available until February 21. Better late than never, I told myself, while trying to craft the proper words to gently break the news to Pat.

Luckily, we had a great fall travel season, as documented in my earlier blog posts, Pat and Dave’s Nifty Na t ional Park Lark and Pat and Dave’s Intrepid Iberian Interlude, which helped us to forgive my less-than-stellar performance in securing the Canoa Ranch Resort reservation.

First off, here’s a map of our overall journey, to set the stage for this narrative:

We had planned to depart on February 18 and spend four days driving to Green Valley, but a big snowstorm hit the Midwest, causing us to delay our departure and shorten our travel time to three days. Fittingly, as we rolled out of the condo parking garage in our EV on Wednesday, February 19, it was a bone-chilling negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

It felt good to be heading to warmer climes, as the high temperature hadn’t reached positive figures for two solid days. However, as we drove south to our first overnight in Olathe, KS, in suburban Kansas City, it didn’t warm up at all. When we resumed our journey on Thursday morning, we had to scrape snow and ice off the car and the thermometer read negative nine. We passed a herd of about 100 cows standing in groups on both sides of the highway as we departed Olathe. “Are those cows even moving?” I asked Pat. “I don’t think so,” she said, studying the miserable-looking, immobile beasts. “Maybe they’re all frozen solid.”

It didn’t get much warmer until we passed through the Texas panhandle, and when we reached our second night’s hotel in Tucumcari, NM, it was still only about 20 degrees. During the second day of driving, it finally began to warm up, reaching into the 50’s by the time we reached Willcox, AZ, and finally into the 70’s as we rolled into the Canoa Ranch Golf Resort at 7:30 PM. I won’t say much about the drive to Green Valley, since all we did was drive, charge the EV, eat, and sleep, but I will offer this photo of the lovely sunset we encountered near Amarillo, TX, on Thursday evening.

I’ll be writing two more installments for this adventure. Part 2 will cover the five weeks we spent in the Green Valley area, and Part 3 will describe the beautiful places we visited on our way back to Minneapolis. But first, I want to say a few words about our EV. (Those readers who are tired of my EV proselytizing can just skip the rest of this installment and come back for Part 2 in a few days.)

Some of my prior posts have provided detailed information about traveling with an electric car, because I want to help readers to understand the real-world aspects of joining what I like to call the EV Universe. In those posts, I have been effusive in my praise of the specific brand of car that we drive, but for now I’m merely calling it an EV. Why? The overriding reason that we have purchased two EVs and no longer drive a gasoline powered car at all is our desire to do something to help stem the tide of global climate change. Electric cars are the future, and I have tried to provide useful information to readers based on our real-world experience. Unfortunately, one individual (whose name I shall not mention), after becoming the world’s richest man by successfully developing the US electric car industry, has now revealed himself to be an unspeakably disgusting, corrupt man who doesn’t even believe in the mission of the EV Universe – he merely exploited a market opportunity to amass enormous wealth and power which he is now using in an attempt to destroy the very soul of our great nation. Many people now say we should get rid of our EVs as a protest against this man. But as a fervent believer in the goal of the EV Universe, I urge readers not to abandon your EVs. Fellow owners of American-made EVs, please keep driving your zero-emission vehicles. Join the mass protests against the man, put a protest sign on your car, urge your members of Congress to send him packing, but don’t let him destroy both the EV dream and the US Government.

Okay, I’ll calm down now and provide some information about our EV that will hopefully be of interest. It was quite obvious during our drive from Minneapolis to Green Valley and back again that the performance of the car was noticeably reduced when the temperature was low and was very good when the temperature was high. So, I decided to compare the car’s efficiency during the drives between our charging stops (based on my records of actual miles driven and energy added during each charging session) with the air temperatures at the various charging locations as documented by the Weather Underground website. Here’s what I came up with:

Although there is significant scatter in the data due to other variables that affect performance (terrain, wind, driving speed, heating or air conditioning usage, etc.), it is clear that the actual efficiency was lower than the EPA rating at low temperatures and higher than the EPA rating at high temperatures. This bears out the general wisdom I have heard that EVs are good warm-weather cars and not-so-good cold weather cars. To put this data in perspective, I also spent a little time trying to find a comparable analysis for a gasoline-powered car. For the most part, I could only find general statements about the temperature impact, but I did find this interesting chart posted on the Fuelly.com website by the owner of a 2009 Honda Fit 1.5 RS CVT:

