A Geek Goes Flying

Pulled in at 56% SOC at 09:37. My 7%/hr guesstimate said recharging to 100% would take about 6.3 hours. The car predicted 5:50 to full. I got the notification from the Subaru app at 16:08 that the car was done charging; ~6.5 hours later. At 240V 24A (5.76 kW), 37.44 kWh transferred, the actual SOC increase approximately 31.9 kWh (44% of the 72.6 kWh battery pack), makes for about 85% efficiency, which is more or less spot on for what I’ve read I should see L2 charging. Everything seems to be working as expected. I seem to be stuck at 205 miles predicted range, though, which is more a function of my driving than anything else (I’ve had 222 miles range predicted as recently as October 14, 2025, at 11,998 miles on the odometer, so I don’t think battery degradation is at play here - especially since  Electric Vehicle Range Doesn’t Degrade Much Over Time Now (MotorTrend, Apr 27, 2026). (This Solterra has been in service about 1 year 9 months, and has logged 16,457 miles, comfortab...

Discussion I had with a friend recently... California gas prices have hit $7/gallon in some places , even as high as almost $8 at at least one station . Growing up in the 90s, gas in the midwest was generally under $1.00/gallon, often as low as $.79/gallon. Pretty much the only way I was able to stay flush delivering Chinese food, when a $5 tip was memorable. But I digress. Even in SoCal, gas dipped below $1.00/gallon as recently as as 1998 , only to surge to around $2.00/gallon by spr surge to around $2.00/gallon by spring of 2000 . Outside of like a global pandemic, they’ve never gone back down, really, though they’ve occasionally shot up much higher. June 2008 or so, adjusted for inflation , gas prices were in the $6-7 range in California . But why? I find this interesting; how little things have changed, despite multiple governors (including – ostensibly – a Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, from 2003–2011): California Attorney General Bill Lockyear investigated accusations of pri...

Iran war shows "era of fossil fuel security is over," says U.K. official, defying Trump calls for North Sea drilling : The era of fossil fuel security is over, and the era of clean energy security must come of age. — U.K. energy secretary Ed Miliband [ statement ] High Gas Prices Are Tempting Americans Back to EVs : Car-shopping platforms such as Cars.com and Edmunds say they have seen an uptick in EV interest as Americans adjust to life with gas over $4 a gallon, while auto executives say a renewed focus on fuel efficiency could mark the bottom of the EV meltdown. Edmunds said shopper consideration of EVs on its website has risen nearly to what it was before tax incentives ended last year. 🤞 Once you go EV, you don’t go back: Study finds 96% of owners plan to stay electric : ( EV Owner Satisfaction Climbs to New High Amid Sales Slump, JD Power Finds ): Nearly all EV owners would stick with electric for their next vehicle, a new study found. With improvements in battery tech...

I’m continuing to get solid numbers when it comes to recharging this thing. I’m still using the Tesla Gen 2 UMC on an L6-30 outlet (240V 30A; the adapter I got automatically throttles the Tesla charger to 24A, so it’s effectively a ~5.76 kW L2 charger). I guesstimate about 7% charge per hour for the 2024 Solterra (72.8 kWh battery, per the Monroney sticker). Plugging in today at 50%, the car reported 6 hours 30 minutes to 100% charge, ~7.7%/hr, for an actual charge rate of about 5.6 kW/hour, with ~3% lost to inefficiency - which seems low, but, eh, I’ll take it. That’s one data point. The other is that when I plugged in at 95% the other day (I had a busy weekend ahead), the car self-reported it would take 1 hour 20 minutes hours to top off. So in the mid-90% range, I can expect maybe, what, 3.8%/hr charge rate? A few days before that, I plugged in at 82%, and the guesstimate was 2 hours 50 minutes, so the rate had dropped to ~6.4%/hr. Before that, 47% SOC (53% to full) was expected to...

