Love my Volt

The other day, I drove around town with a friend of mine and they were amazed about how quiet my car was.  I honestly forget how quiet it is!

This was a lovely sight at my local charging station this morning:

 

It is a little hard to see - but there are two Volts charging.  Not to worry, one of them is mine.  

Girl with the Volt

I am starting to learn that I have a new nickname around town.  I am now known as "the girl with the Volt."  How do I know this?  Because of interactions like this:

I pull into my charging station this morning (technically, the public charging station) and was greeted with a "Oh, you are the girl with the Volt." I then had an interesting conversation with the man about my car and how it works.  Which reminds me, I need to figure out how this car works!

I also am happy to report that my tires are now stuffed full of air!  Stuffed with the correct amount of air, of course.  This afternoon's charge was the normal 32 miles, so I am guessing the decreased charge is due to the cold weather.

Power on, Volt!

How Many Miles A Charge?

I seem to be getting less miles per charge these days.  I think that I was getting around 38 a few weeks ago and am now down to a consistent 32.  There are probably a few logical reasons for the decline:

1. I have not added air to my tires.  Both passenger-side tires have about 32 pounds of air - a little on the low side.  I am not sure why I am so bad about filling up my tires, but I am.

2. The temperate has dropped significantly in the past few weeks.  The car "likes" it to be around 70 degrees, and it is currently a cool 42 degrees.

I will add air to the tire to see if that changes anything.  (Now that I put it in writing I will have to do it!)

Apps and my Car

I was very excited to see that Chevy, OnStar, and ChargePoint offer apps that coordinate with your car.  You can get updates when you car is finished charging, closest charging stations, stats on energy use, etc.  BUT they do not make these apps for Nokia's Window phone.  I know.  I know.  Everyone in the world has some type of iPhone.  I don't.  I like my phone and I would like an app to check on my car.

I reached out to ChargePoint regarding this issue.  I am happy to say that I received a prompt response from a person - not a machine.  She informed me that the app will be available late next year.  I find that answer pretty vague.  If anyone from ChargePoint is reading this blog please speed up this application!

Thanks!

A New Charging Station

Thank you, MVRTA, for installing a charging station!  I was able to charge my car while I was getting my hair cut.  Cities in Massachusetts have been great in installing charging stations in accessible areas.

Keep up the good work!

Car Alarm

I have discovered why my car alarm activates when I unplug from a public charging station.  I have to unlock the car first.  Very obvious and simple solution.  Why didn't I try that before?  I have no idea.

So Many Miles, So Little Gas

Checking my car stats has become one of my favorite things to do.  Here are today's updates:

 

It looks a little hard to read, so let me tell you what it says:

Total Miles: 912.3

Total Gallons of Gas Used:  5.9

Average MPG:  153.6

Total Dollars spent on gas for this car:  $18.00  

(and that was only because a hurricane was coming and I wanted to have a full tank)