NY Times Reports: MINI-E Drivers Have Bonded With Their Cars!

Yesterday the NY Times published a story on how the MINI-E trial lease participants love their MINI-E's. The story was based on a yearlong U.C. Davis study that found an overwhelming amount of MINI-E drivers love the cars and have found that they are comfortable living with the cars 80-100 mile range.

If you have been following this blog, you know I feel the same way. When the MINI-E program began, we were all sent emails asking if we wanted to participate in the study, I thought about it and since I didn't know how much of my time it would consume I never replied, so my thoughts although broadcast here on this blog, aren't included in the study. However judging from the results, it seems that I wasn't needed and the other MINI-E participants love their cars as much as I do and the big thing is that they don't feel constrained by the range either, a point that I have been trying to get across to non-EV drivers for a long time now: The limited range isn't a big deal! People that don't drive an EV worry about range anxiety more than the people that actually do drive one.   

Anyway, the results of this study don't surprise me one bit. The general public is going to love electric cars, they just need to get past their belief that they won't and give one a try. Another MINI-E driver, Peder Norby once wrote of the challenges facing the transition to electric cars: "Our greatest roadblock is the inertia of the status quo"   and this study further proves that point if you ask me. The people that HAVE had the chance to spend time with an electric car overwhelmingly like them and say they want to continue to drive electric. That's the case whether the car was an EV-1, a RAV4-EV, a Tesla, a Nissan LEAF or a MINI-E. We just need to convince more of the public to give them a chance, the cars themselves will do the rest.

Infrastructure Issues? Did MINI-E #250 cause a Transformer Meltdown?

When I arrived at work a few days ago, I plugged in as usual, just to top off my charge and be ready for the next 100 miles or so. However after about a half hour, I noticed some of the power in the restaurant went out. Not all of the power, just about a third of it. I have seen this before, so I knew exactly what happened. I had lost one leg of the buildings three phase electric supply. I quickly walked outside to the utility pole to take a look and just as I imagined, one of the transformers had a wire that was disconnected and was arcing with sparks falling from it.

I quickly called PSE&G, and they arrived about a half hour later and quickly repaired the wire and the restaurant was back to normal and my car resumed charging. Since the wire was arcing and sparks were falling, the Montclair fire department was on scene and made sure nobody walked under the area. 

Now here's the problem: This happened about six months ago and at that time my car was also charging when the problem occurred. The PSE&G technician that repaired the line asked me "What do you guys have in the restaurant, I've never seen a the same transformer wire meltdown like this twice in six months" He than said the wire was all charred and looked like it had been in a fire. He suggested I call my electrician to better "balance the load" at the restaurant or this problem will continue to happen. I get what he's saying, perhaps the load isn't balanced well and I should analyze it and properly spread the load evenly among the three phases. However, I built the building eleven years ago and never had a problem, now this has happened twice in the past year that I have been charging #250 there, so I am inclined to think while there was an existing balance issue, charging the car at 12 kWh is definitely the draw that pushed it over the limit.

One of the things I have said I love about the MINI-E is it's ability to charge so quickly. It can charge up to 50amps at 12kWh and completely charge the 35kWh pack in about three hours. Compare that to the Nissan LEAF which only has a 24 kWh pack, and still takes eight hours to charge because it can only charge at 3.3kWh. This means it can only accept about 1/3 of the electricity that my MINI-E which isn't great when you want to charge up quickly, but definitely easier on your utility company. I definitely think this reason is why most of the major auto manufacturers are setting the charge rate of their EV's at 3.3kWh (LEAF & Volt) or 6.6kWh (Focus, Coda) instead of higher. Future BMW EV's (ActiveE & i3) will be limited to 7.7kWh which is probably a good decision, as balancing fast charging against not wanting their customers to blow up their transformers needs to be considered. Tesla on the other hand is going to continue to allow charging up to 16.8 kWh and uses the same AC Propulsion technology that allows the MINI-E to charge at such a high rate. They don't seem to be concerned about supply issues, only time will tell if they are correct. I know this, if after plucking down $60,000 or so to buy a new Model S, you find out that you keep overwhelming your utility supply and cannot charge your car, you aren't going to be very happy.


There will be growing pains. As electric cars become more and more prevalent, expect to hear about electricity supply problems from time to time. The one good thing about relatively slow adoption of electric cars is that it will allow the utilities to identify weaknesses and problem areas, and upgrade what need to be upgraded before there are millions of EV's driving around everywhere and not enough supply to charge them.

MINI-E #262 Spotted In The Wild

 

It's not often I see another MINI-E on the road while I'm driving around, so when I passed #262 parked in Morristown today I had to stop and take a picture. Apparently this is one of the cars leased to JCP&L, our local electric utility in Morris County, New Jersey. Other than Michael Thwaite, I don't know of any other MINI-E's still in service in the Morris County area. I know of one in South Jersey and one in Bergen County, but the rest of the MINI-E's leased in my area were returned after the one year term was up as many of the drivers just didn't want to pay $600 per month for a car they would have to give back after the year was up. Many of them that I know have either ordered a Chevy Volt or are waiting for a Nissan LEAF to be available in NJ. After driving an EV for a year, most don't want to go back to their old oil burning ways!

