Electrics at the Dragon - Day 5: Pittsburgh to Charleston

Day 5: Pittsburgh to Charleston

Stats and Map:

Intended mileage

254

Actual mileage

270

Cumulative mileage

789

Number of charge stops

4

Charging cost

$3.02

Charging energy (kWh)

8.6 paid and ~ 19 free

Route

The route took me back roads into West Virginia and mostly along the Ohio River to a friend's house for lunch in New Martinsville, and then on to another friend's house in Charleston, WV.  One of my Michigan friends calls this my "sponge tour" since I'm apparently sponging off a good chunk of my friends in the areas I'm riding through.  

First Stops

My first stop was at Racoon State Park which was really just a pit stop, but they happened to have a free Level 2 charger so I got about 10 miles of additional range while I stopped.  

The first intended real stop was at Oglebay Resort where there are destination chargers, both Tesla and J1772.  

Bike Down

It was a particularly blustery day and I parked my motorcycle on a slight sideways incline.  It's the "wrong" way for a kickstand so that the motorcycle is slightly more upright than it would be on level ground.  I thought that for the 15 minutes I was inside to use the loo and maybe use the loo, it would be fine.  

I was wrong.

It turns out that both my idea of coffee (the resort is going through a refurbishment) and that the wind couldn't push over my 500+ lb motorcycle with another 200 lbs of gear were incorrect.  I came back to the scene above with the bike on its side, helmet and a few other things cascaded down the hill, but the bike was still charging.  The first good sign.

Damage Report

The right brake lever end and the handlebar end cap were snapped off, there's cosmetic damage to the side cases (yay for side cases!) and a small chip on the front edge of the fairing, but otherwise the biggest bruise is to my ego.  

I picked up the bike by removing all the luggage to reduce weight and then using a tried and true method where you squat down, back up to the bike's seat, grab a frame member on one side and the handlebars on the other, and then lift with the strongest muscles in your body:  your legs.  

When the adrenaline stopped pumping and my heart rate came down, I was gratified that the bike started and charged fine, there was no front wheel or handlebar alignment issue and basically everything was ridable and the journey could continue

A Lovely Lunch

In another "sponge stop", my former colleague and friend Don and his wife Jan prepared a wonderful lunch for me at their place in New Martinsville.  We shot the breeze for a while while the bike charged on a 240V outlet in his wood shop. 

Parkersburg WV

The blustery day continued and it was payback for my tailwind from the previous day.  The flags and bushes along the way confirmed I had a pretty stiff headwind coming at me and it made itself known on my range.  I opted for charging at at Mercedes dealership in Parkersburg which, although being closed on a Sunday, had a ChargePoint unit that allowed me to maximize charging with 2 J1772 plugs.  I set up my folding chair since I was still too rattled to walk into town and caught up on my phone.  

Charleston, WV

A bit delayed by my tip over mishap, a longer than anticipated lunch, and a bit of extra charge time means I had just enough time to change out of my motorcycle gear at my former boss and friend Vinay's house before we met up with some former Bayer Institute Site retirees for dinner (Vinay paid for us all, so the sponge tour continues).

I was whipped after all that and slept like a baby.

The day's video goes into more detail.

Stop Soldier Suicide Fundraiser

As part of this ride, I'm participating in a Facebook Stop Soldier Suicide fundraiser.  If this issue is important to you, please chip in a few dollars to a worthy cause.  I will post my mileage updates on that page as well as this page.


See you on the road!

In This Series


Comments

Post a Comment

Feedback including suggestions or constructive criticism is welcome. Please note that abusive or offensive comments may be removed.

Popular posts from this blog

Plug In West Michigan Podcast - Episode 8 - EVs in Winter

Image
Part of  WKTV Journal  Grand Rapids, MI Community Programming Listen Here:  Plug-In West Michigan Podcast ... or find it on your favorite podcast feed like iTunes or  Spotify . Episode 8 - EVs in Winter Show Notes Introduction Host: Karl Bloss Blog:  www.muskegonevguy.com Instagram  @muskegonevguy West Michigan EV community:   www.facebook.com/groups/WestMichiganEV/ Guest: Ted Ooyevaar, EV owner, enthusiast and road warrior Theme song composed by  Tyler Burke Main Topic:  Electric Vehicle Considerations in Winter Weather What happens to cars when it gets cold? All cars lose efficiency and range in the winter.  Gas cars just burn more gas and need to warm up longer. Traction: I highly recommend winter tires no matter what car you have.  The traction is so much better than so-called “all-season” tires, which I call “no season” tires. First let’s talk about the positives: If you’re just traveling around home, you just plug in at home in the comfort of y
Read more

EV Charging on a TT-30 30-Amp RV Plug

Image
50-Amp vs. 30-Amp RV Receptacles Image  source: Karl Bloss Note: This is Tesla-heavy content related to the Universal Mobile Charger (UMC).  However, the discussion of adapters is relevant to other EVs.   In my recent  winter road trip , I visited a friend who informed he had "some kind of RV plug" behind his house from a previous RV owner. If you prefer a video overview with less detail, jump to this short YouTube video on the topic:  https://youtu.be/m0gfpz_h100 RV Plugs Explained When we hear about RV power plugs, it's usually just in reference to a "30-amp" and a "50-amp" plug.  Unfortunately, amps don't tell the whole story because what we are really after is power (Watts) rather than flow of electricity (amps).  If the technical details are too much for you, skip down to the Bottom Line  adapters section. Roughly speaking: Watts (power) = Volts (potential) x Amps (flow) Watts or Kilowatts (KW) are what give an indication of
Read more

Test Your 12V Battery with This Clever Bluetooth Monitor

Image
QUICKLYNKS 12V Bluetooth monitor (Amazon affiliate link) The recent  12V Battery Post and associated YouTube video elicited quite a bit of engagement, so thanks for the feedback!  The initial analysis indicated that the 12V battery on my Kia Niro EV was potentially marginal.  It turns out a single measurement with a multimeter isn't enough to get a true picture of the battery health. Fellow EV owner and builder Mike Walenga whom I met via the Kalamazoo EV Association recommended a 12V Bluetooth battery monitor which I thought might be helpful for readers of this blog as well.  See link below the picture on the left or in the text above. Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Prefer a video version of this?  See this Zero E-Michigan YouTube Video . Our friend's Prius' 12V battery was draining due to  a dome light left on. Data Snapshots Obviously checking the voltage on your 12V battery with a multimeter only gives you a single snapshot in time. 
Read more