Moving to a new EV adventure

www.myactivee.blogspot.com

I'm on the list to get the new BMW ActiveE which I guess you can call the son of the MiniE.

I can't wait to plug-in again. Check out my new ActiveE blog for the goods.

Regen is so natural

It had been a few months since I drove a MINI E and I thought I might have some issues with the regen but I didn't. It really was like riding a bicycle, it all came back to me and I was hitting...*cough*..comfortable speeds in no time with stylish stops.

When charging I've been using the 'top off'' technique and happy to see it still works (after charging to full wait a bit then begin to charge again). Something I confirmed with BMW way back and thrilled to see it got some play.

Range has been great and I am driving the car hard. If I'm careful I'll get close to 120 but when I get aggressive I drop to 100, 100 is still great.

In a few days I'll be back in my diesel SUV, which gets up to 28mpg, diesel is great for SUVs....but electric really is perfect for the commuter car. Drive one and you will be hooked, you will find a way to make it fit into your daily routine.

Got a warning light - but it's a good thing

I got the little yellow light on the speedo that says reduced power....why...because I was touching on 90 plus MPH. The car has no trouble getting there. I was coming off the onramp to 287 south from Morristown and floored it, it just went and went....way too much fun.

I think #250 is sticking with me - one day you may find it on a milk carton

Another day in #250 - it was a good one as today I drove hard, but I was still able to squeeze around 100 miles if I tried. #250 hit 32,000 - was glad to be a part of that



On a fun note; I was eating out for lunch today and while #250 was sitting in the lot #304 stopped by and left a note on the windshield saying hello - small world

Fantastic!!!

Wow that was fun! 63 miles today, not easy ones, and I still had 49 left. Not bad for a rusty E driver....guess it is like riding a bicycle.

#250 is getting a charge on my stale 32amp wall box, good to kick the dust off of it. I look forward to tomorrow, which calls for big thunderstorms. Hey, I'm green again, Mother Nature should shine upon me.

I'm baaaack.....well, for 1 week anyway.

Yes, I'm back for the week. So where did I go? The company I was with that had 4 MINI Es cancelled the program in November of last year and cancelled a number of us, I had #402. No biggie, I quickly ended up back in the technology and software industry I know which is going well, I'm the marketing dude for WebCollage. However, I sure missed the MINI E.

Good news, Tom of #250, is loaning me his for the week while he is away. Most of you I'm sure have heard of Tom, whether in the press or at his East Coast gatherings one of the most impressive points is he has over 30,000 miles on his #250 in just a year. He is almost at 32,000 and I plan on getting him over that mark in short order.

I drive #250 this morning and...WOW...have I missed these cars. Being a Mini Cooper this car is fun but being 100% electric puts it a whole other level us awesomeness.

I look forward to driving #250 this week, in fact I'm heading out for another spin right now. Thanks Tom!!!

#250 getting ready for another spin then will get its first charge at my place

To Hell With Range - I'm Gonna Drive!!!

Why am I so happy? It is because I finally got the wall box charger, no more sipping from the 110. With my commute I've always had to be home at a certain hour and drive the car a certain way so there was enough time and % left so as to get a full charge on that 110 by morning. Well no more of that wimpy stuff, I'm gonna drive MINI E #402 like it was meant to be driven. Pedal to the floor, li-ions screaming "back off, for the love of God, baaaack off!". Not me people, I'm going to enjoy this EV ride now that I know I can burn through the batt pack and recharge in a matter of hours. This EV is now an EXTREME VEHICLE

Northern part of NJ fear me....eat my electrons!

Second East Coast MINI E Meet Up, Charge Up And Chow Down - Nov 8

The Second East Coast MINI E meet up is November 8th at Nauna's. For those that were there the last time you may remember that shrimp dish was well worth the cost of entry into a MINI E, well almost ;) but that dish sure was awesome!! Plenty of reserved parking just for MINI Ers.

All Pioneers welcome - please RSVP to Tom at tom.moloughney at gmail dot com (at=@ and dot=.)

Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Nauna's Bella Casa
Street: 148 Valley Road
City/Town: Montclair, NJ 07042

Looking For 220 Charge Points in NJ

Hello all MINI Ers in NJ or PA. Next week, Oct 28th, I will be doing another green car event in Malvern PA. I will be coming from Mendham NJ which means I might or might not make it there on one charge, depending on weather, and I won't make it back. So I'm looking for charge points along the way with a 220.

I figure if I could charge 1 to 2 times each way I'll be more than safe, my route will take me along the Delaware river and I'll cross just north of Philly and head to Malvern or I'll go along 206 south toward Princeton then I'll cut over and head west to Malvern, depending on where I find charge points. Preferably I'd like a full charge before heading over into PA since Malvern and back to the NJ border could be 60 or more miles round trip depending on where I charge up. I'd need to get to my final destination by 11am so I'd start out early AM and I'd be heading home around 3pm - charging along the way where I could and as needed.

Ken has kindly offered me the use of his wall box which is in South Jersey but I'll be running on e-fumes by then and if it is cold I will not make it to his place. Anyone reading this is welcome to join me at the event if they have an electric car, MINI E or not and whether you charged me up or not. You would be Comverge's guest (my company). We plan on having a real V2G car there - the eBox. It is a private event with about 300 people.

Any offers/suggestions please post here or email me directly at cwneff at gmail dot com (at=@ and dot=. remove spaces)

Thanks!!!

Frost Warning Or Range Warning?

(frost warning in mid Oct - terrific)

Well I had my first taste of winter today in NJ. We had some snow and I got the frost warning on the MINI E dash - now that's cold for mid Oct. It actually got down to 35F during the day.

So what is the worry you ask...it is range or lack of it. Today on my 40 mile round trip commute I ended up with just under 80 miles of range and that was with the heat at low. I had the heat on with lights going to work and on the way home heat, lights and wipers. I avoided highways to maximise distance. I arrived home with 36 miles left and 40% capacity - ouch!! During late summer I was usually at 75 to 80 miles left with 70% or higher. I was unable to keep resetting the recirc button because the windows just fogged up instantly so I was forced to let the cold air flow in forcing me to turn the heat up and use more energy. MINI/BMW, hear my plea - do NOT take control away of the recirc button from the driver in your next EV - not to mention reaching for it to turn it back on every 2 mins could be considered a safety issue.

What the shortage of range means is I'm ok with my commute, once the wall box arrives, but that is it. I won't be able to take regional business trips, go to Newark airport much less NYC without arranging a charge somewhere along the line. Is this a MINI E issue...no. This is an EV issue that manufacturers will be challenged to address for us snow belt peeps. The heater absolutely draws a large amount of energy...it may not look that bad when the car is sitting but once you begin to drive you are adding load and that is when you see your energy fly out the window so to speak. So the frost warning icon is really a range warning icon.

Snow belters with MINI Es you know what I mean. Still love the car and do look forward to improvements in the technology.

Getting Cold

This morning it was 42F so I think over night we may have gone below 40F. In an earlier post I asked the question as to whether the MINI E will allow its batteries to go below 40F because this would cause recharging to stop as well as regen braking. I'm happy to report the batteries stayed at 50F even when the car was not charging. Does keeping the pack at 50F use any juice while sitting I'm not sure, I'm sure I'll notice that once we get down to 5F or less.

I did get a temp warning light that lasted a second or so and that was it. What is turning out to be an issue is using the heater, it is sucking the juice. Today after a 40 mile drive I was down to 58 miles and I only used the heat half of that drive. Now if I had the wall charger this would not be a serious issue for commuting, traveling over 100 miles yes, but for commuting no. Since I'm still on the 110 this quick depletion of the batteries is becoming a concern.

I predict that once I need to use the heat continuously the car will need to sit home half the week as I won't have enough hours in the day to catch up. I do have a back up car but it does not even like the rain so I'm kinda screwed. Thanks New Jersey for making EV implementation so painful. Here we have a car that is paving the way for the future with a company investing time and money, with the drivers, into this technology - an you dump all over it.

