Charging Ahead

My current charging routine involves popping the hood, pulling out the charging cable, snaking it to and through the back door, plugging into the 120 VAC outlet in the laundry room, returning outside to flip on the charging cable switch box, and then finally retiring inside for dinner. All that back-and-forth is getting old. What I […]

Emotional Rescue

A short road trip was long overdue, and our 10th wedding anniversary provided the perfect opportunity to get out of town. I include the shot above mainly as a way of gloating over the ample trunk room, despite the space occupied by the batteries. We buttoned her up and pointed ourselves toward Ventura, which is about 67 miles up the coast – almost at the limit […]

Brain Boot

I recently drove the 914 EV to Ontario, CA, so High Performance Electric Vehicle Systems could update my Curtis software and adjust some of my controller parameters. HPEVS builds the AC-50 electric motor system that I installed in my Porsche, and has all the equipment to keep it running at its peak. Their facility is 45 […]

AltCar Expo 2013

I always look forward to the yearly AltCar Expo at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, mainly because it provides me with a super easy way to show off the electric Porsche 914 to a keenly interested audience. But it’s also an essential way of integrating into a growing community that heralds electric cars as a […]

Shooting The Snake

Fear is a choice. The question is not how far your EV will travel, but how much anxiety you feel about it. The next range test was a trip to Mulholland Highway near Calabasas to drive the electric Porsche on a world-famous segment of asphalt called The Snake. I’ll describe that more in a bit. […]

Charging Etiquette 2: Electric Boogaloo

The social politics of EV charging could easily turn into an interesting little side column. Here’s the rundown: I had returned from vacation and the Porsche EV had sat for a week in my garage without a charge, leaving the battery pack a little sleepy. Some additional pack charge was consumed when I installed and […]