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For our Drive Electric Earth Month event this year, it may have been a bit cool and windy, but we had a great time regardless! Stinkfest, hosted by The Wild Ramp in Huntington, attracted around 500 visitors during the five hour event. The West Virginia Electric Auto Association (WVEAA) had a Lectric XP Step-Thru electric bicycle, a Tesla Cybertruck, a Model 3, and a Hyundai Ioniq 5 for attendees to check out. Many attendees saw the EV display and some visited for 20-30 minutes. One Audi Q6 E-tron EV owner stopped by to chat with the group for awhile. Buddy Langdon was busy showing his Tesla to many people and Rick Walker answered many good questions, dispelling EV myths. WVEAA would like to specially thank The Wild Ramp for hosting the event and providing space for our EV display, Diane Palmieri for organizing the event, and Rick Walker for assisting. We also very much appreciate members Buddy Langdon and Arno Schuechen for volunteering their time and vehicles as well as Malcolm Saunders for attending from the Appalachian Power Energy Efficiency program and providing Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) reimbursement information.
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Our sixth annual NDEW event in the West Virginia eastern panhandle was a great success and you couldn't have asked for a better and more diverse group of electric vehicles! The Black Dog Coffee Company was a terrific host and everyone enjoyed having access to great coffee and restrooms onsite. We had attendees of all ages interested in EVs and talking with owners from West Virginia and surrounding states. Many attendees commented how appreciative they were to have a West Virginia electric vehicle event to speak with EV owners and everyone appreciated the NDEW provided giveaway bags! I'd like to add a special thanks to Black Dog Coffee for hosting the event again this year and making their parking lot available to all the EVs! Additionally, I'd like to thank CMA's Honda of Winchester for bringing the Honda Prologue and staff to the event. The event included battery electric vehicles from Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Nissan, Porsche, Rivian, Tesla, and VW plus a plug-in hybrid from Toyota. There were 43 direct participants/attendees that we were able to count and many more Black Dog Coffee patrons that walked through the display. 
nitro Electric vehicle cruise in, Sep 6, 2024Electric vehicle owners joined the Nitro Boomtown Days to show off their electric rides and check out the GreenPower Motor electric school bus! 
bridgeport cars & coffee, sep 8, 2024Area electric vehicle owners joined the Bridgeport Cars & Coffee vehicle show with a great assortment of electric vehicles! 
It seems like I've seen a lot of posts this summer about driving an EV in hot weather and the effect on efficiency/range. With the record breaking temps across parts of the country this year, it is no wonder that it has been a 'hot' topic. I found myself traveling a bit in mid June and thought I'd add my personal experience. The short version? It didn't really make much of a noticeable difference in my Model Y LR AWD, in my driving, with a small loss of efficiency. However, different EVs with different HVAC systems and your individual driving conditions will of course create varying results. If you're interested in the longer version with some more details, read on. Starting on Wednesday, June 19, the wife and I took a short beach trip from Martinsburg, WV through Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, DE to Ocean City, MD where we stayed. That was nearly 450 miles round trip. As in previous trips, there was no fast charging and no waiting for charging en route either way, just Level 2 AC charging once we arrived at the hotel and a brief L2 top up while visiting downtown Lewes because it was available in the city parking lot. There was no fuel cost for all the driving I did that vacation week thanks to this complimentary charging and solar at home. The car averaged 223 Wh/mi (4.48 mi/kW, 151 MPGe) over the 822 miles driven in the week. Just the beach portion of those miles was 229 Wh/mi including slogging through Rehoboth Beach traffic and an hour long hold up/detour at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, but not a lot of interstate travel. I was able to do a little better (214 Wh/mi) on my last trip to Ocean City when it was much cooler last fall. The difference works out to 157MPGe vs 147MPGe so about 10MPGe less on this warmer beach trip. That would equate to about a 23 mile reduction in total available range which isn't large considering that either of those efficiency figures would still return more than the 330 miles of rated EPA range. I have also added heat rejecting window film (ceramic tint) to the car's windows which did help. We saw extremely sunny days and temps from the mid 80s at the beach to 99 degrees as the high one day in Martinsburg with most days in the mid 90s. In addition to the beach trip, the car was used for a couple Home Depot mulch haul runs, a trip to Mechanicsburg, PA, grocery/recycling center runs, and miscellaneous driving in the area. So, while anything that causes an EV to use more energy for cooling will always have some impact on range (as it also does in an ICE vehicle to a lesser degree), the effect may not be significant. As always, YMMV! On a closing note, the Model Y also turned one year old a couple weeks ago. By the end of July, it has covered right at 12,400 miles in a little over a year. The average efficiency has been 241 Wh/mi (4.14 mi/kW, 140 MPGe) with an out of pocket cost of $174 for all charging (home charging is at no additional cost with solar). For an AWD crossover SUV that can do 0-60 in about 4 seconds, that is fantastic efficiency across all seasons and driving conditions in my opinion.
