wbcampbell

I just finished four weeks of summer trips from Oregon to Montana and back (several times). In 4800 miles I saw the Driver Alert come up eight or 10 times. The incidents can be divided into two categories: 1) I was gawking at scenery and "driving" with the occasional sidelong glance at the highway. Mea culpa. 2) End of a long stretch of driving and I was getting tired. In the #2 cases I can say I was getting a bit inattentive--no "nodding-off" or anything close, but I also was not 100% engaged in the road. The result was that I would find a place to pull over and let my wife take her turn behind the wheel. And in case the question comes up: During these trips she only had the Alert go off once. It is getting harder and harder for me to make the argument that I am the best driver in the family. :-) -Bill Campbell

In the first 600 miles with our Energi we burned about 1.5 gallons of gasoline. And then the summer season was upon us. We have put another 4800 miles on our Fusion Energi since June 21, mostly highway miles from Oregon to Montana and back (several trips). I can say that it cruises along very nicely at 70-75 mph and will accelerate smartly for passing on two-lane highways. After the first 20 miles on these trips I stop thinking "EV" and accept that I am driving a hybrid. I brought our 120v charger along, but never did use it. (Much of the time we were parked at our cabin: the nearest outlet was about 50 yds from our parking spot). I didn't bother looking for charging stations; when I have hundreds of miles to go the 21+ miles that I can get in EV mode just doesn't seem that significant. Our average mpg for these trips ranged from 38.9 to 39.5 mpg. It is very nice to fill up and see an estimated range of 500+ miles, especially when you have 600 or 700 miles to knock-off before you stop. We found that we had to make interim stops at gas stations just to scrub the bugs off the windshield. :-) Now we are home for a couple of weeks and it is back to plugging into my 240v charging station between trips, enjoying the EV and feeling bad if we slip into hybrid mode. This car has a split personality. (Or maybe I do :-) I bought this car mainly as a comfortable and efficient commuter--I am very pleasantly surprised at how it handles on the highway. -Bill Campbell

The unit came with an extra warranty tag, As instructed I put it on the unit. I maybe should have asked for something in writing, but I figure that since the unit is now working and, as other people have pointed out, these are really quite simple devices, that my chances of needing the warranty are declining rapidly with every day that I use it. I did take a nice high-res picture of the mis-installed ribbon cable. I also figure that if I do have another issue, Leviton will be reasonable--in the age of online forums it is not a good idea to take advantage of early adopters. And now the floor is open to all that think I am too trusting. :-) -Bill Campbell

I got the Leviton EVB22-3PT from Amazon ($768 including install kit, it arrived last Friday). Since I wired my own house when I built it (25 years ago), I felt comfortable adding in a new 20 amp 240v breaker (lots of room in my panel). I used PVC conduit and 12-2 NM wire to get the outlet in a convenient location that will allow charging in the garage or in the driveway. (I had a spool of wire so I only had to buy the PVC conduit and fittings, maybe $30-40, I didn't save the receipt). All was going good until I plugged in the unit for the first time and nothing happened. Not a blink, a buzz, anything. :-( I checked my new circuit with a multimeter and it seemed to be fine. As it was Sunday afternoon, I shelved the tools, wrote down the S/N and prepared to call the Leviton hotline first thing on Monday morning. I called Leviton this morning, apparently they are on the East coast since I got a technician on the line at 6:30am PDT. It didn't take long before he asked me to cut the "Warranty Void" tag and open the unit (*after* unplugging the unit!). The main electrical connections all looked good and he asked me to check out the ribbon cable that connected the circuit board to the LEDs on the door. Aha! The ribbon cable was firmly attached, but it was one pin too low! I removed the connect from the pins and re-seated it on all of the pins, closed the door, plugged it in and got to watch the LEDs go through the power-on sequence. My Energi is currently receiving its first taste of 240v. :-) -Bill Campbell