http://alpenhornnews.com/reduce-your-carbon-footprint-with-an-electric-car-p6254-149.htm Reduce your carbon footprint with an electric car Aug 06, 2015 By Rhea-Frances Tetley
[image http://alpenhornnews.com/clients/alpenhornnews/8-7-2015-3-07-45-PM-6904656.gif (Peter and Loueege) ] It’s always wonderful when personal recommendations for sustainable ways of living save you money as in a car purchase. Here on the mountain, we have different requirements with our hilly, curvy roads and snow than city drivers. Meet “Loueege” (as identified on its personalized plates), a Fiat 500E driven by the Venturini family, named after “Luigi,” the Fiat in the Cars movie. Peter Venturini proudly told The Alpenhorn News all the advantages of driving his newest set of wheels and he should know having retired from the Air Resources Board. He loves his little runabout. “It’s perfect for the mountains and quick and fun to drive,” he said noting that his children also drive electric vehicles. Loueege has a low center of gravity and accelerates quickly with more than enough power to handle any slope with its 111 horsepower, 100 percent electric powertrain. The electric-drive motor has a lithium-ion 24-kWh battery pack and a power inverter to manage the power flow and single-speed transmission with calibrated gear reduction. The battery has an eight-year warranty and the engine components have four-year warranties. Peter and Loueege are a Meals-on-Wheels driving team, which minimizes delivery expenses. “I use the ‘slow-charge’ 110-volt system, so I didn’t add 220 volts to my garage. At 110 volts, it takes 24 hours for a complete charge. However, I have never needed a complete charge; I always plug it in at night, so it’s fully charged at the start of each day.” The onboard computer dash display describes percentage of charge left on the mountain, generally 70 percent. “I am getting well over 100 equivalent miles per gallon.” The manufacturer claims 122-MPG equivalent in the city and 108-MPG equivalent on the highway. He knows he is saving money by not using his other cars. Fiat claims the range is 80 miles, however Venturini doesn’t hesitate to go to Big Bear or Redlands and back on a single charge. The regenerative braking makes the actual range longer since Loueege is recharging whenever using the brakes or not accelerating. There are 13 re-charging stations in the San Bernardino - Redlands area. “We find Loueege perfect for mountain use. I am constantly getting thumbs up and cute car comments. It gets people's attention. Front seats are very comfortable. The rear seats are small fold-downs, so I typically use the abundant space for things like groceries. “The fact that it is front wheel drive gives it good traction. However, one would need chains and snow tires in the winter.” [© alpenhornnews.com] ... http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Luigi Luigi, the Fiat 500-ice in the Cars movie http://cars.disney.com/luigi ... http://www.fiat500owners.com/forum/66-fiat-500e/ Fiat 500e EV Forums http://www.fiat500usaforum.com/forumdisplay.php?94-Fiat-500E-Charging ... http://www.evsolutions.com/turbocord FIAT 500e c:6.3h@L2-3kW,23h@L1 ... http://www.fiatusa.com/en/500e/ 2015 FIAT 500e ... http://www.carsdirect.com/fiat/500e 500e offered new in California or Oregon only From $29,256 Up to $2,500 in rebates ... http://www.autoblog.com/used-list/make1-Fiat/model1-500e/location-93650/fuel-Electric/range-12500 (examples: new 2015 500E $16,999 | used 2014 500E $15,518) ... http://fiat.niello.com/lease-specials.php?EnforceDesktop=true $99/mo 36mo-lease, 500e EV (Sacramento-CA) For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://insideevs.com/delaware-now-offers-2200-plug-electric-car-rebate-500-evse-incentive/ Delaware Now Offers $2,200 EV Rebate + $500 EVSE Incentive http://dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1086&ArticleID=148441 $1.50hr Dual L2 CT4000 EVSE @Marriott SpringHill Suites Prescott-AZ + EVLN: LG&3M NCM_li-ion patent deal, Audi's 311mi LG&Samsung pack {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Venturini-s-500e-Loueege-delivers-mountainous-Meals-on-Wheels-tp4677146.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)