The EV Diaries - Electric Cars - Electric Vehicles

Here is a summer recap. Unfortunately we recorded it in September and we're already two-thirds of the way through Fall. It's been a busy year, but we love recording and talking all things EV. Hopefully we can get our act together and finish the year strong.

In the last episode, we were in the middle of a conversation with Jason Fee when he needed to attend to some business. We all know what it's like when Ben breaks his train of thought… It takes three months (or longer) to get it back on the rails. Here it is; the last part … Continue reading "OMG! How Long Does It Take? – Jason Fee Part 2"

Jason Fee has spent his entire life around automobiles. Growing up in Flint, Michigan, Jason naturally found his career in the automotive industry and is now with GM Service. Jason called me out on my GM bashing a few years ago and has become a friend of the show. He brings a manufacturers perpective to … Continue reading "1.4L Turbo Exploded View: Jason Fee Part 1"

Many states are taking steps to get ahead of autonomous commercial vehicles that will eventually be part of everyday life. Kentucky, too, is debating a house bill that will set limitations and guidelines for this emerging technology driven by AI . While one can debate the pros and cons of AI and the long-term effects … Continue reading "“Sometimes, even the wisest of man or machine can make an error.”- Optimus Prime"

Can you imagine a EV that you could drive across the US, from sea to shining sea, without having to stop and charge? Now, you'll have time to check out the World's Largest Ball of Twine and The Grand Canyon simply because you're not looking for infrastructure and can focus on the world around you. … Continue reading "I Can Drive For Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles…"

a·nath·e·ma /əˈnaTHəmə/ noun Something or someone that one vehemently dislikes. car·math·e·ma /car MATH amuh/ noun The reluctance of people to do basic math regarding EV ownership (which is anathema to me). Kentucky now has an EV tax in place supposedly to offset waning revenue from the 26 cent per gallon gasoline tax.  A spokesman for EvolveKY, an … Continue reading "Carmathema"

We are back. Welcome to 2024. We recorded this episode on January 22 in the middle of a polar vortex. As you can see, it took me (Ben) a while to get it posted. I do apologize and hope to do better. Every day is an adventure, huh? In mid-January, our part of the world … Continue reading "Pay Me No Mind… I'm Just Over Here Chillin'"

Today, we have a cool episode. Brent had never been in my BMW i3. He had not driven an EV other than the Chevy Volt belonging to the co-op. We thought it was high time that he experienced something new. Join us as we cruise around town on a rainy day and do bad impressions … Continue reading "EV Diaries After Dark: The Electric Adventures of B"

After years of waiting, the Tesla Cybertruck is here. The trucks are finally rolling of the production floor and into the garages of the people that made their reservations when it was first unveiled, assuming they still wanted it. It occurs to us that despite the long wait, people are still intrigued by the unusual … Continue reading "CYBERTRUCK: Rise Of The Machine"

Not going to lie- I've been a little discouraged about the EV news lately. Sure, new models are coming out every day. New breakthroughs in battery construction seem just over the horizon, but I have found myself inundated with seemingly bad new. First, I found myself in a conference where a very influential member of … Continue reading "WHAT THE TRUCK???"

Last week, Kentucky announced the first round of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure grant recipients. Sixteen projects submitted by six entities are now funded with $10.9 million in tax payer dollars. While I agree this is good for EV promotion and adoption, I was a little dismayed when a map of said projects showed an obvious … Continue reading "Here We Are… Sell To Us…"

Is Tesla really that much better or just that far ahead? Elon Musk and his engineers did not invent the electric car. Steve Jobs and his engineers did not invent the cellular telephone. So why are Tesla and iPhone synonymous with EVs and cell phones? They're not the only manufacturers, right? I think the biggest … Continue reading "Road Trip Problems Follow-Up: Playing Follow The Leader (Hint: Tesla Is The Leader… For Now)"

Patience is Cumbersome. That pretty much sums up this entire episode in three words. As we resume our discussion of the road trip recently taken by the Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, the author of the NPR article, Camila Domonoske, makes her arguments for why non-Tesla EVs have a “road trip problem”. First, she sees … Continue reading "Road Trip Problems: Just Get Mad… That Helps.

Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, set out on a whistle stop tour of the south east to promote EVs and EV adoption recently. Embedded in her caravan was an NPR reporter, who, like Madame Secretary, is a long time EV owner. The four day trip covered several stops for town hall style meetings from Charlotte, … Continue reading "Road Trip Problems: Don't You Know Who I Am?"

