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A list of available Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) tires for our EVs

Okay, I think I'm done. I guess I have to be, since I've already hit the "Place your order" button. It's about time, after countless hours online looking for the best deal on Low Rolling Resistance tires for our RAV4 EV.

One thing I knew for sure right off is that I won't be getting the original equipment Yokohama Geolander G91 POS tires that the car came with. Stay away from these. They were down near the wear bars last June, in less than 25K miles, which really ticked me off. What car company in their right mind sticks tires with a tread wear rating of 200 on a vehicle that's not even remotely targeted for weekend racers? And with such a presumably sticky compound, why did they still squeal like a pig (two pigs, actually, the front ones) when asked to take a corner with the slightest bit of throttle? And as crappy as they are, why did the dealer quote over $200/tire last summer?

Surprisingly, I managed to eke another 8K miles out of them (less driving in Sport mode), but they're well past the wear bars and it's been a wet winter by So Cal standards. Thus, I figured it's high time to chuck the Yokohamas and install fuel-efficient tires that might go twice as far, or at least have double the tread wear rating (400+).

Why LRR tires? Well, based on various reports/articles by Tire Rack, Alternative Fuels Data Center, Consumer Reports, and others, it seems to me that settling on non-LRR tires could reduce an EV's range by 3% or perhaps more. On a 100-mile EV, a few miles of range degradation is hard to ignore, particularly when home is a few miles away while unexpectedly running near empty. Besides, after quickly looking at all the 225/65R17 tires out there, it seems that tires marketed as LRR/fuel-efficient/green/energy-saving/etc don't cost more than ones that are not.

So what's out there? Unfortunately, you can't just Google "LRR tires" or something like that and immediately get a comprehensive, up-to-date list that you can work with. What you do get are links to a lot of great info on fuel-efficient  tires in general from sources such as Edmunds, HybridCars.com, and of course Tire Rack. There are a number of lists on various forum posts and on Tire Rack's write-up, mostly circa 2012-2014, but the data is old, not to mention incomplete or if recent, piecemeal.

After doing some digging and sifting, I found that the best list of available LRR tires is from TireRack.com... just shop for your tire size or vehicle, then click on the "Low Rolling Resistance" filter. For the RAV4 EV, there are 17 choices. For the Gen 1 Volt (215/55R17), there are also 17 choices, some of which are not the RAV4 EV list. For a LEAF S and Prius Plug-in base model, there are over 20 all-season choices and a handful of summer tires. I also checked Discount Tire Direct, which included LRR tires from Goodyear and Road Hugger.

A union of these choices gives us a pretty comprehensive list of what's out there. Note that most tire manufacturers have a cute designation for boasting products with low rolling resistance, which makes it easier for us to spot fuel-efficient options a crowded replacement tire market.

Low Rolling Resistance Tires, January 2017

Mfr	Model	Mfr LRR Tech Designation	Treadwear Rating	Treadlife Warranty	Speed Rating
Bridgestone	Dueler H/L 422 Ecopia	Ecopia	640	5yr/65000mi	H
Bridgestone	Ecopia EP20	Ecopia	380	None	S
Bridgestone	Ecopia EP422	Ecopia	540	5yr/65000mi	H, V
Bridgestone	Ecopia EP422 Plus	Ecopia	540	5yr/70000mi	S, T, H, V
Bridgestone	Potenza RE97 AS		480	5yr/55000mi	V
Bridgestone	Turzana EL400-02	Ecopia	300	None	H
Bridgestone	Turzana Serenity Plus		600	5yr/80000mi	H
Continental	ContiProContact w/ EcoPlus	EcoPlus	500	6yr/60000mi	H
Continental	PureContact w/ EcoPlus	EcoPlus	700	6yr/70000mi	H, V
Continental	CrossContact LX20 w/ EcoPlus	EcoPlus	740	6yr/70000mi	T
Continental	ControlContact Tour AS	EcoPlus	800	6yr/90000mi	T
Continental	TrueContact	EcoPlus	800	6yr/90000mi	T
Dunlop	Enasave 01 A/S		540	None	S
Dunlop	SP31 A/S		320	None	S
Firestone	Affinity Touring	Fuel Fighter	500	5yr/50000mi	H
Firestone	Champion Fuel Fighter	Fuel Fighter	600	5yr/70000mi	T, H
Firestone	FR710		560	5yr/65000mi	S
Goodyear	Assurance Fuel Max	Fuel Max	580	6yr/65000mi	H
Goodyear	Integrity		460	6yr/50000mi	S
Hankook	Optimo H426	Environment	440	5yr/60000mi	T, H
Kumho	Optimo H725A		340	5yr/50000mi	H
Kumho	Solus KH25	eco	480	None	H
Kumho	Solus KL21	eco	500	6yr/60000mi	H
Michelin	Energy Saver A/S	Green X	480	6yr/65000mi	T, H
Michelin	Defender	Green X	820	6yr/90000mi	T, H
Michelin	Defender LTX M/S	Total Performance	720	6yr/70000mi	H
Michelin	Latitude Tour	Green X	720	6yr/65000mi	T
Michelin	Premier A/S	Total Performance	640	6yr/60000mi	H
Michelin	Primacy MXM4	Green X	500	6yr/55000mi	H
Michelin	Primacy MXV4	Green X	620	6yr/60000mi	H
Nexen	Classe Premiere CP671H		400	None	T, H
Nexen	N Blue EV		400	6yr/None	H
Road Hugger	GT Eco		440	Unl/60000mi	V
Pirelli	Cinturato P7 AS Run Flat	EcoImpact	500	None	V
Pirelli	Cinturato P7 AS Plus	EcoImpact	700	Unl/70000mi	H, V
Pirelli	Scorpion Verde AS Plus	EcoImpact	740	Unl/65000mi	H
Yokohama	Avid Ascend	BluEarth	740	5yr/75000mi	T, H, V
Yokohama	Avid S33D		320	None	S
Yokohama	Geolander G055	BluEarth	740	5yr/60000mi	H
Yokohama	Geolander G91AV	BluEarth	200	None	H