Solterra charging The cheap BLRENT charger lasted about a year. The cable started to separate from the charging box (I think just the insulation, but it was still unnerving to look at), and then one day I couldn't get the J-1772 plug to disconnect from the car charging port, it had become slightly separated and the push-button wasn’t providing enough leverage to disconnect the latch. Sigh. It was ... fine? ... while it lasted. (About the same price as a tank of gas for my old Jeep, so I can’t complain too loudly.) This time around I decided to go as inexpensive as possible while doing things “more right.” I also figured I’d future-proof a bit in the process. Folks recommended the Grizzl-E stuff (and the Mini looked like it could have worked, for $479), but I don’t see that it works with the L6-30 plug I have access to at the office. Primecom ships an L6-30 24A unit , but it too is $449. Instead, I went with a used Tesla Gen 2 Mobile Connector I found on Facebook Marketplace, fr...

For the Solterra, for my iPhone 16 Pro with the unreliable USB C port, I wanted something that would hold the phone visibly and securely  and charge it with a decent amount of juice, and ideally with cooling. (I was waiting for TackForm to bring the CR07 back, but, alas, support confirmed it’s been discontinued.) The components I currently have, which work together brilliantly: The vent hook module from this: Coolpow for MagSafe Car Mount【Windshield+Vent+Dash】Magnetic Phone Holder  (the phone holder component works well, too, but doesn’t charge). It has a 17 mm ball so interoperates well with other hardware. This Anker 67W 3-Port USB-C Car Charger (the ESR below comes with its own 12V charger, but I know and trust the Anker, which is a little more flexible[1]; if I didn’t already have the Anker, the adapter that comes with the ESR is I’m sure fine...) [Edit: If I had it to do over again, I’d probably go with the  167.5W Anker charger instead; it’s $38 but USB...

As the one year anniversary of leasing my 2024 Subaru Solterra Limited just passed, I’m now being prompted to renew the subscriptions I got for free for a year. What does each one cover, how much are they, and are they worth it? Safety Connect Trial service still active, “up to 10 years.” I’m not sure what exactly this entails, but the manual (p. 36) talks about “SUBARU SOLTERRA CONNECT subscribers,” and discusses how “the system is designed to send an emergency call to the response center, notifying them of the vehicle’s location (without needing to push the “SOS” button) and an agent will attempt to speak with the occupants to ascertain the level of emergency and assistance required.” This will be triggered by airbag deployment, a seatbelt pretensioner operates, or the vehicle has been involved in a severe rear-end collision. Drive Connect ($16/month) “Drive Connect empowers you to enhance your drive with increased command inside your vehicle. Through the voice-activated Intelligent...

I get how all of it works, but it still seems like a kind of magic... To arrive at a theme park (Disneyland in Anaheim), plug your EV in to a charging port, and, while in the park, be able to pull up real time charging stats. And knowing when I get back to the car, it’ll be fully recharged. (However slowly. The charging ports are 6.2 kW, shared, and in the morning of course everyone connected is charging. So it’s almost trickle-charging at like 3 kW. But I parked with 52% SOC and I’ll be here a while. It’s Disneyland, on May the 4th.) Solterra charging in the Mickey & Friends parking structure ChargePoint app charging stats “The future is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” – William Gibson, maybe . May the 4th be with you.

California now has more EV charging ports than gas nozzles . And now  Walmart's Plan To Blanket The US With The Walmart EV Charging Network . That has the potential to be huge. Nine months into using an EV as my only vehicle, including a couple of road trips, and, well, so far so good. Looks like things are getting better all the time. At least in this west coast blue state. Then there’s the hostility of places like North Carolina . Sigh. Solterra charging at Disneyland

Had company in from Texas, where they’re a wine club member of Graveyard . They wanted to visit the California location, which is in Paso Robles. It’s been a while since I’ve been up that far, and my Lab was craving a beach trip, and so I fired up A Better Route Planner ‡ and it seemed feasible. The original plan is below. But, you know ...  Anyway. Some errands and a lack of EV charging availability at the local public garage had us starting the trip at 89% charge, estimated range 175 miles. We left at 9:22 a.m., instead of 8:45 a.m., because Daylight Saving Time threw off my normal wakeup time and neither of us thought to set an alarm. (No big deal, I built in buffers.) Leg one was a straight shot up the 405 to the 101 to Hendry’s Beach, 98 miles, 1 hour 36 minutes expected travel time. We ended up arriving at 10:56, 1 hour 34 minutes later. Using adaptive cruise control in moving traffic, we averaged about 3.1 m/kWh for that leg, and arrived with 39% State of Charge (SOC) and 7...