For those not aware, it is NJ bureaucracy that is preventing the rest of us from getting the wall box. Of course where would NJ be without corruption, ignorance and self centered thinking.

The Coolest Thing About The MINI E Is.......

The coolest thing about the MINI E is the fact it does not look like an EV. Think about it, there are very few EVs or alternative fuel vehicles coming in the future that look like your every day car, they look like concepts or prototypes - like the EV-1 did. The MINI E is a MINI Cooper and drives like one too, sure people don't even know it is an EV, some get close by calling it a hybrid but that is part of the charm.

I for one love the idea that it looks like a regular car...it just needs some subtle EV badging and we have a winner.

At The Car Wash...Yeah!

Today in one of the local towns a small church was giving a free car wash, yes free! How could I resist, #402 needed a bath. I did ask one of the organisers why a free car wash and was told they were raising money for some room renovations inside.....hmmmm I thought, free car wash, raising money, what's missing. She continued by telling me I was free to leave a donation, well of course I would and I did.

What was fun about this particular wash is it was being done by a group of kids and they just loved the MINI. They were gushing all over it, I waited until #402 was well lathered up and then dropped the bomb...hey kids you know what else is cool about this car, it's all electric! They went nuts, it was really cool to share their excitement. Heard a few say, I want one, I want one....well kids one day you might just get one.

#402 got towel dried, I got into the drivers seat feeling good about the world, turned #402 on and got the hour glass, for at least 2 minutes, no worries, it is still way cool.

Those MINI/BMW Engineers Are Drivers

Let me thank the engineers behind the MINI E for keeping it a drivers car. The MINI Cooper is a slot car and the MINI E is not that far off. Yes, it is heavier and if you really flog it you can feel that battery mass get a tad top heavy and want to come up front to see what all the excitement is about, but you really have to push it to get there. It still has that quick steering and razor sharp handling, but, one other item that might not be noticed when the brake lights pop on when regeneration kicks in. The brake lights only come on when you are really getting into a hard regen, not just when regen starts or during a coast regen as I call it (not really slowing down). Therefore, you can regen down a hill casually and not look like a clod who rides his brakes all the way down a hill or worse, up a hill. Yes, I do believe the engineers thought about that one.

Of course the brake light comes one under hard regenning but only then.

Thank you MINI/BMW engineers for not making me look like a clod while regen braking.

Easing Into Winter

The other day I decided to drive with the heat on for my entire commute to work. It was in the 50s so I set the fan to 1 and turned on the heat to 2 clicks. I also had the head lights on as it was foggy. Yes my range dropped, about 10%, after the 20 miles I had 90 left, I'm usually around 100 left. My % was at 83% while I'm normally at 88% to 90%.

On my return I had the wipers and lights on as it was raining, no heat, plus drove a little harder. The MINI E is fun in the rain. When all was said and done I did around 41 miles that day and had 63 miles left on the range indicator and 62% on the capacity, about 1% for 1 mile. Since I'm on the 110 I will fall behind during the week, with the wall box installed it won't be an issue for my commute, now if I want to take a 100 mile biz trip again that might be a real challenge.

Stay tuned.

110 Shuffle With No Highways

Yesterday I had to take a longer trip than I was used to in the MINI E. 100 miles round trip and near the end I knew I would need lights and heater. I was heading to a business meeting in Englewood Cliffs NJ, start point was Mendham NJ.

The day before my trip I could feel the anxiety setting in, I need a plan. I'd stay off the main highways, stick to 46 and stay off of 80 to extend range and while at my series of meetings I'd plug in the car where I could, to get a little extra boost.

On my first leg of the trip, about 48 miles I was doing pretty well, the computer said I had 70 left to go. I was feeling pretty confident at that point and one of the buildings where my meetings where held was kind enough to let me plug in for about an hr and I got a 4% boost. This was 4% after the 3 to 4 times I plugged in as the buildings I was meeting in were separated so I had to drive back and forth between them interrupting my charging - I left the cable at the one building and plugged in there when I could.

