99 Miles

I'm going to gaze at these stats for a while today, since they are all about to change for the worse.

Tomorrow I will be driving 99 miles to get to Palm Coast for a team retreat for my job. I'm very excited about the retreat. I know we will all be working hard on planning for the upcoming academic year, but I love to work hard - especially without distractions - and the work needs to get done.

In order to get there, I'll need to use about 50 miles worth of gas. In other words, a little more than a gallon. Actually given that I'm probably going to take the highway (riding in the right lane doing 55, but the highway nonetheless as it is by far the most direct route), I might not get a full 50 miles out of my charge. My plan is to run on electric until I have about 8 miles left and then run on gasoline by putting my Volt in Hold mode. This will allow me to switch back on battery once I exit I-95 close to my destination so that I can maximize the battery on the few miles of country road I'll be taking to reach my final destination.

I'll probably need to use 1-2 gallons of gasoline to get there. I know this does not sound like much to those of you who drive gasoline powered cars. But I have not used any gasoline for over 897 miles of driving, so it's mildly upsetting. I'm sure I'll recover.

I have spoken to the concierge at Hammock Beach Resort where I will be staying. She assures me that I'll be able to plug my Volt in using my own EVSE and promised that if I call in the morning when I leave, she will block off a spot for me.  This is great news, especially given a recent negative experience we had at Cabana Bay Resort at Universal Orlando.

While staying there with Brian for his Alumni Board retreat, not only was Cabana Bay ill-prepared for guests with electric cars - they were unwilling to block off a parking spot for us, even though we called ahead. The concierge there was happy to inform me that if I were to valet park at the theme park, for $15 dollars since I'm a Preferred Annual Passholder, I could charge there.

No thanks. Part of the thrill for the kids of staying at Cabana Bay is to take the BUS to the theme park.

I'll be at Hammock Beach for two nights, and then I'll be making the same trip again, in reverse.  So I'll have used 2-4 gallons of gasoline by the time I return home. On the plus side, that will just about empty my tank of the swill that I left the dealership with in my tank. Next stop - a gas station that serves up ethanol-free top-tier 91 octane gasoline. If you're a Volt - that's yummy stuff.