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| Light Over Darkness LiDoña Wagner 2024 |
New Moon’s Light
Opening once again
Across time and space
Through bone and blood
To the base of a tree
Where a nest of eggs
Sheltered and hidden
Beneath moon’s surreal light
Holds seeds of promise
Light Over Darkness (center) LiDoña Wagner 2024
SOLSTICE GREETINGS
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| Tree of Past Solstice Greetings |
MAY YOUR HEART BE FILLED
WITH THE LIGHT OF HOPE
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| Save the Planet LiDoña Wagner 2024 Thousands of small actions taken by individuals all over the world will protect the future home of humanity. |
Electric Vehicle Charging
by Doug Lord
Two years ago, we bought a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt. It’s an all-electric car (EV), as opposed to a hybrid that also uses gas. After driving around Eugene for around 2 years, with one trip to Portland, we decided to take a longer trip to Northern California. This was way beyond the range of our car’s battery and required using charging stations.
Usually, we charge in our garage at night, using the cable that comes with the Bolt, which works with both 110 and 220 household current. The 220 takes about 7 hours for a full charge, the 110 takes days. Our battery is supposed to have 259 miles of range when fully charged, but generally it won’t go above 240. This limitation gives rise to range anxiety, a common malady among EV drivers. This condition is manageable while driving near home but can be serious when on long trips. The cure on those trips is careful advance planning, which can be done using the phone.
There are many apps available, and my favorites for the California trip were PlugShare, which directs you to charging stations along the route regardless of the make (there are many providers of stations), and Electrify America (EA), a provider which is prevalent along I5 corridor. So, first I went to PlugShare and created a “trip,” which involves looking at a map and selecting stations along the route. Most of these on the CA route are run by EA and are located at large retailers like Walmart and Fred Meyer.
On this trip, we successfully used stations in Ashland, OR, Redding and Roseville, CA. The EA app tells you if any of their terminals is available, and if it is, you just remove the pump cable, plug it in your car, and you get fast charging. In our Bolt, which is relatively slow, it took more than an hour to charge up each time - time you can use to take advantage of the Walmart bathroom and for eating lunch.
In all, we had good luck. We usually found an available charger at our planned locations, and it didn’t rain on us. The good news is that there’s lots of money in the Federal Infrastructure bill for more stations, and the newer cars have more range and are faster charging.
Save the Planet!
