The Man Who Never Recharged

by Lee A. Hart

Let me tell you all a story 'bout a man named Charlie
And his fight with the EPA.
He kissed his wife good-bye, and left for work one morning,
And he ain't come home to this day.

Refrain:

Oh, he never recharged, no he never recharged,
And they say he's still at large (oh, poor Charlie).
He may drive forever on the streets of Seattle.
He's the man who never recharged

Now Charlie had a car, one of 10 Most Wanted
On a list by the EPA.
Well, they caught him and they fined him,
and when that didn't stop him,
They towed Charlie's car away.

Refrain

Well, he swore they'd never get him again for pollutin',
So he bought an electric car.
It went pretty fast along the streets of Seattle,
But it just didn't get him that far.

Refrain

He was following one 'o them electrified buses,
When a thought entered into his brain.
So he rigged a couple poles goin' out thru the sunroof,
And his life's never been the same.

Refrain

Now he flies up the hills and down the streets of Seattle.
His EV's got an infinite range.
And he never has to think about the cost of his driving,
With no batteries to charge or change.

Refrain

Charlie is a grinning, but his poor wife is moaning,
"Oh what's to become of me."
He's never gonna stop because Charlie's such a miser.
He'll never quit if driving it is free.

Refrain

There's wires everywhere along the streets of Seattle,
But there's one place they just don't roam.
So we're passing the hat to get the trolley lines extended,
To route poor Charlie back home.

Refrain (from doing this :-)

My sincere apologies to the Kingston Trio, for this terrible parody of their "MTA Song", known informally as "Charlie on the MTA".

Seattle WA has an extensive system of electrified buses with overhead wires for power. When I worked out there, I took these buses to work, or drove an electric car (borrowed from Eric Sundin and the folks at EVsNW). John Wayland came up for a visit from Portland OR, and we were riding around in one of Eric's EVs with a sunroof. John was driving it flat out, racing up and down the hills, and I was complaining that we'd run out of juice before we reached our destination. "No problem," he replied. "Just reach up and connect to those overhead wires!" The idea for this poem was born.

Lee A. Hart