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.