The Honda owner is clearly one who takes measures to maximize fuel economy, since his calculated 55 MPG vastly exceeds the 31 MPG EPA rating for that car, but the interesting aspect of the above chart is that is shows a decrease in efficiency for the gas-powered car at lower temperatures that is comparable to what I found for our EV. It also shows a decrease in efficiency at elevated temperatures, which the EV data does not show. While a comparison of calculations by two individuals for two cars is not in any way a sound scientific analysis, this interesting anecdotal data shows that the temperature impact for the EV efficiency is no greater than that for the gas-powered car.

Okay, that’s enough for Part 1. Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3, which will feature more pictures and less pontificating.

A Once Proud Tesla Owner’s Lament

March 7, 2025 by davesaari

Once upon a time, not all that long ago, most people in the United States – even a few Republicans – still respected science and engineering and the earnest, hard-working people who studied and practiced in those fields. A seemingly brilliant and altruistic engineer named Elon Musk was well along in his admirable quest to build a world-class electric car company. With its high-tech American-built cars and extensive nationwide charging network, Tesla was the absolute best choice for anyone interested in abandoning an eco-unfriendly gasoline-powered car in favor of an EV capable of long-distance travel. When we purchased a 2020 Tesla Model Y in January of 2021, the shining, stylized “T” on the front of the car felt like a badge of honor. At that time, we still had an ICE (internal combustion engine) car for backup, but we primarily used the Tesla for the next several years.

Three years and 45,000 zero-emission miles later, we were still in love with our Tesla. Our youngest son’s fourteen-year-old Toyota Corolla was on its last legs and had to be replaced, so we transferred our backup ICE car to him, having decided to replace it with a second EV. Reviewing our needs at that time, it was clear that Tesla was still the best EV choice for us, with its advanced features, long range, and charging network needed for travel between Minneapolis and Grand Marais as well as for long distance travel around the US. In addition, the 2023 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) had expanded the number of EVs eligible for Federal tax credits, and we believed that a 2024 Tesla Model 3 would meet the tax credit criteria. With enthusiasm, we purchased our second Tesla and began driving it all over the US – to the Great Smokey Mountains, back and forth to Grand Marais, to National Parks and Monuments in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota.

However, even before buying the second car, black clouds had begun to gather. First, the formerly brilliant Musk had seemingly lost his mind with the purchase and wreckage of Twitter. Second, while the Model 3 was eventually added to the list of eligible IRA vehicles, since we hadn’t waited until the pronouncement was official, we got no tax credit. Finally, Musk has devolved even further into a completely despicable being, buying the presidency for Donald Trump and eagerly seizing upon his so-called mandate to destroy the US Government. His Gulf of Mexico sized ego seems to have driven him to abandon all pretense of what I had misinterpreted as altruism in favor of enriching himself to a level never seen before in human history. Instead of the man who created an eco-friendly American EV industry, he’ll now be forever known as the man who seized the opportunity to loot government coffers while pretending to champion “efficiency.” (Sometimes as I toss and turn at night, I dream that co-President Trump will become annoyed with playing second fiddle to Musk. After all, he has his own foray into Corruptocurrency to worry about. Perhaps he’ll send Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to arrest his former ally on some sort of presumably Trumped-up charges …)

But I digress. Given these tragic turns of events, that shining, stylized “T” has now become a scarlet letter of shame. So, what’s a once-proud Tesla owner to do? I hear many competing voices in my head. “Sell the cars? Donate them to Trump sycophants? Torch them in a grand, public display? Drive them off the rim of the Grand Canyon, ala Thelma and Louise? Replace them with VWs, Hyundais, Porsches, Volvos, or some other alternative?” Pat seems ready for one of those options, but none of them seems right to me.

I remind myself that there are many good, hard-working people still employed by the evil Muskrat, still working to produce high-quality, eco-friendly EVs. Surely many, if not most, of those people actually believe in the EV mission, even though Musk clearly doesn’t. Shouldn’t I still try to support them rather than abandoning ship and letting Musk have the last laugh?

