Your Car is TOO Quiet

There are two very distinct schools of thought regarding the noise that a vehicle makes. While there are some who say that power is only in the roar of the engine, and there are those who would be perfectly happy if all the noise just stopped. But there is a group in the US who is quite serious about vehicles making at least some noise, for the sake of safety.

To dispel the misconception that loud equals power, the Tesla Model S and the Roadster both have nearly noiseless motors and both can accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds.  This speed is primarily due to the fact that both vehicles do not have more than one gear in forward motion and 100 % torque from a standstill. The lack of noise is due to the lack of any controlled explosions in the electric motor. Inside the motor there is no contact between the electromotive force and the drive shaft.

I only mention the fact that the electric motor is "near-silent" because the sound what few gears transfer power between the drive shaft and wheels and cooling fans on the motor controller aren't completely quiet.  Also, you may wonder why I have used Tesla as a model for the speed example.  Although the Smart ED is definitely an electric car, it is not an electric car for speed.  It is an efficient car for getting around town.

But, as a contrast to those who believe that loud equals power, there are those people who are quite happy to drive in silence (at least vehicle silence).  Vehicles are not yet immune to creating road noise.  There is still the sound of tires on the road and of an object pushing air aside at high speed.  Can you imagine what the freeway would be like without the noise of so many engines running simultaneously?  It wouldn't be completely quiet, but it would be much less noisy, especially if tractor trailers went electric.

Despite all the good that can come from a vehicle being much less quiet than before, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2010 was signed into law in 2011, to guarantee that electric vehicles can be heard.  It's been said that this is for the sake of the blind that electric vehicles have been forced to have some noise generators on-board.

In a sense this Act is on the same level as banning Google Glass before it has debuted.  We've not had a great deal of time to determine whether the lack of engine noise is the issue with electric vehicles or if tire noise is sufficient to keep someone from being hit.

For now, though if you do purchase or plan to drive an electric vehicle know this, the engine hasn't died, it's just "near-silent".

How do You Find a Charging Station for an Electric Vehicle?

Ah, the power, the Raw POWER... er uh, yeah.  There is no trick to this.  We already know that power outlets are pretty much everywhere.  If you can find a building with electricity, you've got power.  But how many buildings offer access to a power outlet near a parking space?  Not too many, at least not too many that haven't already designated that space for an electric vehicle.

There are several companies that began creating charge stations as early as 2009, for the debut of the Tesla Roadster.  The company is called Coulomb Technologies.  CT created the site called ChargePoint and began to churn out a standard, simple charge station.  Now, five years later, there are thousands of these charge stations all over the world. And they all operate conveniently through a simple plastic card or an app on your smartphone.

The ChargePoint app can be installed on any smartphone and used to find all the public charge stations that are offered by CT.   All these stations are connected to the ChargePoint network and will update on the app to let all the users know which stations are in use.   You can either map to the charge station of your choice, or have the app just find the closest available station.

There are several other apps available for finding these. The following is a list of applications that I have downloaded and tested.

• EV Charging Locator
• CarStarions Charging Stations
• ChargePoint Find EV Charging
• PlugShare

All these apps will assist you in navigating to the station that you're seeking.  For the most part they will provide some detail about the station as to the voltage / current levels that are available.  The only trouble that they each seem to suffer from is pinpoint locations.  You may find yourself searching a parking lot for several minutes before you find the station.

I hate to use a gas station as an example, but they're typically easy to find.  A gas station is usually quite large, has a BIG sign with its logo, and has easy access to the street.  There are often people going in and out of them regularly, unless the station is closed.  EV charging stations are much smaller (even level 3).  They're often not easy to spot or are inconveniently placed due to the misunderstanding of how they're to be used.  

Apps

When I purchased the Smart ED, I got a recommendation from the salesman that I should use EV Charging Locator to find the charging stations.  It is the most comprehensive app that I've found for charging stations. It's impressively easy to find a station using this app, the station icons aren't just one color and give some idea of whether they're being used or are out of service.  Of the apps listed, this one is my favorite.