NOTE: For tires available in more than one speed rating, treadwear and warranty info is for H-rated tire

 

If you are among the 78% of consumers that buy your tires from the first person that says you need them, i.e. from your car dealership after performing periodic maintenance, or perhaps from the local tire shop that offers free rotations or a quick flat repair, I suggest you verify that they are recommending a tire that won't degrade your electric vehicle's range. Perhaps show them this list (or better yet, show them Tire Rack's LRR selections for your EV so they can try to match the price) and see what they are willing to do.

As for me, I'm not part of that 78% majority. I'm obsessive-compulsive when it comes to buying stuff if it costs over, say, about four bucks. So I did the research on RAV4 EV tire replacement by poring over recommendations posted on various EV forums and reading reviews on Tire Rack. Here's how it laid out:

Initially I was set on Bridgestone Ecopias, thanks to RAV4 EV forum posts, recent reviews and posts elsewhere, and a $70 coupon at Costco. Unfortunately I forgot that coupon expired on Christmas day, so when I finally took the time to order the tires on 12/27, Ecopias were no longer a great deal at under $500 installed. Costco switched to offering $70 off on Michelins instead, so I started looking at Michelins and other brands.

I considered the Firestones since Tire Rack had them for well under $100 each. I figured they should be okay since they're the same company as Bridgestone. But after adding a $77 charge to ship four tires from Tire Rack's Nevada warehouse to California, the out-the-door price for the Firestones was $40 higher than Costco's deal on Michelins.

I wasn't considering the Kumho until it popped up for a killer price at Wal-Mart. I think they're OEM on Hyundai crossovers and on Durangos, so how bad could they possibly be? Well, after reading recent reviews, I was turned off, despite the $100 out-the-door price advantage.

Based on the table above, I was ready to order the Michelin Latitude Tour tires from Costco.  But then just for kicks I decided to see if the tires are sold on Amazon. Well, they are. Used ones too, in fact, in various states of wear. There are a couple of  highly rated vendors back East that seem to sell a lot of used tires on Amazon and eBay, and one of them had three Latitude Tour tires with 7/32"-8/32" of tread left, one with 8/32"-9/32"left. New ones start with a 10/32" tread depth, and tires are considered worn at 2/32". So these used tires should have about 63% to 75% of tread life left. A new Latitude Tour comes with a 65000 mile warranty, which implies that these used ones should be good for at least 40000 miles. Price is about $189 for all four, and shipping is free. A local tire shop will install four tires on rims with TPMS for $63, so my out-the-door cost should be about $252, which is less than half the Costco deal for new Michelins.

Normally I'd opt for the new tires, but the lease on the RAV4 EV is up in February and I'm no longer planning on buying it at termination... my wife is really pushing for the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid plug-in due out in spring, so the new plan is to extend the RAV4 lease month-to-month until I can swing a decent lease deal on the minivan. At most I will put 9000 more miles on the RAV4,  the used Michelins will have plenty of life left after I'm done with them.

Amazon says I should expect them here in about a week. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm Bringing Booty Back!

Yup, it's been just about two years, so we're ripe for a sequel.

myfocuslectric.com member tinilk and his father make a Home Depot run in their FFEs

Way back in the fall of 2013, I went on a senseless rant called "Trunk Wars", retaliating against the repeated implications made by self-proclaimed experts that battery intrusion reduced the trunk of the ICE-based Focus Electric to miniscule, useless proportions. However, armed with facts and data from manufacturer web sites, it was easy to show that the Focus Electric actually had the second-largest trunk of all the affordable pure electric 4-door cars on the market at the time.  And at 14.5 cu ft of available space back there, its trunk was actually larger than a number of compact-class ICE sedans. 

Well, that was then, this is now. A lot has changed in two years.  Today, in 2015, there are almost twice as many affordable 4-door pure electric cars on the market compared to 2013, and as expected, most of the new kids on the block have bigger boots. In fact, three of the four new models provide much more cargo space behind the rear seats than the Focus Electric, which is now ranked fifth in the current field of eight. Moreover, these three newcomers provide a flat floor, rendering battery intrusion, if any, invisible to the naked eye. So for those of you obsessed with having a voluminous rear on an EV that won't cost you an arm and a leg, you now have more than just the LEAF to look at. Take a peek behind the e-Golf, Soul EV and B-Class ED.

Need even more space for your stuff? Gonna have to give up that arm and leg for a Model S. If you're willing and able do that, might as well throw in a left nut for that P85D so you can really haul ass.

Willing to consider pre-owned? How about a used 2012-2014 RAV4 EV? At 38.2 cu ft behind the rear seats, none of the 2015 offerings come close to the capacity and versatility of this cute-ute's cargo space.

Interestingly, what hasn't changed in the past two years is the cargo space provided in 4-door ICE sedans that are potential competition to today's affordable BEVs. In that respect, the Focus Electric's cargo capacity is still on par with popular cars such as the Civic, Corolla, Mercedes CLA, and BMW 3-series, all with about 13 cu ft of trunk space.

