You'll Get A Charge Out Of This
Michigan utility Consumers Energy wants to have its share of the reluctant auto boom. For that, you need to buy an electric vehicle. What did you say? Range? Consumers Energy has an answer: An app for your iPhone.
You probably already have something like that in your navigation system, but a little redundancy can’t hurt. Chargebud offers “an easy-to-use interface to find the location and details of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging stations across the U.S.” Available through the iTunes store at no charge, the app promises to lower your anxiety by navigating you to the next hot plug.
Looking at the Chargebud-supplied map, an all-electric trip from Detroit to Chicago is conceivable – if you have brought a lot of time. Those purple 240 VAC chargers will require an 8 hour stopover at the local Motel 6. Where are those level 3 quickchargers when we need them?
Tip of the Tyroler hat …
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
geez louise, all electric cars are not practical for long trips. period. they are designed for intraurban transportation. that's one of the reasons they are small, with few frills. it is basic transportation at its simplest. you want range in a mostly electric vehicle? then try an electric motor hooked up to a diesel engine just like a freight locomotive. in the meantime consider gas/electric options
I'll ride my bicycle instead. I did actually cover a lot of that territory on my bicycle, along Superior's southern shore from Duluth to Sioux St. Marie, then into Canada, along the transcanadian, to Montreal... part of my bicycle ride from Seattle to Boston.
First off if you get a Ford electric you only need to wait 4 hours for a full charge at the 240v level. Second long trips are possible in an electric vehicle. A friend of mine who is an EV enthusiast took his Tesla roadster for a 1100+ mile "long weekend" trip utilizing in part a quick charger along the way. He and his wife only own EVs besides the Tesla they have a RAV4 and a Leaf. Another EV enthusiast friend took a home built S-10 based EV on a I5 border to border run in less than a week thanks to a "range" trailer they built to extend it's normal 300 mile range. So not only are long road trips possible in an EV there are already people doing it.
Its a start anyway