This post is being back-dated, as I forgot to write it up when it happened.
Over Memorial Day weekend, my friend Jason bought this robins egg blue Fiat 500e. When he drove his Mercedes C250 up to Raleigh, he asked me a lot of questions about living with my electric Smart car for a year. He told me that if he could get into one for under $200/mo, it would be saving him money and it would save his a hefty over mileage fee on his Mercedes lease. I asked him what he thought about Fiat's, and he said he liked them, so on Sunday we went to Westgate Imports which had 15 used 500e's on the lot. He fell in love with a $9,998 low mileage 2015, which he bought and I agreed to deliver it to his home (380 miles away).
I had my route fully planned: Tanger in Mebane, Havana Phil's in Greensboro, Mallard Creek Park and Ride in Concord, Lowell County Library, overnight in Columbia at my friend's house, then a charge at Fountain Inn before making it to Columbia, SC. Each location was between 70 and 80 miles apart, well within the range abilities of the Fiat. The initial stop went as planned, Tanger was not busy and I was able to plug in quickly. I was reading
Paul Orfalea's autobiography Copy This!, and grabbed a tea from one of the restaurants before taking off for Greensboro. This is where I hit a snag. I'd used Havana Phil's charger back in April when I drove my Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet to the Greensboro Odyssey event. However, Phil's single-plug ChargePoint was giving a charging error on the Fiat. I won't lie, I had a moment a panic...had the on board charger failed? I pulled out my phone and found that the Greensboro Coliseum had installed a ChargePoint dual plug station just a few weeks ago. I had 20% power, so I was able to get there easily.
As I was plugging in, a maintenance guy in a truck drove past. 10 minutes later, as I'm reading my book with the AC on, four maintenance guys roll up on a golf cart and ask me a million questions about the car. They'd never seen anyone use the charger, didn't know how it worked, and couldn't believe I was driving this car 380-miles using free charging infrastructure. The local's recommended
Stamey's Barbecue for lunch, noting that President Bush had eaten there. The food was good, and they didn't rush me from the counter after I finished my food and camped out reading my book for an hour.
My next charge wouldn't be until Concord, at a park and ride. I had one staff member inquire about the car while I was waiting. Keep in mind, I'm spending 3 to 4 hours at each location to recharge this car. I had one more charge stop before I'd reach my overnight in Greenville, which was the Lowell County Library in Belmont, NC. Due to the crazy traffic, I took back roads to get from Concord to Belmont. This was the only time I've ever seen an EV charger that was placed on a sidewalk. It was truly the strangest location, almost an after thought. However, I wasn't the first car to use it. I was really glad it existed, because I would not have made it to Greenville otherwise.
The drive to Greenville was not smooth, it was late at night and I missed an exit and had to take a longer way to my destination. I was really scared, because the battery had been at 0% for at least two miles. I got to my friends street and couldn't find his house. Finally, I managed to get to his home and plug in. I'd been on the road for right at 12 hours at this point. My friend had swapped over a 6R20 plug for me, but the circuit wasn't upgraded to be a 20A 240v, so I had to charge on Level 1 speeds. That was OK, as I planned to get a full sleep and only needed to go 20 miles for my next charging stop at Fountain Inn.
This was the second most annoying stop behind the Park and Ride because there was nothing to do. I had to wait an hour for the Subway to open, on a Saturday, so I could get breakfast. However I only needed 2.5 hours here to make it to Jason's house. I left Fountain Inn and drove down 26 at highway speeds with the AC and Cruise Control on. I arrived at Jason's house with 30% battery leftover, and used my charging adapters to fully charge the car from his oven's power outlet before he got home. When we got home, he drove me in the Fiat downtown and we located all the charging stations he would be using. He treated me to a meal, and then dropped me back off at his house so I could wait for my friend Nate to pick me up and take me back to Raleigh. It was quite the adventure -- and not something I'd want to do frequently. However, the fact that it could be done is what's important.
