Well, we did it. We were signed up as early recipients of a Nissan Leaf but we saw something more affordable for us. We bought a Mitsubishi MiEV . It’s like driving a futuristic over-sized laptop on wheels. It’s shaped like an egg and sounds like a quiet space ship. We have about 400 mi. on it so far and have not burned one ounce of gas. Before we try to explain how good that feels, we’d like to personally thank BP at this time.
Thank you BP for helping us to realize a goal of getting off of your gasoline IV. When we set out one Saturday a few weeks ago to trade a stick shift in for an automatic transmission car. Our first stop was the gas station. To our extreme disappointment, the price was 4.05/gal. We stopped the pump at 2 gallons and went back home to get online. Sure enough our Google search of “Pittsburgh electric vehicle” directed us to South Park Mitsubishi dealer (tell them Tesla Clifford referred you please) just a few miles away selling the MiEV. Our limit on what we’ll pay at the pump is reached. We took action and bought the EV. It performs better than most cars we’ve owned and uses no gas. Thanks BP. And thanks again for the Gulf shrimp we’ll never eat again, that was Not cool, you are unforgiven.
This car is functional. That’s the main thing. It’s a valid replacement. A to B. We’ve hauled the four of us, and the dog, (close to 600 lbs worth of cargo, most of which is me and the dog, we have too many treats) to the park 10 miles away. No problems. We’ve not gone more than 20 mi. one way yet but are anxious to do so.
The first day we went to town and I was tinkering with the stereo. The built in Navigation and Audio system is very cool.
I quickly started sync’ing music from my phone onto the audio subsystem (300 GB). I had the Nav system find me a new way home, made a call to my wife with one touch of a button on the steering wheel and voice dial system.
This is an amazing car. It’s climbing these Pittsburgh hills with ease and regenerative breaking on the down hill side. I’ve had it up to 75 mph and that’s as fast as I would ever go but it’s capable of more. It’s pretty convenient that when we go shopping, we can pull up to a free charging station. Charging at home is like running a couple of computers on 120v.
I added up the expense of driving my last car, with sticker price, repairs and 2.50/gal and came up with $98,000 to drive 160,000 mi. I’ve estimated to do the same in this car to be $62,000 and that includes tires, charging and 2 battery replacements though I’m not sure we’ll need to do that.
So this is our new primary vehicle. (to run errands with and commute). Our next car will
be an SUV, hydrogen fuel cell / EV and we’ll make our own bubbles of hydrogen with a few solar panels. We hope. If we do end up burning gas, we’d like to try that gas vapor system. The one you get 100mpg with. I’m sure we can go down to Pep Boys and get the parts by now, the patents were filed in the 1970’s, right? They should have those parts, wouldn’t you think? I do, but sadly, you can’t find that at Pep Boys.
The winds of change are blowing. Charging stations are going in all around Pittsburgh and probably around you too. It’s time to use this God Given energy from the sun, wind, water and earth and try our best to take care of this beautiful planet we call home.
EV’s are very cool !!!
So, driving 400 mi. without a drop of gas. We feel good. We see all these drivers with the gift of music in their dash boards like ours, but not many of them are enjoying it. Nobody seems very happy these days. Back in the 70s, 80s, people were happy to be cruising around, showing off there rides. Now days people are so stuck in there worries and daily grind that the joy of driving seems to be missing. It was for us, but not any more. Our lil egg car is rocking and life is good, well, there seems to be hope now anyway that we can do what needs to be done. Stop the rise of CO2.
Offshore drilling must stop immediately! Please write your representatives and tell them that. Write your REP.
Inevitable Disaster
Oil spills have already wiped out sea and marsh life at an alarming rate.
We are rapidly losing our ocean and most people dont realize what that means. There is a good video on our movies page called Ocean Acidification, why should you care? Please watch it to learn more. This is the one year projection which says more than i can…(not really, click the continue reading link and see): Continue reading »
Many countries have lowered their emissions of greenhouse gasses!
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change created a graph including many countries’ changes in emissions.
GHG Emissions
The biggest reductions were in Latvia -488%, Estonia -60%, Lithuania -59%, Ukraine -54%, Romania -52%, Belarus, Bulgaria, Russian Federation -40%, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Norway, Czech Republic -21%, Germany, Slovenia, UK, France, Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Denmark. Croatia also cut emissions by 4.1%!
Unfortunately, the U.S.A. has increased it’s emissions by 15.8% and still has not signed the Kyoto Protocol.
Data included in UNFCCC’s graph is from the period 1990 to 2007. Click on the graph to navigate to the UNFCCC’s web page. There are more graphs available. Also, each country who signed the Kyoto Protocol reports progress and information in each country’s language is provided.
Here is what I’ve found so far, not made in the USA but hopefully it will be soon. My wife and I are lighting our living room and kitchen with these powered by 3 car batteries found at the junk yard and a solar panel experiment. We intend to replace the panel with a whole new system soon. They will run all night. On a rainy day. The lights may start flashing on/off at about 4:00am if left on all night.
We’re adding another battery and more fixtures. 1.4 watt bulbs lighting our home.
Here is the official database of the prodigious incentives offered by U.S. federal and state governments for switching from dirty coal (conventional electricity) and natural gas (heating) to clean, sustainable power:
Did you know that coal mining companies are literally blowing the tops of mountains off coal seams? It’s cheaper and requires fewer workers than traditional mining. But the debri resulting from the explosions is shoved off into the valleys and streams below. I think the pollution caused by burning coal to produce electricity is bad enough without mountain top removal. It’s very sad and bewildering that blasting mountain tops and impounding vast pools of toxic coal slurry is allowed to occur. What do you think?
Click on the widget to learn more and/or take action.
Spring 2010 is approaching and there’s a lot of buzz around topics like the economy, taxation, global poverty, restoration in Haiti/Chile, and environmental awareness. With spring, Earth Day also draws nearer (April 22nd); as individuals, we must remember and realize the importance of global warming and all of its implications. Subsequent topics discussed as of late include space travel/burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and green building. As nations like Haiti and Chile prepare for rebuilding and new construction, there are many things to consider when advancing. Moving towards cleaner, greener infrastructure is vital in ensuring a successful restoration campaign.
“Made in the USA”, This statement of origin should mean something !!!!
Do you know of a company making this claim when in reality they are importing all or some of the materials or off-shoring manufacturing? Continue reading »
1.4 watt bulbs lighting our home.