50,000 Emission Free Miles

On February 12th, exactly 20 months to the day that I picked up MINI-E #250, the odometer turned past 50,000 miles. That's 610 days of driving this wonderfully unique car, and averaging 82 miles per day, every day I have had it.

Every day I drive down the road I look around at all the cars around me and realize I'm driving the only car in sight that's not spewing pollutants out the back of my car for the people behind me to breathe. Soon I'll be joined by Chevy Volts (at lease while they are in charge depleting mode), and Nissan LEAF's, but I've yet to run into one while driving yet.  It won't be long before there are then Ford Focus EV's, the Tesla Model S, Toyota RAV4 EV's, and the BMW ActiveE which I'll be driving in about seven months when I have to turn #250 back over to BMW.

No doubt the electric car renaissance is happening, and just about every major auto manufacturer has an electric car in development, and many are near production. That wasn't the case back in June 2009 when I took possession of my MINI-E. The only real electric option at the time was a $100,000 Tesla Roadster, no doubt an awesome car, but a bit out of most people's price range.

So I'll keep driving and charging my car with electricity I produce with my solar PV array on the roof of my home. I'll continue to drive by gas station after gas station, unconcerned about the current price of gasoline. (What does a gallon cost nowadays anyway?) By my account, I would have had to buy about 2,800 gallons of gas for my other car, a 2009 Toyota Tacoma if I did not get selected to be in the MINI-E program. I would have also needed about 10 oil changes, replaced my brake pads at least once and would now be due for a complete 50,000 mile tune up in addition to a litany of regular maintenance items like air filters & fuel filters. I figure I've saved at least $5,000 in fuel and maintenance, and it's probably really closer to $6,000.

Electric cars are extremely low maintenance, which is one of the main reasons the auto manufacturers haven't been really keen on building and selling them. They generally make more money maintaining and fixing your car than they do when they sell it to you. That's won't be the case with EV's. The one big maintenance cost is a replacement battery pack and that won't be necessary for 100,000 to 130,000 miles and 6 to 10 years after the purchase. Even then, they won't profit from it nearly as much as they would have from all the maintenance needed for an internal combustion engine car.

So honk and give me a wave if you see me out there driving around New Jersey. If the "EF-OPEC" plates or the "Starve a Terrorist, Drive Electric" bumper sticker aren't enough for you to tell it's me, just look for the MINI Cooper without the tailpipe sticking out of the back, there aren't that many of us around.

Happy New Year!

As the odometer of MINI-E #250 turned 48,000 miles today, New Years Day 2011, I can only think of how much has happened in the eighteen and a half months that I have been driving the car.

Back in 2008 when I first applied to be in the trial lease program electric cars weren't really talked about too much and if you wanted one you had to either buy a $110,000 Tesla or build your own, and for most folks neither were really viable options. Now, only two years later you hear about the Chevy Volt or the Nissan LEAF in all media outlets since retail customers have begun to take delivery of them.

The electric car has gone from virtual obscurity to a topic that is debated by pundits on a daily basis. Customers are finally getting a choice. We can finally decide for ourselves what type of fuel we use to power our cars: oil that is pumped halfway across the planet and who's profit goes to radical fundamentalist regimes, or electricity that is generated entirely in the United States by US workers, working for US companies and where 100% of the money you spend on that electricity stays in our local economies.

Sure there are sacrifices to be made when driving a pure battery electric car. The limited range and long recharge time makes EV's less versatile than a typical internal combustion engine car, but this is only the beginning. These cars will continue to improve, battery technology will advance, charging compatibilities will get faster and the gap in functionality in the two propulsion systems will shrink.

Energy independence will not happen overnight and we are a long, long way from being able to tell the OPEC puppet masters that they do not own us anymore, but at least there is now hope. Hope that we can break the chains that have kept us dependent and even subservient to the regimes that control the supply of oil we so desperately need. Happy New Year everyone!

I also wanted to say "thank you" to everyone that has visited this blog, sent me emails and posted messages to the entries. Your enthusiasm and support help to inspire me to keep the blog current.

In 2010 this blog had 31,000 visitors from 93 countries! There were 10,000 visits from the United States followed by 3,300 from Germany, 800 from Canada, 400 from Spain, and 350 from the UK. The rest of the countries all had less than 300 visits per country. Thanks again for the support!

Pushing the Limit

 

The MINI-E speedometer and power gauge

During my eighteen months with MINI-E #250 I have tried to test the car in every way. I have pushed the range until I thought I would need to be towed, I have overloaded the cabin with hundreds of pounds of cargo, I have seen battery temperature extremes from 118 degrees to a low of 39 degrees and I've generally driven it like someone that is trying to find the weak links so BMW could identify them and improve upon the findings in future models. 

