Author Archives: Rhonda Ashurst

THE EV’s From 4th Annual Solar Report for 2022

Our 30 solar panels (minus the trees shadowing them), the 2022 Ioniq 5, and the 2016 Nissan LEAF

This table shows the miles we drove in our EV’s (about 5.5 months in the Ioniq), the electricity we used and the miles per kWh. It’s interesting that we get about the same mileage on both our EV’s. If we had to pay for this electricity, it would have only cost $287 to power them. The next two tables show what it would have cost to drive the comparable gas cars–about $2100! The gas prices went up from an average of $4/gallon in 2021 to over $5/gallon in 2022. This really increased our savings in 2022, plus driving a second EV.

We were shocked when we asked our Nissan Tech how much it would have cost to do the 45,000 mile service on a Juke and he said an additional over $800! Ouch! We are definitely at the stage with our LEAF where there are big savings in the repairs and maintenance. The LEAF has become Scott’s ride (it’s amazing what he can fit in that car!). At over 45,000 miles and 7 years old, it still has a range of 85 miles when charged to 100%. This is only a loss of 25 miles or about 23% of what it could do originally. We are down to 7 out of 10 bars on our battery. The LEAF still has plenty of range for around town trips and has had no major mechanical or electrical issues.

The Ioniq is my ride and I LOVE her! Most awesome car I’ve ever driven. She is our road car, so we anticipate we will put more miles on her than our LEAF. So far road tripping has been comfortable and easy. We’ve been able to find chargers whenever we need them. We get two free years from Hyundai at Electrify America, so for now our charging on the road is free! The other thing we love about Electrify America is their power comes from renewable sources. It will be interesting to see how much we save driving the Ioniq for a whole year. We got her in July 2022, so this is only a little over 5 months of driving.

The Ioniq charging in our garage

EV’s powered by solar are one of the best ways to reduce both your transportation cost and carbon footprint. We recommend get solar and get EV’s–it’s worth it! If you don’t feel comfortable going all EV, plug-in hybrids are a next best choice, followed by regular hybrids. All these vehicles will save you money, while helping the environment. EV’s and plug-in hybrids assembled mostly in the USA are eligible for a $7,500 tax rebate when purchased new. Used EV’s can qualify for up to $4,000 in tax rebates as well. We like having one newer model and one older, used model. These cars cost $13,700 over their comparable gas cars. I estimate they will save us $3,500/year in gas and R&M. So we’d break even on the extra expense of buying the EV’s in 4 years.

Our New Hybrid Split Heat Pump System

After months of trying, we were finally able to get a Trane Heat Pump! Jimmy, Scott’s brother, is an HVAC guy and was able to get one for us wholesale.

Our Trane 5-ton Heat Pump
The proud brothers grinning after connecting the Trane heat pump to the high efficiency Bryant furnace

Our old A/C had been in use for 22 years and it was time to replace it. Jimmy and Scott had installed the Bryant high efficiency natural gas furnace in 2009 with the ability to support a heat pump, called a Hybrid Heat Split System. We were waiting until we had enough solar panels to power it, which happened in September 2021. Then we had to wait for the supply chain kinks to work out in order to secure a unit, which we got in winter 2022. Jimmy and Scott installed it in May and we used it for the first time in June 2022. As of this writing, we have been using the system for 8 months.

What is a Heat Pump?

A heat pump works differently than a conventional heat and A/C (HVAC) system. Instead of making hot air, it moves hot air–a brilliant idea that makes very efficient use of the electricity used to power the unit. It looks like this:

How a Heat Pump Works

In winter a heat pump moves warm air into your home and pulls cold air out; in summer the process reverses and warm air is pulled out while cool air moves in. The basic idea is that heat is attracted to cold, so the coolant in the system collects heat and then transfers it in or out depending on the season.

Then What is a Hybrid Heat Split System?

Unless you live in a moderate climate, a heat pump isn’t enough to provide all your heating needs. In the winter, it is usually backed up by a natural gas furnace in colder climates like ours here in Reno. We have set our thermostat to use the Bryant gas furnace when temperatures outside are lower than 40 degrees F. We tried setting it to 35 initially, but found out that was a very inefficient use of electricity after we used all our banked electricity and got a $200 power bill! It turns out that the heat pump has to work very hard to exract heat at temps below 40 and it uses too much electricity, so it’s best to use the gas furnace instead. NOTE: We have a ducted system which is less efficient than a ductless (mini-split) system. Next year we will add a mini-split to our bedroom and see how it does in the dead of winter.

When the outdoor temperature is under 40 degrees F, the Bryant gas furnace kicks in to heat our home.

During the warmer afternoons of winter and the shoulder seasons of fall and spring, the heat pump can take over heating our home.

When the outdoor temperature is above 40 degrees F, the Trane heat pump kicks into heat our home. In summer, the heat pump will reverse its process and cool our home.

