We had taken the car for a test drive and knew the basics needed to drive it. Now, after settling the account, we were taking it home. We sat in the car as the salesman answered some questions. While I listened, my mind wondered as it often does when I have to deal with technology. This was technology at a whole new level for us, enough to challenge our old brains for years.
The vehicle is a plug-in hybrid, with a screen across the dash which requires input. I have an aversion to technology I will have to get over. As the salesman answered some questions however, my mind drifted back to 1971.
My husband had spent a year working in Labrador City working on a surveying crew which planned the way for a rail line to move iron ore to market. He made enough to buy a new Volkswagen Beetle. In September, he drove from his home in Corner Brook to university in St. John’s where we started dating. The rest is our history and the Volkswagen was an early part of that history.
Winter in Newfoundland is an experience and when the little car faced that winter, it made life interesting. The Beetle, commonly called a bug, was air cooled, not water cooled, with the result that the heat from the engine at the back of the car was blown into the foot of the passenger compartment at the front. This system was inefficient, and one had to continually scape the interior windshield of the heavy frost. That car was cold, icy even. One was glad when temperatures warmed up. My husband, then boyfriend, was pleased with his car in spite of the heater.
Back to the reality of this new vehicle…we’ve driven it for a week around town in the electric mode, recharging it periodically on a schedule meant to extend the life of the electric battery. We can turn on the heater and the radio but we can’t change stations yet. Over time, with the manual and both of us in the car, we hope to figure out how to change stations among the myriad of other things we don’t know how to do yet with that vehicle. Oh for the days of the Beetle!
Somehow I cannot see a world of electric vehicles. The infrastructure certainly isn’t available yet and will require a great deal of work to be available. The car’s batteries last 5-8 years and are expensive to replace. Much has to be solved to replace gas/diesel engines.
Meanwhile, 2023 was the hottest year on record. High winds are challenging our homes. How much more will the wind speeds increase? And what about the fires, floods, heat waves and the freezing?
There are more questions than answers.
And between the storms which include the high winds, we walk the boardwalk and watch the drama of the sky in the January light. With the ice in the bay and the sky, there is always a reason to stop and take in a scene. Being in the moment keeps us going!