I have also not forgotten to test the 95mph electronically governed top speed either. In fact, on a few occasions I have tried to push it a little higher and beat the limiter. I did succeed to squeeze out 96mph, but not any more than that. I was really hoping to get a bit closer to 100, but after a few attempts I have all but given up. When you hit the 95 mph limit, the car cuts the power until it drops down to about 90 and then supplies power again, so you constantly bounce between 90 and 95 if you just keep the accelerator floored. I even tried to do it going downhill with the hopes that I could squeeze out a few more mph but it didn't happen. 

It's not that the car doesn't have the power, because it does. In fact, at high speed it has plenty of power and gets up to the 95mph limit with ease, but the electronic limit then takes over. I'm not sure if BMW just doesn't want us to have an accident at such high speeds or if perhaps the car just isn't geared to go faster and could have problems if we were to drive it to the limit. There is also the issue of battery use at these high speeds. The car uses a lot of power pushing the air out of the way at these high speeds. From my experiences I surmise that driving the car at 90+ mph continuously would cut the range in half of what the car would normally get so you wouldn't want to drive that fast often unless you were not far from your charger.

I think it's that reason that the other automakers that are coming out with pure electric cars in the near future have all set electric governed top speed limiters like the MINI-E has. For example the Nissan LEAF is limited to 90mph, the Smart Electric Drive can only go 60mph, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is 81mph, the Honda Fit EV is 90mph and the Ford Focus EV is limited to 85. I'm pretty sure these cars, without the limiters could go much faster, but they would then use up the energy stored in their packs extremely fast and possibly leave their driver stranded and unable to make it to their nearest charge point. 

Personally I don't think there is much a need to go faster than 80mph in an EV (unless of course it's a Tesla Roadster!) so I don't mind the limiters as long as they are at least 80mph. In just about any driving situation, you wouldn't need to go faster than that to keep up with the flow of traffic on any highway. As long as the car has the instant torque and plenty of low speed power you would expect with an EV. The trade off you sacrifice in range just to drive a little faster just isn't worth it. I know I'm driving a little slower than I used to now that I'm driving an EV(except when I'm testing the top speed limit of course!) and when I think about it, I guess that a good thing.

MINI-E #250 and I are Included in the Marketing for Chris Paine's New Movie "Revenge of The Electric Car"

Back in 2006 Chris Paine wrote and directed a documentary called "Who Killed The Electric Car". This is a must see movie for any electric car enthusiast. (Actually I think everybody should see it) The film purpose was to try to investigate why the automakers (mostly GM) made electric cars, took them back from the customers and then crushed just about all of them so there would be no chance of them resurfacing and proving how good they really were. Back in 2006 when Chris made this documentary it seemed a hopeless quest to try to encourage major automakers to commit to building EV's, they just didn't want to and would always say there just isn't enough consumer demand to justify making them.

Now jump only four years to 2010. Just about every major auto maker has an electric car in development and two of them, the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF, will be available for sale within two months. BMW has had over 600 electric cars in real world testing for a year and a half now and is poised to start their second all electric test car, the ActiveE next summer and will sell their first all electric car called the megacity in 2013. Ford announced they will sell a Focus EV in 2012, Fiat will offer a 500 EV, Toyota has partnered with Tesla to make another RAV4 EV, Honda recently announced they will have an EV in showrooms soon, Smart will have an electric version of their car and Mitsubishi will offer the iMiev shortly. WOW! What happened in the scant few years since 2006 and nobody seemed interested in making electric cars?

So Chris is making a sequel called "Revenge of The Electric Car". The film should be out sometime this Spring and I'll announce more about it as the date approaches. I was contacted by Michelle Kaffko, producer of marketing and distribution for the film and asked if I was interested in having my EV story used to help promote the movie. There is a link to the movies website on the top right column of this blog or you can jump to it from HERE.  Or just go to the website and click on the tab at the top that say's "Take Revenge" and scroll down a little to see how I've "Taken Revenge".

Back From The Bay Area Green Drive Expo

Picture of me and #250 on the Jumbotron at The Green Drive Expo

About two months ago I was asked by Brad Berman of PluginCars.com if I would like to sit on a panel of experienced electric car drivers to talk about living with an electric car and answer questions about the MINI-E and BMW's electric future. Brad was putting together the Bay Area Green Drive Expo and wanted one of the event programs to be three experienced EV owners for a Q & A session. I agreed to participate and the event was last Saturday, October 8th at the Craneway pavilion in Richmond, CA.

The event went really well. There were about 3,000 visitors and I got a chance to talk to some long time EV advocates like Chelsea Sexton (Who Killed The Electric Car) and Marc Geller, one of the founders of Plug In America. The two other panelists with me were Darell Dicky and Earl Cox. Darell has a RAV 4 EV and Earl has a Tesla Roadster. Both of them leased an EV-1 when they were available(Before GM took them all back and crushed them) and are fountains of information about electric cars. Darell, Earl and I are all frequent posters on Plugincars.com so I have communicated with them online, but had never met them before the event. It was nice to finally meet some of the people that I have been messaging online for a while now. Being on the East Coast I don't always get to meet many of the hard core EV advocates since many of them live in California where electric cars like the EV-1, the RAV 4 were available for a while. 

