Cheers PHEV3A'rs, EVADC'rs, and EVnthusiasts, One & All -
From Home Sweet LOCSEC Home of Memphis Mensan, Trisha Nelson, with a charged up "Spirit" and a well rested EVJerr, the EVenture to Nashville began at a leisure pace so as to enjoy the fast-turning-green forest of the Tennessee countryside. The Blue Highways were Hwy 64 and Hwy 100, which had us moving right along to Nashville, TN.
However, not before we discovered Lindsey Melvin's article with Brandon Dill's photos in the
Commerical APPEAL this morning, 23 March 2009! See pixs on
http://www.commericalappeal.com/:
Plug-in car buff spreads message
Retired sergeant driving coast to coast in plug-in hybrid to make case
By
Lindsay Melvin (
Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, March 23, 2009
Cruising between Cordova subdivisions at the speed ketchup pours out of an old Heinz 57 bottle, Jerry Asher gave the computerized speedometer a proud glance. "We're going pure electric now," he said, as the monitor registered a rate of 255 miles per gallon.
Photos by Brandon Dill/Special to The Commercial Appeal
Jerry Asher plugs in "The Spirit of DC," a 2005 Toyota Prius which has been converted into a plug-in hybird electric vehicle at a meeting of the Memphis Chapter of American Mensa in Cordova on Sunday. Asher is taking the vehicle on a tour of the United States.
The power display of Jerry Asher's plug-in converted hybrid Prius shows the miles per gallon as the car uses electricity. His tour ends at the National Mall on Earth Day.
STORY TOOLS
Track the progress of "The Spirit of DC"The retired Army sergeant pulled into Memphis this past weekend driving a 2005 Toyota Prius, which he has converted into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Tennessee was his 47th stop on a cross-country mission to expose middle America to electric cars.
"Do you like these $4-a-gallon gas prices?" he asks rhetorically. The electric alternative, he said, costs about 3 cents a mile to operate. Using his gasoline-and-electricity-powered car, Asher started in Washington D.C., and pulled into Memphis having driven about 31,000 miles.
Dubbed "The Spirit of DC," the plug-in hybrid electric car intends to be the first car of its type to visit all 48 state capitals of the continental U.S., he said.
A husky man, standing 6 feet tall, Asher leaned over the trunk of the tiny car, where brick-sized batteries packing hundreds of volts were nestled above the spare tire.
Asher is a native of Bisbee, Ariz., and a member of Mensa International (
mensa.org), a group defined by its members' high IQs. He spent Sunday showing Memphis Mensa chapter members the benefits of electric.
Rich Olott of Midtown, who went to Cordova to learn more, says this sort of technology has bypassed areas like the Bluff City. "We've just barely got smart cars in town," said Olott, who is a technical service professional with IBM.
Asher, who advocates going electric not only to cut carbon emissions but also to end U.S. dependence on foreign oil, is outraged by the lack of electric vehicles being produced by manufacturers. And he says the ones that are being produced are only offered in certain parts of the country.
Asher has mostly been using gasoline during his travels, since the gas kicks in the moment his vehicle hits 34 miles an hour, he said. He says many he's met along his journey are seeing an alternative to the gas-dependent vehicle for the first time. "This is about freedom of choice," he said. Plugged in by an extension cord for a home outlet, the car takes about three hours to recharge. For typical daily use, most people in urban or rural areas can use electric, Asher said.
Trisha Nelson of Cordova, another Mensa member, admitted her driving profoundly contrasts with what Asher is teaching. "Right now, I have an SUV, and I'm very heavy-footed," she said.
However, she said seeing the alternative had her seriously reconsidering her ride. "This just seems like the right thing to do," she said.
-- Lindsay Melvin: 529-2445
Plugged in to conservation
Track the progress of "The Spirit of DC" at
spiritofdc.com.
The next stop on the cross-country journey of the 2005 Toyota Prius, which has been converted into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, is Nashville. [End of Lindsay's story]
In taking off on a pleasant 72-degree sunny day, the "Spirit" had already 99.9MPG for 41 miles. But Alas! no opportunity charge seemed likely in order to extend and re-demonstrate the 101MPG-aided-by-electricity capability. The readings were as follows: 98.1MPG for 61 miles; 88.9 for 75; 80.0 for 92; 73.5 for 118; 70.1 for 152; 66.5 for 177; 65.8 for 200; 65.9 for 225;
and after charging at Ron & Stacy's Music City Hostel in Nashville
www.MusicCityHostel.com, for overnight lodging, the Spirit took in a photo sessions at the Capitol and returned back to the hostel with 67.4MPG for 250 miles.
EVer from Nashville, the 47th State Capitol, on EVJerr's B-day,
"Spirit" & EVJerry
