One Month of Volting

Today marks the one-month anniversary of the day we brought my Volt, Zippy, home with us.

As you well know (or at last you do if you've been reading this blog), the Zipster has changed lives in the Macon household, particularly mine. Do I think more about where I'm going and how I'm getting there than I used to? Do I intentionally make decisions about where to shop, eat, and be entertained based on whether I can charge my car nearby? Yes. Do I drive more slowly and use less air conditioning than I used to? Why, yes! Does any of this bother me one bit? No, it does not. I love my Volt and the way owning and driving one makes me feel. I feel good about driving electric because I'm helping the environment, helping my wallet, and most importantly, helping in my small way to ensure the future of alternative transportation technology for my children and future generations to come.

So what have I accomplished this month?

I've mastered the art of driving efficiently.

You can't do better than 100% (despite the fact that the American Idol judges might tell contestants they are "200% awesome" - don't get me started). And 94% climate efficiency when it's 84 degrees outside... well, that's best I can do in the summer and I'm happy with it. That efficiency is reached running FAN ONLY with the front windows halfway open but I'm comfortable at that temp in the mornings driving to work... cool wind in my hair and all.

I've routinely accomplished my 24 mile commute with only 18 miles of EV power. See here - I started with 50 miles this morning.

And yes, of the nearly 1500 miles I've driven this month, only 3.2 gallons of gasoline have been used, most of that by choice just to run the engine a little, on the highway, so I don't lower my EV miles on my guessometer. I can easily go several more months without putting gas in my Volt, and I probably will because at this point, the thought of pulling into a gas station, which I did routinely as recently as 5 week ago, seems like a distant and unsavory memory. In fact, I'm going to need to watch a video on how to open my pressure-sealed gas tank because I've never actually done it... yet.

And while each new drive brings the happy news of reaching 250+ miles per gallon (if only that number went higher on the screen!), I'm happiest about my lifetime average of 250+ miles.

How sweet it is!

I'm doing well, but I'm still wanting to do better. On Voltstats, I am currently sitting at #170 on the leaderboard out of 1332 Volts that fed data to OnStar at 10am this morning.

And yes, the irony that I'm being edged out of spot 169 by a Texan does not escape me. At the same time, I'm thrilled that someone in Texas is using that little gasoline... on purpose. Although, it's not such a big surprise when you realize....

He or she is in Austin.

As far as my own stats go, I'm working on improving:

And resting happy in the knowledge that all the places where I'm low on the list are simply because I haven't had my Volt very long. At this rate, I will be top 125 in MPG by the end of the year and top 100 by the end of 2016. 

Hey, everyone needs a goal, right?

Thanks for tuning in and I'll be back in a day or two with more EV fun and educational games. I plan to post these updates every month so those of you who are interested in my personal progress and stats can get your fill!

Pump Up Your Knowledge

I recently watched this film on the recommendation of Patrick, one of my fellow Facebook Chevy Volt Owners group members.

Released in September 2014 to a limited number of theaters, it is now available in its totality on Netflix streaming. It is directed by Rebecca and Josh Tickell and narrated (ominously) by Jason Bateman of Arrested Development fame, although my favorite work of his is Horrible Bosses. John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil and now founder of the nonprofit organization Citizens for Affordable Energy, is a board member at Fuel Freedom Foundation, which produced the film.

I really enjoyed the film and highly recommend it. This is a documentary so there's no reason to expect a plot. However, the movie does a good job of telling the story of the history of oil dependence in America. The theme, and goal, of the movie is "Freedom at the Pump" - in other words, we should not be locked into gasoline as a means of transportation. For people who prefer it, fine... but the movie uncovers in true conspiracy-theorist fashion the illegal activities throughout history of Standard Oil (yes, think Rockefeller) and other companies that have taken extreme measures to extinguish innovation that would reduce America's dependence on oil. How can you possibly switch to an ethanol or methanol car if you cannot buy the fuel anywhere?