So now I am reading to head back home, the distance meter on the MINI E said 77 miles....of course I had to give one "thank you" ride to the building maintenance guy who let me plug in...that ride took the 4% he gave me ;)

On my way back I figured I'd jump on the highway to see how it goes, after 3 miles I could see I was going to eat up a lot of juice and I wanted have plenty left for heat and lights and anything else that comes my way...being in NJ a lot of things can come your way unpredictably on the roads.

I jumped off 80 and got onto 46, range ticked up a bit and I was moving along. Thanks to phantom NJ road signs I ended up on some other branch of 46, that cost me 10 miles and 15 mins before I got back on track. Now it was getting dark, I switched on the lights, range said 34 miles and I had about 25 to go...hmmmmmm. I will say it is interesting how adjusting speed and resting the battery at lights can play with the range indicator, in your favor I might add, but having a 10 mile buffer in Joisey is not the most appealing.

So I decided to pull off 46 and hit smaller roads, that did increase my range. Now I'm getting close to home, about 12 miles to go, range says 21 and I'm starting to crave heat as it was 58 degrees outside plus I was heading to a section of road that eats EV battery capacity for lunch. No EV soldier hold off until you are close enough to coast home, I thought to myself. Well, when I got to with in 10 miles I put the heat on, settings were 1 for fan and heat...by the way, very toasting. I think the heat index of setting 1 is pretty good, seems stronger than a gas car. Of course in the blink of an eye my range went from 19 to 16 but it then held for the next 8 miles and I actually pulled into my driveway with around 17 mile left and 17% at 99.3 miles total, there is long slow section followed by a good downhill before my house that usually gets me 3 to 4 miles back.

In conclusion, I probably would have made it without the boost on the 110, but it would have been close, I have not gone past 0% as others have so I do not know if I could have gone farther. Granted I really don't want to be down to crumbs becasue if I run out of juice on the roads where I live I could be there a very very long time before I'm found. ;) In the heart of winter I expect range to really drop as I will be forced to keep the heat going all the time and I will be taking this business trip again.....stay tuned.

PS - I'm still on the 110, so over half a day later I'm just at 70%, 110 does take awhile to get back to 100% when near 0%. Added, just got my electric bill with an actual read, wow, as in high. I think the 110 is not efficient as it is a long continuous 12 amps. I'll have details on this later after I speak with the utility.

You Want My EV To Sound Like WHAT??

Ok people, this may come off as a rant or the beginning of a flame war, so be it....flame on!! But I will not accept this garbage about putting audio systems on EVs so they sound like gas cars. I'm sure you have all read the articles about how EVs are too quiet and a danger to the public....baloney. I'm sure more pedestrians will be taken out by bicyclists or rad skateboarders then EV hits. Didn't parents tell these pedestrians to look both ways before crossing the street? People still cross the street even if they hear a car....maybe pedestrians would be more cautious if they weren't sure if they heard a car or not...hmmm, there's a thought.

I for one enjoy the quietness of the MINI E. It is really soothing and there is something to be said for noise pollution, we have way too much of it. Wouldn't it be something if all cars were as quiet as EVs, don't you think that people would notice and hear a 3000lb EV coming down the road then?? It is amazing what you hear when it is quiet.

So where is the logic in making an EV sound like it has straight pipes or the engine is revving or what NISSAN says it will do with the LEAF, make it sound like the flying machine from Blade Runner.

Maybe I'll have my EV sound like the Good Humor Truck or Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" or better yet "The Flight of the Valkyries".

Easy Bake

So today was another cold one, low 50s. I had to use the heater so I set the dial to blow on my feet as my tootsies felt cold plus heat rises, right, so it will be more effective. Boy did I feel smart.....that sort of worked. I set the fan to mid level and heat to high. Warmed up nicely and capacity also lowered nicely. At one point in my commute, where I would be around 106 miles left, I was at 100. I was feeling a bit anxious (yes all in the head) and switched off the heat. After all #402 is still suckling from the 110, if I went below 60% capacity when I got home I would not have a full charge in the morning.