On social media, including LinkedIn, I routinely see comments that EVs are only useful in cities, can only be used for short commutes, etc. And, for some first generation EVs, like early Nissan LEAFs, that is true. Those early EVs did not have the range or fast charging capabilities to make them practical for most drivers to consider using for long distance travel, even if they were great for the commute and around town driving. However, now there are modern EVs that can make those longer distance trips in conjunction with more and better charging infrastructure. To highlight this ability, I took a sightseeing day trip through the mountains of rural West Virginia back in October in a Tesla Model Y LR. To make the journey a little more interesting on the scenic first half of the trip, I decided to avoid interstates and travel the "country roads" where there are no fast chargers and very few Level 2 chargers. This portion of the trip was between my home in the eastern panhandle north of Martinsburg, WV and the geographic center of the state in Sutton, West Virginia (Flatwoods). This first half consisted of 221 miles and nearly five hours driving through the very rural, scenic areas of Moorefield, Seneca Rocks, Elkins, and French Creek using 70% of the battery at 234 wh/mi efficiency (144 MPGe). I had lunch at a Subway while the car charged at a 250kW Supercharger. The car was finished charging before I finished eating and using the restroom. Heading back, I took interstate 79 to Morgantown and then across I68 to get home. In Morgantown, I stopped for a 5-10 minute restroom break, to grab a coffee, and topped up a bit on charge while inside the store, but did not wait. Total waiting time for EV charging was zero on this trip. Total round trip mileage was 443 miles at 245 wh/mi (138 MPGe) leaving about 9:20 AM and returning home at 7:20 PM. Total fast charging cost was $21.66, all while using West Virginia electricity, some of it directly generated by my home solar array. There is no additional cost for home charging due to that array. It was great weather for sightseeing and EV efficiency even while climbing those colorful mountains!
DC Fast Charging (DCFC) gets a lot of press and for good reason. Slower, Level 2 destination charging is great, but you have to reach your destination in a reasonable amount of time which may only be practical with DCFC. However, one fantastic use case for Level 2 AC charging, in addition to home and work charging, is overnight hotel stays. The ability to conveniently 'refuel' at a hotel that offers EV charging as an amenity is underrated, but seems to be gathering traction. The large deal Hilton just made with Tesla shows that hotels are starting to understand the importance of EV charging when offering amenities that will attract customers. From the article link below, "In 2023, the [Hilton] website’s EV charging search attribute had the fastest volume of growth to-date, jumping from fourth to second highest in converting searches to stays." Hilton's Announcement: Hilton to Install Up to 20,000 Tesla Universal Wall Connectors at 2,000 Hotels, Creating Largest Overnight Electric Vehicle Charging Network within Hospitality Industry From a personal perspective, here's the stats from my latest real world hotel stay with Level 2. My wife and I took a 490 mile trip to Bethany Beach, DE and we stayed overnight with IHG Hotels & Resorts in nearby Ocean City, MD. That was roundtrip mileage with some small side jaunts and other miscellaneous stops. There was no charging on the road between my home and the hotel both ways. With complimentary hotel charging and home charging at no additional cost (solar), there was also no cost for fuel and no time spent charging while on the road. We selected the hotel because it offered convenient EV charging with an oceanfront view. Like the Hilton example above, we hope to see more EV charging offered at IHG hotels.