Some highlights for me include:

• Vignettes about Tesla... I learned quite a bit about the company.
• Learning about China's recent auto-boom and how, due to the one-child rule, women, who are now in short supply, often choose their husbands by what kind of car they own, because cars are acquired through a complex lottery/bidding system that leaves many disappointed and still puts too many cars on the road in this highly populated nation. Watch it and you'll see - if you drive a gas-powered automobile, this is really something about which to be concerned. The Chinese want more cars, and they will pay almost anything to be able to drive them. Don't think that will affect your gas prices? Guess again.
• I've often read that ethanol and methanol are expensive, dirty fuels that require more coal to produce a gallon than we can imagine. Maybe that's true to some extent, maybe it isn't. This movie tells a very different story of clean, inexpensive biofuels whose reputations have been completely sullied by PR experts hired to nix the biofuel industry.
• Since watching the movie, I have really paid attention to the sights and smells on the road and in parking lots. Why wouldn't we want to stop breathing that stuff? You know it's disgusting.
• I was a little disappointed by the brief treatment of electric cars and I hope that someone produces a longer documentary devoted to just these vehicles. But it was great learning about biofuels. I just want to know more about all progressive automotive technologies.

The movie is clearly a call to action. "Demand fuel choice!" it screams at us, and I feel inspired to do just that. We Americans don't really like being told what to do, although we are famous for following the leads of those who is clearly doing things wrong, without being told to do so... but that's our pop culture at work. Why are we so happy with being forced to use gasoline when we know for a fact, when we look just a little deeper, that our dependence on oil is being fueled not by necessity or the public good, but rather by businesses bent on profit? Is this really okay with you?

Depending on which source you choose to believe, there are 10 years... or 20 years... or 50 years... or 75 years... of oil left to be ripped from the earth at current levels of usage. Let's say liberally that there are 200 years of oil left. 200 years is not so far away. Are we really okay with holding back progress that would ensure survival of our species, or at least our descendents' abilities to be mobile, i nthe name of pure profit?

I'm not okay with it. 

Watch the movie, learn something... and let me know what you think.

My Car is So Cool, There is a Book About It

Is there a book all about your car?

Perhaps there is. I've seen books in my travels about some cars. There is a book about the Ford Model A -  I saw it at Barnes and Noble. If you have a Porsche or a Corvette, you are definitely in luck. But I haven't found any books about the Chevy Malibu. Or the Hyundai Sonata. Or even the Nissan Leaf.

There is a book about the history of the Chevrolet Volt.

Of course I bought one. The Chevrolet website sells them for $30. I got mine new on eBay for $8.

I'm not done reading it yet but I'm really enjoying it. I was interested in knowing about the engineering and the engineers on the team. I was curious about who came up with the extended range idea and how quickly the car came to be developed. The book is full of glossy photos and the most exciting ones, I'm pretty sure most readers would agree, are of the original Volt concept car, which was first revealed at the 2007 Detroit Auto show, barely a year after the idea for the Volt was conceived by Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman and Chief of Global Product Development for GM at that time.

She's a beauty, it's easy to admit. I personally prefer the body style of MY Volt as I find this one a little more manly (if that's the right word - maybe "mean" would be better - not to imply that all men are mean - they are not - but they tend to like mean-looking cars) than I like. But the glass roof - gorgeous! I'm not sure that would have been practical in our Florida weather conditions but wow, it sure is pretty.

Encapsulating the entire history of the Volt would take too much time but here are a few interesting bullet points that MAY get you wanting to read the book, if you're into automobiles. Don't say I didn't warn you!

• While Bob Lutz was revealing the new Camaro at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Downtown Detroit, by all definitions an exciting reveal for GM, all he could think about was developing an electric car that people could actually use.
• Tesla's announcement of the Roadster and the technology that would make it possible at the same auto show inspired Lutz and helped drive his passion to create the Volt concept in time for the show the following year.
• GM's prior effort at producing and selling an electric vehicle was the EV1, which was a marvel of engineering ahead of its time, but fell far short of what was needed for a vehicle that could be used every day due to being a two-seater with a very limited range. After removing all EV1's from the marketplace (and crushing them - ouch!), GM was accused of "killing" the electric car.

