The Muskegon EV Guy

2015 Tesla Model S P85D For Sale Sold! Asking: $28,900 (below average KBB private sale estimate) Free Lifetime Supercharging P85D with "Insane" acceleration This will save you thousands of dollars over the life of the car!  I save over $500 on a recent road trip to Arizona. Additional pictures:  Google Photo Album VIN: 5YJSA1H42FF086621 Odometer: ~122,500 miles Contact:  karl.bloss@gmail.com or 231-753-8660 (voice/text) for a test drive Location:  Muskegon, MI Local purchase with secured funds only.  I will not ship this car.  I have a Carvana sale offer in hand, so please no low-ball offers.   We recently took advantage of the Tesla pricing update and since we wanted towing capability and the longer range available on today's Teslas, we are getting a Model Y and are reluctantly selling this gorgeous Model S.  We are the original owners, so you should be able to transfer the free lifetime Supercharging feature.  Just plug in at any Supercharger and there's no cost, ev

I came across a newly installed Level 1 public charging station recently which seems like an anachronism in the day and age of 100+ kWh battery packs.  In this case, it was a set of two 120V 20A Clipper Creek chargers which, based on the 80% NEC continuous use specification, only run at 16A (80% of 20A = 16A).   That puts the power output at just under 2 KW (120V * 16A = 1,920 Watts).  The average light-duty EV has an efficiency of around 3.5 miles per kWh, so this station would add a whopping 7 miles of range per hour of charging.  A 60 kWh battery pack in something like a Chevy Bolt EV would take 30 hours to fully charge from empty. Why in the world would anyone want that? The answer is quite simple:  When the vehicle will be sitting and charging for a long time, it doesn't matter.   What is the use case for that? How about airport long-term parking?  If you're gone for 2-3 days, who cares whether your EV is done charging in 3 hours or 36 hours.  The battery is still fully ch

 [Updated 3/18/2023 to include Newsletter #9] I joined the  Consumers Energy  Electric Vehicle Programs team in January, so I have been focusing my education and outreach efforts in that direction rather than this blog.  One of the new outreach methods is an EV e-Newsletter that is being sent via e-mail to a select group of Consumers Energy EV customers such as those who have received rebates from the  PowerMIDrive  program.  However they are in the public domain and have been shared via social media.   While Consumers Energy does have web pages dedicated to EVs , the e-Newsletters have not been linked there yet.  While we work on making updates to the content of those EV web pages, here are the links to the back issues.  New!  Issue #10 - May 2023 In this issue, we’re brewing up coffee from the energy in an EV battery and we take a trip to Boyne Mountain Resort where you can charge your EV while you stay and play. We also give Tesla owners some advice on why and how to use DC Fast Cha

  Drive Electric Earth Day 2021 – Muskegon, MI – April 24, 2021 Register on the official DEED Event Page so we can get a vehicle and people count! Please follow the 2021 DEED COVID-19 Requirements: driveelectricearthday.org/event-safety Face masks are required. Attendees should stay at least six feet apart. Only people within the same household should be in a vehicle at the same time. Rally Itinerary: For those who prefer the addresses in text format to copy and paste: Location Name Address (Google Maps link) Arrival Time Hangout Time Depart Time Meijer Muskegon Lakes Mall 5300 Harvey St. Muskegon, MI 49444 9:00 AM 1:00 10:00 AM Meijer Holland 746 E 16th St Holland, MI 49423 10:45 AM 0:30 11:15 AM Meijer Cascade 5531 28th St SE Grand Rapids, MI 49512 12:00 PM 1:00 1:00 PM Meijer Express Gas Station 2988 Walker Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49544 1:30 PM 0:30 2:00 PM Meijer Muskegon Lakes Mall 5300 Harvey St. Muskegon, MI 49444 2:45 PM 1:15 4:00 PM Note Rally Arrival and Departure Times. C

Range tests at highway speeds do not give a complete picture of the road trip worthiness of the vehicle.  Not if your trip is longer than the single-charge range.  At highway speeds.  In the winter.  Let's use a recent EV market entry as an example for the good ol' American road trip? PlugShare Trip Planner:  Single Charge Ideal Road Trip A December 14, 2020 article from Green Car Reports tested the soon-to-be-released Ford Mustang Mach-E at highway speeds.  The manufacturer's overall range estimate of 270 miles sounds impressive, but does not hold up under continuous highway speed use.  According to the article, the expected highway range of the Mach-E would be closer to 219 miles.   The average reader might take away that the car can comfortably travel about 219 miles between charges.  Divide by a 70 MPH average highway speed and we get a cruising time of just over 3 hours before the car needs to be charged again. That scenario will likely never happen.    Road trips lo

Is your EV ready for snow and ice? It's mid-October in Michigan and the morning school run is made in darkness.  Raindrops reflecting the headlight beams looks like I'm driving through hyperspace.  The trickle of drops hit the windshield ... only they're not drops.  They are flakes.   Those of us who live in colder climates know that as the golden leaves drift gently to the ground, we need to start thinking of winter habits.  Electric vehicles (EVs) have some special considerations. Range The most pronounced effect of colder temperatures on EVs is range.  Depending on your vehicle, temperature, and situation, the range loss may be as much as 30-40% .   While cabin heating does take a toll on range, it's not necessarily the primary range thief, so just wearing extra clothing and leaving the climate control off won't give you summer range.  As most EV drivers know, higher speed means higher air resistance and thus lower range.  This effect is exacerbated by colder den