CHARGEPOINT FAILURE

Since I was not able to take the Fiero to the Drive Electric event, it seemed like a good substitute would be to drive up the Interstate and test out a ChargePoint charging station at Walgreens. My cards arrived that morning and had been activated, so off I went. 

Upon arriving at the charger, the space was empty and after parking, got out and swiped my brand new ChargePoint card. Oops, it was not working! A store employee came out and informed me that there had been a power surge and the charger was not working but would probably be fixed on Monday. Good thing I was just trying to test the charging capabilities of the Fiero, as if I was depending on a charge to get home, I would have been sitting there until it was fixed on Monday.

Testing the J1772 plug and circuit will have to wait for another time but that will give me an excuse to take another interstate drive.

Until next post,

Randy

ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO!

The plan for today was to drive the Fiero to the Drive Electric Ohio event at Easton Town Center in Columbus, OH but even though the chance of rain was supposed to be 25% this morning, it's raining! Making it to the event and back is at the limit of my range, so I don't want to have to drive with the head lights and wipers running, as that may just use enough power to strand me on the way home. The event goes on until 3 pm, so if the rain lifts, I may try to make the journey later in the day.

DRIVE ELECTRIC OHIO

RAIN IN CENTRAL OHIO

Precautions have been taken to ensure I can make the trip without incident, such as, making up new 110 and 220 volt adapter cables, signing up for Charge Point, and mapping my trip to go past my friend, Mark Weisheimer's house, so I can get an emergency charge if needed. I will try to get some video if the rain lets up and I am able to make the drive to the show, so check back this evening.

ROUTE MAP TO EVENT 24.7 MILES

Oh, if you see a black Pontiac Fiero sitting by the side of Havens Corner Road, don't be afraid to stop and give the poor guy (ME) a hand!

Thanks for visiting,

Randy

JUST ANOTHER LABOR DAY WEEKEND

If I have any hope of taking the Fiero to the Drive Electric - Columbus event, the battery charger must be installed, as there is a possibility the car will need charged to make it home. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were spent working on the car and the bottom trim has all been painted satin black, there is now plexiglass over the top of the front batteries, and the battery charger is mounted in the motor compartment.

BOTTOM MOLDING PAINTED SATIN BLACK

PLEXIGLAS OVER FRONT BATTERIES

CHARGER MOUNTING BRACKETS

CHARGER MOUNTED

In addition to working on the Fiero, I was able to finish the drywall in the bathroom, got it all painted, put up the new light bar, and installed the new mirror.

The interior paint for the SLK230 also arrived late last week and I was able to wet sand and touch up all of the places where the paint had pealed off on the passenger side of the car. After all of the nicks and scratches are pre-painted, the whole console and dash will be wet sanded again, wiped down with alcohol, and a good coat of paint put on all of the surface.

It has been a busy weekend but a lot of work was done. I signed up for Chargepoint, so as soon as the charger is wired up, will take a trip to Walgreens to make sure the J1772 plug and module are working. I may need a little charge next Saturday to make it back from Drive Electric, so want to make sure everything is working properly.

Until Next Time,

Randy