 
 Here's a table compiled from data that's readily available online that includes PHEVs, BEVs, 2-doors, 4-doors, sedans, CUVs, not-so-affordable models, and discontinued models. After two years, the LEAF is still king of the affordable plug-ins, followed closely by the e-Golf, PiP, and B-Class ED.

However, with rear seats down, the e-Golf trumps its competition with a whopping maximum of 52.7 cu ft, then the B-Class ED nearly matches it at 51.4 cu ft.  Mitsubishi's i-MiEV and Kia's Soul EV round out the top, both with about 50 cu ft back there.

Now here's a curiosity... am I seeing things, or are there now a couple of BEV "conversions" on the market that match the cargo capacity of  a BEV built on a dedicated platform?  Looks to me like the space behind the rear seats of the e-Golf and B-Class ED are within 10% of the LEAF. Even more surprisingly, particularly to those who still preach superiority of dedicated BEV platforms over shared platforms, is that the max cargo space of the LEAF is over 20 cu ft smaller than the e-Golf and B-Class ED.

So now I'm wondering... what again is the advantage of a dedicated BEV platform?  It just doesn't seem like it's "All About That Bass" anymore...

New SCE Time-of-Use Rate Structure

Heads-up, Southern California Edison Customers!  In case you haven't noticed yet, our rates have changed as of the beginning of the year, and for those of us that are on the time-of-use EV rate plan (TOU-D-TEV), that plan is being pulled, to be replaced by three new plans. These new plans are available to all customers, not just those of us with EVs. Information on these plans can be found on SCE's website. Scroll down a bit until you see the heading "Other Available Rate Plans". Click on "View pricing for these TOU rates" to see the rate tables.

In case you don't feel like poking at the SCE website right now, below is a table that illustrates how these new plans stack up against the old one. Cells highlighted in green, yellow, or red are meant to depict, in my opinion, whether an attribute of a new plan is equal or better (green), slightly worse (yellow) or much worse (red) than the TOU-D-TEV plan that is phasing out.
 

Key differences between the new and the old are:

• Peak periods have been shortened and have been shifted to start later in the day
• Super-off-peak periods have been extended on Plan A and Plan B
• A monthly fee has been imposed for all TOU plans 

If you are on the old TOU-D-TEV plan and haven't figured out which plan you're being switched to, I strongly suggest you call SCE and find out ASAP since you'll be switched automatically on the March 2015 billing cycle. I made the call a few weeks ago when SCE first posted the plans online, and was told that I'd be switched to TOU-D-A. Which confused me, since our household consumes well over 700kWh of energy every month. Our consumption ranges from 1100 kWh/month during spring and fall, to almost 1800 kWh/month when daytime temps reach over 100F in the summertime.

After finding the new TOU rates on the SCE website and doing some really rough comparisons in my head, I called SCE again and asked them to switch me to TOU-D-B. The rep that I talked to offered to have one of her cohorts do an analysis first, but I insisted that I am well aware of their rate plans and my usage patterns, and have determined that Plan B was my best option. So she happily made the switch for me and said that if Plan B doesn't work out, just give them a call and they'll switch me back to Plan A.

After a few days, I started second-guessing my choice since I didn't do a detailed analysis. Truth is, I didn't even do a back-of-the envelope calculation. All I really did was a comparison of key attributes. So I started putting together a spreadsheet to compare the three new TOU plans with the outgoing TOU-D-TEV plan. I downloaded a week's worth of recent hourly usage data, the last week of January. Here's how it panned out (click on image to enlarge):

As expected, TOU-D is undoubtedly the wrong plan for me since it would increase my monthly bill by about $40 in the wintertime. But between Plan A and Plan B, the difference of about a buck or two a week is pretty much in the noise of this rough estimate. So I picked a week's worth of hourly data from last August to compare the summer rates. Here's how that looks (again, click on image to enlarge):

Based on the summer rate analysis, TOU-D-B is definitely the plan for us since it will probably cost about $40 per month less than TOU-D-A when it gets hot around here. I guess I got lucky this time; a decision made in relative haste turned out to be the right one (whew!).

So... if you are a SCE customer, it's probably in your best interest to find out as soon as possible which rate plan you've been switched to. If it's wrong for your situation, there's still time to change it before it takes effect at the beginning of the next billing cycle.

One Week on ICE

Unlike spring break, there were no excuses this time. No doctor appointments, no baseball practice, and the plant was shut down for the holidays. Come hell or high water, we were driving 500 miles to Flagstaff, Arizona to visit my wife's son and his family. It's their first winter since moving there, so we needed to make sure they're staying warm. Thaw them out if need be.

So, what to drive...  a thousand miles round-trip, two adults, two big kids, two duffle bags for me and the boys, one humungous suitcase for the wife, and a cardboard box filled with presents for the grandkids. Well, with a fleet made up of two short-range BEVs, a PHEV with only 10 cu ft of cargo space, and a thirsty V-8 pickup, the choice was obvious, at least to me: rent. The leading candidate was a Prius V, which on paper has about as much cargo capacity as our RAV4 EV. Unfortunately, the local Toyota dealer was no longer renting one out. So I jumped online and reserved an "Intermediate SUV" with Enterprise.  A RAV4 or similar, as described and depicted it on their web site. That surprised me, since I've always thought of the RAV4 as a "Compact SUV", aka cute-ute. Perhaps the latest evolution of the RAV4 is even bigger than the last, catapulting into a larger class of SUV.

