I was today years old when I realized that AAA has chargers and average charger pricing by state just like they have gas prices: https://gasprices.aaa.com/ev-charging-prices/
With the eclipse today, anyone have any interesting production graphs to show? It was only 13% at maximum where I live, so nothing particularly noticeable.
2025... 55 mile roundtrip to work, mostly highway. No climate use, 10.656 kWh used. This was an amazingly efficient trip!
I have a Starlink Residential Max plan with a Standard 4 receiver which I will keep until the end of October when camping season is over, then I'll put it in standby until April. Separately, I have a Mini that I got as a free rental-they processed it on the last day that it was offered in June. I have it sitting at home as a backup in case my internet ever went out. It's on standby currently. It's my understanding that they would want it back if I put the Residential Plan on standby. I am starting to consider what I should do in November:
Put the 4 on standby, return the mini, consider buying a mini in April
Ask to buyout the mini right before I put the 4 on standby. I honestly don't know what a buyout might cost.
Ask to buyout the mini right after I put the 4 on standby. Again, not sure about the cost.
Just wait for them to contact me and see if they offer me a buyout on the mini.
Is there a chance they don't even bother to ask for the mini back when I put the 4 on standby? Could I tell them that it's temporary and ask for grace?
There are over 250,000 individual public chargers in the United States today:
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/06/15/over-250000-public-ev-chargers-operating-in-us-now/
I see a lot of rollouts of more chargers through the Federal NEVI program, Walmart, EVGo, etc. I realize that the United States is huge and diverse, but what does your "gut" tell you when it comes to chargers? Do we have the right amount, too many, too few? What about locally where you are?
I live in Delaware, travel regularly to South Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and occasionally take road trips along the interstates to Western PA and to the Southeast. I don't charge very often publicly, but I've never been unable to find a charging station with an available port, and honestly, I generally have seen plenty of empties. So, from my personal experience in the areas that I travel, there are enough and they are generally in the right places. That said, over time we should expect more EVs on the road, so I would expect we would also need more chargers.
I have a 19 kW system with no solar only option and two EVs. Just my wife and I living in the house. We have lived in our house for 25 years, and I think we might have lost power for more than 8 hours once ever. Electric tariff is simple, with no time of use option, just a winter and summer rate. Perhaps the only unique thing is a $1.50 per kW demand charge based on the highest draw of the month. There's no rationale for me to add batteries except maybe for bragging rights, correct? Which would be a horrible reason, btw.
There used to a restaurant by the airport right on the ramp from 141 S to 13 S. It's called The Legend. What was it called in the 1990s?
July 28, 2026NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 26V487000
Window Glass Trim Pieces May Detach
Detached trim pieces can create a road hazard, increasing the risk of a crash.
NHTSA ID Number: 26V487000
Manufacturer Ford Motor Company
Components STRUCTURE
Potential Number of Units Affected: 86543
Summary
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Mustang Mach E vehicles. The rear side quarter window glass trim may be improperly secured, which can allow it to detach.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect and replace the quarter window glass assemblies, as necessary, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, are expected to be mailed September 10, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the remedy is available. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S56. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning September 7, 2026.
It makes no difference, either way.....
As far as I can tell, display of % of battery state of charge is the display standard, instead of kWh remaining. Are there any vehicles that will natively display remaining kWh, either as a separate display field somewhere else on the screen or via toggle. I know that with a scanner you can get it and display it in your data, but I'm thinking about is as part of the UI. I also realize it's an easy calculation % SOC X usable battery size = kWh remaining. For someone who tracks their efficiency in distance per kWh, it would be nice to have accessible.
Is there a technical or practical reason why we wouldn't want it shown, or is it just that we're all used to %'s from phones and fractions from ICE fuel gauges?
Would you want to have easy access to this data?
Looks like there may be a bi-directional charging solution coming from Enphase. I sure hope Ford gets on board for MME'S.
Editing: adding additional factors
Just out of curiosity, I'm trying to understand the factors that impact solar production. If I'm comparing day to day, month to month, what variability there is in my production, I think these are the variables. In general, I have this list in order of largest vs smallest component of variability. Am I missing any?
1-Length of day. Increases from around December 21st through June 21st, Decreases from June 21st through December 31st.
