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.
Bakersfield to Fresno in a Chevy Bolt: 63 kWh Over 240 Miles
By
Paul Gipe
My friend Gordon Nipp drove to Fresno from Bakersfield in his Bolt.
Bakersfield to Ridgecrest Revisited in a Chevy Bolt
By
Paul Gipe
For my wife’s birthday, I offered Nancy an all-expenses paid trip to Ridgecrest, California, including dinner at a French restaurant. Such a deal, I know. How could she refuse?
186-Mile Loop in Chevy Bolt Returns with 20 kWh to Spare
By
Paul Gipe
I’ve been chomping at the bit to test our 2017 Chevy Bolt’s range and we did so on a 186-mile jaunt to the mountains between Bakersfield and Los Angeles.
Sunday Drive in a Renault Zoe
By
Paul Gipe
We met Wirth in the square in front of the rathaus or city hall. We were elated to find that he not only would drive us to his parents but he’d rented a Renault Zoe electric car for the trip from car sharing company Cambio.
Revisiting Bakersfield to Grover Beach, CalPoly, and Return
By
Paul Gipe
We made another run to the coast from Bakersfield in our 2017 Chevy Bolt. This was a business trip. I had a half-day lecture to give at CalPoly in San Luis Obispo. So there was no dawdling to take pictures of wildflowers or poking along at a modest speed to conserve our charge. We drove there, charged, spent the night, gave my talk, and drove back.
Bakersfield to Springbok Solar Plant Cantil, California in a Chevy Bolt
By
Paul Gipe
17 March a small group caravanned from Bakersfield to the Desert Tortoise Preserve’s new parcel adjacent to the Springbok solar power plant near Cantil, California. The plant is located just north of California City and just south of the Honda test track.