I've always liked Toyota's RAV4, from its original mid-nineties incarnation to its current iteration. Never did get a first-generation RAV4, the breakthrough cute-ute that created the market segment. As a childless couple we simply had no need for a SUV or otherwise wagon-like vehicle. We did get a second-generation RAV4 when my wife was pregnant, in anticipation of our growing family, but we had to ditch it after the twins were born. After several months it was clear that with two babies we needed something much bigger, at least through the infant years, when carting around twin strollers and portable playpens everywhere we went seemed to be a necessity. So we traded it for a proper mothership (aka minivan). Fast forward eleven years to the present, we now have a fully electric version of the Gen 3 RAV4, which has evolved from the previous generation in size as well as from a drivetrain and refinement perspective.

I called the local Enterprise office the day before to ask them to pick me up as soon as they open in the morning, but they said to call back the next day since the pickup service can only be requested on the day of the rental. So I did, and an hour and a half later their driver finally swung by in a new Ram 1500 Hemi to pick me up (nice truck!). The delay foiled my plan to get to Flagstaff before sundown, but at least I got a ride in a truck I had my eye on for a few months... without a reasonably priced PHEV pickup entering the market in the near future, the 25mpg Ram 1500 Quad Cab diesel is currently the leading candidate for eventually replacing my aging '07 Ram 1500 Hemi.

As we pulled into the Enterprise facility, I crossed my fingers and hoped for a RAV4.  So when I spotted a blue fourth-generation RAV4 on the lot, I simply had to have it. How can I make it mine? One thought was that maybe if I bitched incessantly about how long it took them to send a car out to pick me up (well over an hour) and how long I've been standing in line (20 minutes, at least), they'd feel obliged to assign me the car of my choice. But that's not me. In the end, when I finally reached the counter, I chose the high road.

"You doing alright? Pretty busy in  here today," I sympathized. It was only 10am or so, but I swear the guy already had a 5 o'clock shadow and seemed a bit stressed.

"Yeah, looks like a lot of folks reserved last night. We're sold out now," he said, typing frantically at his terminal as I pulled out my driver's license and credit card.

"Wow, glad I reserved with you guys weeks ago. So is that my RAV4 out there?" I asked, facing the window for a moment.. He quickly glanced out at the lot, then turned his focus back to the terminal.

"Probably," he responded. "Let me look at something," he added, cracking a smile.

In a few minutes we were strolling toward the metallic blue RAV4. During the ding and scratch inspection, I spotted an AWD badge on the rear door. "Oh cool, that'll be handy in Flagstaff," I muttered. He heard me, and asked why I was renting. I told him we have three EVs and a guzzling V-8 truck, neither of which were ideal for the trip. He asked if I had a 500e and if I was using my free rental days. I said no, but that I thought that providing the rental program is a brilliant move by Fiat. After declining to take their additional insurance coverage or their gas at $2.50 a gallon, we chatted briefly about EVs (he was curious about the RAV4 EV and Volt), then bade each other farewell, and I started my week on ICE.

After a whole year of driving EVs almost exclusively, save for occasional in-town trips with the pickup, it's become a bit unsatisfying to drive a car powered exclusively by a 4-cylinder internal combustion engine. Fully laden with four humans and cargo to the ceiling, the ICE RAV4 protested with incredible rasp when asked to accelerate to freeway speeds, then aimlessly hunted for the right gear (it had six to choose from) when maintaining 75mph on a long uphill grade. In stark contrast, our RAV4 EV moves with extreme urgency in utter silence when beckoned, no matter how heavy the load is. And it never hunts for the right gear because, well, there is only one. Fifteen minutes into a seven-hour drive and I was already experiencing separation anxiety from our beloved collection of electrics.

My wife was disgusted. "This is the new RAV4? It seems so cheap. I like mine much more," she said. I was ready to argue at first, because I thought that the fit and finish of our rental was comparable to, if not better than her RAV4 EV. But I grunted in agreement instead, and figured she was turned off by the low-tech analog instrumentation and influenced unknowingly by the intrusive egg-beater sound of the 4-cylinder and aggravated by the transmission's seemingly nonstop, jerky gear-hunting. The silence of the electric drivetrain she has grown accustomed to goes a long way in boosting the perceived quality of the vehicle it's powering.

My frustration with the ICE drivetrain escalated as our altitude increased; it became harder and harder to keep up with the 90mph traffic as we traveled east on I-40. I had forgotten how much an ICE is affected by thin air. Not a problem with an electric, not even in the Volt, in my experience. My disappointment in Toyota's decision to exit the BEV market at this time amplified every time I floored the throttle.

After a couple of days in Flagstaff, I got over it and started liking the car. The current RAV4, especially in AWD form, is a nice package. It's great for hauling four people comfortably in inclement weather, gets an honest 28mpg on the highway, and it fits a lot of stuff in the way-back, even more than our third-gen RAV4 EV, which holds more than the first-gen Highlander Hybrid we once had, and is nearly as spacious back there as the current-generation Honda Pilot it replaced. As a bonus, thanks to AWD, the RAV4 rental was a blast when doing donuts and figure-eights on an icy parking lot. Just shut off the traction control, punch the Sport Mode button, and have at it.

By the time we were headed home from the five-day trek, I was hooked, and wished I could find a reason to keep one of these things. But we would only need to use it on family trips that are beyond the RAV4 EV's reach, which is at most several times a year. So to console myself I kept it for two more days; ended up driving around town a bit and took the boys up to the mountains to play in fresh snow on New Year's day.