What It Cost

Wholesale Cost of Trane 5-ton Heat Pump $5,317

Cost to run new line set, add new coil, and change refrigerant $2,000

Honeywell Thermostat $268

Trane Tech to Check System Function $284

Total Cost $7,869

Less Federal Tax Rebate: $200

Net Cost $7,659

Compare this to the cost of replacing our old A/C with a new one:

Cost of Average New A/C $2200

Cost to run new line set, add new coil, and change refrigerant $2,000

Total Cost: $4,200

Additional Cost of the Heat Pump: $7,659 – $4,200 = $3,459

NOTE: This system was purchased at wholesale by Scott’s brother and installed by them with some additional paid assistance. This significantly reduced our costs. We would have had to run new line set, add a new coil and change the refrigerant either way.

In general, these systems more than pay for themselves over the course of their lives because they reduce your overall energy bills. Our system is a little different because we produce our own electricity. For us, this system works in synergy with all our other systems to further reduce our use of natural gas and our carbon footprint. We will have to see if we generate enough electricity to cover the additional needs of our heat pumps, plus driving two electric cars. Stay tuned to find out!

How We Heat and Cool Our Home

Prior to 2013, our main source of heat was the Bryant high-efficiency gas furnace. Since then we’ve been tweaking our heating system by adding zone heating. Our first addition was a Lopi Ben Franklin style gas stove (below) that we added to our living room (also Scott’s office area). It keeps the front of our home toasty, really lovely for my morning practice and our evening time during chilly nights. It is very efficient and we keep it set at 70 when we are awake. During the day, this south-facing room is warmed by the sun (when it isn’t cloudy), so the Lopi gets a break. When we go to bed, we set both the main thermostat and the Lopi to 62. The front room where the Lopi is gets colder than the center of the house, so most nights it keeps the house warm enough that the main heating system doesn’t come on until about 5-5:30 a.m. In the mornings, the Lopi helps bring the temp up so the main heating system can shut down after taking the night chill off the house. This happens around 9:00 a.m. when we turn the main thermostat down to 65 and the Lopi and EdenPURE (see below) take over.

Lopi Natural Gas Stove

In 2019 we added an EdenPURE infrared, copper heater to our kitchen/dining room area (which is also my office area). When the temperature is below 40 degrees outside, we use this heater. Between it and the Lopi, the front part of the house where we hang out during the day is always around 70 degrees. We turn off the EdenPURE when the heat pump kicks on at 40 degrees during the warmer days in winter.

EdenPURE Electric Heater

In our bedroom, we have a Dyson electric heater for a little extra boost while reading in bed in the mornings and evenings. When we install the mini-split in our room this spring, we will see which one we end up using for heat. We also have a heated tile floor in the master bath which keeps our master bedroom warm (and our old cat). It also helps hold warmth in the bedroom when the Dyson isn’t on.

Between all these zone heaters, we are comfortable in the places where we spend time and our gas furnace gets a break. It usually only operates between 5-9 a.m. From 2019 to 2020, our gas use went down 22% just from adding electric zone heaters!

Our Bryant gas furnace starts to supplement the heat pump sometime in early November until late April. It works the hardest from late-November-February when it gets really cold. These are the months when we use the most natural gas to heat our home. At this point, its main function is to boost the temperature from 62-68 in the mornings. But it’s always available for backup to the heat pump and zone heaters if it gets really cold (near or below zero).

The Trane heat pump works well once the temp gets up to 40 degrees and above, which usually happens by afternoon in winter, except during the cold and stormy days. We’ve had a lot of those this winter, so it isn’t getting used much. During the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, the heat pump shines and is able to handle any heating or cooling needs we may have. Generally we don’t have to use much of anything from late April until about mid-June and then again from late September until about mid-October. In 2022, we used less electricity and gas from mid-September to mid-November using the heat pump, so it did it’s job. For example, in October we used 1/3 of the gas we used in 2021! (It was a very warm month, so that also contributed.) We are excited to see how the system performs this spring. Keep an eye out for a blog update this summer, after we’ve had the heat pump in place for a year.

To cool our home we use A/C from about mid-June-mid-September when temperatures are in the high 80’s to over 100 degrees F. We generally keep our thermostat at 77 degrees in the summer. We used to open our windows to enjoy the cool night air, but now the ring road close to our house has become a drag strip and we can’t sleep with the windows open anymore. Truly a bummer! This summer the new heat pump A/C kept us cool and was quieter than the old system. Comparing the electricity use this summer with last summer, the new sysem uses about the same amount, which is to be expected because it uses the same technology as the old A/C to cool. Scott has decided he would like our bedroom to be cooler in the hot summer nights, so this year we will add a mini-split heat pump to our bedroom, then we can keep the thermostat for the rest of the house set to 82 degrees during the night. This should save some electricity in the summer.

NOTE: We are lucky to have good insulation and efficient double-paned windows in our home, which helps us keep the heat and cool in. We also have an attic fan that helps to remove heat from our attic area and keep the house cooler in the summer.

Thinking About Your Own System?

If your old A/C condenser needs replacing, a heat pump is worth considering if you have solar panels to provide the electricity. It’s best to get the solar panels first, since electricity is more expensive than natural gas and most of our electrical grids are powered by fossil fuels anyhow. If you live in a moderate climate where temps rarely fall below 40 degrees, you may be able to use just the heat pump. If you live in a colder climate like we do, you will need either a hybrid system like ours or you can install a ground source heat pump. With this system the heat comes from the earth, so it is more consistent and really saves electricity. If you are building a home or have some acreage, this may be the system for you. If you have a smaller home with an open floor plan, a mini-split system may be the way to go. Mini-splits are more efficient at creating heat than our ducted system and some of them with a hyper mode can create heat at temperatures well below freezing. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes tax credits to help defray the costs of adding these systems (and solar panels) to your home. We hope to be able to save 30% on the purchase and installation of our mini-split thanks to this new legislation!