As a side note, if you estimate total range possible based on either leg of that trip using 100% of the battery, it's greater than the car's 330 mile EPA range. Admittedly, dry weather in the mid 60s to low 70s was ideal for this trip, it's a relatively flat route, chill mode was enabled, there is only 60 miles or so of interstate driving with the rest of the route being 55 mph or lower speed limits, and I tend to drive at the speed limit or a bit over. So, the conditions were much closer to the EPA's testing methodology than an all interstate trip. On your next EV road trip, check for Level 2 charging at your hotel stops and if the hotel doesn't offer that amenity, make sure to encourage local management and/or corporate to provide that capability for their EV owning customers. If they did offer Level 2 charging and it worked, make sure to let them know that you appreciated the ability to 'refuel' your EV while enjoying their hotel!  In the eastern panhandle, near Martinsburg, our fifth annual NDEW event was a great success and you couldn't have asked for better weather! The Black Dog Coffee Company was a great site host again this year and everyone enjoyed having access to great coffee! We had attendees of all ages interested in EVs and talking with owners and attendees from West Virginia and surrounding states. We had ten EVs present including vehicles from Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, VW, and a Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup. Many attendees commented how grateful they were to have a local event in West Virginia to speak with owners, take a demo ride, and appreciated the NDEW giveaway bags. Special thanks to Kent Parsons Ford in Martinsburg, WV for providing the F-150 Lightning electric truck for display! At our South Charleston NDEW event, we had eleven electric vehicles including a Rivian and a Lucid. Several people stopped by to check out the vehicles and talk with the experts from the West Virginia Electric Auto Association and Appalachian Power, which unveiled its new Off-Peak Charging Rate. This rate can save EV drivers about 25% when they charge overnight, between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM, Monday through Friday and any time on weekends and major holidays. A special thanks to the staff from Appalachian Power for joining us this year and to all the owners who showed their unique, electric rides! Eastern panhandle photosphotos by tobias Sherman and myra fernatt
South charleston photos
As we approach this Independence Day, I want to call attention to two things from the world of electric vehicles (EVs). First, I am thankful that EVs provide independence from foreign petroleum fuel products. The market price for vehicle fuel depends largely on global supply/demand mixed with the latest foreign crisis. The net result can be extreme price volatility. The global petroleum market is complex and there are certainly other impacts to consumer fuel pricing, but global oil prices are the largest component. Conversely, an electric vehicle only uses electricity that must be produced locally, distributed locally, and consumed locally, supporting local jobs. That is true whether the electricity is produced from solar, wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, natural gas, or coal - it's all local. You can’t ship a boatload of electricity from a foreign country! Secondly, I want to celebrate the fact that EVs make up four of the top six most American-made vehicles sold according to the 2022 American-Made Index by Cars.com. The Tesla Model Y and 3 took first and second place while the Model S and X were fifth and sixth respectively. It is encouraging to see an American company locating its factories and jobs in the country and becoming the United States’ largest EV seller while some iconic American brands choose to manufacture their most popular EV models in other countries - looking at you, Mexican-built Ford Mustang Mach-E. Consider adding some independence to your driving with an electric vehicle and please have a safe and happy Independence Day holiday!  From Marty Weirick, WVEAA Vice President: WVEAA had a meetup at the new Tesla Supercharger station in Princeton this past Saturday, March 5. The idea was for a chance for members to meet in an outdoor setting and to celebrate the opening of the 11th Supercharger in West Virginia - one of the newer 250kW stations. [Editors note: The 12th Supercharger and also 250kW is under construction in Fairmont, WV and should open soon.] The meetup was scheduled for one hour at noon and even a non-Tesla (Jon and Abby Averill in their Bolt EV) made the trip. The distinction for longest drive to attend went to Lanny and Vera Hartman from Columbia, Maryland in their older Tesla Model S. Lanny is a well known EV advocate, both in Maryland and nationally. Vera is one of the competitors in the “charged at the most superchargers” ongoing contest on the Tesla Motors Club on-line forum. She told me she had charged at over 600 different supercharger stations. Whew! While we were on site, four Teslas with drivers and passengers traveling through West Virginia stopped to charge, and we spent some time with those folks talking about EVs and life on a charging route. They all seemed very pleased to chat with us. Most of the through travelers were on a Florida to Michigan corridor, with some starting in North Carolina and others ending in Ohio. I think all were northbound. Folks had a nice time and a couple of us then went over to Dolly’s Diner across Oakvale Road for lunch. Here are a few photos from the meetup. 