In the end, the one-week rental totaled $258 including tax and fees. With side trips that included the Grand Canyon south rim and the meteor crater near Winslow, we traveled 1400 miles in 7 days, averaged 26mpg (most of the trip involved keeping up with traffic at 80+ mph), and spent $140 on gas. If we took the truck instead of renting the RAV4, the gas bill would be double that, so the weekly rental was at a net cost of $120, which in my mind was well worth it. A small price to pay to drive the heck out of someone else's car.

This got me thinking... is it possible to make the trek in a Tesla Model X? Doing a quick search on the Tesla forum and plugshare indicates that it is possible in an 85kWh Model S, but only by way of Vegas, or by impeding traffic for a good stretch of I-40 since the only supercharger between Barstow and Flagstaff is in Kingman. That would add at least a couple of hours of travel time to a drive that is already more than long enough to start with. So for me, ditching the Volt and the Focus Electric in favor of a Model X is not in the cards. Trading the Volt for a 2016 Volvo XC90 PHEV? Now that's plausible. We'll see... for now, we'll just keep calling Enterprise whenever we visit our family in Arizona.

Return to the Magic Kingdom

Oh, well. I guess like anything else that's done on a grand scale, it's just not the same the second time around. Back in April when we first charged up at Disneyland, The sight of ten dual-port Chargepoint EVSEs serving one long row of  EV-dedicated parking spaces was truly glorious. Now, seven months later, as I approached that hallowed ground in the Mickey and Friends parking garage, the wonder and amazement just wasn't there. Perhaps after seeing it once, such creations become reduced from a surreal dream-come-true experience down to mere expectations. And with so many EV parking spots available, my expectation was to pull in, swipe in, plug in, lock up, and then head toward The Magic Kingdom. Just like last time.

No such luck. As we approached, it was painfully clear that we arrived a few minutes too late. The last EV spot was just taken by the driver of a Fusion Energi that had just finished plugging in. Of the twenty or so spots, about a third were occupied by Volts. My older son was in awe...  our Volt is his favorite ride of the family fleet, so seeing seven in a row in the wild pretty much made his eyes pop out of his head. There were about the same amount of Prius plug-ins, a couple of LEAFs, a couple of Teslas, and a couple of Energis. All the plug-ins were plugged in, except for one - a white Model S. That Model S blocked one of the two spots that was within reach of an unused EVSE port. The other spot, which was all the way at the end of the row next to the motorcycle parking, was ICEd by a Toyota Camry.

I was a bit miffed, to say the least. There should have been two more spots left, but I was denied by an ICE that couldn't charge and a Tesla that didn't need a charge. I'm not sure which ticked me off more.

Improvised! Thankfully, Guest Services was okay with this.

I figured it was time to improvise. So I created an EV spot using three of the fifteen or so open motorcycle parking spaces, backing the RAV's charge port as close as possible to the unused EVSE without invading the Camry's personal space, ignoring my wife's egging on to inch right up to its front bumper. After swiping in, plugging in, and locking up, we were ready to go. But my wife was worried.

"What if you get a ticket?", she asked.

Confusing signage may have been a factor.

"By whom? Goofy? Pluto? Dumbo?", I responded.

"The police," she said, sternly.

"This is private property, and I don't see a posted sign giving them jurisdiction," I said, as if I really knew what the heck I was talking about. I actually didn't.

"What if they tow us?", she prodded.

"Oh, you mean with Mater?"

There was a long pause, a sigh, and a cold stare. So I backed off.

"Okay, I'll write a note to Disney Security, put it on our windshield, take some pictures, and then show the pictures to the good folks at Guest Services.We have to go there anyway. If they want me to move the car, I'll come back and move it while you and the boys enjoy the park. By then we'll have over an hour's worth of charge, which will top us off enough to get home as long we obey the speed limit and don't make any detours."

She was good with that, so we headed for the trams. Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed two familiar headlight patterns rolling past the row of plug-ins - one was a Model S, the other was the distinctive Angry Birds expression of a Focus Electric. As the Blue Candy Focus Electric passed us, I tapped on the window and told the driver that we have the improperly parked RAV4 EV back there, and that we can text her in about four hours when we're fully charged. She smiled and thanked us, then said she has just enough to get home, holding her thumb and index about an inch apart. "Good to hear," I said. She thanked us again as she pulled away.

The Guest Services representative was very understanding. She said she will radio the parking folks to make sure they are aware of our situation. I offered to give her our cell phone numbers in case she  needs to ask us to move our car, but she said not to worry and to just enjoy our time at the park. So we did.

Turns out the park was pretty packed, which partially explains the high demand for EVSEs. According to the Mousewait app, the crowd index was at 91/100...  almost full, on the Monday before Thanksgiving. In contrast, the crowd index was only 51 during our Spring Break visit last April; back then the EV spots were less than half-full. Despite the huge crowd, everyone had a good time. My wife got to see the Christmas parade at night and enjoy the Holiday decor. My older son met Captain America, flew in a Mark 42 Ironman suit, and mixed it up with pod racers after being chased by Imperial Forces because Darth Vader identified his brother as a Rebel Spy. My younger son (younger by two minutes, they're twins) got his fill of sensory overload on Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. And at the end of the day, we were swept into a different time and place while strolling down Main Street on our way out. The street gently darkened, leaving only Christmas lights and the castle illuminated. Snow started falling, dancing in the breeze above the buildings before fluttering down onto the heads and faces of smiling parents and delighted children. In the same fashion that we were immersed, the glimpse into the past was swiftly and softly lifted, returning Main Street to its bright, bustling normalcy. Disney magic at its best.