Road Trip to La Selva

Recently we took a road trip to La Selva Beach, CA to see my aunt and uncle. It was our first longer trip and we wondered how it would go–could we find chargers available when we needed them; how far could we go really; and most importantly, would we make it to their house in time for happy hour? We charged the car to 100% before we left and she showed we had 260 miles of range. It’s good to remember that this assumes driving the car to 0%, which you do not want to do! It also assumes you are going to be driving the way you always drive. In my case that is a mix of highway and in town. In an EV you get better mileage with in town driving, because of the regenerative braking. When you’re on the road, it’s pure highway miles and that takes more juice. To protect an EV’s battery, you shouldn’t take it below 10% and we feel most comfortable not going below 15%.

We traveled about 300 miles each way and went to dinner one night, covering a total of 617 miles. We discovered the Ioniq can go further than we can before we want to stop! The longest we could stand being in the car was about 150 miles. The Ioniq is very comfortable and easy to drive with adaptive cruise control and driver assist–the issue is we get the antsies and have to get out to move! She can go about 175 miles before we start to get range anxiety.

Luckily, in California there’s an Electrify America at regular intervals on the Interstates. We explored some new ones on this trip, stopping at Rocklin on I-80 and Patterson on I-5 on the way down and Davis and Auburn on I-80 on the way home. Rocklin is in a mall parking lot near a Panera and Target, a little difficult to get into and the busiest. Patterson is at a Walmart and easy to access, no one there. We walked in some cute neighborhoods while she charged. Davis is at a Bank of America and in the middle of downtown and a food mecca! We had an amazing lunch. Auburn is at a Motel 6 and we didn’t need much to make it home from there. These stops worked well for us and kept us easily within our range comfort zone. We never went below 29%. So far we have never had a problem finding a charger at an Electrify America. It helps that the app shows you what chargers are available.

We learned that charging goes a lot faster when your battery is lower. Being curious about why, we Googled it while we waited. Turns out that batteries fill up like stadiums. It works like this: when the battery (stadium) is more empty, energy (people) can find a place faster. As the battery (stadium) fills, it takes longer to find a place to land. Who knew? If you want to get the advertised 20%-80% charge in 20 minutes, you need to be at 20% when you start. So it works better to let your battery get lower before you charge. We also learned that there isn’t a lot of difference between a 150 kW and 350 kW charger in the Ioniq. Her max draw is 220 kW, so either charger works, with a 350 being slightly faster. Your charging time can also be impacted by sharing a charger with another car and if the outside temperature is below 40 degrees.

Once we reached my aunt and uncle’s, we plugged in with the Level 1 (110 volt) charger that comes with the car (easily stored in the back under the cargo area). They have a handy outlet at the back of the garage, so we ran the cable under the garage door and plugged it in. It takes a long time to charge to 100% on a Level 1, about a day and a half from 54%. But we stayed for 4 days, so that was easy enough to do.

Both ways took about 7 hours with stops. The way there was longer in distance and we had some detours due to the flooding from the storms. But we did make it in time for happy hour! The way home was shorter, but we made an extra stop to visit Scott’s parents’ graves in Dixon, CA. We also had about an hour lunch stop at Davis.

What do you do when you’re charging? I notice most people seem to be checking emails and texts on their phones. We do that too. Sometimes we check out each others cars, which is really fun! Most of the time, we also use a bathroom in one of the nearby establishments. On the way we ate lunch in the car at Rocklin. We also like to walk when there’s an opportunity, like we did in Patterson. In Davis, we ate a great lunch at Cafe Bernardo. The 12 minutes we spent in Auburn to top up before heading home wasn’t much longer than a gas stop, so we just checked email and texts.

Comparing the Ioniq to the Tucson

So what would have happened if we had taken the Tucson, the Ioniq’s comparable gas car, instead?

Right now we are lucky. We have two years of free charging on the Electrify America network. So taking the Ioniq cost us $0. But what would we have had to pay? We used 142 kW of electricity which would have cost $0.43/kW or $61.

The Tucson gets 26 mpg on the highway. Dividing that into 617 miles, we would have used 24 gallons of gas. Checking gas prices along the way, they averaged $4.25/gallon. So the Tucson would have cost $102.

The difference is about $40 or 40% less to drive the Ioniq vs. the Tucson. If gas prices were at the $6.00 level they were at last time we did this trip, it would have cost $144, which is $83 or about 58% more.

At 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon for 24 gallons of gas, we saved 480 pounds of CO2 from entering our atmosphere by driving the EV. The Tucson gets about the same gas mileage as our old Toyota Highlander Hybrid (29 mpg), so it would have been about the same savings had we been driving it. We are glad we made the change and are loving our Ioniq 5!

