The “Republican senators learn that subsidizing suburban car ownership and marketing bigger, more comfortable vehicles fully of fancy tech is making cars and trucks unaffordable” challenge

Yeah, was explaining to someone earlier this month they’ve got a lot of room for improvement once they really start engineering their EVs for max efficiency, versus ease of adapting ICE models.

They’re a relative laggard among US OEMs on that front. More focus on platform standardization/sourcing.

I’m thinking more about the R2 and R3. The former hits right at the Jeep sweet spot, and the latter against the sportier Japanese crossovers. I don’t worry about Toyota or Honda, but Subaru will struggle against the R3 without a strong electric product.

Picked up 11% SOC in the past 12 hours, so finally switched over to the 240V port. That accelerated my expected full recharge from Saturday to tonight.

I honestly just wanted to see what I would get if I had to plug into a random garage outlet. Note to self - make sure any Airbnb has a 240V outlet!

Not that I know of. But I’m going to be looking into Georgia EV stuff more in the next couple months

Stop 7: Made it with 9% SOC, and plugged into the garage. I’m currently getting about .5 kW and should be set with 100% by the time I leave again on Sunday!

(I will probably switch to the garage’s 240V port tomorrow to speed this up to a full charge by midweek.)

I wonder long term if some of these providers find ways to offer cheaper service after these initial units fully depreciate and they reset the economics.

I feel like eventually you could also see onsite facility solar and storage to pass through lower power prices.

Another seamless experience. Though pricier than last time. $.66/kWh. Similar charge curve as last time, though going to 90% obviously meant the latter part of it throttled down further.

And can say Pilot has really upped their game on the accommodations. Clean bathrooms at both stops.

Stop 6: This should be a longer one, as I’ve set the limit to 90% SOC. I’ve got about 190 miles to Dallas, and can plug in at the garage in my parents’ home.

Pulled up to another Pilot-GM Energy station, on the northeast edge of Texarkana, AR.

A Lyriq pulled in right after me.

Also getting to experience one of the clear benefits of EV tech over ICE, while going on 40 minutes stuck behind a bad semi accident on I-30 WB.

Car uses very little energy while idling.

No issues here. Not cheap at $.60/kWh but very efficient. Topped out briefly around 150 kW and spent most of the session above 100 kW.

I should need only one more charge to make Dallas, but my navigation is programming for two. With the bad weather now I might be inclined to make the extra one.

Stop 5: Pulled into this Pilot/GM Energy station in Benton, AR with ~30% SOC.

It’s my first EVgo station of the trip, after GM just sent me an $80 credit for EVgo charging. Also thanks to the GM-EVgo integration, I didn’t even need to tap a card or use an app.

I just plugged in, and it started.

Good morning from Little Rock. I opined in my August blog post that mid-sized cities across the Southeast, all of which have quite a bit of vacant downtown real estate should invest in level 2 charging lots.

Would be nice to pick up 40-50 kWh overnight, but right now it’s not an option.

🔌💡🔌🚗