Back at the Mickey and Friends parking structure, every EV space was still occupied at 8pm, albeit with noticeable turnover. And from what I could tell, there were at least a half dozen plug-ins of various marques scattered amongst the non-charging spots that are shared between EVs and those with disability parking permits. Our RAV4 EV was still there, butted up against the nose of the Camry that denied us a proper space seven hours earlier. As I unplugged, my wife eyeballed that Camry and said I should write a note.

"I'm tired. Not worth the effort. And besides, I think it's your turn to write a note," I said, pointing to my message to Security on the RAV4's windshield. She took my note, ripped it in two, scribbled on the blank half, then stuck it under one of the Camry's wiper blades.

"So... what did you say?" I asked, curiously.

"THIS IS AN EV PARKING SPACE. DO NOT PARK HERE."

"Ah, good one," I said. "Short and sweet."

Just then, off in the distance, a young woman evidently watching us smiled and yelled, "Good for you!". She was unplugging a very cute sky blue 500e, and said she had to come back to the parking structure in the late afternoon to plug in when one of the spots opened up. She said she was glad to see that we figured out a way to work around that ICEd spot.

 Although the journey ended well, I do have a few lessons learned for next time, which could perhaps serve as guidance to those that haven't been there yet with their EV:

• Think twice before heading to Disneyland in a BEV when the Mousewait app says the park is nearly full. Chances are that demand for the EVSE spots will exceed capacity.
• If you still have to go, try to get there much earlier than 1pm, otherwise all the EVSE spots will  probably be taken. However, there should still be plenty of space to park in a non-EVSE spot.
• Don't completely trust the Chargepoint app when it comes to EVSE availability. There may be spots that are ICEd or occupied by plug-ins that aren't plugged in.
• Plan a break from the action in the park, if possible, to unplug and move to a non-charging spot after you're charged up. Even in the late afternoon, there may be wonderful folks like the driver of that 500e, monitoring their Chargepoint app, hoping for an open spot so that they can juice up to get home. 
• With a BEV, always have a Plan B.  

Yup, good ol' Plan B. Plan B on this trip was to crawl home in the slow lane in the unlikely event that we couldn't charge up at all. Or in my case, if I forgot to tell the RAV4 to override delayed charge settings, so it would charge immediately when plugged in at Mickey and Friends. So the ride home took a bit longer than planned, but we did get home without stopping. More on that later....

Choosing a Rate Plan

Okay, so the good news is that when it comes to energy costs, driving an EV is way cheaper than driving an ICE. In my case, replacing three ICE vehicles with two BEVs and a PHEV is saving me about $400 every month in gas. The bad news is that charging up isn't free... yet. Most of my charging is done at home, and I have yet to go solar, so for now Southern California Edison is reaping the benefits of my vehicle choices.

Fortunately, SCE offers a few choices as far as rate plans... stay with the current residential rates, go with a time-of-use plan, or dig deep into my pockets ($2000 or so) to install a separate meter for the EVs and enjoy the lowest rate possible on my charging sessions at any time of day. After bringing home my first EV almost two years ago, a Focus Electric, I did a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation and tried out SCE's EV rate assistant tool, then switched to the time-of-use rate plan, figuring I'd never have a reason to charge during peak rate hours.

Twenty-two months and two additional EVs later, the TOU plan still seems to be the most cost-effective plan for me. To this day, I've never had to plug in between 10am and 6pm on a weekday, and most charging is done during the super-off-peak hours of 12am-6am. Based on my November bill for 1238kWh used in October, the TOU plan saved me over $80 when compared to residential rate plan.

I'd save even more if I could do all of my charging at the super-off-peak rate, which would be entirely possible if I had just one L2 EVSE. Right now I'm running with two L1 EVSEs on any given evening. Swapping out one of those L1 units with an L2 would enable me to fully charge the FFE or the Volt in less than 6 hours, after using 10kWh to 12kWh of energy on the homeward bound leg of my daily commute.

Typical daily electricity consumption

On a typical weekday, our electricity consumption look like this... about 3.5kW to 5 kW every hour during super-off-peak times, and less than 0.5 kW per hour on average during prime time. The off-peak usage at the 6am-7am and 11pm-12pm hours are higher due to charging of one of the commuter cars; the RAV4 EV is typically charging 12am-6am since it's typically only used close to home during the week.

Heaviest daily electricity consumption (once per week)

Our heaviest daily consumption occurs when the RAV4 EV is needed to run errands out of the Valley or clear across town; on those days our consumption during off-peak is much higher since I have to start charging it at about 9pm instead of midnight to replenish as much of the charge as possible and as cheaply as possible before the weekend starts, which is when we usually go on longer treks with the RAV4.

Hopefully in the next month or two I'll finally have a L2 EVSE. I've signed up for the submetering pilot program that comes with a free Juicebox. When that happens, all of my charging should happen between 12am and 6am.

If you're staring at the graphs and checking my math, you're probably wondering... if I'm only running two L1 EVSEs, why is the consumption peaking at well over 4kW at night? Well, the extra 1 to 2 kW is from running a pool pump. Since we're on a time-of-use plan, I've reprogrammed the pool pump to run between 12am and 6am only. We've also moved other activity to late night, such as running the dishwasher.

So... is time-of-use right for you? Well, if your on-peak usage is already minimal, or if you can move a good chunk of your current on-peak consumption to the off-peak times, and you have no need to charge up during on-peak hours, then yes, the TOU plan is probably your best bet. Check out your daily usage profile online, and if it bathtubs like mine does on the weekdays, I'd say go for it.

