EV Trip Reports
As the title suggests, this section is devoted to our experience driving an electric vehicle (EV). In late 2014, we leased a Nissan Leaf, a mass-market EV with an official range of 84 miles. In late 2016 we bought a 2017 Chevy Volt. When the lease expired on the Nissan Leaf in the fall of 2017 we leased a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV. We sold the Volt in the spring of 2018 when we downsized to one vehicle. We now drive electric only. In the fall of 2020 we returned the Bolt to GM at the end of the lease and bought a 2020 Bolt.
Pandemic Peregrinations in an EV
By
Paul Gipe
Since the advent of the first Covid-19 lockdown in California in mid-March 2020, Nancy and I have taken weekly day-trips to explore our region. Fully cognizant of the need to socially distance ourselves from others during the pandemic, we’ve walked, hiked, climbed and driven through remote areas within 100 miles of Bakersfield, California. In most cases we never met another person.
EV Road Trips–the web site for EV Trips
By
The web site compiling road trip reports from EV drivers, including data on the trips, experiences, and routes mapped on ABRP trip planner.
Inyokern DCFC Station Finally Live–Opens Eastern Kern County to EVs
By
Paul Gipe
The long-awaited DCFC station at the Inyokern airport is finally live after years of waiting.
Covid-19 Escape: Oak Flat Fire Lookout Tower
By
Paul Gipe
That sounds simple enough but 15 of those miles were on an “improved” dirt road. This is a bone rattling trip over a rutted and washed out road that gave both the Bolt and its passengers a good beating.
Covid-19 Escape: First EV to Breckenridge Fire Lookout Tower?
By
Paul Gipe
Unfortunately, fires and smoke scuppered our most recent plans. So instead we headed east to Breckenridge Mountain where Forest Service web cams indicated the smoke wasn’t quite so thick.
Covd-19 Escape: Botanizing in Horseshoe Meadows at 10,000 Feet
By
Paul Gipe
The drive to Horseshoe Meadows is a trip we long for every summer. The drive up Hwy 395 on the East Side of the Sierra Nevada is one of the best road trips you can make in North America. The scenery is nothing short of spectacular. And when you’ve been cooped up in quasi-quarantine for weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the drive is more exhilarating than usual.