Over Memorial Day weekend, my friend Jason bought this robins egg blue Fiat 500e. When he drove his Mercedes C250 up to Raleigh, he asked me a lot of questions about living with my electric Smart car for a year. He told me that if he could get into one for under $200/mo, it would be saving him money and it would save his a hefty over mileage fee on his Mercedes lease. I asked him what he thought about Fiat's, and he said he liked them, so on Sunday we went to Westgate Imports which had 15 used 500e's on the lot. He fell in love with a $9,998 low mileage 2015, which he bought and I agreed to deliver it to his home (380 miles away).
I had my route fully planned: Tanger in Mebane, Havana Phil's in Greensboro, Mallard Creek Park and Ride in Concord, Lowell County Library, overnight in Columbia at my friend's house, then a charge at Fountain Inn before making it to Columbia, SC. Each location was between 70 and 80 miles apart, well within the range abilities of the Fiat. The initial stop went as planned, Tanger was not busy and I was able to plug in quickly. I was reading Paul Orfalea's autobiography Copy This!, and grabbed a tea from one of the restaurants before taking off for Greensboro. This is where I hit a snag. I'd used Havana Phil's charger back in April when I drove my Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Cabriolet to the Greensboro Odyssey event. However, Phil's single-plug ChargePoint was giving a charging error on the Fiat. I won't lie, I had a moment a panic...had the on board charger failed? I pulled out my phone and found that the Greensboro Coliseum had installed a ChargePoint dual plug station just a few weeks ago. I had 20% power, so I was able to get there easily.
As I was plugging in, a maintenance guy in a truck drove past. 10 minutes later, as I'm reading my book with the AC on, four maintenance guys roll up on a golf cart and ask me a million questions about the car. They'd never seen anyone use the charger, didn't know how it worked, and couldn't believe I was driving this car 380-miles using free charging infrastructure. The local's recommended Stamey's Barbecue for lunch, noting that President Bush had eaten there. The food was good, and they didn't rush me from the counter after I finished my food and camped out reading my book for an hour.
My next charge wouldn't be until Concord, at a park and ride. I had one staff member inquire about the car while I was waiting. Keep in mind, I'm spending 3 to 4 hours at each location to recharge this car. I had one more charge stop before I'd reach my overnight in Greenville, which was the Lowell County Library in Belmont, NC. Due to the crazy traffic, I took back roads to get from Concord to Belmont. This was the only time I've ever seen an EV charger that was placed on a sidewalk. It was truly the strangest location, almost an after thought. However, I wasn't the first car to use it. I was really glad it existed, because I would not have made it to Greenville otherwise. 
The drive to Greenville was not smooth, it was late at night and I missed an exit and had to take a longer way to my destination. I was really scared, because the battery had been at 0% for at least two miles. I got to my friends street and couldn't find his house. Finally, I managed to get to his home and plug in. I'd been on the road for right at 12 hours at this point. My friend had swapped over a 6R20 plug for me, but the circuit wasn't upgraded to be a 20A 240v, so I had to charge on Level 1 speeds. That was OK, as I planned to get a full sleep and only needed to go 20 miles for my next charging stop at Fountain Inn. 
This was the second most annoying stop behind the Park and Ride because there was nothing to do. I had to wait an hour for the Subway to open, on a Saturday, so I could get breakfast. However I only needed 2.5 hours here to make it to Jason's house. I left Fountain Inn and drove down 26 at highway speeds with the AC and Cruise Control on. I arrived at Jason's house with 30% battery leftover, and used my charging adapters to fully charge the car from his oven's power outlet before he got home. When we got home, he drove me in the Fiat downtown and we located all the charging stations he would be using. He treated me to a meal, and then dropped me back off at his house so I could wait for my friend Nate to pick me up and take me back to Raleigh. It was quite the adventure -- and not something I'd want to do frequently. However, the fact that it could be done is what's important.
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