• After the concept was unveiled, an abbreviated production schedule was announced for the Volt even though the technology for the lithium-ion battery pack needed was not yet developed. Some could say that necessity drove a very quick invention because the Volt delivered on time with its 2011 model at the very end of 2010.

The book is chock-full of historical narrative about the development of the battery and engines, which I find riveting, and also the exterior and interior, which is interesting but I'm a nuts-and-bolts kind of girl.

All in all, I find the book to be a very cool part of being a Volt owner.

In other recent retail Volt-related purchases, I found one of these on eBay:

Now everyone who is not educated on EVs will know that my Volt (as are all Volts) is powered on "E" - the good stuff, that's good for the environment, and good for the future.

Taking Charge

If you make the move to an electric or plug-in hybrid electric (into which group I'll place my Volt for the sake of simplicity), you'll want to do your homework regarding the charging infrastructure in the places you travel to often. In Orlando, it's mainly a ChargePoint system.

When you get your car, especially if you buy it from a dealership, chances are there are ChargePoint cards in your glove box. They look like this (if you have a Volt).

I also have generic cards that ChargePoint sent me when I signed up for an account on its website, http://chargepoint.com.

ChargePoint is a California-based company that truly started out ahead of the game when it comes to public charging. Before there were electric cars, Richard Lowenthal, founder and retired Chief of Technology at ChargePoint, believed that EVs would be the future of automobiles because they made the most sense. His vision seems to be panning out. Lowenthal and his team knew that EVs would require an entirely new infrastructure. In developing their business strategy, they made some pretty important observations and decisions.

• Charging an EV takes time, so drivers want to be topped off whenever possible. Anywhere that an EV could be parked for an hour or more, drivers would want to charge.
• The traditional "gas station" model would not work for EVs. You cannot drive until you're out of battery charge and then pull in for a quick 90 second "fill-up".  The laws of physics prevent this from happening.
• Charging at home would not be enough for people on the go given current battery ranges. (Editorial Note: Tesla is changing this paradigm.)
• No company could afford to make thousands of chargers and install them before EVs become commonplace, but EVs won't increase in popularity until the infrastructure is there. Hence, ChargePoint's business model: pass the cost of chargers on to property owners that want to attract EV drivers as customers. In other words, let the private sector fund EV growth.
• Property owners cannot be bothered with the management of the pay system for chargers. ChargePoint handles this for them.
• Property owners want to know how their charges are being used. So charging stations are networked to provide data to owners, let them know when the station is malfunctioning, and control who has access to the chargers.

ChargePoint claims to be three companies in one: a hardware company that produces chargers, a software company that provides cloud-based services to property owners, and a social media company with an app that shows drivers where to find charging stations, how much they cost, and whether or not a station is currently in use.

This company was pioneering and pretty much stands alone at this point. There is some small competition that is not really growing. On our East Campus, a different companies chargers were installed, currently without a pay structure, but at some point that will likely change.  Currently, 70 percent of all public charging is ChargePoint, and 90 percent of all charger construction is ChargePoint as well.

So if you want to charge, you get the point. Get the cards for free on the website and set up your account which works a lot like an ePass or a Starbucks card. It auto-fills when funds are low and you never pay directly at the charger - you only debit.

Charge on!

Talking 'Bout My Regeneration

Sorry for the truly grown-worthy pun.

But, alas, I've had some questions about regenerative braking from friends who are intrigued by the concept. I've certainly experienced it enough of it these past few weeks to discuss what it FEELS and ACTS like, but I needed to do some reading to understand how it actually WORKS.

Here are the basics.

Regenerative braking is used mainly by cars with electric motors (either full electric or hybrid) to redirect the energy generated by the braking process back into the battery by charging it during the braking process. 

