Our Solar Electric Trailer Journey

When you purchase an item after clicking a link from this post, we may earn an affiliate commission.Our visit to Charleston, South Carolina, began with a visit to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. To access the fort, we took the designated ferry, a 30-minute ride that provides a beautiful tour of the harbor. The fort is now part of a National Monument operated by the National Park Service. The tour of the fort and the artificial island it sits on was fascinating.We next stopped at St. Philip’s Church, Anglican. The congregation was formed in 1680; the church that now stands was built in 1838. It is so tall that it served as a lighthouse for the harbor.French Huguenot Church served as our next stop. It is the heart of the Charleston French Quarter. Across the street, the Dock Street Theatre built in 1736, is also historic. The theater was the first place an opera was performed in the United States.The Pink House was built in 1712. Over the centuries, it was home to a tavern, a brothel, a law office, an art gallery and who knows what else. Today it is a private residence.We also visited the Old Slave Mart Museum, which was built as a slave mart. It serves as a museum chronicling the history of slavery in Charleston. It is a must-see site in the historic district.Charleston is a great city with historical significance that demands a visit. We found this walking tour a helpful guide. You could also use the Fodor’s guide.Share your charleston stories in the comments or by replay. Services there are conducted in French. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

You’ll likely love Savannah, Georgia. The beautiful, historic and walkable city has attractions for almost everyone.During our one-day visit, we visited seven sights—and enjoyed them all.* Chippewa Square. This little park is not famous for the native people it was named for; rather, this is the delightful place where Forrest Gump famously sat on a bench waiting for a bus chatting with those who happened to plunk down on the bench with him. The bench he sat on is a prop that has been moved to the Savannah History Museum.* Savannah History Museum. If you’re a fan of Tom Hanks, the price of admission is likely justified just by seeing the movie prop. Sadly, it is protected, so folks don’t sit on it—the temptation is obvious. The museum does a passable job of highlighting the history of Europeans in Savannah, with some meaningful but, we’d argue, inadequate discussion of Africans and their descendants. The museum provides virtually nothing about the Native Americans who lived in the area before Europeans arrived.* Forsyth Park. This 30-acre park is the largest in town and features a 19th-century fountain that, thanks to good maintenance and restoration, still works in the 21st. Ordered from a catalog, you can find similar fountains ordered from the same catalog in several cities.* Congregation Mickve Israel Synagog. This synagog traces its roots back to 1733. Its significance was apparent in 1789, such that President George Washington wrote a letter saying, “May the same wonder-working Deity who long since delivering the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in the promised land - whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation - still continue to water them with the dews of Heaven and to make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah.” Conde Nast named the synagog one of the 15 most beautiful in the world.* City Market. This shopping mall dates back to the 1700s and is now a celebration of the city’s vibrant present, with trendy shops and restaurants.* River Street. The waterfront area along River Street in downtown Savannah began a restoration process in the 1970s that helped revitalize the entire city. The street was home primarily to cotton exporters for centuries, including the 1800s when Savannah, leveraging the free labor of enslaved people, led the world in cotton exports. The last cotton exporter here closed in 1956.* The Savannah Belles Ferry. This free ride is another great way to see the waterfront. The route features three stops, two on the south side of the Savannah River and one stop at the Convention Center on the north side. If you’re not attending a convention, there may not be much attracting you to the north side, but the view of the south side from the north justifies the trip. The light is best in the morning. The captain does not require anyone to disembark, so feel free to ride the 30-minute loop, hopping off where you boarded.Savannah is a delightful place to visit. It is extraordinarily walkable in that the historic district is small enough for you to comfortably cover the distance, but the little parks and squares around town—featuring lots of benches—make for comfy resting points, making long walks pleasant.If you don’t want to walk, there are all manner of tours to choose from in almost any imaginable vehicle, from busses to trollies, carriages and even a hearse. If you don’t find our notes helpful, you can get Fodor’s guide.Let us know what you think in the comments or by reply to the newsletter in your inbox. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

