North Palm Beach, FL to Washington D.C. on one tank!!

Hymotion/AVRC has been reached!! 850 miles done and about 250 to go!!

 

Hi All, hanging out here at Hymotion/AVRC shop in Raleigh, NC for a little while, waiting to see if we can get the Coda electric vehicle to come by for a photo op!!

Here is the modified schedule for the remainder of the trip

Planned depart from AVRC is 5:00pm...

6-8 Mon 7p-12a Henderson, NC recharge
6-9 Tue 2a-7a South Hill, VA
9a-2p McKenney, VA
4p-9p Petersburg, VA
6-10 Wed 11p-4a Richmond, VA possible media stop until 10a
12p-5p Ruther Glen, VA
7p-12a Fredericksburg, VA
6-11 Thu 2a-7a Woodbridge, VA LAST RECHARGE STOP!!

10a head into DC!!!

 

Hey Matt,

Answer one: Have ya ever seen a Prius do 120 mph?
I get to take I-95 unless my boss says use the same route, but I do get use gas and drive normally.

Answer two: Although this is somewhat of a vacation (driving 30 miles and stopping for a five hour nap then drive 30 miles??!!)

I do have to go to Jacksonville, FL for a training class of the 25th, then I am taking my wife to DISNEY WORLD!! Yay!! (Annual Pass Holders)

 

The following photos are from AVRC, They did the install of our PHEV Hymotion system. The first is a ChargePoint station which can be installed by cities, malls, public parking lots, employee parking lots, etc. The cover over the standard 110 ac outlet locks automatically and can be opened with an electronic key tag. It is completely weather proof and can be installed to allow PHEV drivers to connect and recharge.




This next image is Dick Dell, the owner of AVRC (Advanced Vehicle Research Centre) www.AVRC.com They are the company who installed the Hymotion system in our Green Machine!!

 

IT IS CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!! WE HAVE A PERMIT TO DO OUR GREAT ARRIVAL AT THE NATIONAL MALL IN WASHINGTON DC AT 11:00AM ON THURSDAY THE 11TH!! HOLY COW!!! The location will be at the 4th street crossing in the mall with the Capitol Building in the background...

 

AWwwwww.... I missed your post by just a little bit!! I chickened out and bugged at 4 to try to avoid some of the trafficout:..... Didn't get to see the post until sitting in a hotel in South Hills, VA. I was looking forwards to meeting you and your DH.... I am thinking I may have to take a real vacation type trip up this way just to visit some of the folks I have met along the way and the ones I didn't get a chance to meet.

BTW I jumped the gun a little... The application for the permit has been FILED.... I thought it had already been approved.... Hopefully the approval will go through... After all, this is one of those "everybody can feel good and happy" things!

 

Wow!! has it been nearly two days since I posted?? Sorry, all.... the days are beginning to slide seamlessly together... Ok, here is the catchup report, I headed north (of course, I'm not THAT goofy yet...) and stopped off to visit with Phil L. (Pakman777) and his family in Colonial Heights Virginia. Talk about off coincidences, he and I both shoot with Canon EOS Digital Rebels, we both use Asus laptops, and we both had shoulder surgery within the last 14 moths for torn rotator cuffs... both on the left shoulder!! We had a great dinner and I got the Green Machine and my Spirits recharged! I gotta say, there is nothing in this world like good, honest, friendly people to just brighten your whole outlook on life.

Phil is a Major in the U.S. Army and I want to take a moment here to say this:

To Phil and all the members of our Armed Forces, Thank You for your service and Thank You for my Freedom. You truly have my highest respect for the path you have chosen in life.

Next stop was Richmond. Had a good night's rest and had originally though we would have a bit of a media conferance at the Short Pump Mall. Unfortunately, that one didn't quite work as we planned, so instead I wound up at the WTVR channel 6 station in Richmond, joined by Glenn Edmonds from AVRC (company who installed our Hymotion system) we did a TV interview and then off again. My time cushion was little (or maybe a lot) degraded by that time, so I have pushed on and am sitting in Fredericksburg where I am about to start looking for a recharge point. After getting the Green Machine ready for travel again, I will head on to Woodbridge, then DC in the morning!! The end is in sight!! 1088 miles so far and about 60 to go!! Two bars remaining on the gauge, although I have made quite a dent in that next to last bar, I am afraid....

My determination to successfully hit DC on one tank has now officially become obsession.

more to come,

Rick

 

Journey's End, Odyssey's Beginning.:welcome:

 

Hi All, Got to DC this morning and wandered a bit awaiting the 11am media conferance we had planned for. Our location was for the concrete area right at the west edge of the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol building. I spotted signs on the parking meters saying "Hybrid on the Hill" event and thought "Wow! They went all out!!" Turns out there was ANOTHER event going, of which we had no knowledge (Honest!) By 10 am there were 20 large trucks, garbaeg trucks, buses, UPS trucks, etc., ALL Hybrids!! Mr. Stewart and Margie Yansura, his publicist, arrived and got the 2010 chase Prius lined up with the Capitol building in the background giving us the Premeir spot of the entire event!! Then they called me and I drove right up. I was greeted by Congressman Tom Rooney, Senator Bill Nelson wanted to be there but schedules conflicted, so he sent us a fantastic letter of support, I showed Mr. Rooney around the car amd gave a him a short ride (30 whole yards, gotta love photo ops) then he removed the seal. Lots of pics later, and a couple of TV interviews and tons of interest by folks wandering by and we headed for a local gas station.

Results: 9.3 gallons of gas to fill the tank
1145 miles driven

123.1 miles per gallon

I will post shots of the MFD screen and the fuel pump, but I don't have shots of the car on Capitol hill of my own. I do have pics from a pro photog who was there, but I need to get the proper permission to post them here. Give me a day or two and they will be up. Mr. Stewart bought lunch at the Capital Grill, (AWESOME place) and then I wandered a little and got some touristy shots of my own. I even wandered the Natural History Museum for ahour or two but was finally so whipped, I decided it was time to go home.

I miss my wife, my daughter and my animals...

It has been an incredible amount of fun and I thank everyone for all the help and well wishes. Of course, now somebody else has do a longer trip with higher mileage!! I will also compile a list of links fro all the media coverage... Please bear in mind, not all of the info is completely accurate. I tried hard to make sure they all had good solid info, but sometimes they must have written stuff down wrong...

 

Who Me???

Weeeelllllllll...... my family misses me and I miss them.... Headed south at avg spd of 65-70 mph and avg 51.5 mpg. BTW avg speed from NPB FL to DC was about 35-40 with a few areas going up to 50-55 due to traffic and road conditions... Also, our 2010 Prius chase vehicle which drove straight up I-95 to DC at 55mph got 60mpg!!! On the highway all the way!!