I really had a good time. I talked with so many people about the MINI-E, the BMW ActiveE and also the 2013 BMW Megacity vehicle. BMW was not present so I felt like the defacto representative. There were people there that were really interested in BMW's plans for electric mobility. I handed out printed cards that had ActiveE information on them and directed them to BMW's website and Project i Facebook page for information. There was a Nissan LEAF there, as well as two Tesla Roadsters, a Ford Focus EV, a Think City, a plug in Prius, a Mitsubishi iMiev, a Smart car, about a dozen professional conversions, electric motorcycles and electric assist bicycles. Chelsea Sexton was the keynote speaker, Toyota national manager of advanced technology Ed LaRocque gave a speech as did Gil Portalatin of Ford hybrid systems. There were test drives in the parking lot and all of the sponsors and speakers got together for a nice dinner after the event. 

It was really a great expo. Marc Geller even drove me back to my hotel from dinner in his RAV 4 EV. I had never driven in one before so that was a pretty cool experience. For me the best part was getting to personally meet all the people that I have only communicated with by email for the past few years. Thank you Brad for extending the offer to me to be a part of it all.

UPDATE: Someone posted a video of Marc, Darell, Earl and me on Youtube. This was recorded right after we were on stage for our Q & A session. Below is the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8QsoUMxQbU&feature=player_embedded

Four Months of Driving on Sunshine

MINI-E roof graphics and my house & solar system in the background

It's been almost four months now since I installed a 8.8kw solar photovoltaic electric system on my roof. The system has generated nearly 5 megawatt hours of electricity and roughly half of that clean, renewable energy has gone into my MINI-E's battery pack to allow me to drive about 10,000 miles.

The great feeling of driving an electric car and not using oil has had even greater meaning to me recently with the disastrous oil leak currently in the Gulf of Mexico. Charging the car with electricity I produce myself takes it up even another notch. One of the arguments against electric cars is that a majority of the electric generated in the US is made from coal fired powerplants and that EV's just displace the pollution from the tailpipe to the smokestack. There is some truth to that but it still doesn't mean the electric cars aren't better for the environment. Every comprehensive study that I have read that compares the amount of pollution from electricity generation to the pollution from burning gasoline shows how much worse it is to burn gasoline. Then if you consider the cradle to grave supply chain of oil it becomes even more obvious. From wars over oil to oil supply chain disasters like what we are witnessing off the coast of Louisiana, there really is no comparison. Then consider the fact that you can make your own clean renewable electricity, as I do and the argument isn't even worth continuing, it's game over.

Hopefully with electric cars like the Nissan LEAF, the Chevrolet Volt and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV coming to dealerships in the very near future, I won't be such an aberration. I'm pretty sure as more and more people buy electric cars they will see the environmental and economic benefits of installing a home based Solar PV system to generate their own fuel. I'm not the only one that thinks that either, there even is a website that is dedicated to combination of electric cars and solar electric systems. It's called Solar Charged Driving and you can check it out here: SolarChargedDriving.com

Another thing I've heard is that our current infrastructure can't support the charging of hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of electric cars. This point has been countered also by people that point out that the majority of EV charging will take place at night when there is a great surplus of electricity. I can't really say one way or the other since I don't have the data that would support either argument. I can say it's true that most EV's will charge at night and you can program your EV to charge whenever you want so you can take advantage of off peak rates and charge when there is a surplus. Now if people follow my example and decide to install a solar PV array, they will be helping the grid instead of hurting it. By supplying electricity to the grid during daylight hours when demand is highest, and charging at night when demand is low and there is a surplus, I am actually helping the grid, not creating a problem with my EV. Now imagine if there were hundreds of solar arrays in every town, supplying electricity locally and reducing the strain on the local power grids. I think EV owners will be much more inclined to install solar systems, as I did. I had always thought about it, but it wasn't until I got the MINI-E and realized that I wanted to be driving electric cars from now on that I actually decided to install the system.

Soon we will see if the public embraces the electric cars that are coming to market. If they are received as well as I think they will be, than you can bet you'll start seeing more and more shiny black panels popping up on rooftops across America.

Energy Independence Isn't a New Idea

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

A recent video from The Daily Show where Jon Stewart points out how all we have been getting from the past eight presidents is rhetoric and empty promises. Why should we think President Obama will do any better? We need to demand more from our leaders. Status quo will not work any more when we are talking about our energy needs and dependence. I think battery electric vehicles are a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully the current movement will continue to gain steam as cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf hit the market this year. Other electric cars like the BMW Megacity will follow shortly after. We can break the grip that the oil industry has on the world if we continue to invest in and improve battery electric cars.

Happy Independence...

The picture above is a Chevy Volt, an electric car with a small gasoline engine that generates electricity to recharge the batteries while you drive. This allows the car to continue to drive for as long as you want, all you have to do is continue to fill it up with gasoline. Kinda goes against the whole electric cars have no tailpipe and don't use any oil thing, but it's not as bad as it sounds.