When you purchase an item after clicking a link from this post, we may earn an affiliate commission.The tires you put on your EV are more critical than you may imagine. Tires are likely the most expensive routine maintenance cost for your electric vehicle. The tires will also impact the ride you get, safety, road noise and the efficiency of your car—and, therefore, its range.We’ve identified six considerations to help you choose new tires for your EV. There isn’t a perfect tire for every car; what you prefer may differ from the tire we choose.Here are the six considerations:* Rolling Resistance: Tires can be designed in terms of tread and material to have different features, including, among them, lower rolling resistance, improving efficiency and, therefore, range. The data suggest that this can make a difference of about 1 percent, perhaps impacting your range by three to five miles.* Road Noise: EVs are quiet. The primary noise you experience driving the car on the freeway is the sound the tires make on the road. The motor makes a fraction of the noise that an internal combustion engine makes. Manufacturers design some new tires to produce less noise in a variety of ways.* Strength: EVs are heavy, weighing about 20 percent more than otherwise similar cars. You may want to consider strength and stability, given the weight of your car.* All-Season Traction: depending on where you drive, you may want all-season traction. If you live in an area with a lot of snow, you may prefer to use snow tires in the winter. If you live in Florida like us, you may not need to worry about this.* Weight of the Tire: When we replaced the tires on our Chevy Bolt EV, we chose tires with run-flat features because the Bolt doesn’t come standard with a spare tire. When we took our first road trip, we discovered the mileage and range were about ten percent worse! Thankfully, the vendor offered to swap the tires for free; we chose a set that recovered our range. The most significant difference was the weight of the tires.* Order Online: One of the lessons we took from our tire purchase was that the tires available at a typical tire dealer are somewhat limited. Their expertise in selecting tires for EVs is limited. You may be better off researching tire options for your EV and then ordering them online. Your local tire shop can then mount them for you.The famous CarTalk team recently published a list of popular EVs and good tires for them. The list includes three tires for a Chevy Bolt:* Michelin CrossClimate2* Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack* Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 PlusOf these, we think the Continental Extreme Contact is the best for our needs. We prioritize efficiency over road noise. The Continental is the lightest weight tire of the three. That said, it is not explicitly designed for low rolling resistance or low road noise. We’d give those up for weight to get what we hope would be peak efficiency. You might prioritize low road noise and therefore choose one of the other tires.The Continental ExtremeContact is the cheapest of the three tires, but not especially cheap. Amazon sells a popular tire called the Milestar MS932 Sport All Season Radial Tire that fits the Bolt and weighs less than a pound per tire more than the Continental but, as of this moment, costs 45 percent less. If cost is a priority for you, this tire, with over 7,000 ratings averaging 4.6 out of five stars, could be worth considering.Whatever you do, we encourage you to plan ahead, do your research and be strategic about the tires you put on your EV. Share what you’ve learned about EV tires in the comments or by reply. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