CarStations "Charging Stations" app is another that I downloaded and tested.  It's very pretty. It is possible to leave comments, but one of the key things that I'd quite like is some indication prior to visiting a station, as to whether it is in use.  The icons on the map offer nothing until selected. Of course like many mapping apps, you can get all the information after tapping the target, but with this app you only really get the address, type, and distance.  For the most part this app is good if you know what you're getting into already, but for a novice, I would avoid it.

As noted above, the ChargePoint app will offer access to all its world wide charging stations.  And as ChargePoint is the largest US provider of stations it is quite comprehensive.  Immediately upon opening the app you will notice ChargePoint specific stations versus all others.  The icons that represent ChargePoint will have a status built into the icon.  You will know instantly whether a stations is available, being used, or out of service.  Tapping any station will bring up the address, then drop you into a screen that gives the current status of that station.  It's fairly comprehensive, but not at all conducive to use while driving. 

Lastly, PlugShare.  Plugshare is quite good for those who want to sociable. It was actually the first app that I installed to use before I purchase the Smart ED.  It's helpful in that the icons are colored depending on the use status of the station.  It also allows for private citizens to include their own home charger on the map.  But the best feature that PlugShare offers is an photo database.  

Although it is entirely possible to help re-position the icons on all the other apps so that the placement is ideal, you cannot add more than comments.  PlugShare allows EV owners to add images to give others a much more clear idea of what to look for.  

Tips

I like to make some final comments on using a charging station, that differ from something that may be more familiar (i.e. Gas Station Pumps)  Consider the following...

• Is the station Public or Private?
• Some companies have had their stations added to the map by overzealous employees or random people.  I've encountered at least one station that was not public, although listed as such. 
• Is the station Free or Paid?
• Most stations are paid, but through ChargePoint it is possible to get free fuel.  There are the occasional free stations, but they may not work.
• Is the station Functional?
• You may wrack you brain over this, remove the plug and re-connect, but still nothing.  Sure it was a great parking spot, but now you have no power and have to go searching for another.
• Be sure to report this to the store or on the app of your choice.
• Take a picture with your camera phone, if you have one.
• Is the station Compatible?
• Not all stations have plugs that will work with your vehicle.  Although there are a couple of standards, not all vehicles have all of them.  
• J1772 is the most common, but the Nissan Leaf and Tesla S have a two different plugs that will not work for a vehicle like the Smart ED that only comes with J1772.

Two Months and 2000 miles

Two Months and 2000 miles

As of December 31st 2013 I reached my first 2000 miles in the Smart ED.  I realize that this is not a major accomplishment for most people because any commuter with a commute of 50 miles or more will hit that every month.  But as my commute is only a round trip of 25 miles, I had to make a few more stops to hit that mark.

What I've come to realize about the Smart ED is that I truly enjoy driving it.  It's a small, light, fast car; a stark comparison to my other vehicle (Chevy Avalanche).  It accelerates very quickly and stops just as quickly.  It is much more deft and agile than you might expect from something that appears to be top-heavy. As the majority of the weight is in the floor with the batteries, the center of gravity is quite low.  

Getting in and out of the car is something that was important to me.  I am still quite fond of my truck for its ease-of-access.  The doors on the Smart ED swing wide, but aren't heavy.  I've never felt like I would lose the door when opening it too quickly, and I've never felt that I would gash a serious ding if I did.  Additionally, at at height of nearly 2 meters (6'4"), I've never had trouble fitting my long legs or torso in the cabin.  But it is important to note that the slimness of the car is noticeable when both people are attempting to fasten their safety belts.

Decisions, decisions...

If you had a garage full of fun, functional vehicles, you'd probably have a favorite, regardless of price.  Each vehicle has its own style, flair, and purpose.  The Smart ED is my first choice to drive for more than just the cost savings and fun.   It's really quite easy to park and in spaces that no other vehicle can consider.