The Volt will be going on sale, in limited numbers and in limited states starting this November. For those of you that don't know how the Volt works you are probably scratching your head about now wondering why an electric car needs gasoline and oil products to run. Well it does and it doesn't. The Volt has a 16kwh lithium ion battery pack (8kwh usable) compared to the MINI-E's 35kwh with 28kwh usable. So obviously the battery is  much smaller so it wound not be able to drive the Volt nearly as far as the MINI-E can go on a charge. Actually, GM is saying the Volt will go 35-40 miles per charge in battery only mode. Battery only mode? Isn't "battery only" how electric cars drive. Until the Volt, yes that's how they worked, but GM has brought a new twist to EV's. After you deplete 8kwh of usable battery, the small ICE turns on and acts as a generator to sustain the charge so you can continue to drive. It will not fully recharge the battery, but simply allow you to continue to drive. It is called an Extended Range Electric Vehicle or EREV. GM is betting that people will not want to live with the fear that they will be left stranded by their fully electric BEV so they will opt for an EREV. They do have a point, people that have not experienced living with an EV like I have are concerned that they will run out of power and get stuck. I have said many times here that that fear is way overblown and that once someone actually lives with an EV they quickly realize they really don't have to worry about it. Still, there are some people that will definitely need the added comfort that the car can continue for as long as necessary if need be. Then there are people that live in rural areas that drive 50 miles just to go to the supermarket. a 100 mile BEV just won't work for them and until battery technology gets better an EREV will be a great choice. Plus for those that frequently drive less than 40 miles a day, they will hardly ever need to buy gasoline. There are drawbacks though, as you will now need to maintain the whole internal combustion drivetrain; meaning oil changes, fuel filters, air filters, fuel pumps, water pumps, spark plugs, tune ups, mufflers, etc. All those moving parts wear out over time, which is why BEV's require so little maintenance. They have almost no moving parts and are extremely simple mechanically. The long term costs of a BEV will be extraordinarily  lower than that of an EREV with with you need to maintain BOTH systems.

That being said I do like the Volt and I will considering buying one when they become available in my area and the supply increases. I fear the initial buyers will be paying a premium for these cars because of the limited supply and I'm not going to pay a dealer over MSRP for any car. I don't even want to pay MSRP let alone more. I would use the Volt as a second vehicle that my wife will drive and for the few times we need to travel further than my electric car will take us. From now on I plan on driving a BEV for all my commuting and personal use as I have found it to be a very enjoyable driving experience as well as very economical. Whether an EREV like the Volt or a BEV like the LEAF is better for you and your style of driving, to me it doesn't matter. Both will help us begin to reduce our dependence on oil. The LEAF and other BEV's do it more dramatically, but the Volt is definitely a big step in the right direction and can be driven by many who simply couldn't use the LEAF because of their driving demands.

This year I am celebrating my personal independence as well as Americas. I have been driving the MINI-E for almost 13 months now and have driven close to 35,000 miles free of oil! I am no longer dependent on oil for my personal transportation! I charge my car from the sunlight that I capture in my solar PV system so I don't even need the grid to provide my fuel either. Independence, it's a wonderful thing!

Nissan Leaf pre-orders already exceed production capacity!

AutoBlogGreen is reporting Nissan has already taken more pre-orders of the Nissan Leaf than they will be able to produce! I know this is a MINI-E site but the Leaf is the first all electric car that a major auto manufacturer will sell and the fact that the demand is already outstripping the supply is reinforcing what I have been writing here for a while now: There are a lot of people that are sick and tired of the oil industry and want another option. They will be willing to sacrifice a little convenience for the opportunity to say F*** OPEC! Sorry guys, when you get your Leaf you'll have to come up with your own vanity plate, I'm not giving this one up!

Car Wash Small Talk

My wife Meredith and I went for a leisurely drive to Princeton this morning. On the way back I noticed there was a car wash open and #250 was looking less than perfect after driving in the rain a few times this week so I pulled in and ran it through.

Ever since I added the "ELECTRIC" chrome badges, the no oil magnets and the EF-OPEC license plates I get stopped all the time when I'm in parking lots and even sometimes sitting at traffic lights by curious people that have questions about the car. However whenever I go to a car wash, it's just about guaranteed that someone will ask me about the car and today was no exception. Just as I walked to the counter to pay a gentleman walked up to me and asked if it was really 100% electric. I said yes but before I could tell him it was a pilot program he quickly followed up with "How much?" and "Where can I get one?" He didn't even know the range, how long it takes to charge...etc, he just knew he wanted one. Then he saw my plates. A huge smile came across his face and he said: "Those are awesome, it's just how I feel"

Once I explained the program to him and promised him that he will be able to buy an electric car soon, perhaps as soon as within 12 months he was even more enthusiastic. I told him about the Nissan LEAF, the Chevy Volt and that BMW would have an EV on the market, possibly in 2013. I know I've said it here many times before, but the more I drive the car and the more people I meet and talk to, the more I realize the time has come to begin the transition to electrics. The technology is ready and so is the public.