When you purchase an item after clicking a link from this post, we may earn an affiliate commission.Hurricane Ian passed through Florida this week. We recorded this episode outside in the storm. Here in Jacksonville on Thursday, as we recorded this, the wind was blowing gusts up to 35 miles per hour with steady, light rain. Ian had been downgraded to a tropical storm and was centered about 60 miles southeast of us in the Atlantic Ocean.While the impact of the storm on us was modest in the end, it was horrific for many. Fort Meyers on Florida’s southwest coast was devasted. The sheriff estimated fatalities could reach into the hundreds. We pray he’s wrong, but photos and videos make clear the damage was horrific.Just 30 miles to the south of us, St. Augustine was flooded by the storm surge that arrived near high tide.In that context, we want to explore how EVs fit into the overall hurricane picture.Florida has more EVs than any state except California. EV owners are beginning to appreciate the advantages of EVs during hurricane season.Of course, the first issue is evacuation. Range anxiety grows in an emergency. EVs have an advantage over VICEs (vehicles with internal combustion engines) in that they are “fueled up” at home. Most EV owners can and do charge at home. We shifted from a 90 percent to a 100 percent charging strategy early this week, so when the storm arrived, we had a full charge.Most people with VICEs don’t keep their cars topped off like that, requiring a special trip to the gas station before a storm. If they forget and the power goes out in their community, they may end up with real range anxiety in their VICE. Will that quarter of a tank get them to a community with operating gas pumps?Our EV, mediocre if extremely affordable, can go 250 miles on a full charge. We now appreciate that you don’t need to go that far to get out of the way of the storm. The worst damage comes in a swath about 50 miles wide. Typically, you only need to go 50 miles in the right direction to reach safety.An EV offers another big advantage if the power goes out. The EV can power devices and even the home. The Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck is designed to power the house if the house is also properly equipped. The truck can power the house in a conservation mode for a week to ten days, keeping the fridge operating and hot water running. For those optimistic about power restoration, the truck can run everything, including the a/c, for two or three days.All EVs have big enough batteries to run the house entirely for one to three days, but most aren’t designed for that. Increasingly, vehicles are equipped with outlets of various types to allow you to get that juice out if you need it. For our Chevy Bolt EV, we have a device like this one that can power the small fridge in our camper, allowing us to keep our most important things, meds and Diet Coke, chilled until the power comes back on. It isn’t much, but it’s more than nothing! If we lose power, we’ll have to eat the ice cream fast!Before the storm, we took time to ensure that our RV solar system was up to snuff. With power out, we’re prepared to keep our digital devices charged and our most valuable things cold indefinitely.As the storm moves up the coast to the north it will bring storm surge, damaging wind and rain to the Carolinas, having regained hurricane status. From there, it will move inland, potentially impacting Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Get your EVs charged up! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

Many worry about how to do a road trip in an electric vehicle, focusing on the time required to charge. We’re sharing a tip that will help you reduce the time you spend charging.Our suggestion, simply put, is to charge more often for less time, cumulatively spending less time plugged in.We recognize that, at first blush, this tip is a bit counter-intuitive. Hang with us to be sure you see how and when it may work for you.The rate at which an EV battery charges slows as it fills. You can imagine electrons finding a spot in the battery operating like people finding seats in a theater.When you walk into an empty theater, you instantly find a seat you like. By the time the theater is half full, you may discover aisle seats taken and have to wait for people clumped in the aisles to get to your seat. When the theater is nearly full, it may take a while to spot a seat, longer still to walk to it through crowded aisles and finally, you may have to scoot awkwardly past seated people in the row you choose to find a seat. It takes much longer as the theater fills.We don’t understand the physics, but charging a battery seems to work similarly. Most EV batteries can only charge at their peak rate up to about half full, then charging begins to slow. By the time the battery is 80 percent full, the rate of charge typically drops by half—or more. Even on the fastest chargers, our car won’t charge at a rate much faster than using our at-home charger plugged into a 120-volt outlet as its battery approaches 100 percent.So, our strategy for a road trip is to charge frequently for less time at each stop. So, on a long day, we might charge three or four times when we could have charged just twice. In our Chevy Bolt, this makes for a faster trip.The optimal strategy for you depends on several factors.