CKenergy EV Project

The past two days have revealed additional educational opportunities regarding EVs. With temperatures ranging from mid-10s to mid-20s, I've found out that a "tankful" of electric gas on a cold day ain't as potent as a "tankful" of electric gas on a warm day. In our effort to keep you informed of the good the bad and the ugly regarding EVs, today we're going to focus on a little of the ugly.  Let me preface this blog by saying thus; how you look at today's topic or what your personal needs are for your EV, will determine whether what I report is actually an issue for you or if it's just not a problem at all.  Yesterday, I had to make a run to Edmond, which on most days is a piece of cake; roughly 80 miles to my destination and then a few miles to other destinations and 70 miles back to plug in.  That's a little above an average driving day but close to what I have to count on each day. The drive was highway and Interstate from Binger

I haven't posted in almost two weeks, so for those expecting more updates, I apologize.  If I had experienced either good or bad occurrences with the CKenergy Electric Vehicle, I would have posted immediately, but it has been uneventful.  I didn't know what to expect going into to this, whether there would be a noticeable difference in this car compared to the ones I've driven for 40 years, or not.  Well, the answer is in...so far there is no difference. I was asked by a member the other day why we decided to purchase this vehicle; wasn't it counter productive to Oklahoma's oil and gas economy?  I replied to him that electricity for this car will still come largely from natural gas electricity generation.  But we also have a responsibility to members who want us to help them pursue ways to reduce their overall costs and/or improve their quality of life.  Based on what I know so far, electric vehicles eventually will reduce the cost of driving while eliminating em

As promised, we will be revealing everything we learn about the electric driving experience.  So far, my experience is, it is a really fun car to drive.  I'm definitely used to bigger vehicles. ( I really liked my Ford Taurus and the roominess and comfort level.  And my personal F-150 Regency Series is a major man ride.  Grrrrr.)  But the Chevy Bolt is quickly growing on me. I've been watching fuel usage closely over the past month and it has been fairly consistent at about 3.6 miles per kWh.  But Oklahoma's winter weather changed yesterday exposing something I'll have to watch very carefully.  I had a meeting in OKC on Dec.7th which meant I would be driving 53 miles north into a 25 mph icy cold head wind.  The morning low was about 17 degrees, so cabin heating was a necessity.  Remember, there's no engine heat to produce cabin heat which means the car interior was heated with electric heat using the battery, and it ain't a geothermal heat pump. To bring

Not Too Bad! Okay, I've got the first month's fuel numbers to show you and they were really very good.  We were a little skeptical at first, but as promised, electricity cost a little less than 1/3 of the gasoline costs for our former Strategic Planning car. First, I know I showed you the future look of our little car in a previous post, but we've since had the actual wrap put on the car.  It looks great! Check it out.   For the month of November, I drove a total of 2149 miles with a total consumption of 704 kWhs.  Using CKenergy's geothermal rate, my electric bill was $302.92.  Without the car's kWhs, my bill would have been $242.37.  Therefore, my electric cost for 2149 miles worth of fuel was $302.92 minus $242.37 or $60.55 .   My former car was a Ford Taurus which averaged 26.2 mpg.  If I had driven 2149 at 26.2 mpg and $2.39 per gallon of gasoline, I would have spent $196.03 for fuel. The difference for November was $135.48...SAVINGS!