Metropolitan Rural

So, I’ve been thinking more and more lately about the idea of an electric car or NEV.  I posted some details a few posts back on Proposition M.  I’m seriously thinking about taking a trip down to Farmington sometime in January just to try and test drive a model or two to see how they are.  For me, it will require some planning as I would need to get some electric run to my garage again so I would have a place to store and charge the vehicle.  That would also likely need a new garage door as our current one is not in the shape to handle going up and down much more.

I was even thinking it might be a fun road trip for a handful of people to make.  Plus, that could really show some support of the idea to whoever it is that runs this business down there.  I feel like there is truly a pent up demand for an affordable commuting vehicle for those of us who don’t drive a lot.  I did the math on my daily commute, and came up with less than 3,000 miles per year.  It is so NOT worth my money to buy some $20k to $30k car to drive that few of miles every year.

With all this being in my head, a headline last night on Slashdot caught my attention (Bay Area to Install Electric Vehicle Grid).  Readig that story, a thought hit me.  Wouldn’t it be cool if there were outlets available in your everyday parking meter?  A quick Google search turned up several links to patents on various aspects of the idea.  But the reality of the situation is surely on the verge.  If an area the size of the SF Bay area has a billion dollar infrastructure in place that allows for you to pay for charging your car, then you extend the range of usefulness immensely.  In my little bit of travels I’ve seen parking meters that take credit cards and even a single unit for 2 spots.  These are so much more complex than your grandfathers parking meter.  There is obviously some circuitry and electronics going on in the industry.  How much more effort is it to attach a retractable power cord and apply some software that only turns it on if you pay extra for the service.  Heck, if you are paying with a credit card, then you only charge based on the actual electric usage as well.

Running in for a 30 minute meeting?  Top off your batteries while you’re there!

Of course, there will be vandalism and people cutting and taking cords and what not, but that’s no reason to let a few bad apples spoil it for the rest of us.

Now, next step, let’s make that electricity more renewable as well.  No since in cutting back on gas for electric if we have to burn coal or natural gas to get the electricity.  And heck, don’t forget to come up with some better batteries.  If we’re going to use batteries to store our electricity we don’t need to be relying on third world countries in a constant state of war for the materials for those batteries either (check out this NPR report for more on that issue).

So… who wants to make a road trip?

Two weeks ago I was standing in a conference center in Scottsdale, AZ.  I was with a good friend and business partner trying to hock our new business service to potential clients.  Things went really well and we’ve had a lot of follow-up and planning going on since.  Between that and trying to catch up with the new class I’m teaching, these past 2 weeks have been extremely busy.   I finally feel like I’m caught up at this point and wanted to share a few thoughts that have gone on with me the last several days.

1. I was really impressed on Friday night when we stopped by our local PetSmart to pick up some bedding for our guinnea pig.  Parked right next to us was a shiny, black Ford Escape Hybrid.  This was a car my wife and I had considered last year when we bought our new one.  It gets an EPA estimated 34 MPG in the CITY!  That’s right, 34 MPG In the city for a small SUV, that’s very impressive.  Still, we don’t drive enough to really justify the 10 grand extra that would have cost us.  What impressed me most was the license plate.  It read, “City of St. Louis, Director of Public Safety.”  Yep, a city vehicle.  And for an office that’s undoubtedly putting a lot of city miles on it.  Very smart decision and good use of my tax dollars.
2. Over the weekend I heard that Metro had finally announced their rate increases for next year.  My monthly pass will be going from $60 to $68.   Still not bad I guess.  My only problem still is the possibility that my express route could get canceled come spring.  That would mean my 35 minute trip to and from work would now become nearly an hour (if everything is on time).  That extra 25 minutes each way everyday makes me not want to use Metro.  I mean, I live about 5 miles from work, it shouldn’t take me an hour to get there, I could nearly walk that far in that amount of time!  So, I’m still thinking of options for me and waiting for the official announcement, but look for an extra car on the road for morning commutes come spring.
3. On Saturday I read a note on Mayor Slay’s website (he calls it a blog, but it hardly is considering there are no comments allowed) encouraging Metro to work out a deal to allow their system to be integrated with Google Maps.  I too would agree this is a great thing.  With my business I’ve started, I’ve got a cell phone with a data plan and built in GPS.  Google Maps has been great to have on my cell phone to look up directions.  To have easy access through there to bus routes and times would be awesome.