Sport Mode in the Ioniq

If you think the normal mode packs a punch, try out this baby! Ok, I’m going to confess one of my guilty pleasures: pulling up to a muscle car at a light, shifting to Sport Mode and blowing them away when the light turns green. Then I listen to their engine and transmission grind while they try to catch up. I take my foot off the accelerator which immediately brakes and let them fly by while I wave and smile. Too much fun! It is also fun to give your friends a thrill. I look for a safe, stretch of road, tell them to hang on and punch it. What I have learned is that you probably don’t want to do this with some of your older friends, unless they are like my 87-year-old mom who loves it!

Caution: Have fun out there, but be careful and mindful of where you are and what’s around you when you play with this mode (and who you’re with).

Stats: The Ioniq 5 has been tested against a Tesla Model Y and can reach 0-60 in 4.86 seconds in normal mode and 4.75 in sport mode. Wanna see how it turned out? Here’s the scoop: https://insideevs.com/news/574490/tesla-modely-hyundai-ioniq5-acceleration-compared/.

Contentment

This was a blog I wrote for Reno Friends Meeting (https://www.renofriends.org/) for the month of January.

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu

Lately I’ve been reflecting on contentment, curious about why I have been feeling increasingly content. January is usually when we resolve to change for the better, not a time to be content. I think what has changed for me this year is that I’m slowly dropping a lifelong habit of perfectionism; perfectionism and contentment do not make good bedfellows. In my practices of Qigong, Tai Chi, yoga and meditation, I’ve been focusing on being present and in complete acceptance with what is happening in the moment, what I can and cannot do. Perhaps after many years of practice, something is sinking in more deeply. Maybe it is part of aging and accepting of reality. Probably, it’s a combination of practices and life experience. There are blessings in getting older!

I’ve stopped trying to always be and do more. I recall watching a sci-fi film a few years back called “Cloud Atlas”. In this dystopian film, more is the disease that brings down civilization. Our culture encourages us to be dissatisfied, to do more, be more, buy more, promising that “more” will make us happy and loveable. I think if we keep following this path, we could end up in a Cloud Atlas future. What is enough?

I was inspired to delve more deeply into contentment by doing some reading on what various spiritual paths have to say. The Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu is filled with poems describing “The Way” or “The Tao”. It is one of my favorite spiritual texts to read before I settle into meditation. Lao Tzu often speaks of being content and accepting reality as it is. I chose the lead quote from this text. My favorite translation is by Stephen Mitchell.

Yoga from the Hindu tradition has many practices, like Santosha, to help one embody contentment, both on the mat and in the world. Santosha is about cultivating a feeling of contentment that is not dependent on the external world. Here is a beautiful article on Santosha: https://www.awakeningself.com/writing/making-peace-with-contentment-santosha/.

The Bible is filled with many references to contentment, like this quote: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Phillippians 4:11-12. This blog post is filled with Bible quotes on contentment: https://www.biblelyfe.com/blog/bible-verses-about-contentment.

Buddha was another big proponent of contentment. He said: Contentment is the greatest wealth. Buddha believed that resisting reality caused suffering and that only by accepting our experience in each moment could we find peace. Buddhism is actually a very sophisticated mind re-training system. Here is a good article/video on contentment by Phakchok Rinpoche: https://samyeinstitute.org/paths/holistic-living/contentment-and-mind/.

Islam also promotes contentment, like this quote from Imam Ali (a): There is no treasure richer than contentment (MH, H.16850). Here is a quick read on contentment from the Islamic perspective: https://academyofislam.com/reflection-no-325-on-q-20131-contentment/.

Even western therapists blog on the virtues of contentment: https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/the-essence-of-contentment-how-acceptance-promotes-happiness-0911194.

As I have explored these writings, it also occurred to me that contentment is a fruit of many of our Quaker testimonies. The felt experience of Simplicity is contentment. When we are content, we experience inner Peace. Integrity-telling the truth and living in alignment with our values-leads to contentment. Being part of a Community and loving and accepting ourselves and each other as we are, fosters contentment. When we see ourselves as Equal to others, neither better nor less than, we are content. Good Stewardship encourages us to live simply, be content with what we have, and tend to the Earth.

Looking back, I realize I’ve been soaking in teachings and doing practices that lead to contentment for a long time. I wonder why it has taken me so long to feel content? I suspect it goes back to perfectionism, to never feeling I’ve done enough or am enough. I am grateful to our dear Swami who shared this message during the Silence recently: God loves you just as you are. If you cannot love yourself as you are, then you know where your work is. That message hit me right in the heart. What if our biggest work is to love ourselves just as we are? This doesn’t mean that we become lazy and complacent. Rather, when we love ourselves and others as we are, we can let love lead us in our responses to unskillfulness, suffering and injustice. We can be content just as we are and trust we will be guided to the next right step. We are all learning as we go, and we are doing the best we can given where we are in the moment.

Queries:

What does contentment mean to you?

How do you foster contentment in your life?

When do you feel discontent?

If you feel discontent, how do you restore contentment?

How is contentment related to gratitude?

