Page 32 - aruba-today-20170422

A32 FEATURE
Saturday 22 april 2017
Charge me up: Rural electric drivers face ‘range anxiety’

MICHAEL HILL vehicles are on the road in in less than an hour. They
Associated Press the U.S. and Canada (in- also used campgrounds
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. cluding models with gas for charging in remote
(AP) — Sunita Halasz has engines), according to stretches, like between
tips for “driving electric” the ChargePoint network. Calgary and Toronto.
along lonely roads in New Charging stations are un- “We had a few nail-biters,
York’s Adirondack Moun- evenly distributed, with mainly in Canada, not so
tains: know the locations concentrations in Califor- much in the U.S.,” Sommer-
of charging stations, bring nia and populous portions feld said. “But we always
activities for the kids during of the East Coast. But back- made it with at least one
three-hour recharges, turn country electric vehicle kilometer range left.”
on the energy-hogging drives are getting easier While the Tesla Model X can
window defroster in just every year with more sta- cost more than $100,000,
10-second bursts. tions and better batteries. longer ranges are also be-
And have a backup plan. Silke Sommerfeld and Rolf coming available in more
“When we really go any- Oetter, a retired couple affordable models, such as
where, I have a whole from British Columbia’s the 200-mile (321-kilome-
list of phone numbers of Vancouver Island, dem- ter) Chevrolet Bolt, which
friends who live all over the onstrated that with a runs about $30,000, after a
Adirondacks,” Halasz said just-completed 21,000- government tax credit.
during a charging stop. “So mile (33794-kilometer) trip “The most important thing
that at a moment’s notice around North America in we can do to contribute to
I can call somebody and their Tesla Model X. The lux- the EV ecosystem is to de-
be like, ‘Hi, I’m going to pull ury car has a listed range liver on a really compelling
into your driveway. And do of 295 miles (474 kilome- vehicle for consumers. And
you have an outdoor elec- ters), much farther than we’ve done that,” said
trical outlet?’” most electric cars on the Chevy spokesman Fred Li-
There are more than 18,000 road. gouri.
electric car charging sta- Towing a camper that re- But for many electric ve-
tions in the United States, duced their range, they hicle drivers, the issue is not
and the number of outlets spent months traveling miles, but hours.
at those stations has more east across Canada, down It can take three hours to
than tripled over five years to Florida, west to Califor- fully charge a car on the
to about 48,000, according nia and back home to the common “level 2” char-
to federal data. But they’re Pacific Northwest. They re- ger, which is like a clothes
often few and far between This Monday, April 17, 2017 photo shows a charging station for lied on Tesla’s infrastructure dryer outlet. For Art Weav-
in rural areas. That can electric cars in Guilderland, N.Y of “Supercharger” stations er and his wife, that means
leave electric vehicle pio- Associated Press that can power a vehicle budgeting two to three
neers in the backcountry hours each way for charg-
with chronic “range anxi- ing his Nissan Leaf on 100-
ety,” the fear that their mile (160-kilometer) trips
batteries will run out and from their home in New
leave them stranded. York’s Finger Lakes region
Halasz counters that with to Rochester.
careful strategizing be- “Everyone thinks it’s a big
fore she and her husband deal — that you’re inevi-
take their fully electric Ford tably going to run out of
Focus on trips over its 75- electric fuel. It’s not true,”
mile (120-kilometer) range. said Weaver, who lives
On family trips to Burling- near Ithaca. “It’s just that it
ton, Vermont, which is at can’t be a no-brainer ac-
the edge of that range, tivity anymore like finding a
they know where they will fossil fuel service station.”
charge and how they will For electric enthusiasts, ex-
keep their two sons occu- tra effort is more than bal-
pied for the extra hours. The anced by the carbon-free
1,300-foot (396-meter) de- country drives.
scent down the mountain- Pete Nelson, of the Ad-
sides helps them recapture irondack town of Keene,
kinetic energy when they charges his car at home
brake, but the trip back up with the help of solar
can be a battery killer, es- panels, a sort of carbon-
pecially on cold days. free double play. He is so
“I really think we are some pleased with his electric
of the most extreme EV and gas Chevy Volt that
drivers in the entire United he just went all-in with an
States, living in the Adiron- electric-only Bolt.
dacks, because of all of “I love driving down these
our ups and or downs and roads,” he said. “And the
our very cold tempera- In this Thursday, April 6, 2017 photo, Sunita Halasz shows how she charges her electric car at her quiet and the lack of emis-
tures,” Halasz said. home in Saranac Lake, N.Y. sions is Zen-like.”q
More than 600,000 electric Associated Press