Date sent:        Fri, 6 Dec 1996 18:26:02 -0800 (PST)
From:             Jean Kodama 
To:               eesolar@aol.com
Subject:          More EV1 comments
Copies to:        jkodama@alumni.caltech.edu, kodama@alumni.caltech.edu

Hi Bob,

Dave encouraged me to send my comments to you.  Basically I agree with
everything he says (well, maybe having two cables on the charger for a
two-car family IS a bit much :-)), but here are a few more comments:

- It really bugs me that they've made the car emulate an automatic
  transmission car.  It's an ELECTRIC vehicle, for chrissake!  They should
  at least have some software options available, since they don't ANY
  hardware options.

- I wish they had an option to display ammeter readings, like Dave says you
  have on your vehicle.  That would be much more useful than the display
  they have now, which tries to predict how many more miles you can drive
  on the current charge if you continue driving the way you've been driving
  recently.  Believe it or not, that last sentence is less confusing than
  the EV1 specialist's explanation of the stupid thing.

- The indicators are strung along the bottom of the windshield and the
  lettering is "etched" so as to be readable when lights behind them turn
  on.  However, during the day the sunlight makes the "etching" stand out,
  so it's confusing as to which indicators are really on or not.

- The trunk space is narrow and deep and not very high.  So while I'm sure
  my kendo shinai (sticks) will fit no problem, I'm not sure about my
  armor bag - it might have to be laid flat.  Well, I probably won't be
  driving the EV1 to kendo anyway.

- The public chargers will be free of charge, at least for the near term.
  This will work out great for us!  The Starbuck's near us is supposed to
  be putting one in, and if they put it close to the store it will be a
  big bonus since parking is impossible in that mall.

- The 120V charger story sounds pretty hokey (supposedly if you use it
  more than 3 days in a row it damages the batteries).  We need to find
  out more about this.

- Yesterday I went to a seminar at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, and
  I found out when I got there that only valet parking was available.  I
  hope it's easy to change the EV1 access code to something temporary and
  then change it back.  Actually, the thought of leaving the EV1 with a
  valet makes me cringe...

- Dave is less susceptible to motion sickness than I am, but I definitely
  felt like I was riding with someone who was just learning to drive and
  was being too heavy on both the acceleration and deceleration (this was
  when the EV1 specialist was driving, and he's been doing it a long
  time!).  It will take practice to drive smoothly, much more so than with
  a normal gas car, especially with the engine braking mode enabled.

- We're pretty frustrated that we don't have an EV1 yet.  We signed up
  weeks ago and feel we haven't gotten the best service or even the most
  truthful service from the EV1 guy (maybe it's because he's GM, not
  Saturn?).  Maybe he's overworked, but if so he needs to get more help!

- The latest on the charger story is the electrical contractor will be in
  Monday morning at 9am.  The saga continues...

Jean