I woke up early this morning, and Eri convinced me to make my measurement run to the gas station (irony!) in the morning instead of the evening. I took Melissa along, and we stopped to fill up the tires.

The trip was a delight, and a much better test of real operation than the jaunt to the park. After all, this time we were driving with the morning traffic, and we drove at speed much longer. I also used the gear-shift points I figured out yesterday.

The gas station air hose registered about 10 PSI too low (good thing I bought a tire pressure gauge I can trust). Melissa hurt her finger trying to work the hose, so she measured all the tires for me.

The only other problem was on the way home. A big 'ol pickup pulled out in front of me. A few seconds later, Melissa went, "Eww! What's that smell?"

Gasoline exhaust! For once, it wasn't the EV's fault. :D

So why call this article "Crunching the Numbers"? Because I measured my distance and Watt-hours on the way.

To get to the gas station, we went 1.75 and used 560Wh. The gas station is a little lower than my house, so this was mostly downhill. That's about 330Wh/mile, which is better than expected.

To get home, we went 1.75 miles (imagine that!) and used only 540Wh. That's uphill, including a small hill climb. I also went faster, about 40MPH instead of 35. But the tires had been only 22 PSI on the way there, and 40 PSI on the way home. All told, I used about 310Wh/mile on that half of the trip.

Oh yes, this car can SO get to work.

I plugged it in as soon as I got home. I think I'll take it to the DIY car wash down the street later tonight and clean it up. Then I should be ready to drive to work tomorrow.

By coincidence, the UCF Car Club holds its meetings on Wednesdays. If I don't get the chance to cruise by tomorrow, I'll make an effort to go the week afterwards.