News Coulomb is a channel devoted to providing first-hand accounts of life with renewable energy technologies. My goal is to provide education on strategies and techniques that will empower people to transition away from non-renewable, unsustainable energy sources and to build self reliance.
From News Coulomb. I took my 2015 Chevrolet Volt out for a quick shopping trip while I was stuck in Petrol Prison. Along the way, I discuss the general shortcomings of PHEVs that many auto journalists gloss over or ignore, as well as specific ways that GM could have made the Chevy Volt better.
From News Coulomb. I decided to share one of my routine, local shopping trips while visiting some of the charging infrastructure that’s available along the way. PlugShare EVgo, Chico: https://www.plugshare.com/location/658517 Electrify America, Chico: https://www.plugshare.com/location/331942 Electrify America, Willows: https://www.plugshare.com/location/180129
From News Coulomb. Hello, all. I held off shopping for as long as possible, but I decided to head out on the Sunday after Thanksgiving to check out the status of various charging stations. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of progress to report, but I was able to stop by two newly opened charging sites…
From News Coulomb. I needed to go shopping, so I decided to do a sampling of the chargers available along I-5 in Northern California. There were some exciting new stations that opened since the last time I visited, including what I consider to be the most promising new public charging provider, Electric Era. PlugShare links:…
From News Coulomb. So the big announcement finally happened, and GM electric vehicles now have access to the Tesla Superchargers. Overall, this is good news; however, after charging at two different Supercharger locations using the Tesla app and A2Z adapter, I felt that the experience was lacking. The first Supercharger in Williams, CA was busy,…
From News Coulomb. *Note: I am aware that Tesla has now enabled V3 Supercharger access for GM EVs. This trip was completed prior to that access. I had to do a bit of shopping, so I decided to stop by a few charging locations to see how things have improved. Electrify America has been doing…
From News Coulomb. I took a trip up to Northern California to get an update on the various charging stations that have gone in. Unfortunately, the EVgo Pilot location still hasn’t opened, but the good news is, Electric Era is already making a big impact with their latest charging station in Weed. 0:00 Introduction 2:47…
From News Coulomb. The power went out, I wasn’t able to charge my EV overnight, and my cat needed to go into the vet’s office for an emergency surgery. This was the worst-case-scenario for an EV owner; however, it was also an opportunity for me to test out the current state of Northern California’s public…
From News Coulomb. It’s time to finally test battery capacity of my new, replacement battery on my 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. For this test, I drove down to below 15%, and I compared the energy used versus the battery state of charge displayed on the charger screen. Based on this data point, it appears that…
From News Coulomb. It’s happening, folks! ChargePoint is now deploying native SAE J3400 plugs at its charging sites, and so far, they’ve updated over a dozen of their sites in California. Because this standard uses the Tesla plug format but is based on CCS protocols, all that a CCS1 EV needs to use these plugs…
From News Coulomb. Exciting news, fellow EV travelers. It appears that GM Energy’s first Pilot-EVgo charging site in California is almost completed and ready to be energized. The site is located in Weed, just off of Interstate 5. This site should be ready for summer travel through Northern California! PlugShare: https://www.plugshare.com/location/565902
From News Coulomb. This video is from the archives. I didn’t have time to edit and publish it at the time, but in retrospect, it is possibly one of the most important road trips I’ve taken in my 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. It also serves as an important historical reference, marking the start of a…
From News Coulomb. I’m just doing a quick shopping run, but I wanted to test a new camera just to see how well it works out wile driving. So let me know what you think about the new shots. This video is a single-camera shoot outside of the video overlays.
From News Coulomb. While I was out shopping and running errands, I decided to take another stab at the I-5 DC fast charging corridor, but this time, I headed north to Redding. I visited a number of charging sites along the way, commenting on what they are doing well and what they can be doing…
From News Coulomb. While shopping, I decided to check on the current statuses for several of my local charging sites along I-5 in Northern California. For the most part, there haven’t been a lot of changes. All the Electrify America sites appeared to have at least one plug working on every dispenser, and a problematic…
From News Coulomb. I just installed my fourth set of tires on my Chevy Bolt EV, and wouldn’t you know it, I went back to the original Michelin Energy Saver A/S. These continue to be the most efficient tire option, and I have no complaints about them overall. The previous Continental Pure Contact started leaking…
From News Coulomb. This is a clip from a recent live stream with Steve @plugandplayEV You can view the entire stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgXrpWXTQzE&t=34s In this clip, Steve and I discuss our experiences as non-Tesla EV drivers using the Tesla "Magic Dock" Superchargers. I personally have less experience with these Superchargers than Steve because so far,…