Playing with Snow Mode in the Ioniq

We finally got enough snow to try it out! About four inches fell earlier this week on top of a sheet of ice. After breakfast, I got in the Ioniq, pushed the button for Snow Mode and off we went! She went right over the snow bank left by the plow at the bottom of our driveway–always the first test. Then I played around on the packed snow with black ice underneath and noticed that she stayed steady and straight even in a skid. The anti-lock braking worked well and pretty quickly brought me to a stop (I was on a flat street). Then I decided to cut up a bit in the 6-8 inches of snow bank left by the plow along our street after they plowed one lane for driving. I was impressed with the Ioniq’s ability to drive right through this level of snow without wavering. The heavy battery sits evenly across the chassis and the AWD powers all four wheels evenly, giving me a solid, unstoppable driving experience. I was impressed. As I drove the changing conditions throughout the day, I felt completely comfortable and confident.

I compared notes with Scott, who had recently been to Seattle to visit his sister and bake Christmas cookies. He landed in the middle of a snowstorm. His sister saw my Ioniq when I bought it in July and decided to get one of her own. It had arrived just before Scott’s visit. Sheila lives on a steep hill that was covered in ice and snow. Usually a treacherous drive that lands many a car against the curb at the bottom of the cul de sac, they found the Ioniq had no trouble navigating it. Sheila texted me, “I LOVE my car!” I totally agree! No more worries about winter driving. This is another great benefit of EV’s with some clearance and AWD–they are awesome in the snow!

Update January 10th

Last week we had a big storm that dumped rain on top of snow and created ice boulders and banks in and alongside the road. Some of them were pretty big. At one point I had to drive over a couple of ice boulders to merge onto another road and I heard them scrape the bottom of the car. I even dragged one for a few yards before it broke free. I winced before I remembered the bottom of the Ioniq is a smooth metal plate–no pipes, mufflers, oil pan to worry about! This is another great benefit of an EV. After that I confidently plowed over everything in my path and the Ioniq never wavered. I was able to get my mom all the things she needed and check on her, thank goodness!

Goodbye to Pearl

Last summer we sold our beloved little teardrop. After seven years of fun with her, we noticed that the last couple of years we were using her rarely if at all. This was partly due to the difficulty getting camping spots after Covid came along and everyone decided to get an RV. Then we had the summer of the nonstop wildfires in 2021 where the forests were mostly closed. We also realized that we were favoring renting small cabins, condos or townhomes in out-of-the-way spots and venturing out from there. Dealing with the small space in Pearl, especially in inclement weather became a challenge and with our caregiving responsibilities, we didn’t have the flexibility to reschedule when weather or smoke required.

We sold her to a couple looking to downsize from their large RV. We found this particularly delightful, since we were often tucked in between behemoth RV’s when we stayed in RV parks! They said it had become too much work to set up and they wanted the freedom to drop the RV and take their vehicle off for day trips. We hope they enjoy her as much as we did.

We have made so many wonderful memories in her, even though we were ready to let go, I confessed I shed a few tears. Pearl, you will be missed.

Going All EV

We finally did it! After years of dreaming about driving zero emission vehicles, we traded in our Toyota Highlander, sold our little teardrop trailer and bought a 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5. Here she is…

We bought her in July, so we’ve had her for 4 months now and what fun it has been! At first we thought Scott would drive her, since he was driving the Highlander and that’s what we traded in. Quickly he decided that he’d rather drive the Nissan LEAF. He pointed out that his father had passed in June and so he wasn’t driving as much, but I was driving more to take my mother to appointments and check in on her, so I should drive the Ioniq. I was so thrilled! I haven’t been this in love with a car since my Chevy Malibu when I was 16.

She is a dream to drive–supersonic fast, responsive, intelligent, comfortable, with a great Bose sound system and a huge panoramic glass roof that has a cool automatic shade if you need it. Our Limited is also an AWD vehicle with motors on the front and rear axles and a high capacity 77 kWh battery. The design of this car is very thoughtful with a futuristic-retro flair I appreciate. For example, the whole cabin is designed to feel like a living room on wheels. Hyundai used the Palisade wheel base, which is their longest SUV, so there’s a ton of leg room in the back seats and they recline. They don’t go as far back as the front seats, which can go all the way to zero gravity! My seat even has a leg rest that goes up, like a recliner! It’s super comfy for when you want to rest while charging on the road. You can turn on your favorite tunes, kick back and stare out the pano roof.

The AWD Ioniq has a range of 256 miles and we charge her in our garage off our solar panels. I often drive for about a week around Reno before needing to charge. We have done several road trips with her and been impressed with her comfort and the ability to get charges when we need them. We can get to many of the local places we like and back home on one charge, like Lake Tahoe, Graeagle and Minden/Gardnerville. On longer road trips using freeways, we can comfortably go about 175 miles before needing a charge, leaving 15% in the battery (less than this gives us range anxiety). What we’ve noticed is our range is less than hers! At about 150 miles, we want to stop, stretch our legs and rest anyway. Hyundai gives 2 years of free charging on Electrify America and so far we’ve been impressed by these stations and their rate of charge. There are a number of them along major interstate highways. The Ioniq can handle a 220 kW charge and is supposed to be able to go from 20-80% in 20 minutes. We have found it takes more like 25-30 minutes, depending on how low the battery is, the temperature, and how many other cars are using the chargers. For example, when two cars are charging at a 350 kW charger, the charge is split or balanced between the two cars. To maximize battery life, we try to keep ours charged between 20-80% most of the time, but before road trips we will top her up to 100%. We try to avoid draining the battery below 10%, and prefer to stop at 15% or higher. While it takes a little more planning to do a road trip in an EV, we haven’t found that it has changed our style much at all and we are loving note paying for gas right now! Most Electrify America chargers are near restaurants and shopping centers, so you can eat, shop and use the bathroom.

