I’m finding that my Volt has changed me in many ways. For instance, I’m not always pushing the accelerator to the floor. Sometimes I take pleasure in keeping the spinning green ball in the center. I actually enjoy “filling up.” Plugging my Volt into my Level 2 charger always gives me a feeling of satisfaction. My Volt has also changed the way I evaluate real estate.
Say what?
It’s true. We have gone through a major renovation of our house, in preparation for its sale. I have been so busy with that project that I haven’t posted to my blog in a month! I used to post multiple times a day.
Another factor in selling your home is locating your next one. We are downsizing, in order to travel more with our daughter, Zoe. She is a competitive fencer and we need to free up income to travel to regional and (hopefully) national tournaments. As we visit potential future homes, we have our usual check list: three bedrooms minimum, two but preferably two and a half bathrooms, a room suitable for a home theater, granite countertops, no wood shingles, pooper in the master bath must be in its own enclosed room (Bon’s rule #1), nice neighborhood, electrical panel near or in the garage.
Huh?
Yep, we’ve actually dropped homes from consideration, if the addition of the two 40 amp, 240 volt circuits in the garage for our chargers, would be too difficult/costly. We’ve also checked the panels to see if there’s enough capacity for the required breakers (4 slots).
We have evaluated the steepness of driveways and their compatibility with our Volt’s air dams. Too much scraping on the air dam gets your house dropped from consideration.
We love trees, but we’re starting to consider solar panels. An unblocked southern exposure is a plus as well as a neighborhood association that doesn’t frown on solar panels. I’ve given up on windmills. I just can’t afford enough land to make a windmill acceptable to the neighbors.
It’s odd not only how the Volt grows on you, but how it changes you. Your needs. Your expectations. I find I’m wanting to be “greener” every day.
Pretty neat effect, eh?
Buzz, I never thought of myself as a “green” person but not burning gasoline for 30 percent of its energy has really made me think. The smoothness of the ride and being caught in traffic where engines continue to drone on has made me appreciate the beauty of battery power. Fact is I simply like electric drive cars. I too, enjoy the challenge of squeezing additional miles out of each kilowatt hour, even if I do occasionally zip out ahead at the stop light just to show people electric cars are not “golf carts.” When the time comes for me to relocate for whatever reason, you can bet the electrical system will be important.
I always thought of myself as “green,” because we recycled, bought wind-generated electricity, don’t litter, etc. However, that never translated to my choice of automobile. I bought the Volt because I needed low total cost of ownership without settling for a rattle trap.
Now, I can’t imagine owning a non-electric vehicle, unless hydrogen fuel cells become available.
Odd how quickly I went from reluctant purchaser to enthusiast!