Nissan LEAF Tour visits New Jersey

My wife and I stopped by the Liberty State Science Center in Jersey City this morning to see Nissan LEAF. Nissan has dubbed it the Nissan LEAF Tour and they are stopping at various cities around the country to show off the car. I thought the car looked better in person and definitely was designed with aerodynamics as a primary concern. We got there at 9:15 am and nobody was there yet so I could really talk to the representatives. I voiced my concerns about the lack of an active thermal management system which is what I believe is the MINI-E's biggest flaw. It's acceptable in the MINI-E though because we know it's a test mule and not a polished and refined vehicle that will be offered for sale. The reps stressed that the Lithium Ion batteries that will be in the Leaf are superior to the ones in our MINI-E's and have tested well and will work better in cold weather. She also told me that Nissan has discussed this at great length and is prepared to install a thermal system if they see that there are problems with the cars. Anyone that had already bought a LEAF would have the system installed at no cost to them if they decided that it was necessary.

I do like the car a lot, but I am also concerned with size of the battery pack. It's only 24kwh. If you compare it to the MINI-E's 35kwh pack it looks underwhelming. The Leaf is lighter (by about 600lbs) and more aerodynamic though so that should help to bridge the gap in energy storage. Plus, it's been designed from the ground up as an EV, so perhaps it will come close to the MINI-E's true 100 mile per charge range. Nissan is claiming a 100 mile range, but remember the MINI-E was rated as having a 156 mile range and that's about as real as Santa Clause.

As much as I like the LEAF and want to support Nissan for having the guts to be the first major auto manufacturer to actually sell an EV, I think I'll stick with BMW and see where they are going with Project I. We have been told that the MINI-E trial lease participants will be offered another year extension, but we haven't been told what we have to pay if we want to keep the cars for another year. We have also read that BMW will transition some of the MINI-E participants into ActiveE leases in June 2011 which is when our second year lease will be over. Again, no promises and no word on what it will cost us. Even then, it's just a one year lease and we can't keep the cars. Hopefully, this possible three year lease odyssey will end with an offer to buy an ActiveE or Megacity or whatever BMW is going to call the EV they eventually sell. Leasing is OK for now, but in the end I want to own an EV. I give Nissan a lot of credit for bringing the LEAF to the market for sale. After checking out the car in person, I think they are going to make a lot of people that want to own an EV very happy.

At Least Someone's Charging Up!

It's been two weeks now since I last drove MINI-E #250. I guess the holiday season hasn't helped as the service technicians probably only worked a few days in the past two weeks.

At least my charger is getting some use even if it's not from my car. I had a couple pioneers stop by my restaurant to charge up recently. Jim McLaughlin and his lovely wife stopped by for dinner during a snow storm and topped off their charge while they were eating. They live in Princeton so they would need close to a full charge to get home from Montclair anyway. Then, a couple days ago, David Miller stopped by at lunchtime for a bite and about an hour of charging. He was coming from New York City and was worried if he would make it the rest of the way home so the charge was just enough to alleviate any range anxiety he might of had. Since I installed the charger at the restaurant in October I've probably had 10 or 12 MINI-E pioneers stop by and juice up and just about everyone had something to eat while they waited.

I think once electric cars begin to increase in numbers on our roads, it will make a lot of sense for businesses, and especially restaurants, to have public chargers at their location. Since you can't charge for the energy, you could charge a "parking fee" for the EV parking spot and the electric would be no extra cost. I own the property that my restaurant is located at and I have a 53 car parking lot that Nauna's & my tenant Quick Chek share and I would definitely want to have a public charging stations there if there are cars on the road that will use them. How about franchises like McDonald's? If every McDonald's had high power chargers there would be a network of public chargers that would make charging on the fly very convenient. Plus, they could charge for the parking spot as well as get the additional business as most of the people would likely go in and get something to eat while the car is charging. This doesn't only apply to food establishments though. How about places like Walmart? Charge while you shop! Plus, they might even get the customers to spend more money in the store because they would need to spend more time there because they were charging up. Instead of a half hour in the store they might spend one full hour there. It's already proven that the longer people stay in the store the more they buy. That's why the stores are designed to keep you in there as long as possible.

Anyway, I wish I had #250 back to charge up myself, but as long as I don't I'm happy the charger is getting some use.

BMW introduces ActiveE Project i Vehicle

From the beginning we were told that BMW was never going to make a production version of the MINI-E and that the purpose of this trial lease program was to gather information for a future four seat BMW that had a been rumored to be called the Megacity. Many of us in the program wondered what did BMW have up their sleeve. Every now and then you would see an artists rendering of a guess of what the car might look like, but never anything from BMW. Well, we just got what we were waiting for and everyone that I have talked with likes what we see. Detailed information on the ActiveE can be found at this link. I noticed in one of the pictures that it has the same plug as our MINI-E's do which means the wall chargers and cables that the MINI-E trial lease participants have will charge the ActiveE. Hmmm, it would be real easy for BMW to let MINI-E trial lease participants do some real world testing of the ActiveE. Also, it would be a nice gesture to reward us for paying $850/month to help gather information for them. We all have installed, approved and working wall chargers (I have 2 of them) so that would allow BMW to quickly get these on the road without the hassle and cost of permitting and installing new wall chargers. Just in case I'm not making myself clear enough, I would GLADLY offer to do a trial run of an ActiveE would the offer come my way. I say that on the odd chance that some BWM execs might happen across this blog....