Even though traditional friction brakes work fine when it comes to stopping a car, they are very wasteful in terms of energy. Every time a driver of a fuel-burning car steps on the brake pedal, he or she claps down on the car's wheel's with the force of thousands of pounds of hydraulic pressure. There are different types of brake pads and systems used, but in any case, the vehicle slows down due to the forceful friction that's generated between the pads and discs (or in older cars, shoes and drums). The friction effectively turns kinetic energy (the energy the car possesses due to being in motion) into heat energy (increased particle movement) - sometimes with a lot of noise produced in the process - and the car, as a result, slows down. 

As you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of fuel to create all that kinetic energy while the car is getting up to speed. This energy is completely wasted when the brakes turn it to heat.

Regenerative braking recaptures a portion of the kinetic energy, converts it to electricity, and reuses it to charge your battery.

I've seen this in action, actually. There have been a handful of times since owning my Volt when my estimated miles left on the battery, had just lowered by one, and then I did some creeping and braking due to traffic, and the miles went back up by one. And then I clapped with glee like a 2 year old, but that's another story.

Because regenerative braking turns energy into electricity, it is most useful in hybrid or electric vehicles, because of the simple fact that they have electric systems to which the energy can be returned. During normal operation, the electric motor draws power from the battery to power the vehicle. When the brake pedal is pressed, the electric motor is able to reverse the process and feed electricity back to the battery. This helps keep the battery charged without plugging it in or, in the case of a hybrid, using the alternator.  The result: increased efficiency.

This is not a perpetual motion solution, however, as only about half of the energy that would be lose in a fully combustion driven car can be recovered using regenerative braking. The other half is still lost in the form of (mostly) heat. The battery discharging process is merely slowed. With current technology, it cannot be completely halted.

These are some of the electric and hybrid cars that currently use regenerative braking:

• Chevy Volt (obviously)
• Nissan Leaf
• Tesla Model S
• Toyota Prius
• Pretty much every EV/EREV/Hybrid out there

Interestingly, there are also some cars without electric motors that use similar technology, such as BMW's 5 and 6 series and a few others. These cars use modified systems that feed the electric regenerated into the electrical system of the car to power climate, entertainment, etc. This can conserve more gasoline for actual vehicle propulsion.

Regenerative brakes have limitations. They only work on the "drive wheels". So in a Volt, that's only the two front wheels. This is not enough braking force to stop the car under "panic" conditions like, someone darting out in front of you, or cutting you off. You need friction brakes as well. There is a limitation on regen also, as the battery can only store so much energy by design. Future designs may enable regenerative brakes to fully stop a vehicle, doing away with the need for (and weight of) a brake controller to keep track of which brake system is doing what, as well as the friction brakes themselves which can be quite heavy.

For those who don't have an EV, most have screens that show you when you are using battery and when you are regenerating. These are not actual photos I took (I try to limit my photography when driving) but rather, downloaded from Google images.

For now, we need two systems - and them's the brakes. Okay, enough puns for one day. Until next time, charge on!

Three Weeks of Volting

Yesterday marked the three week anniversary for my Volt and me. So far it's been a great relationship. We are still getting to know each other, but nether of us has let the other down.

The report is about what you'd expect. Even though the temperatures have been kissing up against 100 degrees all week, I've managed to maintain an average of 50-51 EV miles per charge. Even though I've used gas a few times on the highway (thinking it was better to burn off the sludge the dealership left in my tank rather than lower my EV efficiency), I still have almost 8 gallons left in the tank. And I still adore driving my Volt. I love everything about it.

In other news, my friend Shannon at work (hi Shannon!) bought a Nissan Leaf on Friday to replace her aging Vue. I'd like to think I played a small part in this, having driven when I went out to lunch with her and her husband Josh two weeks ago. In any case, I'm really happy for her even though it means more competition for charging stations in our lot. Anything that progresses EV technology makes me happy. Every time a gas burner is replaced on the road with an EV, an angel gets its wings.