At 9:30 AM, the meeting started. Brent was attending in person and I remotely from my kitchen. Unbeknownst to me, Brent was supposed to be in the first half and I was supposed to be in the second half of the day long informational session. These things are typically conducted in a less than artful … Continue reading "Those Taxing Questions That Keep Us Up at Night"

This episode is based on a Canadian F-150 Lightning owner and his bad experience on a recent road trip. More accurately, it is a discussion of a “hit piece” put out by Fox Business trying to tarnish electric vehicles' worthiness in the marketplace and dissuade readers from purchasing EVs. It's not the first time Fox … Continue reading "“Biggest Scam of Modern Times”?"

Last week we discussed the BMW tweet where they called everyone “boomers”. We found out after the fact that the article was almost two years old but we thought the question they asked was still valid and relevant- “What's your reason not to change?” After much thought, the answers to such a question are varied. … Continue reading "So, What Is Your Reason?"

An article came to our attention that we thought was recent only to find out that it was from Fall 2020. That being said, it was a good article regarding a marketing campaign that BMW launched to showcase their new EV line up, replacing their previous offerings of the i8 performance hybrid and the i3; … Continue reading "Screw It! Let's Go To Buc-ee's."

This episode is just a wrap up of EVolveKY's EV education event hosted in conjunction with the Laurel County Kiwanis Club. There was a bevy of EVs from A to Z (Nissan Ariya to many other Zero emission vehicles.) Ben and Brent discuss their impressions and take aways from the event.

It's the end of an era. Lamborghini, one of the most iconic sports car companies ever, after 60 years of business, has announced they will no longer be making strictly internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Instead, they will focus on electrifying their fleet starting with the Revuelto plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). Interestingly enough, Revuelto … Continue reading "Don't Say “Lambo” If You're Not From Wisconsin"

EVs are the “in” thing. Most manufacturers are scrambling to get electric models to market. Some are dipping their toe into the water. Some are going full-blown cannonball from the 10 meter platform into the EV pool. Five or six years ago when I (Ben) began educating myself on EVs, I was part of a … Continue reading "Are Electric Vehicles Going The Way of the Dinosaur?"

Today, we are discussing Elon Musk. The guy is a freaky genius and looks at the world differently than most. His contribution to the EV world is his legacy (that, and PayPal… SpaceX… etc.), however his controversial take over of Twitter may tarnish the way history will forever look at him. Like him or hate … Continue reading "Tweet Others As You Would Like to be Tweeted"

A startup called Ample is working with Fisker to create battery exchange stations for EVs that would rival traditional gas stations in speed and convenience. They can be constructed quickly and may be a better use of taxpayer dollars going toward infrastructure were it not for one thing: A lack of standardization in the EV … Continue reading "What If The World Was Made of Legos?"

The United States Department of Energy awarded 20 companies government loans totaling $2.8 billion to boost battery production in the United States. Texas-based Microvast was one of those companies and they announced plans to build a $500+ million dollar facility here in Kentucky which would create more than 500 jobs. Kentucky joined the cause offering … Continue reading "Is an Asian Witch Hunt Costing Us Better Batteries?"

If I told you the Hummer EV was less efficient and produced more greenhouse emissions than a Tesla Model 3, would you be surprised? If I told you the Hummer EV was less efficient and produced more greenhouse emissions than a gasoline powered Chevy Malibu, would you be surprised? Today, we look at what probably … Continue reading "A Tale of Two Hummers: It Was the Worst of EVs, It Was the Best of EVs…"

Enjoy the wrap-up of our discussion about infrastructure and financial responsibility.

A grocery chain in the United Kingdom, Tesco, is pulling thousands of FREE public chargers from several of its locations because of the rising cost of energy. The plan is to eliminate 2,147 FREE ports which is a 38% reduction of the FREE charging available at 600 locations in the UK. That is a 5% … Continue reading "TESCO Shrugged Part 1"

Ben wanted to get back to the basics and talk about the 3 levels of charging. Brent suggested that we take an original EV Diaries episode and review it “on-air” to see if anything has changed since 2019. What do you think?

Wow, how quickly things change. Here is the continuation of our non-political political discussion.

