July 7: A couple of suggestions

Since I got home with more than half a charge last night I didn't plug it in. I ran a couple errands, 10 miles, then drove 22 miles to work. So that's 22 plus 22 plus 10 and I drained the battery. Range is 54 miles during mostly freeway driving with only 10 miles of that being more or less suburban driving. All of it was done gently, no jackrabbit starts. Though I did use the a/c and got as fast as 108 km/hr or 67 mph for brief stretches of freeway on the last 15 or so miles of this charge.

By the time I rolled into my parking place today and plugged in it was down to one bar and flashing, which it had been for the last mile or two. The car is recharging now and should be half charged by the end of my eight-hour shift here at AutoWeek Tower West. I will plug it in when I get home. Or maybe I'll plug it in at the Burbank Airport tomorrow and leave it plugged in when I'm away. 120 volts is not as good as 240 volts but 120 free volts are better than almost anything.

Two more things that occur to me this car needs:

1. A way to crank up the regenerative system manually for more efficient braking. Even in the “B” setting on the transmission I still have to use the brake pedal to stop, which just turns kinetic energy into heat and brake dust. I want to be able to stop using the regen only. On the Vectrix electric scooter I rode a few years ago you could not only do that but you could continue twisting the throttle around and actually go backwards. That was the scooter's reverse. There's no sense in wasting potential energy.

2. It needs a better armrest, for the driver at least. There's nowhere to put your arms when you drive unless you roll down the window and stick your right elbow out.

By Mark Vaughn