Charging in our garage off the solar panel inverter

More Design Features

The dash has two side-by-side screens that are a nice size. The left screen gives you all your driving information like speed, charge left in the battery and estimated miles remaining, whether you are using energy or generating it, if there are other vehicles around you, and a neat feature that shows your blind spot when you signal a lane change. It also shows you the adaptive cruise control and lane keeping features that are active while driving. The right screen is for infotainment and navigation. You can see EV status, control EV features like charging, set navigation points, access the map, change settings, adjust the climate (heat, A/C, heated seats and steering wheel), access Apple CarPlay, see what music or radio stations are playing, and put the car in Valet Mode which locks the screen so no one can access your personal information.

Did I mention she also holds my Bubba drinking bottle perfectly?
The console slides back and forth, so you can have it where you want it or you can slide out the opposite door if you needed to.

On the retro side, Hyundai still gives you buttons for standard features both on the dash under the screens and also on the steering wheel. All the cruise control is handled on the steering wheel, which includes adaptive features like lane keeping and adjusting your speed to the vehicle in front of you. I tested it out and she will drive herself with your hands lightly on the steering wheel most of the time while in this mode. She can get confused if the lines on the road are not clear and she can’t quite handle a sharp curve in the road. She is teaching me to be a better driver, because she will beep at me if I change lanes without signaling or am too close to another car. She’ll also alert me if I’m coming up too fast on another vehicle or if one is approaching from behind quickly. I must say I find her care of us to be very comforting!

Speaking of that, she has awesome parking cameras that give you a 360-degree view, and you can spin it in the display to see all sides of the car before turning her off! I’m finding this an incredibly helpful feature, especially for tight places and parallel parking. She does have the ability to park herself, but it is slow with lots of adjustments. One nice feature, if you end up in a tight parking space, is the ability to have her drive forwards or backwards by the push of a button on the FOB. She is sensitive about getting too close to things and has three levels of alarms–slow beep, fast beep, continuous beep–to let you know how she’s feeling. Sometimes, she’s way more sensitive about her space than I am. I must admit that I do use her complaints to help me park–when she goes into that continuous beep I know I’m far enough into our garage. In my mom’s, I can stop once the fast beep starts. So far I haven’t hit anything. Once she thought I was going to run my neighbor over, who was standing behind her and a little to the side, so she stopped dead in her tracks and wouldn’t move! I had to ask my neighbor to step back a bit :-).

The Ioniq 5 has the ability to connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth or a USB cable and is Apple CarPlay enabled. I usually rest my iPhone on the charging pad in the console or leave it in my purse. I can activate Siri by pressing a button on the steering wheel and then ask her to text, call or play my music. The sound system is awesome!

Another feature I really like is the heads up display at eye level in the windshield. It shows my speed, the current speed limit and driving directions given by the navigation system. The navigation system also speaks softly to me through the driver side speaker. Between the two, I don’t have to take my eyes off the road to check where I’m headed next.

I’m also enjoying Bluelink, which connects me to the Ioniq via satellite. I can check the car’s status, turn on climate control, locate the vehicle, control valet mode, check the vehicle health and schedule maintenance appointments. It also automatically updates my maps and other vehicle systems.

One of the big selling points of the Ioniq for us was its large cargo area. You can fold down the rear seats and you have an incredible amount of space back there, plus the auto-lift rear hatch is very nice. Here’s a photo of us helping my aunt and uncle move out of their Truckee house. We fit so much in that they were able to take the rest in their vehicle. There is ample space for us to take half our house to vacation rentals, which is a habit of ours…

We decided to go with the Limited trim so we could have the nice leather seats which are fully adjustable in front. Our car came with white and so far I’m liking it and not finding it hard to keep clean with a little Simple Green. We also wanted the nice pano roof, the driving and parking assistance and the really cool wheels! The other feature we love is the 110-volt plug in the back seat that draws power off the battery without needing an adaptor. Check out this video of plugging our garage frig into it in case of a power outage:

We also have an inverter for our LEAF so that we can run things off her battery as well. Between the two cars we have over 100 kWh of storage, the equivalent of 8 Tesla Powerwalls. A Powerwall costs $11,500. Eight Powerwalls would cost more than both of our vehicles combined! Their capacity can hold us for several days in the event of a long power outage, which is very rare in our area.

Did you see the cool blue lighting in that video? It’s around the speakers and in the armrests. It creates beautiful interior lighting at night. By the way, the mirror in the video is folded in, which is a nice feature for tucking into our garage. The door handles also pop out when you need to get in the car, but pull in flush for good aerodynamics while driving.

Buying the Ioniq 5

That was quite the experience! I knew I wanted this car when I watched YouTube videos of the test drives and listened to the comparisons with other EV’s. I was sold when it swept the World Car Awards this year, winning Car of the Year, EV of the Year and Design of the Year. It also won Car and Driver’s EV of the year, Consumer Guides Best Buy and the Insurance Institute’s top safety award for crash integrity. Needless to say, that also made it a hot item and difficult to get.