Do you think for yourself? We like to think we do, but how many of us adopt the opinions of others for no other reason than some perceived authority. Even if you agree on one topic, does that mean their opinion is valid on another? Where do you draw the line? Today, we take on … Continue reading "Tucker Carlson Gave Me My Opinion…"

Have you ever bought something that didn't really live up to the hype? I know I have. There is a YouTube channel called Jetters Garage and our attention was directed to a video entitled “Ford Watched My Viral Lightning Video – Amazing What They Said” which was a follow up to a video entitled “Why … Continue reading "Have You Experienced Buyers Remorse?"

As we wrap up (finally) our discussion of the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative's presentation of the future of EV adoption in northern Virginia, we start looking at how we think EV adoption would look in small-town Kentucky. Rappahannock developed three scenarios where, on the high end, 30% of all cars in their territory were electric by … Continue reading "Rappahannock Part 4: The Zack Morris Phone"

Okay, admittedly that title is a little over the top. The point, as we resume our discussion of presentation by Rappahannock Electric Cooperative*, is that everything has a life-span and much of our existing infrastructure is too old or too weak to support the growing demand of energy in America. The solution is to revitalize … Continue reading "Rappahannock Part 3: We're All Going To Die"

Continuing our discussion of presentation by Rappahannock Electric Cooperative* showcasing their perception of the problem they face and what their system may look like in 2023. Brent and Ben continue to explore why charging an F-150 Lightning at 80 Amps would seem beneficial, but there are other considerations to keep in mind. Charging at Level 2 … Continue reading "Rappahannock Part 2: What's In Your Panel?"

Electric cooperatives, their members, and EV owners really want the same things: affordable and reliable electricity. The concern for co-ops that most members are unaware of is balancing the increasing demand of the EV revolution and the limitations in the existing infrastructure in such a way to maintain affordable reliability. There is definitely a gap … Continue reading "Rappahannock Part 1: Mo Members, Mo Problems"

Red Truck, Blue Truck… This one earns a big gold star. This one travels really far. Say! What a lot of EV trucks there are!!! Wrapping up our three part Taking a Trip discussion. Ben and Brent talk through what it would be like (possibly) to travel 750 miles one way from southeastern Kentucky to … Continue reading "Taking A Trip Part 3: One Truck, Two Truck…"

EV's are here, one can't deny. You can't deny, don't even try… But can I drive one here or there? Can I drive one anywhere? You can drive one here or there. You can drive one everywhere. Can I drive one to the moon? No, not today, it is too soon. But you can drive … Continue reading "Taking A Trip Part 2: Out Of The Box, Even With A Fox…"

EVs make sense, we firmly believe… but how do they fare, when your small town you do leave? In this episode (it's one of three), we share our experience so you can see… with a bit of fore though and the planning you'll do, how far you can go is really up to you. Ben … Continue reading "Taking A Trip Part 1: Oh, The Places You'll Go"

In a town where you have to drive 20 miles one-way to get anywhere (slight exaggeration), Ben's 2017 BMW i3 with a range extender (REx) boasts a WHOPPING 90 MILE BATTERY with an additional 3 gallon gasoline backup. So, how does he do it? How can a small battery pack get him to and fro … Continue reading "20 Miles One Way: Could You Be A Rural Electric Vehicle Owner?"

Let's face it in rural America, the idea of owning an EV is a completely foreign concept to most people. The biggest reason is because they've never considered the possibility or the practicality, AND that's why we re-launched the (R)EV Diaries. In this episode, we look at Brent's list of pros and cons just to … Continue reading "OMG, WHY Would I Want an EV???"

The EV Diaries are back! It's been a year and a half+ since the EV Diaries went dark, at the time, presumably forever, but like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the podcast is back. I know, you're saying to yourself, “Oh My God! WHY?… Why now, anyway? Why ever?” Well, around these parts, there … Continue reading "Welcome (Back) to the (R)EV Diaries…"

I'm still alive and I went to Ohio last weekend. I'm processing the numbers and will give a full report. I used the REx but it was out of choice and not necessity… probably. Also, don't be a gashole.

My friend Matt got in an EV debate on FB last week that lasted a few days. One of the adversaries called EVs a “fiasco”. Apparently, they're not going to let the “gubernent” tell them how to live. Ignorance and misinformation are alive and well in small-town America and it's up to us to fight … Continue reading "Of FaceBook Friends and Misinformation…"

Long answer, yes with an if…. Short answer, no with a but… It's a step in the right direction and it has potential.

It's been a minute but it's time to get back to work…