I've actually posed this question to myself at least ten times in the last two months.  Would I prefer to take the internal combustion vehicle with its cushy, heated seats, luxurious cruise and climate control, power steering and brakes, and lack of range anxiety? And the answer always comes back, "unless we're going on a long trip or need to haul something large, no. This car is too much fun."

The fun of driving the Smart ED outweighs the ease of driving just about anything else.

Electric Vs. Electric

There are more than a dozen electric vehicles to choose from on the market today (at least in California).  Several are in the same price range as the Smart ED.  But they have one problem, they're all too big.   The only good comparative tool that I have been able to use with the Smart ED is that of a motorbike.

The Smart ED is a four-wheeled, electric motorbike.  It's very small, can only barely carry one additional person. It has limited range, but a great deal of torque and speed.   It's very easy to park and like a motorbike can (not legally) park perpendicular to the curb.  The biggest advantage, as noted by many motorbike riders, is the enclosed cabin for trips in bad weather (or locust).  Also, it's not likely to tip over on you.

Conclusion

I was thinking that at some point the apparent novelty of driving electric or a small car would wear off, but it has yet to happen.   When I bought a Toyota Tacoma some years back, I knew within 2 weeks that it was a poor decision.  I've only owned six vehicles in 18 years, but I've driven at least 50.  I hope to drive every car eventually as I'd like to experience them all.  But for now I am quite content to drive the Smart ED and park it just about anywhere.

Nuances of Driving Electric

Oh there are concerns about driving electric beyond the typical things, like range and recharge availability.  But what of the actual feel of the drive?

I would bet that unless you drive a sports car, you're probably not thinking too much about the ride quality.  You're probably thinking about getting where you want to go quickly and inexpensively.

Engine Noise

Driving Electric is quiet.  If you listen to music or children in the backseat, then the sound of the engine might not be as apparent to you.  But when you come to a stoplight, there is a general sound in the background in a typical internal combustion engine vehicle.

For an electric vehicle there is no sound. Nothing, when stopped.  It's much like driving a Toyota Prius when the engine has turned off.  But when accelerating and at speed there is a slight whine.  A friend recently compared the sound to that of the engines of a commercial jet on take-off, but from within the aircraft.  Once you get above about 40 mph, the noise is drowned by the sound of everything else, such as road noise, other vehicles, air rushing past.

Transmission

There is no transmission in the Smart ED. When accelerating from a standstill, I still continue to expect the transmission to shift into the next gear. When it doesn't shift, it makes me think that I'm driving a stick and have forgotten to up-shift.  But above 40 mph I don't notice the sound of the motor (so much as other sounds).  There is a simple whir or whine an electric drive motor and another sound that becomes just as familiar when slowing down.

Acceleration

I went from driving a very large 5.3L Chevy Avalanche to driving the Smart ED.  The difference between the two is night and day.  The truck lumbers forward and resists stopping.   Where the ED sprints forward and seems to enjoy stopping.

Mercedes-Benz and Smart note that the 3rd generation of the Smart ED has a 0-60 mph rating of 11 seconds.  The Smart will not win you any trophies against tuner cars, but the tiny size and weight are ideal for the use of the relatively small electric motor included (75 hp).   The nearly 100 lb-ft of torque will however startle anyone the first few times around.  I never expected a vehicle that is so small to have to much power, that was not a motorcycle.

Braking

It's actually possible to slow to a stop in the ED without using the brakes, within a reasonable distance.  I've done it several times.  As soon as you let off the accelerator the vehicle jumps into regeneration mode.  But beware, using regenerative braking will not let the vehicle behind you know that you are stopping.  The solution to this and the savior of your regeneration is the "brake tap".

If you just barely tap the brakes when slowing, you will gain the maximum regeneration and give the person behind you and idea that you are stopping.   This braking method is one of the keys to getting a 100% Eco score.