One day, looking at Hyundai’s inventory, I saw that a white Limited was scheduled for delivery in Reno, but was not yet claimed. I knew that was the color and trim I wanted. On a whim, I called and asked about it. Ryan told me it was available, but if I wanted it, I needed to act quickly. I told him I at least wanted to see one before I bought it unseen. He said he had one on the lot that was still in plastic and we could sit in it and have a look, but we couldn’t drive it, since it already belonged to someone. Scott and I went down and had a look. We both decided it was definitely a great car. Ryan said we needed to start the paperwork that day if we wanted it. I had a really busy day, so Ryan told me we could do it all over the phone and he’d bring the paperwork by for me to sign later that afternoon at our house. I didn’t believe he could do that, but he did! He said the car would probably come in 2 weeks, but he never knew for sure when a truck would pull up. He called me later in the afternoon and said, “You aren’t going to believe this, but your car just arrived.” I was blown away! We picked it up the next day. I still cannot believe how lucky we got. I can’t say enough good things about Ryan and the crew over at Reno Hyundai, they really bent over backwards to make this deal work, including letting us “borrow” our Highlander for an additional two weeks to tow a trailer of larger furniture for my aunt and uncle to California. They took it as a trade-in and then put Loaner plates on it and let us keep it until we were done with it–unbelievable! He also took time to show us the features of the car and set it up with our iPhones.

Hyundai offers one of the best warranties of any major manufacturer: 5 years/60,000 miles new vehicle, bumper to bumper and 10 years/100,000 miles on the powertrain/battery. They also provide 3 years of complimentary maintenance and 5 years of complimentary road assistance. Impressive!

The Numbers

Ok, so you all want to know what this costs. The MSRP on the Limited Ioniq 5 is $57,500, which in my mind is a bargain when I considered all that was included and the $7,500 federal tax rebate, which brought it down to $50,000. They also gave us $39,000 for the Highlander. Typically there are about 10% of additional fees and taxes (in NV) added on to the purchase.

I also asked Ryan which of Hyundai’s gas cars was the most comparable to the Ioniq and he told me the Tucson, which has an MSRP of $39,500. I wanted to do a comparison for this blog of what it would cost to own the ICE vs. the EV and I will use these numbers in my annual solar blogs to see how long the savings of driving the EV will take to make up the price difference. With these gas prices, I’m guessing not long! Plus EVs are 50-65% cheaper to maintain over their lives than ICEs.

2022 Ioniq 5

MSRP $57,500

Plus 10% fees and taxes $5,750

Less Federal Tax Rebate $7,500

Total Cost: $55,750

2022 Tucson Limited

MSRP $39,500

Plus 10% fees and taxes $3,950

Total Cost: $35,550

Difference Between EV and ICE $20,200

NOTE: Sadly, the new Inflation Reduction Act removed the tax credit for the Ioniq 5 as of August 17th because final assembly is still in South Korea. Hyundai has broken ground on a new plant in Georgia and hopes to begin production of 300,000 vehicles per year in 2025. At that point, the $7,500 rebate will be reinstated.

Summing it Up

It’s been fun to reflect on 4 months of going all EV and share the adventure with you. One thing I notice is we no longer struggle with who is going to get to drive the EV today, so we could save on gas. Overall the experience has been a joy and I must say I LOVE THIS CAR! We have no regrets about our decision, in fact, it feels great to know that we are finally driving zero emission vehicles which are mostly powered by our solar panels. A long-time dream of ours has finally come true!

Shedding the Cloak of Over-Responsibility

This was a blog I wrote for Reno Friends Meeting (https://www.renofriends.org/) for the month of October.

Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.”  E. B. White

I can’t recall when my mission to save the world and others began or how I became overly responsible. It’s been such a part of me for so long I didn’t realize what a toll it was taking until I got older. This cloak of over-responsibility is heavy. It slows my steps, saps my life energy and joy. It keeps me so busy; I don’t have time to slow down, rest and savor life.

I suspect I’m not the only Friend who struggles with this. For those of you who think you might be overly responsible too, here’s a good read on the topic:

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/how-to-stop-feeling-overly-responsible/

I’ve been working on shedding my cloak of over-responsibility for some time now. I’m getting better at recognizing when I’m taking on something beyond my Light, overstepping my bounds, taking responsibility for another or something totally out of my control. I feel a heaviness on my shoulders and in my heart. I get tense, pushy, judgmental.

As the above, article points out, responsibilities are a normal part of adult life and being responsible is not the problem. Normal responsibilities include doing our jobs well, being there for our loved ones, taking care of our homes and yards, paying our bills, etc. Over-responsibilities are when we take on what isn’t ours to do like fixing others’ feelings or mistakes, trying to keep peace between people who enjoy conflict and drama, taking on other’s work or more than our fair share of a project, etc. We can get so caught up working on an endless To Do List, that we don’t take time to slow down, enjoy life and rest.