* How fast your car charges. If your car charges at a peak rate above 100 kW and there are charges on your route that support charging at that rate, you may be unable to save enough time to justify an extra stop.* Whether your destination has a charger. If you need not only to charge to get to your destination but also around once you get there—say, at a National Park—you’ll need to be patient and keep charging.* Your route. If there are few chargers on your way, their location will determine when and how long you charge. This problem is disappearing quickly as states and companies leverage funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to install chargers.* Your meal plans. If it is time for a meal and you want to get out of the car and relax, you can charge while eating. This approach makes perfect sense; we encourage this thinking. Still, extended meal charging won’t be the fastest way to reach your destination.* Don’t forget potty breaks. Devin likes to drink a Diet Coke virtually every leg of the journey, meaning he needs to make a pit stop every 60 to 90 minutes. The result is that we never stop just to charge. Despite a bias toward short, frequent sharing stops, we often stop between charging sessions.Your intuition may suggest minimizing stops. That’s not bananas. Sometimes, that is the fastest way to get to your destination in an EV. But sometimes, more stops make for a quicker trip. Here’s the math.If you need 40 kWh to finish your journey, you could get that in one or two stops. To get that much additional juice in our Bolt, we’d usually need about an hour of charging at a single stop. If we split that evenly between two stops, each one may be only about 20 minutes, for a total of 40 minutes of charging.The difference is that two stops require 20 minutes less charging. If you have to stop anyway to use a restroom, you can save 20 minutes by stopping twice. If you wouldn’t have to stop the second time and stopping takes you 10 minutes getting on and off the freeway, you can still save 10 minutes by splitting the charging session in two.Sometimes, this strategy will also save money. While Electrify America and other companies often bill you on a per kWh basis, in some places, regulations force them to bill by the minute. In those places, you save money by splitting your charge.With our Bolt, we can add 20 kWh in about 20 minutes when the car is nearly empty. As it approaches 80 percent, charging takes twice as long. When paying on a per-minute basis, that means we’re paying twice as much per kWh.To be clear, frequent, quick charging won’t always work to shorten the trip or save money. But sometimes it works!Be careful to pair the strategy with caution. Be careful not to find yourself somewhere you can’t charge without any juice in the battery. When charging, you can typically check the status of the next charger you plan to use with an app. If it is out of service or in use, you may want to continue charging, so you have more options.Please share your road trip tips in the comments. Together, we’ll find the best ways to enjoy EV road trips. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

This week, we’re sharing ten reasons we love our Chevy Bolt EV. While it is not the fanciest or the fastest EV* The car is durable. Ours has 85,000 miles now and barely shows wear inside and not much out.* Comfortable for long drives. We’ve driven the car tens of thousands of miles on the road. While it’s no luxury auto, it’s comfortable for long days in the saddle.* Affordability. We bought ours used and got a fair deal, but Chevy is practically giving away the Bolt EVs now. You can get a new one for little more than we paid for a used one three years ago. * Cargo capacity: We love how much we can haul inside the Bolt. It can hold five people (four comfortably) plus stuff. Not living where we get curbside recycling service, we routinely haul a carload of stuff to the dump two counties over.* Android Auto. Access to Android Auto provides some benefits of fancier cars included in what you’re already paying for your phone. This includes navigation apps, books on tape, music and many others, including some that are free.* Better looking than our 2012 Nissan Leaf. Gail and I disagree about whether our 2012 Nissan Leaf was the ugliest car we ever owned, but we agree it was a contender. We were thrilled to trade it in on our much cuter Bolt.* The Bolt is fast. Of course, it’s not Corvette fast, but this little car is quick and fun to drive. When you need to get out of the way, you can.* The trunk in our premium model. The trim we have includes a cover over the bottom of the behind-the-seat storage, providing a flat surface when the seats are down and hiding all the junk in the trunk.* Mileage and efficiency. We get close to 5 miles per kWh (mpk) around town, about 4 mpk on the freeway and 2.6 when towing our trailer. The Department of Energy assigns the Bolt a 120 mpg-equivalent rating.* Towing. While Chevy doesn’t recommend towing with the Bolt, and we’d encourage you to use great care in deciding whether to tow with yours, we love that it tows so capably.The Chevy Bolt is a great car. It is a dream compared with our first EV, the 2012 Nissan Leaf. When we acquired the used Leaf, it had a functional range of just 50 miles. We bought it about 50 miles from home and never went 50 miles without charging again.What do you love about your EV? Share in the comments. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