15,000 miles in 5 months? How can that be?

Battery Electric Vehicles are little more than glorified golf carts that can be used for short trips and local city driving, right?
Battery Electric Vehicles really can't be used by people that do a lot of freeway driving or drive a lot of miles on a regular basis, right?
Battery Electric Vehicles are interesting, but they're not ready for prime-time just yet.

Really???

Then explain to me how I've managed to drive a Battery Electric Mini-E 15,000 miles in five months. I'm averaging over 700 miles a week and most of the miles (about 65%) are at freeway speeds. This glorified golf cart has been my primary means of transportation since the end of June and it has done just about everything my internal combustion engine Toyota can do for me. No it cannot drive 200 miles without stopping for fuel, but during the past five months I have only needed to drive more than the Mini's range about 5 times. I do understand that would pose a problem for single-car families, but I'm not here saying BEV's will work for everyone. I am saying they will work for most. I'm on track to put about 33,000 miles on the car this year, and that's more miles than about 95% of the population drives in a year. Part of the reason I have been able to drive so many miles is that I am able to plug in and charge up while I'm at work and I realize many do not have that option. I figure that has added about 15% more miles than I would have been able to do if I couldn't charge up, so I still could have driven close to 30,000 miles charging only at home, which is also way more than the average person drives in a typical year.

The point here is, BEV's are ready for prime-time. BMW slapped the MINI-E together in a couple of months by retrofitting an ICE Mini Cooper with mostly "off the shelf" parts. Can you imaging how much better the car would be if it was designed from the ground up as a BEV? If they took a couple years of research and built dozens of prototypes to work out the bugs and refine the final product? How much better the range would be if they spent more time improving the battery temperature management, reduced the weight by 500lbs and increased the aerodynamics?

Sure there are challenges, with charging infrastructure at the forefront and battery longevity up there too, but it's time to realize these cars can be made and driven just like their ICE counterparts, and oh yeah, people do want them. I can't believe how many people have stopped me to talk about the car and ask me questions about range, charging locations, cost, battery life, etc. I really didn't expect to find so many people energized about the prospect of being able to purchase an electric car sometime soon. I've been following the progress of EV's for a while now, but I didn't think there were so many others as interested in them as I am.

There has been a lot of talk about just what the MINI-E program is about. Some have questioned the true intent of BMW and the program. Was it only to satisfy the California Air Resource Boards ZEV mandate or was this a legitimate fact finding experiment. I don't know what BMW is up to but I can tell you that my time with the car has proven to me that I can live with an electric car as my daily driving vehicle, even though I drive over 30,000 miles annually. I also know that I have given dozens of test drives to friends, family and even strangers that were interested in the car and virtually everyone left impressed and said they would definitely consider buying an EV if one were available. Hopefully, BMW and the other auto manufacturers will follow Nissan's lead and give us what we want.

Thanks for reading my rant and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Nissan Leaf goes on tour

Nissan threw down the gauntlet when they announced earlier this year they they will be the first major auto manufacturer to sell a 100% electric vehicle. This was great news for supporters of EV's, but it got even better when the details got out. Nissan plans to sell hundreds of thousands of Leafs, not a small limited release to gauge public interest. They have gone all-in, and are betting that people want these cars now and are willing to deal with the obvious limitations they will be faced with like range and infrastructure problems. Nissan also announced they they will be investing 1 billion dollars in a new Lithium Ion battery plant in Tennessee and retooling their existing facility to build the Leaf there.

Why am I posting this on my MINI-E blog? Well, there is life after #250's lease is up and although I will not be happy, I knew going in that this was a trial lease program and would end with me giving the car back at some point. I'll keep the MINI longer if that becomes an option, but MINI USA has not announced if they will much less the cost and that will be an big issue as the current $850/month is unsustainable for most of the participants I've spoken to. Whatever the decision on lease extensions from MINI, there will be a time when I have to give it back, so my dilemma is what's my next move? Originally I was planning on getting a Chevy Volt, a plug in battery electric vehicle with an on board gasoline powered range extending generator, and still may buy one after all. However after driving the MINI-E what I really want is an all electric car with no gasoline at all. I really like that I never have to stop at a gas station. I don't even know what the current gas prices are, and I couldn't care less. Nissan has stepped up and stuck their neck out with this car and I want to support them for taking this huge gamble and giving us what we have been asking for since before the EV1: the ability to OWN an electric car that hasn't been made in some small specialty shop with little or no warranty with a major company to stand behind it for servicing.

For a while I wondered what it would be like to drive an electric car, and I want to thank MINI for making that happen and including me in this trial lease. I'm so impressed with the car I would buy it if they would sell it to me, but it doesn't look like that will be an option. Maybe we will get some news soon about the BMW Megacity EV that is supposed to be available in 2012 or 2013, but there really has been no details released at all so it's hard to get excited about it much less plan on buying one. The leaf is an interesting vehicle, while it's not exactly what I would like it to be, it is still the only 100% electric option so I may find myself in a Nissan dealership someday with my checkbook and an extension cord.