So, I’ve at long last come up with a plan. I still love both cars and am proud to be driving zero emission vehicles (by now up to a total of more than 65,000 miles). I have purchased two bumper stickers which I will prominently display on both cars:

If people stop to engage me in conversation about these signs, I’ll text them a link to this diatribe. Although, if they seem to be Trumpites or Muskmen, I’ll probably rickroll them instead.

Pat and Dave’s Easy EV Road Trip – PART 3: The Trip Home and EV Performance Summary

May 27, 2024 by davesaari

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I described our travels from Minneapolis, MN to Pigeon Forge, TN, and our visits to two National Parks, New River Gorge NP in West Virginia and Great Smoky Mountains NP in Tennessee. This final episode provides a brief summary of our trip back home and some details of how our new EV performed on the road trip.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024: We left the Golf Vista on Dollywood Lane shortly after 9 AM and headed eastward, stopping to charge the car at a place called Buccees in Crossville, TN. We’d never heard of Buccees before, but it’s apparently a very popular fuel and convenience store chain in the southeastern US. We were absolutely amazed by the place. There had to be sixty or more gas pumps in addition to two charging stations – a Tesla Supercharger bank with 16 chargers and a ChargePoint station with four chargers (interestingly bearing Mercedes Benz logos). The convenience store was huge – easily as big as large truck stops such as Loves or Pilot – and was filled with an amazing array of ready-to-eat foods, groceries, gift items, and such. One especially unique feature was an array of about twenty or thirty different types of custom-made beef jerky. We bought a bag and it was delicious. I’d recommend Buccees as a welcome stop for travelers of all stripes.

Tesla Superchargers at Buccees — hardly anyone using it, as usual

After charging the car, we drove to the Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN, for our final point of interest before sprinting for home. This site, operated by the National Park Service, memorializes the Battle of Stones River, which took place from December 31, 1862 through January 2, 1863. Union forces squeaked out a victory in a bloody conflict there, boosting morale in the North and gaining control of central Tennessee. Of the major battles in the Civil War, Stones River had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides.

We first stopped in at an impressive Visitors Center with interesting displays about the battle and its aftermath and then strolled around the 600-acre site to see several key battleground areas and the large National Cemetery in which more than 6,100 Union soldiers are buried, including more than 2,500 who were never identified. We left with a somber feeling, with a new appreciation for the immense toll that the Civil War took on the soldiers who fought in it and their surviving families and loved ones.

Then we headed off to another charging stop just southeast of Nashville and then on to the Hampton Inn in Pleasant View, TN. We enjoyed a meal at a little place called Firecracker Pizza near the hotel before turning in for the evening.

Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26, 2024: Our last two days were uneventful, including a drive to the Hampton Inn O’Fallon near St. Louis for our final night’s stay and then a long (for us) eleven-hour drive home as the weather turned cold and rainy. As we trundled our luggage up to our fifth-floor condo, we felt very satisfied with our Easy EV Road Trip. Here’s a recap:

EV Performance: Now for some information (hopefully not too nerdy) about how our new EV performed on the Road Trip. Hopefully this will be of interest to readers who may be considering purchasing an EV or who may feel hesitant about it due to perceived EV problems.

Many questions are related to charging an EV. How much does it cost? How long does it take? How hard is it to find chargers? I’ll answer these questions based on actual data from our Easy EV Road Trip. Details of our charging sessions during the trip are provided in this table:

One thing I’ve heard from a number of people is that, with electric costs rising due to inflation, operating an EV is too expensive. So, what did we actually spend on electricity during this Road Trip? $238.94, including the pre-trip charging at home in the condo garage. How would that compare to the identical trip with an internal combustion engine (ICE) car? If we assume an average gas price of $2.60, based on what we observed on various gas station signs along the way, fueling an ICE car would cost the same as what we spent on charging the EV if it got 37.2 mpg. (If gasoline prices miraculously fell to $2.50, an ICE car would only need to get 29.1 mpg to break even with the EV, but if it spiked to $4.00, it would need to get 46.5 mpg for an equivalent fuel cost.) Put it this way – the plethora of large pickup trucks and SUVs we observed along the way are costing a lot more to take on a road trip, while a Toyota or Honda hybrid would cost a bit less.