Speaking of charging stations, I emailed our AVP for Facilities last Friday to ask if there was a long-range plan in place for adding charging stations to our two campuses that already have some (five on my campus, two on our other large campus) and putting charging stations on the three smaller campuses that do not have them. He left me a very long voicemail in return explaining that there should be one in place by the end of the year and in addition to installing/increasing charging stations on each campus, the plan would also take steps to lower the cost of charging, perhaps down to zero. This is great news! I hope it is true.

The Volt has a design floor such that if a rock up to 3/4 inch in diameter manages to fly through the grating below the Volt's fake grille, it can puncture the radiator and cause serious damage. A Volt lover/owner has designed a solution, as well as a variety of other helpful products, which can be viewed on his website, http://voltshelf.weebly.com. I ordered the VoltScreen and it should be here in a few days. Many other drivers on the Facebook group have ordered the other products. The community that surrounds and supports this car is amazing.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there - whether you are a Voltarian or not, this is your day to celebrate!

Coal Rolling

I think this guy is an idiot.

I'm all for rebellion - against things that are bad for us, bad for society, bad for the future of all mankind. I'm for rebellion that doesn't hurt other people. 

Some people call Travis Spruitenburg an "anti-environmentalist". I call him an anarchist, and not in a cute, sexy Jax Teller/Sons of Anarchy sort of way. This guy and his "club" have made it clear that they hate President Obama and if he's into saving the environment, they are into wrecking it. Obviously they don't have kids. Well, maybe that's not true. Maybe they have kids, and they just don't have brains. Because having kids does not require brains. But that's a discussion for a whole different blog.

And just because I feel gross and dirty even posting the above photo, I'm going to add this one to make myself feel better.

Whew, that felt good. Not just posting it, but knowing that I'm contributing to the dumping a whole lot less than I was a few weeks ago. Okay, one more.

Ahhhhhh. Namaste.

Even though I live in a very conservative outskirt of suburban Orlando, my daily ventures are into the more progressive parts of town. Every time someone cuts me off, I assume it's because they are an awful driver, like so many Orlando drivers have seemed to be since long before I drove an EV. But perhaps I'm being naive. In other parts of the US, and perhaps right here, EV hate crimes are a growing issue.

On the night of June 8, in Novato, California, John Bixler set fire to four new Volts parked in the lot at a Chevrolet dealership, causing over $100,000 worth of damage. No other vehicles were burned. Police caught Bixler a few days later and he was already a "person of interest" suspected in the arson. Coal Roller hate crime? No article states that outright, but the connotation is unmistakable. 

Five months ago, $50,000 worth of damage was done to a Volt parked at a Cheesecake Factory and the surrounding space in Seattle. 

Google "I hate electric cars" and you'll find a plethora of websites devoted to the topic, as well as multiple Facebook groups where people can rant and whine and share pictures like this to represent the modern electric car:

I mean, honestly, how backward can a person be? Don't answer. Rhetorical question.

This is something I did not really consider when I was in the market for my first EV. There are many factors that contribute to this oversight. The list includes but is not limited to the following:

• I hang around with educated people. In general, educated people make data-based decisions, not I-feel-this-way-but-don't-know-why types of decisions.
• I think a lot about the future. I am very concerned about how we are leaving this planet for our children, their children, etc.
• Even though I know people my age who don't know how to use computers or cell phones, I am not in that group. If there is new technology, I own it.

So in a world where the ignorant are post-happy with pictures like these:

Is it any wonder that we have to look out for the haters?

If you see someone driving electric and you think that's awesome, feel free to smile and wave. If they don't wave back, don't take it personally. Some of us are so busy calculating our EV efficiency as we drive, we barely have enough energy to watch the road, much less the nice person smiling and waving. Yet, you're welcome to be in the club even if you're not behind the wheel of an EV yet. And if you have questions, please ask! Most of us love to talk about the technology and decision-making process. Only through collaboration do we learn.

Charge on!