As you likely know, we tow a little Aliner Scout A-frame popup trailer with our Chevy Bolt EV. It’s a bit crazy. Chevy doesn’t recommend towing with the Bolt.If you’d like to tow something with an EV, you’ll be glad to know there are lots of options. We’ll feature just ten. Here’s a much longer list.* Volkswagen ID.4 Pro: 2,200 poundsThat 2,200-pound capacity is more than enough to pull our little popup trailer and lots of others that are a bit roomier.* Hyundai Ioniq 5: 3,500 poundsThere is a big jump in capacity here; there are lots of options between 3,000 and 5,000 pounds.* Tesla Model Y: 3,500 poundsThe Model Y remains one of the more affordable Teslas but is much pricier than some of the cars on this list.* Volvo C40 Recharge: 4,000 poundsThere are several options among EVs that can tow 4,000 pounds.* Kia EV6 GT: 4,000 poundsThere are several trim levels for the EV6; note that only the GT trim has 4,000 pounds of towing capacity. * Audi e-tron 50 quattro: 4,000 poundsThere are several Audi e-tron trim packages that offer this level of towing capacity—not just the 50 quattro.* Tesla Model X: 5,000 poundsFor several years, the Model X had the most towing capacity among all EVs. That is no longer the case.* BMW iX: 5,500 poundsThis BMW EV sport utility vehicle has an impressive towing capacity.* Ford F-150 Lightning: 10,000 poundsThere are a couple of trim levels; be sure to check the details as not all are capable of towing 10,000 pounds. The base model tows just 7,000.* Rivian R1T: 11,000 poundsBased on what we can find, no EV you can buy today can tow more than the Rivian R1T. We’ve got one ordered but don’t anticipate receiving our “Max pack” version until about Christmas of 2023.In the comments, tell us about what you hope to tow with an EV! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

When you purchase an item after clicking a link from this post, we may earn an affiliate commission.You definitely want to avoid the recent problem we had with our Chevy Bolt EV.After returning from a business trip to Puerto Rico, Devin hopped off the airport shuttle bus on a hot, humid night, reflecting on the story our hair stylist shared of her sister’s EV dying in the airport parking lot because she left the dome light on.Devin was relieved when the car started right up as usual. Leaving the airport, Devin spotted a Circle K. Craving a soda for the 40-minute drive home, he stopped. When he exited the vehicle, it shut down and locked up in an unusual way.Before panicking, he went inside for a soda. Returning, he discovered the car was completely dead. The main battery had been more than 75 percent full. The problem was the 12-volt battery that the car uses to run everything except the motors. That little battery is required even to “start” the car.Devin called Gail for help. She requested an Uber, dressed and grabbed a portable battery designed to help start a car with a dead battery. Some dear friends gave us the device that we use all the time. It has an air compressor for filling tires and cables to start a car, like this one.While he waited, Devin requested help from AAA. None ever came.Gail arrived within an hour. Within a minute, we began charging the 12-volt battery with the one Gail brought. We charged for five minutes and then tried to start the car. We repeated this a few times. No luck.Then, we tried charging for ten minutes. Repeatedly. No luck.Finally, we charged for 30 minutes. The car started!Here’s the weird thing. Apparently, the juice won’t flow from the big battery to the little one until the car is in motion (or perhaps only in gear). We couldn’t put the car in gear with the external battery attached and the hood up. The car’s safety systems won’t allow it.So, we disconnected the external battery, and the car died immediately. We repeated the process with no better luck.At this point, we’ve noted that so near the airport, we are almost surrounded by hotels. It was 1:00 AM, so we begged Circle K not to tow the car overnight and proceeded to find a hotel. The nearest one refused us, saying they don’t rent rooms to locals.Better luck at the second hotel, we crashed into bed.With a full day planned for the next day, we got up early to