About half way through my commute I switched it back on as it was getting cold again, keep in mind the battery fans are sucking out that nice warm air and that recirculation button only stays on a few minutes, pain in the booty that one. I set the fan to minimum and the heat to one click for an easy bake while keeping it blowing on my feet. I was happy to discover I was comfortable and the drain on the battery was about the same as the AC which was acceptable.

On the next cold day I'll keep it on longer at minimal levels and see if that works out.

By the way.....finally getting a wall box....look forward to driving beyond shouting range because I love this car.

Heating Things Up

Today is the first day I used the heater in #402. It was a nice 55 degrees outside, rainy and foggy, perfect EV weather...not. I've been reluctant to try the heater as I've heard it would suck the life juice out of the pack at record speed, after all it is an electric heater and we all know how much energy they can use.

After a few miles of driving I was getting cold enough to cave and turn that puppy on. I set the dial to max heat and put the fan on about half speed. First thing I noticed was cold air, different from a gas engine that has been running awhile which produces instant heat. Not in the MINI E, it was cold for about 30 secs and after the heating coils heated up it blew warm. Once going it works really well in fact, the cabin warmed up fast and all was nice and toasty, things were good...mostly. I looked down at my range indicator and right before my eyes I lost 3 miles and this was while I was regenning down a hill. Wow!! That heater takes some power...I dialed back the fan speed to 1 and reduced the heat temp by half, that helped but I was still using more power then I was accustomed to, I would say more then even the AC. Of course I had driving lights and wipers on but still.

I eventually turned off the heater all together, gained some distance back but overall my range dropped by nearly 20% just in my 20 mile drive and I only used the heater for 10 minutes of my 40 min run. This is a lot of drain and we have not even touched on the freezing days where I will need to keep the heater on.

Have any pioneers driven with the heater on for extended periods of time and what have you observed?

Almost T-Boned - Missed Me By That Much...

As luck would have it I was almost t-boned by a Ford Explorer today, and in my own town no less.

I had just left my bank's drive up window. I had a nice conversation with the drive up teller, she was commenting on how cute the car was and I informed her it was all electric. She thanked me for being a loyal customer and being green. Anyway, let me get back to the near carnage....I was heading west on Rt 24 and was about to make a left onto Tempe Wick (for those who know the area). I saw the Ford on Tempe Wick at the stop sign waiting to make his left onto West bound 24....yes, I have the right if way. So as I approached my left I kept my eye on that Ford, as this is a pretty hairy intersection, he did not move. I did not need to stop to make my left as the oncoming traffic was well away so I began to cut left....as soon as I did the Ford shot out.

Now let me tell you, all I saw in my peripheral vision was that huge gaudy chrome grill, I had the window open and it was like that grill was about to comb my hair. My brain went into action, I cut a hard right back into the oncoming lane and then cut hard left back into Tempe Wick. All of this allowed the MINI to keep that grill out of my hair and slide its rear left butt cheek out of imminent danger of being trampled by that SUV. All happened in a split second but I recall waiting for that awful sound and jarring motion that comes from a bad hit. I did a hard stop and looked back to see what kind of fool was behind the wheel of that SUV. A pretty big one since he stopped in the middle of the intersection to digest what he just did. I yelled "are you crazy", he said something stupid like "you are ok" and then drove off into traffic not even looking - again!

Now I'm in a small town and I will see this guy again, maybe he is reading my post. Either way it was a 2007/2008 dark blue Ford Explorer, gaudy chrome package with a dark haired dork behind the wheel. MINI E #402 will have retribution.

Regardless of whether the MINI E is a MINI Cooper or EV it did save my booty. It reacted when I did and a more casual car would have been kissed by that Ford. The fact that this EV can handle makes zero emission driving that much more enjoyable and survivable. In addition electric motors have instant response, no downshift or engine rev. You press the accelerator and they go NOW....that also helped me out of a bad situation.