Body Roll

One of the things that I am all too familiar with is how the body of the vehicle rolls in a turn.  Since my other vehicle is a large pickup truck, I am aware of how a vehicle can sway and how much I need to slow down to turn.  In most electric vehicles the battery acts as a ballast lowering the center of gravity and placing it very near the ground.  The Smart ED is a very good example of a vehicle with a low center of gravity.

I can take a corner at more than twice the speed that I would ever consider in my truck.  Obviously it is not necessary to go ripping around a corner, but it sure is fun.

Public Perception

The Smart ED and its internal combustion engine cousin (Smart ForTwo) are odd-looking vehicles.  And in general small cars have a reputation for being under-powered.   The Smart FortTwo regularly finds itself in lists of Top X Worst / Bad / Hated cars, primarily for its looks and then for internal combustion engine transmission.  Fortunately, the stigma carries over only until people realize that it's electric. And then suddenly they are again interested, especially after a speedy ride


Personally, it's been a life-long dream to drive electric and I am living it.  It's not merely the fact that my cost per mile is barely more than $0.01 or that I can part perpendicular to the curb.  The fact that I can refuel at home or that fueling stations are in every home.  Driving Electric is just plain practical.  It's the most efficient use of power to move things.

Now I'm just waiting for that carbon nano-tube-based battery that will give me a range of 1200 miles per charge.

Get an Eco Score of 100%

You too can get an Eco score of 100%.

At first I thought that that I would never be able to accomplish this feat.  I was always driving up and down hills and trying to avoid other cars, that I would never succeed in reaching this lofty goal.  But I did it.

There are two gauges on the top of the dash that give you a good idea of your performance.  These two gauges will become as important if not more so than the speedometer. The gauge on the left is State of Charge (SOC), effectively the fuel gauge. The one on the right is a Charge gauge, it shows the charge used and it can be positive (to the left) or negative (to the right).

Accelerating

You will want to concentrate most the attention that you would give to the dash instruments, to the gauge that shows charge. If you can keep the charge from ever breaking 50% when accelerating or driving, then this will improve the Eco score.  Accelerating using the kick-down will push the charge usage up to the maximum and destroy any decent Eco score that you may have created. Also, driving at or above 70 mph can use more than 50% charge.

The difficulty in keeping the charge meter from crossing the 50% mark is that acceleration will be slow.  This slow acceleration will not make you popular with other drivers. Personally, I've had to make an effort to refrain from bolting, because I know that I can do it.  But if I want to keep that perfect score, I can't use the kick-down too often.

Braking

It's not tough to figure out, after a few tries, how much distance you will need in order to stop the vehicle.  The Smart ED does have more motor braking by default than the typical internal combustion engine vehicle.  As soon as you lift off from the accelerator, the ED will engage the regeneration and slow you down.  If however, you've opted for the regeneration paddles, you can control how aggressively the vehicle slows and recharges.  But it is key to getting that high score, that you brake appropriately.

When braking, you can get the best recharge by barely tapping the brake pedal.  This turns on your brake lights and maxes out the needle, which means you pushing the max back into the battery (about 90 Amps).  The regeneration will reduce as you slow down.  

The ECO bar is quite effective in encouraging a driver to drive more efficiently.  It's right there at the bottom of the screen and hard to miss.  But if it seems impractical or a false ideal, think of it as paying yourself back.  Sure you're driving electric now and saving already, but if you drive at 100% ECO, you're saving even more.

Public Plug-In Electric Vehicle Charge Etiquette

Until electric car charging gets to be as fast as pumping gas, there will have to be some decent sharing going on.  Like the classic “nobody is watching” scenario, people act very differently when there’s no other person around to tell them that they should probably wait their turn at the charging station.    A person may desperately need to use the charging station, because they know that if they don’t start getting some charge now, they may not be able to get to their next appointment on time.

The change from the old standard, that we've all lived with for our entire lives, is that getting fuel has its costs..  Fueling a gas vehicle takes a few minutes and may cost a lot, but fueling an electric will take a while and won’t cost much.  This is the trade off.  If you don’t have a lot of time, it’s too late to complain that your electric car takes an hour to charge.  