The Keeper

Each could not be more different from the other, with its own unique personality, behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, delights, and unfortunately, complete frustrations. It's not a surprise that folks sometimes ask... if I had to choose, which one would I keep? Which one is my favorite?

No, I'm not talking about offspring. However, now that I'm thinking of it, the boys are getting to an age where sometimes, if only for a split second, there just might be a clear choice between one or the other. Sarcasm, testing the limits, pleading ignorance, and other undesirable behaviors in general are surfacing all at once. Product of bad parenting? Perhaps. "Do as I say, not as I do," I demand of them repeatedly. Shouldn't that be enough?

Thankfully, that's not the hypothetical situation folks are really curious about. More often than not, when someone asks me which one I'd choose, they're interested in hearing a comparison between what's parked in our driveway -

 a Focus Electric, a Volt, and a RAV4 EV. A tough question, one that I've avoided answering here until now, because I love them all. The RAV4 EV and Volt were just added to the fleet, I reasoned, and wanted to have a chance to really live with the two for a while to make sure I don't render a decision borne out of haste or favoritism. It's been seven months since, so I figured it's about time.

That being said, my favorite is, and always has been, the Focus Electric. Of the three, I find that it offers the most enjoyable overall driving experience. It has the best handling characteristics, with qualities that instill confidence when tossing it around a bit. By the seat of my pants, it seems to have the quickest steering response, best roadholding ability, firmest suspension, and most predictable reactions to braking and throttle inputs when at or near the limit of adhesion in tight corners as well as sweeping turns. It's got some spunk from 20mph all the way up to its 85mph speed limiter. Nowhere near the acceleration of  the RAV4 EV, but in that range it seems to have much more than the Volt, which peters out disappointingly at about 40-50mph. The FFE has more than enough instantaneous oomph to catch territorial drivers of garden variety BMWs and Audis off-guard, so lane changes and passing are a breeze on Southern California freeways. Its only Achilles' heel, which is a crippling one at times, is its embarrassing 85mph cutoff.

The FFE also has the best cabin, as far as fit, finish, quality of materials, quietness, and driver comfort. In my book, it's tied with the Volt. Both the Volt and the FFE are at a level above the RAV4 EV, which suffers from cheap-feeling, easily stained seat materials, inadequate sound insulation, a low driving position with no adjustment for seat height, and awkwardly placed HVAC controls and displays that require the driver's line of sight to focus just left of the front passenger's knees while driving.

Speaking of controls and displays, the FFE's are by far the best of the three. I'll get into this in another article, but to summarize, it has the most comprehensive, intuitive center display that requires the least amount of user input to get to a particular function or readout. it also has an optimum balance of on-screen controls and hardwired buttons/knobs, and has the most customizable, least cluttered instrumentation display behind the steering wheel. The Volt suffers most from its frustrating center display; for almost any function or display you want, it will take at least one more stroke to get there on a Volt than it would using the FFE's MyFordTouch (MFT). Also, the Volt's

Chevy Volt Center Display

display doesn't even acknowledge that it's a wonderful plug-in, not just another hybrid; it needlessly emphasizes gasoline efficiency rather than electrical efficiency. There is so much space on its energy information display wasted by a big, useless green ball and MPG in huge font that there is no room to display data that an EV driver really cares about and can actually use to adjust driving behavior, such as Wh/mi or mi/kWh information. Current, trip average, and cumulative average of electrical efficiency and consumption are all essential info for an EV driver, but for the most part sorely missing in the current Volt. Hopefully the Gen 2 Volt addresses this deficiency.

As for the RAV4 EV's instrumentation - for me, it's a love/hate relationship, mostly hate. Overly complicated, center display screen resolution that rivals Pong and Minecraft, and way too many strokes to do almost anything related to the sound system. It's a freaking mess. Again, I will get into details of controls and displays for these EVs in a future article.

RAV4 Sport (ICE)

Finally, out of the three, I prefer the exterior features of the Focus Electric. Volt comes in  a very close second. That being said, the RAV4 body, although dated, looks pretty good for a Cute Ute when in EV trim. If it donned the fender flares and rims from the Sport model, it'd be quite the looker.

So in a nutshell, that's why the Focus Electric is my favorite of the three, primarily because it offers the best overall driving experience. But what if I had to whittle the fleet down to just one? Which one is the keeper? Perhaps unexpectedly, that would have to be the  RAV4 EV. By a longshot. Why? Well, despite its shortcomings, it excels at what is important in a scenario where I could only have one vehicle. In particular, it has the most cargo capacity, most passenger space, and highest electric range. With over 36 cu ft of space behind the rear seats, seats that are much more roomy than the Focus Electric or Volt, and a range of 100 miles on standard charge (and up to 140 miles on extended charge, in my experience), it's a no-brainer for me that the RAV4 EV is the one to keep if I could only have one.

In fact, it's the one I will buy upon lease termination, for a couple of  reasons. For one, its residual is virtually identical to the other two in the fleet, which is in the $20K-$21K range. From that perspective, it's a relative bargain. But the more compelling reason for me is that unlike the Volt and FFE, the RAV4 EV won't be available any more, in current nor improved form, after my lease is up in 2017. So I won't be able to trade it for a new one. The last 600 or so RAV4 EVs will be built and delivered to customers well before then, and no other manufacturer is planning to come to market with a similarly-sized and priced CUV/BEV in the next couple of years. Which is a shame, because the CUV segment could very well be the market that propels BEV acceptance beyond a niche level. Time will tell.