get to work solving the problem. As auto parts stores opened, we called to find a battery. At the third one, we got a yes. Devin hopped in an Uber to pick up the battery. Then he jumped in another to get back to the Circle K to install it. He did so using only a crescent wrench that happened to be in the car. YouTube was a big help.Oddly, the battery was a bit larger than the one it replaced, so he couldn’t reattach the anchoring metal strap. The auto parts store had promised a small rebate for returning the dead battery, so we headed over to drop it off. While there, we commented on the poor fit. The fellow who sold us the battery assured us it was the correct battery for a Chevy Volt.We pointed out that we drive a Chevy Bolt. He had no batteries for the Bolt in stock but promised to get one by that afternoon. After our full day, we circled back to get the correct battery. We were grateful that they treated us well and gave us the Bolt battery at the Volt battery price (a difference of $6) and swapped the battery out for us.Amazon will help you find the right battery for your car. Here’s the one it suggests for the Bolt. The one we bought from the local parts store was much more expensive but had a five-year warranty rather than a three-year one.In total, we spent more than $200 in costs related to the problem on top of the cost of the battery. We also spent close to 16 person-hours dealing with it. It was a pain.It could have been an absolute disaster. If the battery had died in a more remote place, in bad weather or a dangerous neighborhood, we could have been in real trouble. You don’t want to have this problem.The key to avoiding this problem is to replace your battery before it dies. There are two ways to estimate when that will be: an easy way and a harder way.The more complicated way isn’t challenging. After a drive of at least 20 minutes that should leave the battery fully charged, use a voltmeter to test the voltage. Wait an hour and try it again. If the voltage declines, the battery is struggling to hold a charge and may need to be replaced.The easier way is just to Google the estimated battery life in your car. The Bolt’s OEM battery life is about four years. Ours lasted 5.7 years. If your vehicle hasn’t had a battery replaced already, check inside the driver’s door frame to see when the car was built. If your battery is at or past its expected life, replace it. If its expected death is in the future, put it in your calendar and when that date arrives, replace the battery without hesitation.Note: swapping out the battery isn’t tough with the right tools, a good socket wrench set, including a long extension.You may be replacing a battery that could last another year or more, but the pain you avoid is well worth that cost! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

Chevrolet does not recommend towing with the Bolt EV. When you purchase an item after clicking a link from this post, we may earn an affiliate commission.We recently completed our longest-distance camping trip, towing our Aliner Scout with our Chevy Bolt EV: 420 miles.Last week, we reported on what we saw in Plains, Georgia. We had a ball. If you missed it, check it out.This week, we want to share seven lessons we observed on this longest-to-date journey.Lesson 1: Sometimes, you don’t have to unhitch to charge.It is annoying to unhitch the trailer to charge. There is no way to access the connection at some chargers without disconnecting the trailer. We could charge both times on our trip in different places without unhitching the trailer!Lesson 2: Target One Charge Per Day When TowingCharging with a trailer is a bit more complicated than without, so target just one charge per day in your planning. We were able to go about 135 miles on a full charge. A 70 percent charge then provided us with the range to go another 75 miles each travel day, giving us a total of 210 miles per day with one charge en route.Lesson 3: The Trailer’s Solar Panels Are Holding Up WellWe’re thrilled to see that the solar panels we installed (similar to these) on the trailer appear completely unphased by freeway winds and rains. You can see our solar installation here.Lesson 4: We Charged the Bolt EV Easily Overnight in the RV ParkWe were pleased to be able to charge the car overnight using the power at our spot at Albany RV Resort. The connection had 15 and 30-amp 120-volt connections plus the 50-amp 240-volt connection we used to charge the car. With that 50 amp connection, we can charge our car from empty in about 10 hours.Lesson 5: Pro Tip—Be Sure to Plan AheadWe’ve learned that not all campground connections include both a 50 amp and 30 amp plug. You want both, one for the RV and one for the EV. Be sure to check and specify when making your plans and reservations.Lesson 6: