Month of January 2022 (Nat'l Avg $3.286)

Thanks for ringing in the new monthly grind, Gord. I'm sure the Washington state residents are envious of your weather in England.

 

Saw my first Volta charger. Rated at 10kW. More than my weak onboard AC charger will be take. Charged at I presume 3.3 kW while I shopped for groceries. 30 minutes total. There was no advertising that I could see to pay for the service. Perhaps the grocery store chips in?

I did my duty on PlugShare and checked in and out. Also posted a couple of photos.

Edit: added photo

 

All right! Some FREE Volta chargers pump out more kW than I thought. I thought they gave 7kW per hour. Then I read about some FREE VOLTAS that were 8 & then 9kW. Thanks for the tip-off that some FREE Voltas might be 10kW. I’ll be deliriously happy with 10 or 11kW FREE charging per hour! A few FREE Voltas are Fast Chargers too, but I don’t want them. When & if I can afford a 2022 11.5kW Chevy Bolt, it’ll be nice when I encounter the faster charging FREE a/c Voltas.
As for the advertising, I’ve seen some on Volta Chargers. But, I’m thinking Volta is having a hard time establishing themselves as a legitimate advertising media. It’s worrying me, that without lots of advertising, Volta might go belly up.

 

Today , 6 deg F in Naperville , 7 in Elk Grove.
35.1 miles ( some snow in right hand lanes ) fcd = 54.2 x .943 = 51.1 MPG.

And the Midwest , too !

 

Today . 20 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove.
35.1 miles , fcd = 60.0 x .943 = 56.6 MPG
Tank is at 423.4 miles , fcd = 61.0 x .943 = 57..5 MPG.

 

From 1-2-22:

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m only saving about $1 per hour of charging. If I ever charge where electricity is 20cents per kWhr, I might save $2 per hour. To me that is a lot of money, say over 100 hours of charging. Most people will sniff. But charging for 100 hours at 10kW per hour is 1000kWhr, enough juice to go 3500 or 4000 miles. & if I can really featherfoot, I might get 4500 miles AND spend a hundred hours at my favorite places. When I see a dollar bill on the ground, I pick it up & keep on going…..& hope my back doesn’t go out. Charging for FREE at a charger, I don’t even have to bend over. Ha ha ha
Its so nice to be retired & be able to point the car, where I want to go!

 

Today , 29 deg F in Northbrook , 25 in Elk Grove.
17.8 miles , fcd = 64.6 x .943 = 60.9 MPG.

 

Said, not too prematurely(?), we have a James Webb telescope! Excerpts from the Neowise Comet thread, the secondary mirror is locked in place. The anxiety of 20+ years of intricate planning is….. curtailing! I think they can do science (with many adjustments), even if the extra segments of the main mirror can’t be moved in to place(no evidence they won’t). Plus, NASA is excited that the Ariane launch was so accurate, that enough fuel has been saved for extra years(5+?) of service.

I’m thinking that the extra years of delay made the launch, deployments, functionality & delivery of JW to Lagrange 2 more reliable & possible. Yeah, yeah, I know. It isn’t at Lagrange 2, & instruments aren’t powered up, adjusted & tuned yet. But, the “huge” hurdles are in the rear view mirror (altho JW doesn’t have such).

 

Our western Washington weather is a battle between the Arctic, which is still delivering snow to BC, & the Pineapple Express, trying to deliver warmer rain from Hawaii. Most of the local snow on roads is gone. Should be quite a bit of rain coming…..BUUTTTT, a chance for more snow in some lowlands, specially north around Bellingham, Washington. Yes, yes, it was Bellingham region including most of BC, that had all the major flood destruction, that was followed by the crippling snow depths.

 

Wow! Sometimes among large scale tragedy, small scale & strange disasters occur. In weeks previous, I have reported on the powerful rains, floodings, & later snows that have piled on top of Washington state’s Whatcom county, events that also have stomped on British Columbia.
Aaron Cooper, a member of the local tribe near Deming, was walking through the snow along Highway 9. Highway 9 runs parallel, & some miles east of Freeway I-5, & helps north & south traffic in the Northeast Salish Sea (Puget Sound) region. A snowplow, while performing its duties, hit Mr. Cooper & he is dead. Experienced people say no such accident ever occurred previously in the region.

I’ve been a pedestrian as snowplows passed me in the past, & thought people have to be careful around such powerful equipment. Also, I’ve been a traveler on scenic Highway 9 & hope to travel its ways in the future. I’m so sorry for Mr. Cooper & many citizens of Deming are now hurting also, on top of the recent weather events that have hit the region.

 

Today , 6 deg F in Naperville and Elk Grove Village.
Yesterday the trip home was all highway because I wanted HEAT !
When I was headed west , roughly half of my trip , I was fighting
a 22 MPH headwind. When I got off the highway , the trip fcd was 47.
In the 7.5 miles of suburban roads , I only got up to 50.4 MPG fcd.
Very sad.
Filled up in Elk Grove for $3.459. 522.7 miles ,
30 remaining ,fcd = 59.7 x .943 = 56.3 MPG.
And it's going to be colder tonight.

 

Been cold rain through the night & looks like the next 5 hours might add another 2 thirds of an inch. The remaining snow may remain even after the 5 hours. The day may get nearly 9 tenths of an inch, with plenty of rain in the next days, too. We’ll see. My wife will travel 100 miles round trip & I’ll go see my doctor in the other direction, but only 6 miles round trip. Elantras will be in action, today!

All Washington state cross-Cascade Mountain passes are closed. Even all lanes of I-84, along the Columbia River, crossing from Portland area to eastern Oregon is closed (for a lengthy time?) due to a major landslide. Yes, western & eastern Washington are completely severed to traffic. Maybe, western & eastern Oregon are severed too.

 

D-d-don’t you mean, “That’s lowdown of you, Edwin?”

Oh, I am so funny!

 

Thanks , Gord. I try to get good results , but when it's really cold , I may take the route that keeps the engine running more often.
In 2018 , I had a commute that was VERY favourable to hypermiling. I had three consecutive tanks of 75 MPG or better. Summer , of course.

Hilarious.

 

Just got home. A lot like yesterday's trip home , but instead of a 22 MPH headwind ,
it was only 15 MPH. Yesterday was 12 deg F ,today 9 deg.
Yesterday was 50 MPG (fcd) , today 53.
One of these days , it will warm up.

 

In areas of western Washington which previously got feet of snow, the rain has weighted the snow so much, that roofs are collapsing. Now, many residents are being told to leave because of rising rivers, fed, not only be rain, but also by melting snow.