Bolting Up to Portland Maine

The Bolt is a Great Little Electric Car

We’re testing out the newest Chevy–the Bolt EV, all-electric car–on a road trip from Boston to Portland, Maine this weekend.  I’ve always been interested in trying out something like this, but instead of a quick five-minute test drive, we’ll get a full weekend of living the life electric.

Reviewing the instructions from the PR agency who invited us, I saw that there are three charging stations in Portland.  Two of them are level 2, which means that 25 miles of range per hour, and one is level 3, which is a little faster with 90 miles in 30 minutes.

This means we better bring our books because it’s not like filling up at the Cumberland Farms…it’s a bit more involved.

I noticed that the faster charger is at a local supermarket. So maybe people go shopping while they charge.

Our destination is Portland, my home back in 1981-83. What a wonderful place it was then, and it still is. I look forward to visiting some of my favorite parts of the city like Commercial Fish Market, the bars in the Old Port, and the new hipster area, Thompson’s Point, filled with cafes and breweries. Portland is always a fun place to visit, and this will be a fun excursion, I hope we can figure out the charging so that we’re not left high and dry by the side of the road!

The top of Congress Street near the Art Museum in Portland, ME

But the carmakers promise the Bolt offers 238 miles per charge and told us that if we pull on a paddle on the steering wheel it slows down the car without using the brakes, and regenerates power back into the drivetrain. The car also is a rolling Wi-Fi hotspot, so we can listen to music and the rest of that stuff without problems.