It’s important to understand that using high-speed (Level 3) chargers (such as the Tesla Superchargers we used) is the absolute most expensive way to charge an EV. By comparison, slow (Level 1) charging at our condo with a simple 110V circuit costs less than half as much, or intermediate (Level 2) charging at our Lake Superior cabin, with a reduced off-peak rate, costs less than a fifth as much. Equivalent-cost ICE cars would need to get 77.2 mpg or 193.7 mpg to compete with these Level 1 and Level 2 chargers, and I can guarantee there are no such ICE cars in existence anywhere. So, if you consider that road trips probably represent a very small percentage of the total driving that any of us do, an EV with a Level 1 or Level 2 home charger is far less costly to operate than an ICE car.

Another issue for EV hesitance is the time required for charging stops on a road trip. So, just how long did we spend charging the car on our Easy EV Road Trip. As the table above shows, the total charging time for the 17 stops was 468 minutes (7.8 hours) with an average of 27.5 minutes per stop. We generally used that time for something more or less productive, such as eating lunch, buying groceries, using the rest room, watching a Netflix movie on the Tesla screen, etc., so it didn’t really feel like wasted time. However, if getting to your destination as fast as possible is a high priority, the time spent charging is a significant detriment.

To put it in perspective, the comparable time for fueling an ICE car depends on the size of its gas tank and the car’s mileage. Calculations I did based on a Honda Accord hybrid, a light-duty pickup, and a heavy-duty pickup showed minimum total time for fueling over a 2,777 mile Road Trip would be 49.7 minutes, 55.1 minutes, and 59.3 minutes, respectively (assuming ten minutes per fill up), for a saving of nearly 7 hours compared to our EV, although some of that time would be eaten up by the aforementioned eating, shopping, etc. This would easily allow the trip to be completed in a day less, although Pat and I – retirees both – don’t like to drive for more than 4 hours a day anyway, so the savings would be meaningless to us. A good deal of this aversion to long driving times comes from the stress induced by other drivers — huge pickups that tailgate menacingly, freeway mergers who insist on reaching their final merge point at exactly the same position as our car — or driving conditions such as endless stretches of road construction or heavy wind or rain, to name but a few.

Probably the biggest factor in EV hesitance is range anxiety – will an EV driver be able to get to the next charging station before running out of power? The new Tesla Model 3 proved to be excellent in this regard. The quoted range is 324 miles under ideal conditions, and we found that the actual distance traveled averaged 93.4% of the range estimated by the car during the Road Trip. We generally recharged the car when it dropped below 20% of battery capacity and charged it to 80-90% of full at each stop. A major reason we bought the Tesla is the large number of Superchargers that have been deployed all across the country, and we never had any anxiety about reaching one in time. Planning the stops was very easy; we used two methods. The simplest way was to give a voice command, e.g. “Navigate to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee,” and let the car map out recommended charging stops. Sometimes we used an app called ABRP (for A Better Route Planner) to check out alternate routes – this app can be customized to use actual performance data from a specific car and/or to specify such things as minimum charging time, avoiding tolls, and the like.) Thus, the trip truly lived up to my claim as Pat and Daves Easy EV Road Trip. I can’t offer any insight regarding road trips in non-Tesla EVs, however.

One final note about the Tesla. Coincidentally, just before we left on the trip, Tesla decided to give all or most Teslas on the road a free month of what they call “Supervised Full Self Driving” capability, so we decided to try it out during the trip. The video below shows how it worked – quite well and rather fun.

Tesla “Supervised Full Self Driving” demonstration

It also included automatic parking in parking lots and automatic parallel parking on streets. However, neither of us was comfortable letting the car drive itself, and we also felt that the price for this feature — $ 99 per month or $4,000 dollars for the life of the car – was too steep, so we did not pick it up after the free trial. The car still has what Tesla calls “Autopilot,” which is adaptive cruise control, and “Autosteer,” which maintains the car within the driving lane and automatically steers around curves.

While the above considerations are all related to practical matters – cost, time, level of anxiety – they do not speak to the major reason to buy an EV, which is to help slow the inexorable advance of climate change. While I’m afraid that the drivers of those menacing, tailgating pickup trucks will merely scoff at that idea, I hope it can influence some readers; after all, doesn’t helping to save the planet seem more important than saving a little time on a road trip?

OK, that’s it! Thanks for reading, and please consider joining the EV universe!