kershaw 1340 broken spring bar.....

 too much flipping

Load shifting calculations

 Load shifting with 27kWh battery, using 80%SOC (21.6kWh)  x 30 days = 648kWh/month.

ULO for 1406kWh (based on Nov 2023 bill)

ULO for 1406kWh - no load shifting

regular time of use bill for November was $199

2948km trip to Pigeon Forge and back

 Braved the world of EV travel this fall.  Went to Pigeon Forge, TN.

Stats:

2948km travelled over 8 days.
~ 614kWh consumed
~$297CDN paid for electricity

~20.8kWh/100km

Started Friday Oct 20th at around noon time. I had worked the nightshift before and slept from ~730am to 1130am.  We took Bill - Julie's dad down to Pigeon Forge.  He has gone many times before.  Left the Waterloo area and headed to the border at Detroit MI.

1st stop was at the Tilbury Cdn Tire to charge at Electrify Canada.  Each company requires it's own app. Each app requires you to put a balance (say $20) before you start charging.  I am not sure why it doesn't just pre-authorize your credit card before you start  charging, like they do on gas pumps.  There was a gentleman charging his Mach-E while we were there.  He was headed back to Ayr, ON after watching his U13 granddaughter at a hockey tournament in Windsor ON.  He gave us the pointer to hit continue on the machine so the charging would start.  Took a couple tries, but got the car charging after a few minutes of fussing.  Use the bathrooms at Cdn Tire for a pee break.

Crossed the border at the Ambassador Bridge.  Waze on Android Auto said to do the bridge, but Bill wanted to do the tunnel.  So we detoured to the tunnel in Windsor and back to the bridge, because Waze knew that the tunnel was closed.

Bridge crossing was easy.  US Border agent asked why we were going to Pigeon Forge...  I let Bill answer.

Charging stop number 2 was at Flying J in Perrysburg.  A fast, but expensive charger.  It was a EVGo branded charger.  A couple minutes of fussing again, and car was charging.  Each app/ DCFC dispenser requires different steps in a particular sequence for it to work. Some use the NFC chip from your phone, others want you to press a button on the app on the phone.  It would get better, as I became more familiar with each machine. 2nd time charging at the same style of dispenser would generally go quicker.

Fast, but $$$

After this charge, we headed towards Huber Heights, Ohio to an Electrify America charger.  We stopped along the way in Wapakoneta at a Bob Evans for dinner.  Wapakoneta was the home of Neil Armstrong (1st man on the moon).  Our stops would become more efficient the next day, as we would plan our eats to be at or near the charger.

Purchased some snacks at the Walmart at this Electrify America location.  Charging went smoothly here, as the machine was similiar to the one at Electrify Canada in Tilbury.

Spent the night at Comfort Suits Miamisburg.  They had 2 EV chargers, but they were both non-operational. ( My guess is that they had lost connection to the internet, as I could see their wifi signal on my phone.)  I knew this before we got there - Plugshare app. I ended up waking up before my alarm the next morning, and found a free 19kW charger about 1.5 miles up the road.  Thanks White Allen VW! There was a mach E parked overnight beside the charger. I had my hotel coffee and watched an episode of Suits on my phone while charging...

 

After breakfast, we left for Pigeon Forge, TN.

The next stretch of I75 is kind of a wasteland for CCS charging south of Cinncinati OH to Williamsburg KY. I stopped at a Wyler Honda (there are over 25 different Steve Wyler dealerships in the area) for a 5% topup before leaving the Cincinnati.  I probably should have added 8%... more on that below.

Short 4 minute topup at Wyler Honda, Cincinnati.

We stopped for pitstop at mile 127, and switched drivers.

Julie learned that EV's are more efficient in traffic. It was 302km from the Wyler Honda in Cincinatti to the Flying J stop in Williamsburg.  I calculated we should use 75% of the battery to get there.  We left the Honda dealership with 81% battery.

Julie started noticing that the buffer we had was shrinking.  I told her about not being the 1st car in a line of cars, and when she wanted to pass someone, to wait til a faster car went by on the left and tuck in behind that car.

Also with the DAPP, the minimum following distance isn't ideal for 'fuel economy', and if she actually had her foot lightly on the accelerator to bring the car just a little bit closer, her range would go up.  

We actually ended up with decent efficiency for that portion of the trip.  Avg'd 75mph

estimated range circled in red,  distance to go circled in yellow.

Pulled in with 23km left in the battery. (~5% battery left)

Grabbed a quick lunch at the Wendy's by the charger at the Pilot Travel Center (Williamsburg KY) Got a max rate of 195kW from the charger.

Next stop was a EA charger in Kodak TN. at a Harley Davdison Dealership.  There was also a BassPro on the same block.  I just wanted a topup as there were no DCFC in Pigeon Forge.  This was the only place where the 1st dispenser I pulled into did not work.  I moved the car to another dispenser and was able to get a decent charge rate of ~160kW on a machine rated for 150kW.

topup to 87% while browsing Bass Pro for 25 mins.

We spent Saturday night to Thursday night at the Best Western Suits in Pigeon Forge about 0.5 miles from the  Tangier Outlets.  The BW had a charger, but they wanted $20 for a 6 hr charge which was pretty pricey if it was a 6kW charger.  During our 5 night stay there, we were the only EV for the 1st 3 nights, and no one charged at the hotel.  On the 4th night a Model Y arrived and plugged in.

