Tag: Earth Day

What it costs to NOT run #CO2Fre

TimeHorse May 11, 2020 No Comments

During the entire month of April, I only went for a drive a few times. Once was for my Earth Day demonstration. On that day, according to TeslaFi, I drove 6.01 mi / 9.67 km, using 2.64 kWh and reducing #CO2Fre‘s range by 11.11 mi / 17.88 km.

The other drives were when I took #CO2Fre to the Tyson’s Corner Service Center to have them investigate a squeaking sound when I turn in the rain on Tuesday, 31 March. I dropped of #CO2Fre and couldn’t pick her up for a week, which is why #CO2Fre didn’t charge from 1–7 April. The drive there took 12.32 mi / 19.83 km and used 3.14 kW. On Wednesday, 1 April, the service people test drove #CO2Fre for 6.00 miles / 9.66 km, using another 1.72 kWh. I could finally pick up #CO2Fre on Tuesday, 7 April, and burned another 2.74 kWh on the 10.84 mi / 17.45 km trip home.

Other than that, I didn’t drive anywhere and apart from testing, and testing, and testing my DashCam, I didn’t even approach #CO2Fre.

What’s more interesting is the amount of vampire power #CO2Fre uses. For the entire month of April, which is to say 23 March–22 April, which is my billing cycle, I used 39 kWh of electricity. Since the driving only used 10.24 kWh, at least 28 kWh was burned in idle usage and the occasional climate control.

Though this may seem mysterious, I do know exactly where and when #CO2Fre is drawing current thanks to Dominion’s smart meter. I have over ten years of data, in thirty minute increments, collected in a Google Spreadsheet.

Day01:0001:3002:0002:3003:0003:3004:0004:3005:0005:3006:0006:30Super-Off PeakOff-PeakOn Peak
Mon 23 Mar0.30.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.30.00.0
Tue 24 Mar0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Wed 25 Mar0.02.60.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.02.60.00.0
Thu 26 Mar0.30.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.30.00.0
Fri 27 Mar0.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00,20.00.0
Sat 28 Mar0.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.00.0
Sun 29 Mar0.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.00.0
Mon 30 Mar0.50.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.50.00.0
Tue 31 Mar0.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.00.0
Wed 1 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Thu 2 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Fri 3 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Sat 4 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Sun 5 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Mon 6 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Tue 7 Apr0.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0
Wed 8 Apr5.75.84.60.00.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.016.30.00.0
Thu 9 Apr0.60.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.60.00.0
Fri 10 Apr0.50.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.50.00.0
Sat 11 Apr0.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.00.0
Sun 12 Apr0.00.20.00.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.40.00.0
Mon 13 Apr0.00.20.00.00.20.00.00.20.00.00.20.00.60.00.2
Tue 14 Apr0.40.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.40.00.0
Wed 15 Apr0.40.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.40.00.0
Thu 16 Apr0.00.20.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.20.00.0
Fri 17 Apr0.80.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.80.00.0
Sat 18 Apr0.40.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.40.00.0
Sun 19 Apr5.72.20.00.20.00.20.00.20.00.20.00.28.50.20.2
Mon 20 Apr3.10.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.03.10.00.0
Tue 21 Apr2.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.02.00.00.0
Table 1: Time-Of-Use Data for the month of April 2020

However, even with this low fuel usage, I still get a bill every month from Dominion Virginia Power. This is because, even if I used no electricity, I have to pay Dominion for my Time-Of-Use Smart-Meter. This allows me to charge between 01–05 in the morning for dirt cheap electricity. The base rate for this service, in a two meter household, is $2.73, so my fuel always costs at least that, even if I don’t use any electricity.

The final tally was for all that was $5.42 for just 35.17 mi / 56.60 km of driving.

I hope to spend more kWh cruising upon a cloud again soon.

Happy 50 Years of Earth Day

TimeHorse April 22, 2020 2 Comments

Today we celebrate fifty years of our beloved planet Earth; it’s Earth Day. Many celebrations are occuring today to celebrate half a century of environmental movements and cherishing a planet we’ve taken for granted in our 100,000 years of evolution. Even the Sierra Club is celebrating in tandem with the the Electric Auto Association and Plug-In America with a live Facebook event earlier today.

Now, as you may remember, I was giving a demonstration of #CO2Fre on Saturday with Drive Electric RVA. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get a dozen folks to watch #CO2Fre go from 0–70 practically in the blink of an eye and show you all the cool features of my ride—sans Summon or my DashCam.

Happy Earth Day, y’all and hope someday soon you can cruise upon a cloud with me in person!

Electric Cars from near and far

TimeHorse April 15, 2020 No Comments

At today’s EVA/DC meeting, we used Zoom to connect with our fellow Electric Car enthusiasts both news and old. I’ve been part of the EVA/DC for ten years and there have been many friends I’ve made through my time there. It was great seeing so many longtime friends once again thanks to the EVA/DC Zoom chat.

Some on Facebook complained that using Zoom for the EVA/DC meetings was insecure. But, as I’m literally a professional white hat hacker, I knew all too well the early and unfounded FUD against Zoom and what it is and is not appropriate for, and how it’s improved. Though I’ve written about it at length, the short answer is: secure enough for EVA/DC, not secure enough for COMSEC TS/NOFORN. Nobody is talking about issues of national security, so please, come join us on Zoom!

My good friend and fellow Eclipse enthusiast, Scott Wilson, shared with us an invitation to the Drive Electric Earth Day event with Plug-In America. The Drive Electric Earth Day Tribute: EVs Making a Difference will occur on 22 April, at 14:00 EDT / 11:00 PDT. You can RSVP here. I should put a disclaimer here that I have asked to be nominated for Plug-In America’s Drive Electric Awards this year, but to be honest, I don’t think anyone nominated me so no worries about a conflict of interest.

Then my longtime friend Eric Cardwell in Tennessee showed us his burgeoning Drive Electric Tennessee page and his new logo. Of course, we wish him well and hope when he’s got it set up to maybe attend one of his meeting on Zoom. Your logo’s looking sharp, my friend!

But the pièce de résistance has to be seeing my longtime friend and first Smart Electric Drive (Smart ED) owner in the US, LTC Mindy Kimball. She shared with us this classic clip from Dan Rather Reports.

Brava Mindy! Was wonderful seeing you again and getting a glimpse of this blast from the past. And you know, though it’s not exactly the same Smart ED owner, her current Smart ED is now driven by the young man in the videos. Look how far we’ve come!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t invite all of you to join me this Saturday on Secure Zoom where I will be presenting #CO2Fre. Please, come cruise the cloud with me.