Feel the Heat

“Electric motors provide smooth operation, strong acceleration, require less maintenance than internal combustion engines, and for many motorists offer a cost effective option,” said John Nielsen, managing director, AAA Automotive Engineering and Repair. “However, EV drivers need to carefully monitor driving range in hot and cold weather.”

This summer is going to kill me.

It's been 100 degrees here in Orlando for three days in a row with no relief in sight. Suspending any discussions leaning towards the political about climate change and global warming (long story short, it's happening), the fact is, extreme heat is not good for EV driving.

Extreme cold weather is not good for your EV either. However, here in Florida, this is not going to be a primary concern. We may get a few cool weather days in January and February where temps dip into the 40s. This is not what is meant by "extreme cold temperatures." Think more like Alaska.

So what can I do? Not much. Yesterday, when I left the house it was 82 degrees outside. I had 53 miles of EV range on my guessometer.

                               

This was great and all, but even with my 100% efficient driving...

I still ended up with only 50 miles this morning. Every time I park in the sun - and on campus, there is really no choice - it takes 3-4 EV miles to cool the car down to a reasonable 78 degrees. And let's not even discuss the late afternoon temps that get up to 102, like today... I might as well run on gas.

Well, it's not that bad really. Even with taking 32 miles EV to drive 26 road miles, I'm still saving quite a bit of money. But I'm longing for the fall, which is far off, when I can count on some really good EV mileage - 450mpg equivalent instead of 255 - and the chance to wear boots without sweating.

How Owning a Volt has Changed the Way I Drive

If you've been following my blog, you know that I'm a little obsessed with my Volt. It's not just the car itself that has the ability of grab my attention. What's really all-consuming is the possibilities that technology like what's built into my car mean for our future - as Floridians, as Americans... as people of Earth.

It really is that big a deal to me. Imagine how people felt when the first cars hit the road in the late 1800s. Or when the first planes began to take to the skies, just over 100 years ago. How did the people living in those times feel about these new inventions? What did they think these new innovations would mean for the future of humanity?

I have a feeling that the average individual doesn't really think beyond the immediate effect an invention has on him- or herself, in the time and space of his or her life. But you can bet that there was at least one person who stood and watched that first horseless carriage pull away from the side of the road, in awe of the implications for humankind. At least one person saw the first commercial flight take off out of St. Petersburg, Florida on January 1, 1914 and thought about how everything - absolutely everything - was about to change.

This is how I feel about my Volt. Granted I'm not the first person to drive one. I'm about the 78,000th American (probably not exactly, but thereabouts) to drive one, which still makes me feel pretty special. There are approximately 254 million cars and trucks on the road in the US according to the US Department of Transportation's website. About 320,000 of these are plug-in electric or hybrid electric. That's less than .13% of all cars in America. About a quarter of these are Volts.

The Volt is not exactly the car you see all over the place. But it is probably one of the more popular cars you see at the charging station. And there's good reason why. The Volt is the full package. It has a better-than-average electric range - Chevrolet boasts 38 miles, but I get over 50 and some drivers get up to 60 with careful driving - and yet, the option of extending range through the gas-powered generator is always there. It truly is the best of both worlds.

In future blogs, I will compare and contrast some of the more popular electric/hybrid/etc. vehicles (recall that I call these "progressive automobiles"). Today, I'm focusing specifically on my Volt experience.

I've been driving my Volt now for 18 days. In that relatively short amount of time, I have completely changed the way I drive. Forget all the other changes to my life - my daily hour or so a day spent on this blog, for example - and let's look at changes behind the wheel.