Mileage Not As Good As HopedOn this trip, we averaged 2.6 miles per kWh. We had hoped to get 2.8 miles. On our 2,000-mile trip to Houston and Back in June—without the trailer—we averaged about 4 miles per kWh. Averaging 2.6 mpk on this trip suggests we lost about 35 percent of our mileage and range with the trailer in tow. Not bad, but we confess we’d hoped to do better.Lesson 7: Cost per Mile Was $0.06We feel great about our cost per mile on this trip. Including only the energy cost, we paid a total of $23.26, yielding a cost per mile of $0.06 over the 420 miles. We carefully included an estimate of the cost to recharge the mostly-drained battery when we returned. We didn’t assign any part of the cost of our RV spot to power.We also learned on this trip that we have a lot to learn about using our solar system effectively. We expected to arrive with a cold fridge and a full battery but instead arrived with a cold fridge and an empty battery, having enjoyed an overcast drive. Two days of often rainy weather left us without really using our solar. We have a lot to learn!Next week, we’ll share a frustrating EV experience and give you the information you need to avoid it! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com

Today, we’re sharing a report on our camping trip to Plains, Georgia, home of President Jimmy Carter. At the same time, Devin will share interviews he did with friends of the former President in his newsletter and podcast, Superpowers for Good.Plains, Georgia, is not that different from other small towns in rural America and yet is entirely unique. President Jimmy Carter was born there and plans to continue living there. He’ll reach the age of 98 on October 1st. Elected President in 1976, he sealed the town’s place in history. His homes and haunts would become historic. In some ways, the town is a bit of a time capsule. If Carters had a connection to a place, the community has sought to preserve it. Downtown Plains is a don’-miss part of your visit. A row of nine buildings comprises the heart of the community. The businesses include an antique shop, an inn, a peanut store (that sells locally famous peanut-flavored ice cream) and a political collectibles store claiming the most extensive inventory in the world.Just across the street from downtown, you’ll find the train station where the former Governor of Georgia launched and ran his Presidential campaign. He chose the building because it was the only one available for rent in the tiny town in 1974 with a functioning restroom.This famous peanut statue is just a few blocks out of town. RVers, note there is a little RV park at this spot, along with a convenience store. We camped in a beautiful RV park in nearby Albany, Georgia.The Carters both attended Plains High School. Today, the National Park Service operates the building as a museum. The exhibits focus on the segregation that Georgia imposed strictly during the years the Carters attended. The Carters are champions of inclusion and always have been.We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the childhood home of Jimmy Carter. He lived here from age four until he entered the U.S. Naval Academy. Typical of the 1930s, the rural dwelling had no running water or electricity. The family kept a battery-powered radio in the living room.A complete visit to Plains should include attending a service at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Mr. Jimmy, as locals often call him, famously taught Sunday School for four decades following his Presidency. An avid woodworker, he made the cross that hangs at the front of the sanctuary and the collection plates.Near Plains, we visited Albany and found the Ray Charles memorial downtown. The artist, born in 1930, lost all vision by age six. He had an extraordinary musical career before passing away in 2004. The plaza is part of a large, beautiful river-front park. It is well worth a stop.We were surprised to find a little place to stand outside the Carters’ home with some signs and information. The home, difficult to see in the photo above, is a 3,200-square-foot ranch-style house built for them in 1961. They have lived there, except for time spent in public housing in Atlanta and Washington, ever since. Assigned a driver for security, the Carters converted the garage to a woodworking shop, representing the only significant change to the home. Talking with Zac Steele, who visited the Carters in their home on the day of our visit, we learned that it remains virtually unchanged inside.As we visited the delightful town, we routinely felt that the community had preserved it much as it was when the President returned from Washington in a downpour locals attributed to heaven weeping. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oursolarelectrictrailer.substack.com