A recently published WVEAA op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail:
We should not allow a future with electric vehicles and its associated jobs to pass by West Virginia. A former congressman, Nick Rahall, would like for you to believe that it’s too soon for EVs, as he stated in a recent op-ed in the Gazette-Mail. But when we look at a sampling of headlines, we see another picture: “GM and LG to spend $2.3 billion on second EV battery plant in U.S.”; “Ford to build new plants in Tennessee, Kentucky in $11 billion investment in EVs” (creating 11,000 jobs); “Electric Dodge muscle car and Ram pickup part of Stellantis’ $35.5 billion EV plans”; “VW breaks ground on massive Tennessee EV plant”; “Midwest governors agree on EV charging-network plan” and so on. There are two things these headlines have in common. First, tens of billions in private investment dollars are going into EV capacity, laying the foundation for massive production over the next five to 10 years and equally massive hiring. Secondly, although surrounding states like Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio are targets for these production facilities, West Virginia is never mentioned. Battery and EV manufacturing facilities aren’t being built 20 years from now, they are being built now. A new foundation for transportation manufacturing and jobs is being laid before our eyes and being built around, not in, West Virginia. Regarding the affordability of EVs, it’s important to understand that the operational costs of an EV are much less than a gas vehicle. And, with the average new vehicle price in the United States just above $40,000 according to Kelley Blue Book, EV pricing is not far out of line. All new technology is expensive at first. As production scales up, those costs go down. Beyond price, functionality also has increased. Anyone want to compare their smartphone with one of the first? Battery life, charging, screens and connection speeds have all improved greatly. EVs are on the same path and have more than doubled available range in the past 10 years. However, West Virginia’s fast-charging infrastructure is currently limited. In the meantime, there are other EV options, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that allow owners to drive locally on electricity and use gas on longer trips. The best thing about the electricity that powers EVs is that it’s local. You can’t ship a boatload of electricity from another country, especially countries that have and would like to harm the United States. The jobs that generate and distribute that electricity are all local. I would think we could all get behind that, whether the electricity comes from coal, gas, wind or solar. Where politicians see problems with battery recycling, some states see opportunity. Canadian company Li-Cycle recently came to an agreement in Alabama to build their fourth battery recycling plant. Battery components are too valuable to put in a landfill. After reusing or recycling what we can, another concern raised is the procurement of raw materials tied to China. There is no shortage of lithium, nickel, aluminum, etc., in the United States, but we need to seize the opportunity and develop the industry responsibly. The largest transportation transition in a century is here. West Virginia can be proud of its history as a coal and energy state, but we need to recognize that times are changing. As a lifelong West Virginia resident and worker, I have made my life in West Virginia. I am also a volunteer with the West Virginia Electric Auto Association, an EV enthusiast group. I don’t want to see us continue to lose our youth to surrounding states or see our population continually decline. Our political leaders could fight to keep everything the same, but a terrible thing happens when everything stays the way it is — nothing. The EV industry might not cure all of West Virginia’s ills, but it could certainly help on the jobs and innovation front. For the sake of future generations, I hope we will welcome EVs. |
AuthorRobert Fernatt - EV, solar, and coffee aficionado. Also, cat servant. Archives
April 2025
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