More Graphs

Here is the data in picture form of how much electricity it takes to charge after various distances:

And here is the range that I have ventured - I have charged at the outskirts, but theoretically I could go to the edge and back home on a charge. Actually, I have done it; all the way to W Burnside and 20th and back - although I was going pretty slow by the time I got home. Since it is best to operate on a full charge, I plug in at every opportunity.

More than 1000 miles!

That's right - I passed the 1000 mile mark last week. I celebrated by changing the gear oil and squirting some more grease into the front fitting. You had to be there.

So about selling ad space - I heard back from the marketing guy at PGE; he told me (I love this quote) "I salute your pioneering spirit" after explaining to me that they usually try to advertise on BIG things like Tri-met buses and MAX trains. He said he would keep my number.

I have been keeping a careful record of kilowatts used to charge, utilizing a fuel mileage calculator on my pda. Soon I will have another graph to post. The volts/mile gives an idea of range, where the kilowatts per charge gives an idea of cost. So far the average cost per mile is $.028. I have found that if I drive for up to 4 or 5 miles, it takes about the same kwh to charge. Maximum range uses maximum kwh, but apparently the line is not straight. It varies with car load, stops/starts, speed, terrain etc. The best performance has been (no suprise) 1 person on flat terrain with few stops and moderate speed.

Miles/Volts Graph

So I have been collecting data (my babe says I'm "OCD" about it) to find out just how far the little car will go. Well, according to the graph, it can go a little over 20 miles. Coincidentally, the kids and I were driving around downtown on Friday, and as usual the ONLY charging station was being used by THE SAME TWO CARS AS ALWAYS, so we didn't get to charge. I only hoped we could make it home. We did not. At about 22 miles, it refused to continue up Division. Fortunately we were close to a friend's house where we charged for about half an hour. That was plenty to get home to charge for the rest of the afternoon. This was certainly a case where the performance matched the projected graph line. Thanks Tom, for schooling me in Excel - this graph looks way cooler than my pencil and paper one.