A2Z TYPHOON PRO First Look
I got tired of waiting for the NACS (J3400) to CCS adapter that Ford promised me back in February, so I picked up an A2Z TYPHOON PRO. It only took a month to get here :).
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It’s a cool idea, but I’ll pass, especially at that price…
Every so often I run across someone advocating for residential DC EV slow charging. It seems like a great concept if you have solar panels. Doing this would bypass the DC-AC-DC conversion between the PV and your car; unlocking sweet, sweet efficiency right? The problem is that while that is conceptually accurate, in practice it’s a more complicated, especially if […]
Read moreUnpacking some EV misconceptions
Yesterday, I made the mistake of clicking on an xkcd Facebook post and reading some of the comments. Today, you get to pay for my indiscretion 😛.
Read moreBuilding IoT AQ Sensors / Doorbell Chimes for Ubiquiti UI Protect in Home Assistant with ESPHome
In the previous video I mentioned that I built a variety of ESP32 media speakers in Home Assistant via ESPHome to use as doorbell chimes for Unifi Protect. This video walks through the different devices, including how I ended up putting Air Quality (AQ) sensors in most of the designs. Links to STL/Code below. Index Intro: 00:03 Home Assistant Protect […]
Read moreFord is terrible at credential management (PAAK rant)
In general I like my Ford Mach-E (or Mustang Mach-E, or MME, or whatever), but every now and again I run into a rough edge because Ford is really bad at technology. Today’s rough edge is in how they manage credentials for the Phone As a Key (PAAK) feature. For those who aren’t familiar, PAAK lets you use your phone […]
Read moreWSJ is really, really, really, bad at technology reporting
The reporting in this piece is so bad. I have to wonder if the pen tester here took advantage of the WSJ’s total lack of awareness around how this stuff works, or the WSJ’s editorial staff knowingly embellished a story about how bad Wallbox is at IoT Device design.
Read moreEmporia Launches Improved Vue 3 Energy Monitor
Overall the Vue 3 looks like a solid refinement of the Vue 2. Including some of the points, like better terminal/port retention for the CT plugs. Pricing looks good, and I’m glad to see that the enhancements in the size and layout of the main device. It will be interesting to see how the improved accuracy compares to the previous […]
Read moreHaier Learns an Important Lesson about Internet
I’m a little late to this party. TL;DR Haier tried to bully a FOSS developer who was making their product more useful, and got schooled. I love it.
Read moreIs SPAN Panel the Wrong Choice for All-Electric Homes?
The SPAN IO Smart Electric Service Panel is a really neat approach to solving some electrical service load issues. But there are several drawbacks that make it the wrong choice in many situations. Especially all-electric homes.
Read moreA lot of that pivots around what you mean by “norm”, right Steve?
Every so often I see an opinion piece like the one by Steve Hanley at CleanTechnica (which TBF is a heavy copy/paste/echo job based on an opinion piece by Christoph Schwarzer) around why we should expect DC fast charging (DCFC) to become The Way we refuel battery electric vehicles (BEV / EV). I think that’s crazy talk, and have to […]
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