2-Angle of sun. Increases from around December 21st through June 21st, Decreases from June 21st through December 31st.
3-Seasonal changes in cloud cover.
4-Amount and type of clouds, smoke and pollen on any given day.
5-Changes in foliage on any trees that shade the panels
6-Where any shaded area (chimney, tree, etc) is relative to sun position, which changes through the year
7-Ambient air temperature and wind speed, with a lower temperature and greater wind speed providing more watts and a higher temperature providing fewer watts
8-Any obstructions directly on the panel....more dirt and dust if it's been drier, snow cover in the winter,, pollen
9-Age of the panel, with performance slowly decreasing over time
10-Albedo-reflection from surfaces below (bi-facial panels only)
11-Maximum energy allowed by the inverter/microinverter
When we consider an existing array, only 2, 5, 6 and 8 are in any way controllable by a homeowner (adjust angle, remove trees or other shaded areas, clean panels). 9 is controllable but not as easily (can replace panels).
What upgrades would you like to see from Ford for existing Mach-E's, and which would you pay for?
I would pay for-V2H, better BlueCruise, more range
I would like, but wouldn't pay for a preconditioning button, faster charging
For the record, I dont think we will ever get these things, but we can always dream....lol
I've always loved the song Cruiser, and despite being nearly 5 minutes, it felt like it was one of those songs that could have simply gone on for much longer. That whole build as well, Ben's voice getting louder and more powerful with every verse. It's one of my long list of favorite Cars songs.
I'm thinking about adding a bi-facial solar pergola to an existing 18.8 kW system. My consumption justifies it, the place where I would be putting it faces to the Southeast. I see kits online for the structure-are those worth the money, or is it generally just easier to have it built to spec and add the panels? How common are solar pergolas?
Any advice, success stories, horror stories?
I've had my 2025 MME premium awd extended for 13 months. I have 33K miles on it. I do occasionally charge it to 100%, before longer trips. It's my goal to drive this car for at least 200K miles and 8 years, but if I can get even more out of it I will.
I have an extended service plan which will cover the battery for an additional 100K miles over the warranty.
The way I understand it, more frequent charges to 100% could lower battery state of health.
With all this said, is there an argument to be made in favor of more frequent 100% charges, which would increase the possibility of me getting a new battery from Ford or Assurant? Getting a brand new battery at 190K seems like an awesome idea. Any concerns that it would void the warranty?
Wear or damage near the rim looks a little like dry rot, but car is a 2025 (Ford Mustang Mach-E). Only on 1 tire. 32000 miles. Regularly rotated. Do I need to get this in soon or can I wait for 40,000 miles?
TIA
Edit to include additional info:
I don't think I was driving low pressure, unless my TPMS was wrong. Is it possible somehow that this just happened? Is this something that a shop could miss? I had a tire rotation at 25,000 miles at one shop and a separate tire rotation as part of a full inspection of the vehicle at 29,000 miles. Neither shop mentioned it then and all 4 tires are at the suggested pressure and have been every time I checked.
We have a camper in which space is a premium. In my (much less than) infinite wisdom, to save space i put up a shelf above my head to place my cpap. I have been using it without issue for almost a year's worth of weekends. Well, last night, somehow I got the hose wrapped around my arm and pulled my resmed airsense 11 down, having it crash on my head from about 18" up. Quite a way to wake up. Thankfully, tis but a scratch....iykyk.
I'm a Residential customer that just got my new system a month ago. Previously, I was asking a question about my system and someone told me I could do what I was asking myself using Enlighten Manager, but I would need to get my Solar PV Installer Certification. I just finished! If I want to be co-manager of my own system with my installer, what's the next step-do I tell my Installer, tell Enphase or both. TIA!
It seems like energy is measured differently than other measurements. For example, if I'm driving the rate is in miles per hour and the amount is in miles. If I turn on a faucet its rate is measured in gallons per minute or hour, but the amount is in gallons. When I measure the rate of data transmission it's in Gb/seconds, and the amount in Gb. In all those cases, the rate is amount per time unit.
If measured the same way, the electric rate would be kWh and the amount would be in kW. Am I thinking this through correctly? If so what is it about electricity that makes the reference different and finally, are there other rates and amounts that are done the same way as energy?