July 26: Seeing rally stars and range anxiety

Went 59.5 miles on 12 kWhs for almost 5 miles per kWh, which ain't bad. Included stop-and-go driving on Sunset Blvd. after dinner with X Games rally stars Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra and skateboarder Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins. Upon seeing the i-MiEV departing the lot on Sunset, Lyn-Z said, "Oooh, a four-door Smart! I love it!"

In two days I will have had this thing a month. I am now so used to it that I am sometimes not even amazed at the efficiency of it. Sometimes I just drive it like a car and don't think much about it.

I only had range anxiety that one time long ago going to the airport. That was because I overestimated the range I could get with it. I hadn't plugged it in the night before because I thought I didn't have to. Now that I keep it topped up I don't have to worry about range. I do have to plan things out, though. Former Nissan electrical engineer Dean Case says you have to approach EV driving as you would flying an airplane. You have to have a flight plan. As long as you know how far you're going and whether you can plug in when you get there, and whether that plug is 120 or 140 volts, you will have no problems. While the range does vary based on how you drive, it varies within a predictable amount. I can't see myself ever getting stuck somewhere without juice unless I didn't plan. And why wouldn't I do that?

By Mark Vaughn