So, things have been busy, the holidays are upon us, and the boy is at the airport now on his way to visit his father for 10 days over Thanksgiving.  I’ve got lots of cleaning and organizing to do around the house so we can set up a Christmas tree in a couple of weeks and so I can turn our front “junk” room into a home office over the holiday.

With the failure of the county to pass Proposition M last night (to increase sales tax revenue for transit service), it seems more likely than ever that my bus line with either be drastically reduced in service or completely eliminated come spring.  Guess I’ll need to start looking at some alternatives.

Out of curiosity I started looking up electric cars.  There is a class of electrics called NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle).  These are lower speed vehicles that aren’t typically licensed for highway driving.  They are often a fancy golf cart from what I saw.   There are a few models however, that look a bit more like a conventional car with actual doors and radios and such.  A couple of the interesting models I found were the ZENN and the Miles ZX40.  These both look like a typical sub-compact, hatchback car and retail for typically $15,000 - $20,000 depending on options.

I then hopped on over to Ebay Motors and did a quick search for electric fueled cars.  I found some listings from a company that has a few older model Miles ZX40.  They are very low mileage and were showroom models they are getting rid of.  This particular listing is for a 2006 model with 39 miles for only $9,995 buy it now price.   I thought that was a pretty good bargain.  Not to mention it has some impressive cargo space for such a small vehicle.  The listing says it has a top speed of 40 mph and a range of 40-50 miles.  I have 5.5 miles to get to work, so that would easily take care of my needs with a nightly recharging.  What really struck me about the listing was the company that is selling the vehicle.  It’s a place called Electric Car Company… in Farmington, MO!

Now, I have no idea why there is a dealership in Farmington that specializes in electric cars, but at least it would be close enough to go take a test drive before buying.  Honestly, if I were them, I’d try and find a way to work with a dealership up here in the city to get some more sales.  Even with gas prices down now close to $2 a gallon, with economic uncertainty and the looming likelihood of drastically reduced transit service there should be a rising market for an affordable alternative.

It’s over for me officially.  I arrived at my polling place about 5:55 and left at precisely 7:09.  All in all, not too bad.  It was rather uneventful except for the incidence when they tried to split the line into 2 precincts by starting at the back and not telling any of us in the front.  All we saw was a large group of people from the back walking straight past the rest of the line up to the front.  Although, considering the narrowness of the hallway they had us squeezed through, they would have been better off to route the other precinct through the door at the end of the building where they were checking in.

Regardless, I’m done and can sit back and wait for the results to come in tonight and tomorrow.  It was good to see so many people there and taking an interest in our government for a change.  It’s about time Americans step up and start electing leaders who are going to look out for the country as a whole instead of lots of special interests.

Last Thursday evening we were out and about in the county and swung into a Barnes & Noble bookstore. On the way out, I noticed a pile of books titled Weird Missouri: Your Travel Guide to Missouri’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (Weird). I had a sneaking suspicion that my home town would be listed in there somewhere.

I picked up a copy and flipped to the table of contents. There was a special section on cemeteries. Flipping to the page, I found the short 2 paragraphs about my home town of 632 people.

The little cometary at the edge of town is known locally for it’s glowing tombstones. You drive by on a clear night and see a few of the tombstones sort of flash as you pass them. Of course, if you get out and stand still they actually stay on and appear to glow. It’s that way on a clear moonless night as well. That’s about as far as the book goes. The whole story, of course, always comes with a legend. As ours goes, the original glowing tombstone was that of a woman who had lost her husband in the Civil War. She was not convinced her husband had died and waited up every night on the porch with a lantern, hoping for him to come home. She still stays up at nights with her lantern even now waiting for him.

Aren’t legends fun? While I’m not aware of any detailed investigation into the cause of the glowing tombstones, I’ve always assumed there is some sort of phosphorescent material in the rock that picks up sunlight during the day and shines it back out at night. Regardless, it was still fun to see a blurb about my tiny little hometown in a book at a major book store.