• I have slowed down. Way down. Whereas three weeks ago I'd be routinely weaving on the highway and passing almost every car, with a speeding ticket always a very real possibility, now I find myself being passed by everyone but the 18-wheelers and old ladies. And I'm totally okay with this.
• I have almost totally stopped taking the highway. I say almost, because sometimes I am in a time crunch and really need to. But I have not been on SR 417 in over a week, and this, many of you know, used to be my favorite road in Central Florida. The lanes are wide and the speed limit is 70mph. What else is there to say? The speed limit is great when you're in a rush in a gas-powered vehicle. When you're in an electric car that performs best at 50mph and below, this road is to be avoided at all costs.
• Along the lines of the previous bullet, my E-pass has not done its weekly refresh. So in addition to saving money on fuel (which I absolutely have done), I have saved quite a bit on tolls as well.
• I am driving totally differently. Some of this is due to the L "gear" (think of it as golf-cart mode, as per my prior post). Some of it is due to conscious coasting to save EV power. All of it means that I am very much in tune with who I'm on the road with and what's going on around me. This can only be safer.
• I spend more time computing in my head how many EV miles I am "gaining" (getting extra) or losing from my engine. Constant mathematical computations are going on in my head. Oddly enough, I actually feel mentally sharper than ever because of this.
• I have taken to wearing flip-flops in the car and putting on socks and shoes when I arrive at work. This enables me to stay a little cooler in a cabin with a warmer temperature. Remember, it's all about EV conservation.

I really do feel the need to mention a few changes outside the cockpit. 

• When you know that you are saving energy and doing something good for the environment on the road, it makes you all the more aware of the other things you can do to help the environment. I've been keeping a pile of papers to recycle on my desk rather than throwing them in the trash. I've been turning out lights if I can do what I need to do in dimmer lighting. I've been unplugging things that really don't need to be plugged in all the time. I'm just more in tune with conservation and how we absolutely have to do everything we can to leave the planet in as good shape as we found it when we emerged from the womb.
• Every morning, the first thing I do when I wake up is see how many miles my Volt is guessing for my charge. It's a ritual that I will never stop, at least not until I have an EV that gets 200+ miles per charge. That may happen in the next decade!
• I have spent a lot of time learning about electric cars. This has been so fun! I'm actually going to be doing a brief presentation on electric automotive technology for a group of incoming freshmen in July and I can't wait. 
• I have become a total EVangelist and this makes me happy.

As a progressive, politically and otherwise, I am proud to be part of what I see as a growing trend. After all, you don't think that 20 years from now you're going to be driving that Ford F150, do you? Be serious. Fossil fuels are not renewable. We absolutely have to do something. Whether electric cars are the future for all remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure. Gas powered automobiles are an endangered species.

Under Pressure: How the Volt Stores Gasoline

It's very interesting. Often when I'm explaining to someone about how the Volt functions as an extended range electric vehicle, the questions immediate turn to the gasoline and not the electric. "How often do you use the gas?" and "What kind of mileage do you get on gas?" And of course, as soon as I mention that I haven't put gas in the car yet and don't anticipate needing to do so any time soon, "Isn't the gas going to get stale?" and "Don't you think you should run it on gas often so it doesn't ruin your engine?"

Any Volt owner who has done his or her homework knows that gas is not a big concern. The Volt was designed to be used in a lot of different ways. For the sake of argument, you could choose to never charge it and run it purely on the gas generator. But then, why buy a Volt to begin with? Many Volt drivers (perhaps the majority) make a good effort to use the Volt as an electric vehicle with a gas backup for the occasional long trip, or morning after the night where you forgot to plug in the charger (what do Nissan Leaf drivers do when this happens?). Many Volt drivers take the "gas-free lifestyle" idea seriously. Many Volt drivers can tell you how many particles they have kept from emitting into our atmosphere every time they hit the road running on electric.

So how does the Volt make this possible? Gas left in an average car would begin evaporating after a couple of days or weeks of non-use. Most modern combustion engine based cars have carbon filters built into their gas tanks to trap the fumes and return them to the gas tank the next time the car runs. This works fine when you're using gas to run your car on an almost daily basis. If you rarely use gas, you need a special gas tank. And that is absolutely what the Volt possesses.

Volt engineers and supplier Spectra Premium Inc. developed the Volt's gas tank from 1/4 mm thick hot-dipped tin-zinc coated steel to resist corrosion from both inside and out. Despite the strength of the tank, it has a mechanical pressure relief valve that begins opening at 3.5 psi and a vacuum relief that opens at -2.3 psi, levels that are rarely exceeded (Chevrolet Press Release, 3/11/2011).

