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Electrify America - Thoughts at a grand opening

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This past Thursday I received some information that Electrify America (EA) may be having a grand opening of their new station in Crossgates Commons, Kate and I were going to be in the area anyways so we decided to drop in try the new chargers out. To our surprise there were EA staff present, we chatted for an hour and found lots of great information. A little background before we begin, it is easy to get a bad reputation. The recipe is simple: Haggis - Foods bad reputation poster child  Start with a bad experience Mix with a vocal social media user Add a pinch of prior failures with other similar companies For extra taste sprinkle in a conspiracy Optionally substitute bad experience for a hatred or distrust of a technology or brand. Bake for 20 minutes on a forum and watch it raise as others pile on. It is unfortunate to watch this occur, the morning of the event I witnessed this on a private Facebook group I was a member of. The group is all about promoting

Wiring harness installation on a 2017 Bolt

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Wiring Harness Installation Back when we bought Zeus we installed a hitch to add utility to the Bolt. Eventually we wanted to also install a wiring harness so we could tow a small trailer for various errands. Right after I bought the receiver I also purchased a small 5'X8' trailer and a Powered Circuit Protected Tail-light Converter to power the lights on the trailer. I would normally link to the website I purchased this on but it is no longer available. The closest I could find was this:  Curt Powered Tail Light Converter with 4-Pole Flat Trailer Connector  which looks very close to the one I installed here but the converter seems a little smaller (newer model?). Anyways here are the steps I took to install the wiring harness: To start remove the back panel by pulling out at the bottom, then once all the clips have popped out pull up for the top clips to release. Next remove the driver side floor mount, then pull out the driver side panel. It doesn't have to com

Installation of a receiver on a 2017 Bolt

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Receiver Installation When we bought Zeus we did so replacing our 2014 Chevy Silverado, we did so knowing we wouldn't be able to tow our camper any more but still needed some utility out of the Bolt (IE Garbage runs, lumber pickup, Christmas tree pickup, and so on). Basically light (like less then 1000 lbs) duty work and cargo carrying.  Enter the Draw-Tite reciever , we chose this for its superior tongue weight compared to other offerings. We also chose the Curt Hitch-Mounted Cargo Carrier as our first accessory to take advantage of the receiver once installed.  The installation was pretty easy and took about an hour to complete.  Ok I did this wrong, I thought the plastic pin was ribbed and you just wiggled it out. No, look close at the pin, it has 2 parts and right where the circle is there is a place to fit a screw driver in and pull the center piece out. I didn't break anything but the second one I did correctly. Hole where the new bolt is fishe

Zeus's First Vacation

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Virginia Beach 2017 Kate and her new Bolt Zeus Zeus came to us on June 27th, a 2017 Premier Chevy Bolt with all the bells and whistles and our new primary vehicle. This is not our first plug in electric vehicle but it is our first all electric. We knew the apps to use to plan our route and there was never a doubt that we were going to take it on vacation. As soon as the papers where signed (had to wait 2 agonizing days for delivery) we ordered a receiver and carrier to carry our larger camping supplies then started planning our trip (we were a little excited). Let's take a moment to talk about planning our trip Planning your trip is an important part of easy long distance travel.  We used the PlugShare app  ( Android / iOS , not the website) to do the planning and it was a piece of cake. If you have never used PlugShare to plan a trip here is a quick overview (iOS): 1) Tap the "Me" tab in the app 2) Tap "Trip Planner" then the + i