Surprise: Electric Vehicles Really Excel in Winter

It’s great to see more and more electric vehicles (EVs) on our roads, and I was particularly gratified recently when a reader said he bought a Chevy Volt (and “loves it”) because of a column I wrote in mid-December.

Shortly after I published that column, the weather turned bitterly cold, which is when the benefits of driving an EV really stand out. Here are some features that come to mind, based on my own experience.

1) Regardless of temperature, EVs always "start" and don’t need warming up.  Even if it’s 20 below zero, get in the car and drive off immediately -- and with full performance.

2) EVs never stall. How could they? There’s just a battery and electric motor.  If you see an EV on the side of the road, it is likely because of a flat tire, an accident or some personal needs of the occupants. If you’re stranded in the winter, your EV’s battery will probably keep you warm longer than the gasoline in a gas-powered car’s tank — without carbon monoxide.

 

3) No "puffing"!  If you want to warm your car’s cabin, you can do so in your garage without raising the garage door. In the Tesla, there’s a “smart pre-conditioning” feature which learns what time you normally leave for work (or leave for home) and pre-warms, or pre-cools, the car before your departure time arrives. Also, mid-day or anytime you can pre-warm or pre-cool the cabin remotely using Tesla’s smartphone app.

 

 4) EVs have a lower center of gravity and better front-rear weight distribution, which improve road-handling and traction, especially in snow. The all-wheel-drive Tesla handles better in snow than any car I know.  You’ve never experienced anything like it, including acceleration on a snow-packed road.  You'll wonder how it could do that!  The Tesla chassis shown at right includes the 1,500-pound battery and the motors in place, demonstrating the low center of gravity.

 

5) Traction control does not utilize an EV’s brakes the way it does in a gas-powered car. Instead, the electric motor only sends as much power to each wheel as it can handle without spinning the wheels.  Stability control means you'll never spin out, either. (I've tested this!) 

 

6) Accessories, including heating and cooling, work without starting the electric motor. When you get in a Tesla, everything except the motor and power steering are working. Step on the brake to “start” the car.

 

7) You won’t have to pull out your keys or your remote to open your locked car, at least with the Volt and the Tesla. This is particularly nice when it’s below zero!  Just have the proximity key in your purse or pocket.

Published Jan. 12,

2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

The Gas/Diesel Tax Should Be Replaced With a Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax

Last week, an editorial in the Denver Post supported CDOT’s study of a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax.  As the owner of two electric vehicles (EV’s), I have enjoyed being a “freeloader” when it comes to the construction and maintenance of the roads and highways I use. At the same time, I realize that more and more EV’s in service will mean that our already shrinking gas tax revenue for road construction and maintenance will virtually dry up in 10 to 20 years. 

It’s only right that all vehicles using our roads should pay their fair share of taxes to build and maintain those roads. At some point we freeloaders will outnumber those who are paying road taxes, and we and our vehicles will all suffer the consequences.

 

There will always be gasoline- or  diesel-powered vehicles, but within a very few years 80% or more of Americans will realize that EV’s economically meet their automotive needs. I predict that revenue from fuel taxes will decline by 5% to 10% per year for the next decade. That means that within two to three years, the funding crisis will become apparent enough that all legislative bodies, including Congress, will be forced to consider alternatives to the gas/diesel tax.

 

A VMT tax is not hard to implement, but it should be implemented on the federal level first, because we can’t adopt a VMT tax without eliminating the gas tax. The VMT tax will be easy to collect via our tax returns. Taxpayers would declare how many miles they traveled along with the make and model of their vehicle. They could understate their miles traveled, but will not understate it so much that they trigger an audit. The tax will still generate the revenue that is needed.

Published Dec. 1, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.

Consider Saturday’s Tour of Sustainable Homes a Multi-Location Educational Event

Do you like learning about new technology and techniques regarding energy and how to reduce your own carbon footprint? Then this Saturday will be a particularly enjoyable and enlightening day for you!

The Golden Tour of Solar & Sustainable Homes on Oct. 1st is so much more than just of tour of solar & sustainable homes. Each location will teach you about technologies (or non-technology concepts) that you may have never heard of before. This year there are homes in Denver, Lakewood, Arvada, and Indian Hills as well as Golden on the tour.

My contribution to the tour each year is to shoot video tours of each home that’s on the tour for posting online at www.YouTube.com/GoldenSolarTour, Shooting these tours has given me an advance peek at the sites on this year’s tour. I use the word “sites” because there are more than just homes on the tour this year.  For example, you’ll tour the Iron Edison factory, which makes batteries for home storage of electricity. And, hopefully, you’ll visit the parking lot at Golden Real Estate, where we’ll host a roundup of electric vehicles (EV’s) and where I will be giving a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation explaining how EV’s work and why they’re more efficient and practical than gas-powered cars.  Golden Solar (located next to the American Mountaineering Center, where you register and pick up your self-guided tour book) will be giving a 15-minute presentation on solar power. This is the company that installed my home and office solar arrays.

Nowadays there are so many ways to make a home more sustainable.  Here are some of the ways you’ll learn about at different stops on Saturday’s tour.

One of my personal favorites is the Gagnon residence/farm on Comanche Road in Indian Hills.  Yes, the home has solar panels, but what got this home on the tour are its agricultural and animal husbandry features. The Gagnons have three greenhouses, one of which houses a year round aquaculture operation, where koi fish live in the water which nourishes the hydroponic plants above. Heated by the sun, the excess daytime heat is stored in an underground thermal mass which then releases that heat during cold winter nights, so no other kind of heating is required. The Gagnons also raise and slaughter a breed of African sheep which have hair instead of wool. Chickens and bees round out their operation, with the bees pollinating an orchard of fruit trees.

 

Also on the tour is the unique DuVivier-Wright home near the University of Denver. If you can’t make it there, be sure to view the video tour on the YouTube channel. Among its many features, this house has a clothes dryer designed to utilize its heat instead of exhausting it in the winter. It is a “near passive solar home” whose energy demand is so low that, with its 7.2 kW of solar PV, should prove to be “net zero carbon” on an annual basis.

 

Among the other technologies to which you’ll be introduced are geothermal heat pumps, which utilize the 55-degree temperature of the earth to heat your home in the winter and cool it in the summer.  Another great invention is the HRV, which stands for Heat Recovery Ventilator. This device is essential when you make a house super-insulated and therefore super air-tight. The HRV uses the air that you exhaust from your house (such as from the bathrooms) to pre-heat or pre-cool the fresh air that you bring into the house for breathing and other purposes.

 

You won’t want to miss the Tiny House at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. It’s their entry in an annual competition of sustainable homes.

 

During this year’s tour, you will also learn about high-performance windows, super insulation concepts and more. Admission to the 13 sites is achieved by purchasing the $10 tour book at the American Mountaineering Center at 710 10th Street, in downtown Golden. The tour book can also be purchased at one of the Denver homes on the tour, an “urban farm” at 1426 S. Race Street, just east of South High School’s campus. The homes are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

Return to the Mountaineering Center in Golden from 4 to 6 p.m. for a vendor expo and free reception with wine, craft beer and appetizers. Look for a half-page ad elsewhere in this section of YourHub for more info.

Published Sept. 29, 2016, in the YourHub section of the Denver Post and in four Jefferson County weekly newspapers.