Pure Battery Electric

Consider that people who drive pure battery electric vehicles cannot merely visit a gas station to refuel, where those with plug-in hybrid vehicles can. Although plug-in hybrid vehicle drivers would like to charge as much as the next electric vehicle driver, they have an alternative. Thereby, it would only seem fair to allow the pure battery electric vehicle driver to get a full charge.

Plug-in Lock

Some electric vehicles have a locking ability to maintain control over the plug until charging is complete, but not all do. In line with the ideal of the Charging Etiquette it would be considered appropriate to leave any plug connected until charging is complete. Fortunately, if the vehicle does not have an indicator for the charge, the station does. Once charging is complete, the station will terminate and disconnect the lock (if there is one).

Owners of Electric Vehicles should not be offended if the charging has been completed and another person takes the plug. However, as charging stations are, as yet, not ubiquitous, it is prudent to track one's vehicle status and move the vehicle once charging has completed.

Do unto others...

It's reasonable to think that the best situation is not the most common and that there will be occasions when you or another is in some form of peril. The justifications are innumerable, but it is how we handle them that it is important.

• If you are in need of charge and the plug is taken, it is reasonable to leave a note on the windshield of the current user.  
• You may want to leave your mobile number and kind remark for a future response time.
• If your vehicle has finished charging, please considerate of others and move your vehicle to another space.
• If you need a charge and you can see clearly that the other has finished, remove the plug with the same care that you would for your own vehicle.  
• Please try not to lay the cable across the other vehicle or wrap it tightly around any wheels or bumper.  
• If the cable will not reach, do not force or attempt to stretch it.
• Make no assumptions about the state of the other vehicle.
• You do not know the situation of the other EV owner, as to whether they have a back up generator or that you feel that they have "enough" charge.
• You do not have the right to unplug a hybrid plug-in, regardless.

Getting ICE'd

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles are still by far the most prevalent vehicle on the road.  Although you may be aware of the latest trend in fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, not everyone is aware yet.  More than likely a person that parks an ICE vehicle in an EV space is not aware of the mistake and leaving a hurtful note will not bring them to justice.  

It is appropriate to leave a note to help in informing the population of the distinction.  It is not appropriate to verbally punish a person for that mistake. As the saying goes "a little kindness can go a long way."


A more concise list of these ideals can be found via PlugInCars.com

Smart ED Basics

You've got to understand the basics of anything before you can use it.  As an engineer, I sometimes think that I know it all before I get started and this is often due to the fact that I have some experience with mechanical or electrical devices.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) certainly looks like a car, but it doesn't exactly act like one.  This post will cover the basics of what you will want to know about an electric car and in this case the Smart ED.  Hopefully, you have at least had the chance to drive a vehicle that uses an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), as some of the information in this post will depend on that prior knowledge.

Getting Started

It's important to note where all the controls are on the vehicle.  Like an ICE vehicle an EV will have a steering wheel, shift controller, accelerator, and brake pedals. The display panels are similar except for two extra gauges on top of the dash.  These two gauges are for fuel and its use.

The gauge on the left shows how much fuel (charge) remains.  The gauge on the right shows the rate at which the fuel is being used. But there is something special about electric vehicles that cannot be done with ICE vehicles.  When braking, the electric motor can be used  to re-capture some of the lost energy. It's like putting fuel back in the tank.

Fuel 

The fuel for the Smart ED is electrical charge.  If you've used a smartphone then you're already somewhat familiar with the electric car and its energy source. The Smart ED uses electricity just like so many electronic devices that we use in our lives every day.

Unlike ICE vehicles, each EV must be equipped with the proper charger in order to refuel the battery (with electricity).  Depending on the capacity of the battery and the charger will determine how long it takes.

The Smart ED has a 17.6 kWh battery and an on-board charger rated at 3.3 kW, so at that fastest it will completely recharge in about 5 hours.

