Invited Talk for Royal Oak Neighbourhood Talks aka RON Talks November 2, 2016

1. Driving An Electric Car:
Why Didn’t I Do It Sooner?
Dr. Valerie Irvine @_valeriei
RON Talk on Nov. 2, 2016
Photo by Fabien Rochet // CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

2. Personal Profile
• Sold a Toyota Siena minivan in 2013
• Bought a used 2011 Nissan Leaf (first
gen)
• Family profile:
–One adult
–Two tweens
–Two small dogs

3. GARTNER’S HYPE CYCLE FOR EMERGING TECH

4. MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE ALONG THE HYPE
CYCLE
…IN IMAGES and GIFS

5. TECHNOLOGY TRIGGER

6. PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS

7. TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT

8. TROUGH OF DISILLUSIONMENT
… IN BED LATE AT NIGHT

9. SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

10. PLATEU OF PRODUCTIVITY
… MORE LIKE EMERGING RESENTMENT FOR
USING FOSSIL FUELS UNNECESSARILY

12. The Other 5% Of The Time: Over 3 Years
PROBLEM
Random call to pick up someone
from ferry
Forgot to plug in my car once
External plug shorted from rain
Travelled to Vancouver four times
Travelled to Up Island: Duncan
Level 3 charger was out of
commission
Travel to Parksville with 5 of us
and 2 dogs
WHAT HAPPENED
Not enough range. They took a cab
Don’t recall. Didn’t go out? Cab?
Don’t recall. Didn’t go out? Cab?
Took the car twice. Rented once.
Borrowed once. Needed space tho
We took a later ferry. BC Ferries let
us charge in their lot and on their
ferry. My fault for not checking
Added on 2 hours to the trip for
charging

13. Why This Talk?
• How do you like it?
–Love it!
• How far can you go?
–Depends…
• How long does it take to charge?
–Depends…

14. My Charging Patterns
• Did not install an in-home level 2
charging station (the 4-hour one)
• Use a high-gauge extension cord (for
safety) and charge mine on the street
(level 1 charging which is about 15
hours)
• Charge almost exclusively at home

15. Lessons Learned On Charging
• Some chargers require a card to access vs.
credit card, but can still be used if you call the
1-800 number and have an account
• Use of apps to locate them and if check-in
used, then able to determine if available
• Problem with districts like Oak Bay who make
access to chargers difficult (e.g., parking their
staff or district gas vehicles in there to block it)
• Access to charging stations is NOT a privilege

16. The Money Mindset
The car might be more expensive?
– Often rebates are available
– Gas & maintenance costs transferred to car
payments
– The car becomes disposable. With the amount I
spent on gas, I end up with a free car after 10 years.
It doesn’t matter if newer models come out making
mine obsolete (e.g., new Leaf has 27% more range)
– Or consider savings (approx. $2500/year) toward car
share membership to use a truck at times of need or
to rent a car or cab if needed in a pinch

17. My Driving Habits
• Went from “Swirvine Irvine” who was an
assertive accelerator to a smart accelerator
• Speeding reduced
• Gamification option: novelty
• I focus on the speed and “energy bar”
• Highway driving at speed limit
• Coasting to gain “range”

19. My costs over 3 years
• $7.50 for a light bulb
• $150 for a regularly scheduled check-in
(might be a money grab, but I have to do it to
preserve my bumper-to-bumper warranty)

20. My Storify on Driving an EV

21. Questions: virvine@gmail.com
@_valeriei
Also, check out:
http://victoriaevclub.ca/
where there are much more
knowledgeable and involved people