First, your energy sources. These cars come with a charging system called "Trickle" charging - you can plug it into your 120v outlet in your house. Of course, it's called "Trickle" because it takes awhile to charge using 120v. The preferred method of charging is to install what is known as "Normal" charging - a 220v system. That takes an electrician to hook up your house with a 220v system.
We had read about all the different charging stations around Portland on the internet and on our first day owning this car, David and I came up with a plan to drive to Lloyd Center, plug in the car to charge at one of their 220v stations, then we would shop and see a movie. By the time we exited, our car would be recharged and voila! we wouldn't have to do the trickle charge for hours at a time.
So, we drove to Lloyd Center, found the EV stations on the Northeast corner, top deck of the parking structure, pulled into one, took out the plug-in and stuck it into our car. Nothing happened. We looked at the charging station and read the instructions - we couldn't charge up without a card, even though the charge was free.
Lesson #1: the EV charging stations are not uniform for these cars, yet. Sometimes, you must get a card to access all the publicly advertised stations.
So, no problem, we took home the car and figured out the trickle charging system. As long as you have all night to charge, this works fine. And, btw, there is a 100 mile range on these cars - although some people report it's only 80 and some report closer to 110. Well, I've never gotten it below 20, so I don't know how far Pearl will take me, but I know that I don't drive all that much (mostly to work and back, to the grocery store and back) so I'm not that worried.
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