Publix in St. Pete, Where Charging Is a Pleasure

Yours truly is now an electric car driver. I never saw it coming. 2 months ago I was completely content with my Camry. It wasn't exciting, but it was reliable. I never had problems with it. But after spending a weekend riding in a Tesla in Las Vegas that my buddy rented, I was hooked. I loved the cool features, acceleration, and the car farts. It seriously can fart.

As a new EV driver, the big challenge has been finding the best spots to charge up. Lots of Wawa's have fast Tesla Superchargers. The ones in Pinellas Park and Clearwater have worked fine. But those can get pricy. I read that Elon Musk said that using Superchargers isn’t so bad for your battery health. But I keep seeing those who’ve owned a Tesla for a while say the opposite. I believe the drivers more than Elon.

My first successful non-Tesla supercharger charge happened Friday night.  I drove around downtown St. Pete and PlugShare had green dots indicating free and paid chargers all over the neighborhood. The big problem is many of the charging spots were for hotel guests. Street chargers were hopeless. With it being downtown St. Pete, parking is hard to find so sure enough many of the public charging station parking spots were taken by non EV drivers. 

Then I remembered reading that a Publix in the area offered free charging. Skeptical, I popped 700 Central Avenue into the GPS. At the very least, I figured at least I could recharge with a Pub Sub. It’s not a typical Publix parking lot. You pull into a parking garage. There’s no charge. After you drive up the ramp, take a sharp right and you’ll see the 2 white J-1772 chargers directly across from the elevator.

Both were available. With no registration required, I snapped on my adapter and was charging my Tesla Model 3 in seconds. I was getting 6 Kilowatts so after about 30 minutes of shopping and eating my Pub Sub at their dine in area, I got about a 5 or 6% boost.

Had I walked around the neighborhood to let the car charge more, I might’ve had an issue as Publix posts a sign that you are only to use the charger while you’re shopping. But nonetheless, the Publix charger worked great. I wish all Publix stores had them. Several in Hillsborough and Pinellas County do.

If you're a Tesla owner like me, I've started a blog on my experiences as a new EV guy. Feel free to follow along: Tales of a Tesla in Tampa.

So, what are the most targeted vehicles for car theft in Florida? Well, there is one item on these cars that is being stolen and thieves want their hands on it. The catalytic converter is being targeted now more than ever. It contains precious metals and those metals are getting more expensive. The report come from CARFAX, who put together a list of the top vehicles for car theft in Florida.

So, what is a catalytic converter? CARFAX says, "Catalytic converters are a key component of a car’s emissions control system, reducing the amount of pollution coming out of the tailpipe. They transform hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides – the bad stuff – into oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide." Inside the catalytic converter there are precious metals like: palladium, rhodium, and platinum.

Catalytic converters have been on cars since 1975. Electric cars don't have them because they don't have an exhaust system. It also doesn't take long to remove it. A small saw can remove it in less than 60 seconds.

How to prevent thieves from stealing it? Experts say to buy a catalytic converter anti-theft device. It is a metal plate that shops can add on to your car. You can also get your VIN number engraved on the converter. That makes it much tougher for the thief to sell it.

Check out the top cars that are being stolen below.

[SOURCE: ABC Action News]

The F-150 is the most popular vehicle in history. It also comes in #1 on the list.

It is America's second most sold mid-size sedan in terms of popularity. It is only behind the Toyota Camry.

The Prius is a hybrid and thieves are targeting those vehicles more. They contain more of the precious metals.

The crossover has been produced by Honda since 1995.

The Explorer was introduced in 1991, but they can thank Jurassic Park for taking it to the next level. It was the vehicle featured on the tour they go on in the movie.

The Econoline is a full size fan that has been around for over 60 years.

Chevy announced an EV of the Equinox, but the gas powered version is on this list.

The signature truck for Chevy. Thieves like this truck also.

First released in 1995. It has been named <em>Motor Trend</em>'s Truck of the Year before.