June 2023, Central Valley, CA
This is a living document so I’ll keep adding pics as time passes. At the moment we have 69,000 miles on our Model 3 and it’s 5 years old.
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Tag Archives: electric cars
Good News: Carbon Emissions from Producing Electricity Continue Decreasing
Emissions from producing electricity for the U.S. grid have been steadily dropping. This has resulted from long-term trends of more renewable and cleaner burning sources of energy used to produce electricity. One upshot of this: EVs are cleaner than gas-powered cars, and keep getting cleaner.
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Electric Cars are Cleaner than Gas-Powered Cars
February 2021
The idea that EVs make just as much pollution as gas-powered cars is not new. It’s often brought up as a reason to keep pumping oil out of the ground and gasoline into cars. But believe me it’s an old idea, and it’s been addressed many, many times. We should, of course, all understand the mix of energy sources used to produce electricity, the emissions that come from using different sources, and the impact of emissions on the air we breath. But, the idea that EVs pollute “just as much as gas-powered cars” is not true.
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Supercharging I: Solo Road Trip
December 2020. California and the American Southwest.
The driving range of electric cars on the market today can easily meet the daily driving needs for the average person. In my case I charge my Model 3 for about 2 hours every night in the garage for daily driving. But what about charging an electric car on longer drives and road trips?
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Model Y Delivery and First Impressions
June 2020. California.
In March of 2019 we reserved a long range dual-motor Model Y with standard wheels in midnight silver. Yesterday we went to our local Tesla Service/Sales Center to pick it up. We had been scheduled to pick up our car back at the end of March 2020, but at the last moment delivery was understandably delayed by the pandemic. Three months later we got our car on the summer solstice.
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Repost: 2012 Rav4 EV Review, Part 3
This review was originally published in 2014 on the Transport Evolved website. The review was based on my experiences after driving the all-electric 2012 Rav4 EV for one year.
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Repost: 2012 Rav4 EV Review, Part 2
This review was originally published in 2014 on the Transport Evolved website. The review was based on my experiences after driving the all-electric 2012 Rav4 EV for one year.
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Reposted: 2012 Rav4 EV Review, Part 1
This review was originally published in 2014 on the Transport Evolved website. The review was based on my experiences after driving the all-electric 2012 Rav4 EV for one year.
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Repost: Winter Snow Adventures in a 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV
January 2016. Sierra Nevadas, California.
This article was originally posted on the Transport Evolved website in January 2016.
We live in California’s Central Valley about 100 miles from beautiful spots in the Sierra Nevadas, and we try to get up there as often as possible. Our town sits just above sea level, so traveling to the Sierras involves a climb of 7000 feet. This could be a problem for EVs that have 80-100 miles of range and no options for rapid DC charging, especially in the winter.
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Repost: Celebrating the 2014 National Drive Electric Week in a 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV
September 2014. California's Coast.
This article was originally posted on the Transport Evolved website in September 2014…. yes, things have changed!
This year we celebrated the National Drive Electric Week by taking
our electric car on a road trip. We drove our 2012 Toyota Rav4 EV on
a camping trip with friends to Bodega Bay on the California coast. What better way to celebrate this national event than by using domestic energy to power our trip?
Every Day is Earth Day: Driving Electric Reduces Carbon Emissions
April 2020. California.
Have you wondered how much of a difference it would make for the environment if you started driving electric? This year for Earth Day I analyzed our data from 15 years of driving to compare the carbon emissions produced by the gas-powered and electric cars we’ve owned.
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Travelogue: Weekend Camping with the Model 3
August 2018. California.
Late last summer we decided to head out of town for one last weekend getaway before the kids started back to school. So we loaded up our Model 3 for a weekend of camping in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Continue reading
Day Trips in the Tesla Model 3
August 2019. California.
This week I drove my daughter in to San Francisco to see Hamilton. This is a 150-180 mile round trip for us, depending on route and where we park. The night before I charged our Model 3 to 85%, giving us 275 miles (440 km) for the day.
CHAdeMO Charging the Model 3
July 2019. California
Last night I received the 2019.24.4 software update for our Model 3. So this morning I tested Tesla’s CHAdeMO adapter to determine the rate of charge, and see how many miles I’d get and how long it would take to charge from a given SOC. Summary: 45 minutes gave me 139 miles of rated range and cost $8.69. Tesla’s CHAdeMO adapter is easy to use and provides more charging options for the Model 3.
Tesla Model 3: One Year Review
April 2019. California.
This review of our Model 3 starts from the time we reserved it through our first year of driving the car. The review describes several aspects of life with the Model 3 and addresses the basic question: has the Model 3 met my expectations? There have been many reviews on the Model 3, but each review provides another data point for readers about driving the Model 3 in the real world. In addition these reviews may answer questions you have about how well EVs in general, and the Model 3 specifically, can meet your needs.