On a 2024 Solterra Limited I did some light testing with a Klein ET920 meter  and think I have the capabilities figured out (I couldn’t find the specs anywhere). Solterra Limited USB-C port providing 5V⎓3A Testing with a ~50% charged iPhone 16 Pro, the Klein showed the Solterra delivering 5V and about 2A (and the Baseus PD 100W fast charging USB C cable with LED display cable was reporting 10W). Hooking up an M2 MacBook Air (also around 50% charged) saw 4.88V but drawing around 2.90A and the cable reported 13W. MacBook Air receiving 13W from the built-in USB-C port   So it seems like the Solterra USB ports are limited to 5V and up to 3A depending on what the device will pull. Meanwhile, I hooked up a $12 Anker 323 car charger (52.5 W) (model A2375; apparently, Anker has reused the 323 designation for multiple products), and ran its output through the Klein. The Anker’s output capabilities are listed as: USB-C: 5V⎓3A / 9V⎓3A / 12V⎓2.5A / 15V⎓2A / 20V⎓1.5A (30W Max) USB-A: 5V⎓...

This trip took a lot more than I thought it would... I got started a little later than I had originally planned, leaving West LA around 11:20 a.m., with a 98% state of charge (SOC) and 197 miles estimated range [with 3,821 on the odometer] . The plan for the trip, worked up using PlugShare, was to drive 126 miles to Rancho Mirage Marketplace, DCFC to 80% there, drive another 130 miles to Love’s Travel Stop Quartzsite, another charge to 80%, another 111 miles to Palm Valley Crossing in Goodyear, and then I’d be about 10 miles from my destination. Apple Maps was saying it was a 5 hour, 34 minute trip there (nonstop direct), and I figured, recharging to 80% twice en route would add a bit more than an hour to that trip time. After all, Subaru claims the 2024 Solterra’s “high-capacity lithium-ion battery charges from 10% to 80% as quickly as 35 minutes.” 🤣 ... 😡 By 1:20 p.m. I had made decent time, averaging 2.9 m/kWh with a fair amount of climbing (about 2500'), and using the cruise...

From Los Angeles to the Big Bear Mountain Resorts (Snow Summit specifically). Snow Summit winter trail map Bought parking in advance to park near the base, vs. having to get shuttled in from a remote lot. $40. Going up the mountain is about 110 miles and the Solterra is currently estimating it has a 192 mile range on 100% charge (outside temps in the high 50s, low 60s, °F). There are limited charging options in Big Bear, so I’m planning on charging to 80% at a DCFC before starting the climb. Using PlugShare, I found a municipal charging facility run by ChargePoint that is reported to have three (3) 62 kW CCS1 stations at $.35/kWh, which should match the Solterra more or less perfectly (I occasionally see 100 kW at higher speed charging stations, but that eventually settles into something around 50 kW).  That’s about 80 miles from my starting location – at 3.0 m/kWh for planning purposes, I should arrive with at least 50% state of charge (SOC) (I’m going to say 60%). Bumping back t...

This wasn’t a very typical weekend, but it wasn’t exactly unusual, so I thought I’d write it up to give a glimpse into what a real world weekend was like with a relatively limited range Solterra. There were other options than the ones I chose (e.g., I could have swung by the office to charge, or found a DCFC station), but these pieces fit together neatly enough. This is with a 2024 Subaru Solterra Limited, and I don’t currently have the option of charging at home. Friday I topped the car off at the office, charging to 100%, so, starting with a range of ~200 miles (temperature highs in the mid-60s, cooler at night, SoCal “winter”). That night, took my houseguests to dinner. Total driving about 11 miles. Didn’t record the State of Charge (“SOC”) because it didn’t matter, but it was probably down maybe 5%. ~190 miles remaining. Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Knott’s Berry Farm (where there are no chargers), probably doing 75+ mph to keep up with traffic. Call it 31 miles, a...