Eyeballing it

Are you one of those gifted types that can freehand a long, level, straight line with one smooth effortless stroke of a paintbrush? Not me. Far from it. In fact, I need all the help I can get to keep things straight around here. So when it came to adorning each of our EVs with California HOV stickers, I had to resort to tricks that I learned through net wisdom and from a couple of friends that are graphic artists.

Here's how the stickers arrive in the mail. One long strip. They also came with the some official paperwork to stuff in the glove box in case you are pulled over and need to prove that those stickers are assigned to your car. Installation instructions are also provided, but they only tell you where the big ones go and where the little ones go, sort of. No tips on how to stick them on straight.

If you're one of those gifted types, this is not an issue since you can probably just peel each of those stickers off the strip and slap them onto the car one after another, perfectly placed and aligned, creating an exact replica of the ideal world you visualized in your mind. However, if you're just a regular Joe like me, that strategy might not work out so well. Instead, you might want to try a method that allows for dry runs and includes visual aids while permanently affixing the stickers to the pristine finish or your new ride.

First off, get a pair of scissors and cut off the backing around each sticker. Perfection is not required, so leave enough margin while cutting around the curve so that you don't accidentally slice into the decal in the event something unexpected happens, i.e. you sneeze, the phone rings, maybe your kid bumps into you, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits.... you never know. But try to keep the cuts straight on the straight edges; you'll need those edges to line things up on the car.

Next, figure out where in general you want to stick those puppies and clean the areas. Some folks wax the areas to make it easier to remove when the HOV privilege expires or is revoked; I didn't. Too lazy. I just used Windex.

Now stick a couple of pieces of painter's tape on the back of the decals, rolled over itself so you can hang it on the car temporarily. I just used two pieces. If you are going around a curve, like on the sides of the rear bumper on a Fiat 500e, you might want to use more tape. Don't use garden variety masking tape, transparent tape, or duct tape. Use painter's tape. Other stuff is too sticky for me, and tends to leave adhesive residue on the car unless you wax the area first. Even then, it's harder to work with.

Okay, so after that, just slap the entire assembly on the car and move it around until you're happy with the way it looks. You can try lining it up with character lines, trim pieces, or some other feature on the body or bumper. Or you can use a laser level to line it up parallel the surface of the Earth... just make sure you're parked on a level surface. The point is that you can try out multiple positions and angles before committing.

After you've temporarily hung it on your car exactly where you want it, stick pieces of painter's tape along the straight edges of the sticker. The tape will serve as a guide when you're ready to permanently affix the sticker.

 

For the rear sticker, I used two pieces of tape as a guide. The right edges of each piece were used to line up the right corners of the sticker. It looks a little crooked here... I didn't use a laser level to line it up. I just eyeballed it (doh!). I also didn't step back 20 feet or so to see what it looked like from a distance before proceeding. However, installing the guides did help reveal the misalignment and I ended up straightening it out a little before committing.

 

For the side stickers, I used three pieces of tape as a guide. Prior to installing the guide, I used a laser level against the top straight edge of the sticker to level it with the surface of our planet. I first tried out having the sticker lined up with the lower crease on the bumper, but I didn't like the way it looked. So I just took it off and tried again, but used the level. Then I walked across the street and studied it for a moment from various angles to make sure I really got it straight, then framed the sticker with the painter's tape.

After all that, it was time to commit... I took the sticker off the car, removed the backing, and carefully lined up the corners and edges of the sticker with the pieces of tape, working the sticker's adhesive onto the car from the top corner, then across the top straight edge and straight side, and then diagonally across the rest of the sticker, trying not to form any bubbles. Finally, I removed the pieces of tape and stepped back to see if I screwed up or got lucky. Fortunately I got lucky, for the most part. Even the rear sticker came out okay; initially I thought it would look lame. But after parking it on the street later on to do the side stickers and staring at it from a couple of car lengths away, it looked pretty straight. Better lucky than good, right?

I think it took me about a half hour total to install all three stickers, including the time to trim the backing and take some pictures. Which to me was time well spent since I've seen way too many sticker installs while on the road and at charging stations that were so randomly misaligned and out of place that I couldn't help gawking at it, like staring a train wreck. I couldn't help looking and thinking, "How the heck did that happen?".

To the right are some photos of HOV stickers on our Volt and Focus Electric, for your consideration, in case you're like me and are prone to wasting way too much time trying to decide where to put the stickers before spending the short 30 minutes to install them. Sometimes seeing what others have done can help you quickly decide what you like. Or don't like.

For the Volt, I tried to line up the stickers with the lower valance all around. It looks okay, but my first choice was to stick them on the valance itself, at least for the side and rear stickers. I opted against it in case I felt the urge to Plasti-dip the valance for a monochrome look. In retrospect, even though I won't be painting the valance after all, I'm glad I didn't install them down there because I've seen a few Volts with their stickers peeling off of the textured black plastic.

On the Focus Electric, I went with how WattsUp, one of the prominent contributors to myfocuselectric.com, adorned his FFE with HOV decals. They're all level with the ground, and the side stickers wrap over the start of a character line that sweeps across the bumper. I thought it looked great on his car, so I followed suit.

Okay, so long story short  (yeah, yeah - too late like usual), here's my recommendation:

• Trim the backing to the shape of the decals and test fit them on the car by sticking them on temporarily with painter's tape. Try different positions. View your candidate placements from different angles and distances before committing. A laser level really helps if you want it level to the ground.
• When you find the perfect position, frame the sticker around its  straight edges with painter's tape. Then affix the sticker permanently using the painter's tape as a guide.

Good luck, I hope this helps!