News Coulomb is a channel devoted to providing first-hand accounts of life with renewable energy technologies. My goal is to provide education on strategies and techniques that will empower people to transition away from non-renewable, unsustainable energy sources and to build self reliance.
From News Coulomb. Now I know that some might immediately reply with EV that have solar panels integrated into the vehicle, but what I am referring to is an EV that supports a direct-from-solar charging functionality. While that could be integrated into the vehicle, I am not discounting an EVSE that plugs in directly to…
From News Coulomb. As of December 2025, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids no longer have access to the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) carpool lanes. Rather than eliminating access for these clean air vehicles, we should abolish carpool lanes entirely, and if they are preserved as special access lanes, they should be restricted buses and other…
From News Coulomb. In a recent shopping trip, I found my way to a newly opened Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging station in Red Bluff, California. This station is conveniently located off of I-5 and westbound CA Route 36, and it is situated in a plaza with a Starbucks and Burrito Bandito. While it is possible to…
From News Coulomb. This is the first official episode of my Ryobi RM300e restoration project. This mower worked well for me for nearly two years, but the Achille’s heel of these Ryobi riding mowers is their use of lead acid batteries. As my 12 V batteries started to lose capacity, the mower became more and…
From News Coulomb. Link to newsletter article: https://open.substack.com/pub/newscoulomb/p/fixing-electrify-americas-idle-fees?r=5hboft&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
From News Coulomb. While setting up my solar projects, I was running the numbers and realized just how stupid solar is in comparison to gas. On the surface, solar seems so far behind gasoline that it would never catch up, but the numbers work out very differently. Just on a purely energy-to-energy basis, a single…
From News Coulomb. I will try to make weekly updates moving forward for my various projects, and this is the first installment of my Toyota RAV4 EV restoration project. In this episode, I confirm the presence of the original batteries as well as hook up my J1772 Adapter Box from https://www.tucsonev.com/ From there, I test…
From News Coulomb. In a recent story, InsideEVs covered the topic of how we might have overbuilt battery production facilities. According to a report from AlixPartners, our battery production capacity now far exceeds current EV demand. In my opinion, this is short-sighted. Even with a 2:1 production to demand ratio, that means that our current…
From News Coulomb. I wanted to do a quick discussion about when it is acceptable and appropriate for EV drivers to use ADA compliant charging stalls, and frankly, I think people are overthinking it. Broadly, these charging stalls are considered "dual use," which means that only one of the criteria needs to be met in…
From News Coulomb. I just cancelled my Electrify America membership and account after this latest incident, where a charger errored out just after I entered a store where I don’t have cell service. Rather than recognizing that the charger itself was broken, Electrify America charged me a $6.00 idle fee that required an escalation to…
From News Coulomb. I wanted to share a bit of an update on my solar system, and my recent battery build using an EEL V5 DIY battery box for the 280+ Ah cells. For this build, I used EVE LF304 cells, which should provide a useable capacity of over 15 kWh. I’m not completely enamored…
From News Coulomb. While on a local trip to the vet, I thought it would be fun to chat about the different modern EV generations based on their capabilities and technology. Specifically, in the way they stack up against ICE vehicle alternatives, where the first generation EVs required owners to make concessions, the second generation…
From News Coulomb. Silicon Carbide (SiC) inverters provide 99% percent efficient over a broader range of power/loads, compared to the 97-98% efficiency found in IGBT based inverters. This results in as much as a 7% increase in EV driving range. The 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV was rated at 247 miles of EPA combined range on…
From News Coulomb. While I was driving down to the Chevrolet Bolt Block Party event, I decided to respond to Tesla’s lifting the embargo on their Model 3 and Y Standard trims the day before the Block Party. My initial take was a bit suspicious of the timing, but also, before even learning about the…
From News Coulomb. 0:00 Intro 1:34 EVgo Valencia 9:26 CHPT Tejon 11:38 PFJ Bakersfield 16:04 EVgo Fresno 22:34 Amps EV Merced 26:53 EA Atwater 30:23 Zero60 Elk Grove 38:26 EE Williams 41:45 Closing PlugShare links for chargers visited on this trip: EVgo, Valencia: https://www.plugshare.com/location/470865 ChargePoint, Tejon (Wrong Site): https://www.plugshare.com/location/777552 PFJ, Bakersfield: https://www.plugshare.com/location/710469 EVgo, Fresno: https://www.plugshare.com/location/569504…
From News Coulomb. 0:00 Intro 2:04 PFJ Patterson 8:07 EA Panoche Shell 14:50 EA Kettleman City 22:20 CHPT Buttonwillow 27:13 CalTrans Lebec 39:24 Sheraton 44:40 Closing PlugShare links to sites visited: PFJ Patterson: https://www.plugshare.com/location/641037 EA Firebaugh, Panoche Shell: https://www.plugshare.com/location/198229 EV Range, Quality Inn, Kettleman City: https://www.plugshare.com/location/362937 EA Kettleman City: https://www.plugshare.com/location/362204 CHPT Buttonwillow: https://www.plugshare.com/location/195096 CalTrans Lebec…
From News Coulomb. Electrify America has failed me for the last time. After a recent experience being logged out of the app, spending 5 minutes to log back in while navigating all of their security hoops, and then dealing with a slow response and picky connectivity, I simply don’t see a reason to maintain an…
From News Coulomb. The Holiday Paradox refers to a concept that the human mind processes novel events and experiences differently, committing them to memory more strongly than routine events and experiences. This concept helps illustrate why public EV charging, and especially public DC fast charging, will always feel more memorable and significant than it actually…