Even with a tank that doesn't let humidity in or let fuel vapors out, you still need to use the gas and replenish it periodically. What does that mean in Volt terms? Every six weeks, if the integrated combustion generator hasn't been powered on, the powertrain controller sends a message to the driver letting him or her know that the engine needs to run. This is called "maintenance mode". The driver may defer maintenance for up to 24 hours at which point the gas generator will just up and run on its own to use some of the fuel and keep the internal components lubricated and fit for use.

Furthermore, if the driver goes a full year between fill-ups (and the car does knows this via the powertrain controller, more about this in a minute), then maintenance mode will kick in and and use up the old gas until and unless the driver fills up with fresh fuel to mix with the old fuel.

FYI, you're right - I totally intend to be in this maintenance mode boat at some point. Partly for the experience, but mostly because I'm using almost no gas at all.

As Chevy's fuel system integration engineer for the Volt, Jon Stec, says, "For the driver who starts the year with a full tank of 9.3 gallons and runs 15,000 miles on electricity, the maintenance mode will use just enough gas to average a very respectable 1,613 miles per gallon."

How does the Volt know that you have not filled your tank? In the Volt, there is a gas-tank release button as in most modern automobiles. To the naked eye, it doesn't seem to operate much differently from your standard gas door release. This is what mine looks like.

When you hit the button though, the gas tank door doesn't simply open. In fact, the door is spring loaded. When you hit the button, the gas tank pressure is released so that you can open the door and unscrew the cap to add gas. It takes a few seconds and a message on the display in the cabin will let you know when you may safely remove the cover.

I haven't tried this, mind you. I'm just going by what my owner's manual tells me to do. I'm not sure how often I will do this but I gather it will be seldom and I'll need to look back at this blog to remind myself how to do it each and every time.

The cover looks like this.

So, nothing really special there. But as you've already read, there is specialness going on behind the cap.

Chevrolet recommends premium top-tier gas for the Volt. Pro drivers on the Chevy Volt Owners Facebook group also recommend ethanol-free petrol, but this seems to be not as important as the premium top-tier part. I've been scouting out top-tier ethanol-free stations in Orlando. I wish I'd known to do this when I was still driving my Camry, because I was filling it up at a different gas station almost every week. But alas... who knows when next I'll be purposefully pulling into a gas station? Maybe if I need a pack of gum or I'm hunting for the ever-elusive Pineapple Fanta.

One last photo, so you can see how it all fits together.

This is a Volt "skeleton", if you will. For reference, what you see towards the upper left corner is the FRONT of the car... in other words, what's under the hood. What you see in the back is below the rear chassis. The upside-down T shape in the middle is the 17.1 kWh battery pack (in a 2015 Volt - only 16.5 in prior year models) which sticks up into the cabin, accounting for the reason why the Volt is only a four-seater rather than five. Incidentally, my kids, Sheridan and Bryce (10 and 8, respectively), who sit in the back most of the time, consider the four-seater a definite upgrade from the five seat sedans of their past. Who wouldn't rather be in a bucket seat?

Even though the car is meant to be Sheridan's someday, Bryce wants to make sure he's hedging his bets, just in case. 

Nifty Fifty

I had hoped to reach this milestone within a month of owning my Volt. Even better: I reached it 15 days after our purchase!

When I first charged my Volt, the "guessometer" was giving me 38 miles on a charge. Between my amazing driving - and I'll have to say, Brian's as well on a few family rides where he was driving - we have added 12 miles onto our range. Now we are part of the "50 and over club" and unlike the other connotation, this is a GREAT thing.

I've been mulling quite a bit about buying the unknown-quality-petrol out of my tank. I've read quite a bit and I'll be putting together a blog very soon about the engineering behind the Volt's pressurized gas tank. But not today... we are going for an EV drive.