Quote:
Originally Posted by Erasmo
That's the disadvantage of being an early adapter in the EV world, you have a relatively small battery compared to the new generation of EV's that about to be released(On the other hand think of the humongous amount of fuel you already saved.) and charging stations aren't everywhere. Yet.
With the introduction of the Bolt and other cars demand for charging will rise and so will the amount of stations.
Now just don't sit back and watch the stations appear, you gotta work for it. Have to plant those seeds in peoples heads. If I'd take a look at Plugshare in Gunnison there are plenty of prime spots for at least L2 stations, like the Holiday Inn, all the schools, the shopping centre/Walmart.
Get out there and spread the world, just mention it if you visit those places that you'd were more eager to drop in their establishment if you could charge there.
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Yes, you have a good point. Spreading the word would be helpful. I know there's at least one other EV owner in town. Maybe if I got to know her we could gang up on businesses with our ideas.
On the other hand I see one problem. Gunnison is so small it's not likely that having chargers within town would be that advantageous. If I charge up at home I can and have driven from end to end of town several times over in my Leaf, even with the heater on full blast. I guess I can foresee a time that I've gone a ways out of town, came back, need to go to the store, and then head back out again. In an occasion like that having a charging station at the store would be nice.
Right now there's one public level 2 charger in the middle of town near most of the restaurants, the post office and a grocery store. So far it hasn't been an asset, except for being free. If I'm charged up at home, by the time I get to the public charging station I might have lost 2% or 3% of my charge. Let me take that back! The other day I did some things around town and then went out of town quite a ways. When I got back I had 23% left. Then I went to a grocery store and then went home to charge (I reached 21% by the time I got home). After an hour lunch I was back on the road. But! Had I been thinking I could have charged at the charging station and could have walked across the street to the grocery store. That way I wouldn't have needed to go home to charge!
But still, it would be most helpful if there were charging stations along the roads going out of town. And along those roads there aren't very many places where I could promote placing car chargers. Like from here to Buena Vista. A level 2 charger at Sargents would be nice so that I could make sure I have enough charge to make it up Monarch Pass. (I'm also hoping the 11,000ft above sea level helps reduce air drag.) But those guys that run that gas station there are hard to deal with!
But if I could extend the range of my Leaf, not only could I go places I'd like to go, but also spend less overall time charging along the way. Imagine if I had to charge only once between here and Denver instead of three times.