These days, I’m learning to slow down and savor life, to take time for rest and reflection. I’m experimenting with doing this while I’m working on a task. For example, I’ll take a break from weeding to commune with the plants I’m tending, to ask what they need from me, to thank them for their gifts and enjoy their beauty. When I take breaks like this, I have more stamina and fewer injuries, along with more joy. How I do my works is changing and it’s still getting done. I always thought I had to be a rigid taskmaster to get everything done. Now I don’t worry when I don’t get to everything on the list. It’ll be there for me tomorrow. I use the Simplicity testimony and ask myself if I’m taking on things beyond my Light and over-complicating my day. Am I walking with Spirit and listening to what is truly needed today?

My cloak of over-responsibility still hangs in my inner closet, and occasionally I deliberately put it on and tackle a challenge I feel led to accept. I then look for ways to engage others in a worthy cause, so we can share the load. Sometimes that doesn’t work, and I must lay it down. I’m getting better at recognizing and accepting that before I’m completely fried. Sometimes the cloak ends up on my shoulders and I don’t know how it got there! Old patterns take a long time to change. It’s good to remember that and be gentle with ourselves. It seems to me the best thing we can do is be in the moment and respond with love to what Life brings us. Can we trust that is enough?

Queries:

How do I live a compassionate life and be a good steward without becoming obsessive, moralistic, judgmental, and pushy about my yearning to save or improve?

What is the next right thing to do that is loving towards myself, others and the Whole?

What can I let go of that isn’t mine to do, carry, think about?

Am I taking time to care for myself and tend my own Light? To savor Life?

Detached Compassion

This is a blog I wrote for Reno Friends that I wanted to share about the practice of “detached compassion”.

What does that mean? Doesn’t being compassionate involve passionate caring about others? I began exploring this concept while I was in the throes of burnout. After years as a counselor, I wasn’t sure I could go on caring so much for others and neglecting myself. I was suffering from compassion fatigue, which is a common problem in helping professions.

I studied professional literature which recommended taking time for self-care and setting better boundaries. But often I would prioritize the suffering of clients and friends over my own needs. I didn’t feel right about doing something good for myself or enjoying life while others were suffering. It seemed selfish and I wasn’t supposed to be selfish.

I started seeing a therapist who encouraged me to be “self-full”. “You will be more effective if you give from a full bucket,” she told me. While this made sense, I still wavered in my resolve, regularly dropping my own plans to help someone in need.

I read books on gender dynamics and realized that, as a woman, I was culturally programmed to care for others above myself. Observing my family, I could clearly see where these messages had come from. This awareness helped me understand the emotional hooks which triggered my automatic responses.

I also read several Buddhist books that introduced me to the idea of detached compassion, which was new to me. Compassion is a central tenet of Buddhism, but it is not connected to martyrdom. Compassion for all living beings, including oneself, is a goal of Buddhist practice. So is detachment, which is not being attached to the passing forms and states of human existence. In other words, detachment is accepting where we are and what is happening in each moment as we move through life.

So how does one detach while being compassionate? The basic idea is to detach from the outcome, while allowing our hearts to guide us in compassionate action. This was a liberating concept I’d never considered! I realized I was very attached to the outcome of my helping and giving. I wanted clients to reach their goals, and my professional evaluations focused on this. I wanted friends and family to be happy. I wanted the world to be just and peaceful. I couldn’t rest until those outcomes were achieved, which meant I never rested.

It also meant I often took more responsibility for others and their choices than was my place. Detached compassion means we let others make their own choices and deal with their own outcomes, while still caring deeply about them. We may have to make choices in response, like setting boundaries and detaching from toxic or abusive relationships. I remind myself that others have a right to learn as they go, just like me, and while I like to help, it’s their life. I can be more helpful when I’m centered in myself and not caught up in their emotions and crises. It’s also helpful to maintain awareness that all things pass.

In my explorations on the topic of detached compassion, I have found the writings of the Dalai Lama to be particularly helpful. What I learned from him is that life is full of suffering, but it is also full of joy. He has witnessed terrible suffering, especially of his own people when China invaded Tibet. He lives in exile, and he is full of joy. How is that possible? He can detach emotionally from suffering while being compassionately present with an open heart, allowing his words and actions to be guided in each moment. His intention is to alleviate suffering; however, he is not attached to how or when this will happen. In this way, he opens space around suffering with his acceptance, so its hold can be loosened. In this spacious awareness, new possibilities arise. He also has a great sense of humor and strong faith in others.

As I absorbed the Buddhist perspectives, the possibility of being at peace with suffering arose. I learned it was my resistance to the fact of suffering which was causing my distress and leading to burnout. I began to practice being with the suffering of myself and others, while keeping my heart open. That required getting out of my head, which is my favorite place to hang out! I learned about the dance that happens between heart and head. I discovered that leading with my heart while letting go of my head’s agenda and judgments was a more skillful and joyful way to be with others. Then my head can be in service to my heart instead of the other way around.

I am still working with these lessons every day. I often forget what I learned and fall back into old patterns. When I catch myself getting hooked again into outcomes, I take a deep breath and remind myself to let go, open my heart and simply be with what is in the moment. I am a living creative process, as is everyone else. I can be deeply compassionate towards suffering and trust the process. I have learned that suffering often leads to joy given the spaciousness of acceptance and time.