Shift Controller

Electric vehicles do not have the same sort of transmission that you might find in either a manual or automatic ICE vehicle.  In an automatic ICE vehicle you may find more than just the Park, Neutral, Reverse, and Drive.  But because an ICE vehicle has only a narrow band of speeds that are useful, a transmission is used to allow the engine to operate more efficiently at higher and lower speeds.

The EV does not have "gears" per se, but it does at least have Park, Neutral, Reverse, and Drive.  ICE engines usually only spin in one direction so when you need to go in reverse, a gear is inserted to change the direction that the engine spins the wheels.  But when you want an EV to run in reverse, you need only spin it in reverse.

Acceleration

Many of us are quite familiar with labeling the pedal on the right, as the "gas" pedal.  But no gas used to propel an electric car, the more generic term is the "accelerator" pedal. Most electric motors do not require a transmission to change the gearing ration between the motor and the wheels in order to find the optimum performance, the way an ICE does. Electric motors can spin up to much faster than ICE without overheating.

As electric motors do not have to use a transmission to accelerate, there is no need to think about changing gears.  The motor starts and continues on spinning up with greater speeds. Internal combustion engines have a particular range of speeds that are the most efficient and use the transmission to acquire that speed.

The Smart ED has an electric motor capable of about 50 hp, but nearly 100 ft-lbs of torque.  If you floor the accelerator, there's an additional bit of room at the very bottom know as the "kick down".  When you hit the kick down, you will feel a significant increase in the power, like having a nitro pack built-in

Braking

Electric cars are unique when it comes to slowing or stopping.  Although it is possible to use an internal combustion engine to slow the vehicle (called engine braking), the same action when used in an electric car can will generate electricity.  Most electric vehicles are equipped with the ability to increase or decrease the amount of resistance that the motor implements when using it to stop the vehicle.   The greater the resistance, the more energy is generated, and in turn the more quickly the vehicle slows.

Using the regenerative ability of an electric motor to recharge the battery every time that you need to stop, not only increases the longevity of your brakes, but improves the range of the vehicle.

Range

If there's one thing that I've come to see in a completely different way, it's range. Drivers of ICE vehicles take some solace in knowing that with a full tank of gas, range is not a problem.  This is only a recent notion, as before 1950 gas stations were not nearly as common as they are today. Electric vehicle drivers can take solace in knowing that they can recharge nearly anywhere, as the electric infrastructure of modern society has placed hundreds of millions of electrical sockets in nearly every building.

Ah, but what of the range of the electric vehicle?  ICE vehicle drivers are familiar with the necessity of finding a gas station, every so often.  EV owners are familiar with refueling every day.  The closest analog to the daily recharge is the use of a Smartphone. Most people charge the smartphone every day so that it can be used all day.  The same goes for an electric car.

The statistics say that 50% of all modern citizens drive no more than 30 miles in a day and that 80% drive no more than 50 miles in a day.  Most electric cars can easily cover 50 miles of daily driving.

The Smart ED comes with an EPA-noted range of 63 miles per full charge, at the least 58 miles, but some people have been able to get as many as 90 miles.

Conclusion

There's a whole new world of electric vehicles just waiting to be explored and utilized.  Electric vehicles are fun and useful (but mostly fun).   They're not so different from internal combustion engine vehicles, at least externally.  But once you get used to charging your car like you do your smartphone (every day), it won't take long to forget about the prior need to go to a gas station.

You won't feel bad that, although your range in a day may be limited to between 60 and 100 miles, you're spending less than half as much money on fuel as you might have in a Prius.  If you charge at a public charging station, it is actually possible to never pay for fuel.  Do you know of a gas station that gives fuel away for free?

Lastly, I have yet to get bored with the fun of 100% torque, 100% of the time.  Acceleration in an EV is almost too fun and almost unnervingly quiet.  Unless you love the roar of an internal combustion engine, you may be pleasantly surprised by the silent rocket that is the Smart ED.  It might be small, but it's got plenty of power.