I got a bunch of free L2 charges at the Tangier Outlets. although the 1st time we visited there, I forgot about the charger.  I would charge there for the afternoon, and walk (10 minutes) back to the hotel,  and also charged there on the last evening while eating at the Chop House restaurant (favorite meal of the trip). The free charger is beside the Columbia Store. You do need a Chargepoint account to activate the charger, but it was painless.

Free is good. (Beside the Columbia Factory Store)

Saw 3 shows in Pigeon Forge, as well as went on a couple hikes.  Driving up to the Clingman's Dome lookout was a nice drive.  Even nicer on the way back into town.  We put 6% charge back into the battery while travelling downhill 30km or so.

Hike to the top of Clingman's dome.

One such example of a trip was from Clingman's dome down to Cherokee, NC. 15km trip, added a ton of electricity to the battery.  BMW App doesn't calculate a negative kWh/100km rating, but I added about 4% to the battery while travelling the 15km.

(Making Electricity doesn't show up on BMW App)

(Bought a souvenir T-shirt in Cherokee, NC)

The trip home followed pretty much the same stops.  Took me a second to figure out how to bypass the derated EA charger in Georgetown KY.  Started to pay attention to the kWh prices at the different chargers.  EVgo is expensive, but my sample size (n=4) is that they are reliable and fast at over 190kW if you pull in with 20% or less on the battery.  

Also was more efficient at eating while charging.  Covered ~800km in a day on the return trip which included the Wyler Honda mixup.  Left the one hotel at 830am, pulled into the final hotel at 8:06pm with meals done, and enough charge to head cross the border the next morning.

Charging @Pilot Travel Center Williamsburg KY

I got messed up with the Wyler Honda's in the Cincinnati OH/ Florence KY area (in my defence, there are 4 Honda dealerships with Wyler in the name).  ABRP had selected Wyler Honda in Florence, but my Waze remembered the Wyler Honda in Cincinnati.  We had planned a quick pitstop/takeout lunch from McDonalds in Florence which was only 2 miles from the charger, but my waze wanted to bring me to the Honda in Cincinnati that it remembered.  Then as we crossed the KY/OH state line, my waze/ Android Auto took a crap. but we managed to backtrack about 7 miles to the charger with Google maps.  The charging stops went smoothly, as I had now a bunch of DCFC'ing under my 34" belt.

Charging at Jeff Wyler Honda in Florence KY,  busy dealership - sells about 200 new cars/month.

Electrify America @ Huber Heights, OH. Random guy in a Civic was asking about the BMW.  Didn't know that they had a full EV. Julie and Bill were dropped off at the Tims across the street.

Doing a 40% charge at EVGo /Flying J in Perrysburg, OH; all we needed to get to the much cheaper charger in Tilsbury, Ontario for the next day. Meal of the charge was a bowl of Soup at Denny's in the Travel center.

Duty Free, Detroit - Ambassador Bridge in background.

Only thing of note, was the last day of travel (Sat. Oct 28th) the weather turned 'cold';  morning started out at 11C, and I don't think the temperature climbed much during the day,  Also had a stiff crosswind from the North.  That and a bit faster speeds on the 401 lead to a sharp decrease in 'fuel' economy.  I avg'd about 23.9kWh/100km @ 122kph avg over 167km of the 401 between Tilbury and the Woodstock Onroute.  I added 17% there on a 'slow' 50kW Ivy charger while we had a pitstop and a snack size poutine for lunch.

For most of the trip, the daytime highs hit 20-24C.  I would average about 4km per percentage of battery.  the last day, I was hovering around 3.4km per percentage of battery.  We did have headwind and crosswinds that day.

Shell Recharge

Electrify Canada

Flo

Electrify America  all require you to put a balance (usual minimum is $20) on the app.... So I have anywhere up to $80 just sitting in apps, when they already have my credit card number....  That part is a bit frustrating....

2015 VW Golf TDI Highline for sale.

This is the top trim in the VW Golf line up for the 2015 model year.  Over the standard equipment and lower trims, it has:

• Animal leather (not vegan leather/pleather) seats, 
• Power sunroof, 
• Automatic headlights,
•  Automatic High beams, 
• Fog lights, 
• Automatic dual zone climate control,
• Comfort access, 
• Push to start ignition, 
• Power driver seat

I have owned this car since November 2021. It replaced another 2015 Golf TDI that was written off in a crash.  It is sort of a unicorn in the car world.  Diesel and 6 speed manual transmission.

It gets great gas mileage... somewhere around 5L/100km.  It can get almost 1000km on 50L of diesel.

Everything works on this car. I haven't had any issues in my 18 months of ownership.  It is still eligible for the VW Emissions/Engine warranty until 2025 or 180.000km.

It comes with Continental  ContiProContact 245/45r17 all season tires with 5-6/32" tread depth.  Also included are a set of Sailun IceBlazer WSL2 winter tires on 16" alloy rims.  The winter tires have 6-7 /32" tread depth.

It has tinted windows, and comes with both winter and carpet floor mats, 2 sets of keys, cable for engine heater, wheel locks & key.

Currently at 129,XXX km on the odometer.

Selling for $17,250 safetied or $17,000 as is.

(you can click on the pictures to get enlargements)