By Tom Saxton, Chief Science Officer, Plug In America With over 160,000 170,000 plug-in vehicles on the road in the US, an increasing number of drivers are depending on public charging to extend the useful range of their vehicles, both for extended trips in large metro areas and for even longer road trips. At the same time, there is… Read more »
Posts By: Tom Saxton
Plug In America research: Tesla Roadster battery longevity exceeds projections
By Tom Saxton, Chief Science Officer, Plug In America Many current and prospective electric vehicle owners are curious to better understand battery pack longevity. There’s plenty of technical data on how batteries lose capacity with use, but a lot of that testing subjects the batteries to extreme and rapid charge/discharge cycles, very unlike the much gentler use… Read more »
The economics of free public EV charging
In June, Cathy and I took our Tesla Roadster on an 11-day, 1,823-mile road trip. It was by far our longest trip in an electric car, and it worked well because the 240-mile range of the Roadster fit pretty well with our goal of a leisurely trip of about 200 miles of driving per day…. Read more »
The realities of EV charging
Getting the most out of an electric vehicle requires an understanding of the charging basics. Two of the most common issues people ask me about are where to charge and how long charging takes. Often, people are concerned that charging stations aren’t on every corner the way gas stations are. On a recent trip, my… Read more »
Meet the Saxtons: driving electric vehicles since 2008
In the late 1990s my wife, Cathy, decided she wanted her next car to be electric. It wasn’t until July of 2008 that she was able to find and buy one, a 2002 Toyota RAV4-EV, one of the few hundred saved from the crusher when California relieved the automakers from the short-lived requirement to produce… Read more »