Here comes my MINI E

Friday, June 12 is the day. Everything is set. I still don’t know the number of the car but I pick it up tomorrow evening. Stay tuned for more news and pics.

All I Need Now Is The Car

I have to admit that I thought that the electrician would arrive today and tell me the previous inspection was bogus and I couldn’t get the charger. However, to my delight it went in without a hitch. Of course there’s no charging cable but I’m now ready to take possession of the car.

I notified Habberstad MINI of the installation and now know the VIN for the car but it has yet to arrive at the dealer. New Jersey Pioneers have started to receive their cars so I shouldn’t have too long to wait.

I also found out that there are two other Pioneers not far from me. I hope to find out who they are. Perhaps we can get together sometime and celebrate.

Unlike the first MINI E delivered in LA, the east coast deliveries have not been accompanied by a big media blitz. I have to admit that I’m disappointed. Read the rest of this entry »

Final Hurdle in Sight

I finally got a call last night to set up an appointment to install my charging unit. The installation will take place bright and early on Tuesday, June 9. Of course there will be no charging cord but it does mean that I’ll be ready to take possession of the car as soon as it’s ready.

MINI’s Plugged-In newsletter was brief this week. They wanted to make sure we knew that the cars are on their way to the east coast. I’d love to get a glimpse of those trucks loaded with MINI Es on the interstate.

I heard of two problems with the car so far. Todd and Kari reported that their high temp indicator on the batteries keeps coming on. This disables the regenerative braking. David Fliegler Tweeted that Jim Dow needed to reboot his MINI E at a stoplight.

The only other complaints I’ve heard is that the car isn’t being recognized. Without the lettering on the doors, everyone thinks it’s just another MINI. I’ve heard that the lettering will be offered at no charge. I hope so. I’ve also been considering ordering a vanity plate and putting the URL to my blog on the rear window.

You Can’t Please Everybody

While browsing around Twitter, I came upon many links to one particular article, “First Drive: Mini E Electric Vehicle Is Far From Ready For Primetime.” It’s by John Voelker, Editor-in-Chief at GreenCarReports.com. He absolutely hated the MINI E! It’s the first time I’d ever seen any bad words said about the car except for its impracticality which is excusable since it is a test vehicle.

I can only assume that the real reason I and so many other Pioneers love the MINI E so much is that we haven’t driven other electric vehicles. Mr. Voelker compares the MINI E to several other EVs. He was particularly critical of the regenerative braking.

“Where to start? Perhaps with the regenerative braking, which replaces engine braking and slows the car while recharging the battery pack. In the Mini E, on lift-off, it took half a second to kick in–and then came on so strong it threw us forward in our seatbelts.”

Mr. Voelker also criticized a lag he noticed when first accelerating. I have to admit I didn’t notice this and will check it out when I get my MINI E. It could be because of the detuning necessary to use the existing drivetrain. An addendum to the article from AC Propulsion says that the test vehicle may not have had the latest software and that this lag has been reduced.

On the plus side, Mr. Voelker liked the interior and the rest of the car. All in all, he wants a car that is “easy to drive, so much so that it was easy to forget that we were driving an EV at all,” as he said of the Volt, Focus EV and Nissan EV. I’m not so sure that an EV should drive exactly the same as a gas powered car. Personally, I think we drive our cars incorrectly and inefficiently.

So why am I giving this article so much attention? Because everyone is entitled to his opinion. I’ve loved movies that had gotten bad reviews. BMW shouldn’t expect to please everyone. In addition, Mr. Voelker has one advantage over me, he test drove several EVs while I’ve only driven one. However, his article doesn’t change the fact that I love the one I drove!

Ultimately, this is what the field trial is all about. BMW will collect these opinions and use them when designing the next generation of their cars. However, I doubt that Peter Trepp, the first recipient of the MINI E, needs the pity Mr. Voelker offers at the beginning of his article. He seems to be doing just fine.

Deliveries Continue – Blogs on the Rise

The MINI E deliveries are continuing, in California at least. I hope that truck bound for New York / New Jersey doesn’t get lost. I’ve found several more blogs. You can link to them from the sidebar. BTW, a couple of Pioneers are keeping track of where the MINI Es are. On EV Nation you’ll find a map of the Los Angeles area showing MINI E locations and driving ranges.  David Fliegler, NoGasMini on Twitter, has created a sign-up page for MINI E owners willing to share their chargers and he also has maps of the East and West Coast MINI Es. I hope to get my MINI E from Eastern Long Island to New Jersey some day thanks to the generosity of other Pioneers. We need more NY/NJ owners willing to share their chargers to let David know.

I’ve also opened a twitter account under my domain identity, Stuartist. I don’t have much there yet but I thought it would be useful once I get the car to post quickie updates. When I arrived at Twitter, I came across David Fliegler’s link to the Mini E Owner’s Manual. It was good reading but it was also an early draft. I was told at the NY Auto Show that some features would be left out to conserve energy. One was the auto-folding side mirrors and another was the heaters on the side mirrors. The manual mentions both but according to Todd and Kari the manual was a bit optimistic. Oh, well.

I’m still awaiting my installation appointment. More news soon.