So look for #250 and me to be at the New York City stop on the Nissan Leaf 22 city tour between February 8th & 14th. I'll make sure I get there one of those days to show my support for EV's as well as get a preview of what may well be my next car.

The results are in...

Two months ago a started a poll here that asked the question: "Would you buy an electric car if it were comparably priced to a gas powered car." The poll recently closed and 355 people voted; the results are as follows:

Yes, definitely: 329 votes (93%)
No, not interested: 0 votes (0%)
Only with a 150 mi range: 18 Votes (5%)
Only with a 200 mi range: 8 Votes (2%)

What does this prove? Well, probably not much but it was interesting to see how little people voted for the 150 or 200 mile option. I'm sure everyone that is considering an EV has range as one of their top concerns, but that didn't translate in the voting as much as I expected. Now I know that visitors of this site are already interested in EV's so it was an unfair place to conduct a poll like this. I didn't expect to get many "no, not interested" votes, but not even one in the 60 days the poll was up. During that time the blog had about 2,500 visitors as it is averaging about 40 visits per day.

The only thing I can take from this is that although range is a major concern, people just want to opportunity to buy an electric car. Everyone that has been an advocate for EV's knows there will be problems in the early years of deployment. Limited range, unavailability of convenient charging stations, power supply issues at their homes etc. Even with all these obstacles it is clear that people want to have the option of electric drive vehicles for sale. Especially if they have ever had the opportunity do drive one already, like the other Mini-E drivers and I have had. Many of us keep in touch via social network sites like Facebook and blogs like this, and we all share a common desire to own an EV once the trial lease is over and Mini takes the cars back.

The only question is who will we buy from? Tesla? I'd buy a Type S tomorrow if is was available at the estimated $50,000 price tag. Nissan? The Leaf isn't my ideal vehicle, but the price sounds like it will be under $30.000 and if it's my only option, I'll do it even if the batteries are leased as rumored. BMW? We hear Project i is secretly working on a 4 seat, 3dr hatchback but nothing more than that with no real release date other than maybe 2012. Chevy? The Volt is a very interesting vehicle with the gasoline powered generator for extended range driving. I still need more details about the car's fuel efficiency. Don't believe the 230mph crap that GM announced, they did that with smoke and mirrors. I'll be very happy if the car gets 75mph in extended range mode. Fisker also has an extended range plug in like the Volt called the Karma. The car looks awesome and is a full size 4dr sedan. It is expected to be priced around $87,000 and have a 300 mile range. Smart is even making an electric version of their current model the Fortwo. I've driven an ICE Smart, I think I'll pass. There are others, but details are sketchy at best as far as price and availability. I think the auto makes finally get that we want these cars so it's going to be interesting to watch the next couple years as they bring EV's to market. I'm going to own one of them for sure. After driving the Mini-E for a while now, I'm sold on electric.

Oh yeah, and thanks to everyone that voted in the poll!

EV Talk

About a month ago I wrote that the car has been getting more attention since I added the chrome emblems that say "electric vehicle". Well, the attention has definitely continued and I have talked with some really nice people recently that are excited about the future of EV's. I have had lots of people beep and wave or give me a thumbs up while we are driving next to each other, and I have had the opportunity to talk to some others.

I was at a hand car wash last week ago and while I was waiting for the car to be finished a nice couple (Jerry & Ariel) asked me if the Mini E was my car. They were driving a 2008 Cooper S and knew exactly what the car was. Jerry said that when he was shopping for his Mini he heard about the Mini E trial lease and would have loved to apply but he needed to get a car then and the lease wasn't going to start for 8 months. He had never seen one on the road and had a lot of questions for me about using the car everyday. We talked about range, charging challenges, regen and both wondered about the effect the extreme cold will have on the batteries. He knew more about the car than anyone I have met so far that doesn't have one. After talking with me I could tell he wished he was able to wait and apply for a Mini E.
Then yesterday I was picking up some bagels in the morning. I parked the car outside the bagel store and when I got out and started to walk into the store I heard someone say "Excuse me, is that car all electric?" I turned and saw a guy walking over to the car so I walked back and told him it was and gave him a quick explanation about the trial lease program. He told me that he was looking into the Tesla Type S but the uncertainty about when it would actually be available has tempered his enthusiasm. We then talked about the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and even the Aptera vehicles that will be available soon to California residents. He knew a lot about the EV industry but he didn't know about the Mini E. We chatted briefly and both swore that we would buy an electric car as soon as one is available with a decent range and somewhat reasonably priced when compared to it's ICE competition.

One thing's for sure, since getting the Mini E I have come to realize that there are a lot of people out there that really want an EV and will be willing to pay a premium for it once they are available. I have always read the internet blogs for EV enthusiasts and knew that they were out there, but driving the Mini E has allowed me to meet and talk with them in person. I always thought there would be a market for electric cars, but seeing the reaction I get from people when they realize I'm actually driving one proves to me that there is.