Category: vehicles

But Electric Cars Don’t Use Gas!

On By JohnIn human condition, vehiclesLeave a comment

I stop at a gas station with in my EV. Yes, really.

Follow along.

The first time that I’ve ever had to roll up to a gas station in an EV. Interestingly (amusingly? ironically?) the computer in the gas pump that I had selected was out of service.

Eh, there are 12 pumps here, so just I roll around to the next pump.

Wait, it gets funnier.

It took about twelve seconds until some well-educated and fully aware know-it-all screams out over and over and over, “Electric cars don’t use gas! Electric cars don’t use gas! Electric cars don’t use gas! Electric cars don’t use gas!”

No shit? I didn’t know that.

But, let me ask you this: how else am I going to fill my lawn mower, Jackhole?

Should roll it down the sidewalks for two miles, fill its Lilliputian tank with a pint of gas, then roll it back to the house and do that once per week?

watTson

On By JohnIn vehiclesLeave a comment

I’m one of those strange people who names cars.

This is the newest named addition to the family and has been many years in planning:

2024 Tesla Model Y, Extended Range, Dual Motor, AWD — with 15 miles on its wee digital clock.

His name is Doctor Wattson. But we are casual folk around these parts, and needn’t use formalities — so just his name will do:

watTson

This is, of course, a very clear and deliberate tip of the old hat-switch to several inspirations — and I’ll leave that as an exercise for the reader to explore.

Not a Fan

On By JohnIn vehiclesLeave a comment

I needed to rent a car for a week to ensure I can get to a commitment in Spokane Valley next Wednesday morning. I elected to rent a simple, economy-class car while at home in Spokane to last me a week.

I selected a Hyundai Kona because I’d driven its bigger brother, the Hyundai Santa Fe, last Spring while UPGRAYEDD was in the shop for heavy maintenance.

The Santa Fe was quite nice. Comfortable. Quiet drive. Entirely capable. Therefore, I’d assumed that the Kona wouldn’t be too terribly different than the Santa Fe.

But Enterprise selected instead for me a Ford EcoSport, because it’s “comparable”.

Oh, bother.

I was witnessing the evolution of language and culture before my eyes and ears. This was clearly some strange new use of the word “comparable” with which I was previously unfamiliar.

The Ford EcoSport had difficulty with the most basic of tasks like its handling in a straight line on the Interstate. Its susceptibility to airflow changes from passing vehicles. Its neurotic behavior when taking a deep breath while driving.

God help you if you’ve need for the back seat for actually sitting. It would be unrealistic to expect anyone to fold and contort themselves into the space. Even the Scavenger’s Daughter leaves more room to breathe.

In fairness, this one does have about 39,000 miles on its odometer. A bit of wear in the steering components is to be expected.

I’m also not at all a fan of the UI of the sat-nav, or lack of any logic in its interface. UI and UX are concepts that the designers probably thought were overrated and in no way important to the existence of living beings.

The good news: they did include steering wheel and seat-heat. A pleasant surprise.

Also, it does have power windows and door locks and even an automatic A/C and heating system. No fiddling needed. Just set it and forget it.

If the Ford designers’ goal was to make the occupants want to not be in the car any longer than is absolutely needed to move from one point to another, they’ve succeeded. In fact, I think they’ve well-surpassed that already lofty goal as I don’t want to be in the vehicle at all and even thinking about warming up the Shoe Leather Express to walk to work at 4AM.

The good news is that this is only temporary until Wednesday.

The better news is that the Ford EcoSport was retired from service in 2022.

In other news…

On By JohnIn safety, vehicles1 Comment

Yesterday afternoon, I turned my 21 year old Chevy (Isuzu) 6.6 Liter Duramax Diesel into a plug-in hybrid.

Behold:

Okay, not really.

I just became annoyed with the process of plugging in the block-heater during the sub-zero temperatures: kneel down in front of it, use both hands to carefully pull of the dust cap, plug in the extension cord. Then when I want to leave, use both hands to unplug the extension cord, then both hands again to put the dust cap back on the pigtail.

Too much effort.

The fix was to add a weather-resistant bulkhead power inlet. I can now — more easily, and single-handedly — just plug in the extension cord.

Future addition is to add a Battery Tender so it keeps the batteries in a peak state of charge.

Upslope of the Bell Curve?

On By JohnIn human condition, life, vehiclesLeave a comment

I blame myself for having something that was visible that drew their attention. I mean, somebody obviously thought that the half-empty colorful box of Kleenex and the bright orange, worn, Kong work gloves were worth breaking in for. But, honestly, brute-forcing the door has just rendered it inoperative.

I mean, sure you could have just broken the window. That would’ve been faster for you and trivially simple for me to repair. I could deal with that.

This is the second time somebody has tried to break-in/steal UPGRAYEDD and has caused moderate damage in the process.

So, now to find a shop that can open the door and repair the damage.