My family was in town. It was a chance to show off my electric car. What a proud moment it was for me to show my grandfather the project.
I always assumed I inherited my mechanical aptitude from my grandfather – he’s a carpenter and gave me some of my first tools. A few weeks ago I learned that an affinity for modifying cars is also shared. He told me about his 1931 Chevy Coupe that looked a little like this one:
He installed an Edelbrock four barrel carburetor and changed the gearing in the rear end to increase the top speed to 88 MPH. That was fast enough - I think the statute of limitations is up - to outrun the cops. It is funny that I never heard that story as a kid. All the good family stories are like that.
Even though I never opened it up all the way, cornering on wet pavement was sharp enough to give my grandpa the impression that my electric car is not slow. Going down the road with your butt 6 inches above the pavement helps with the perception of speed.
Later in the week, my Dad and I decided to go for a ride in the countryside and visit a couple of the local wineries. The total trip was about 70 miles and the car had plenty of range to spare.
In the hills near Dayton, Oregon at the vineyard of Domaine Drouhin.
One of the wineries, Sokol Blosser, had a new tasting room and was set up with several large photovoltaic arrays and an electric car charging station.
I didn't plug into the charger because I haven’t bothered to install a J1772 outlet on the car. I have plenty of range for my current driving needs and do all of my charging at home. If my driving habits change and I need to charge away from home, there are kits I can install to use these charging stations that are popping up all over.
The weather is really good, so we decided to take the top off the car for the ride home.
