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.

One Down and … How Many To Go?

The first MINI E was delivered last Friday to a luck Peter Trepp in California. Congrats, Peter. Peter’s been busy with the press when anyone can drag him out of the MINI E. Read about it all in his blog.

That’s one of… Well, wait a second. I thought there were 500 cars with half going to California and half to New York / New Jersey. From that, 50 were to be allocated to municipalities leaving 450. Now I hear that the 50 for Germany are also included in the original 500. That leaves 200 cars for the public on each coast. Wow, I guess I was even luckier than I thought to be picked.

To update everyone on my status…

• The garage is coming along nicely. I got rid of a lot of junk and I could probably squeeze the MINI E in now if I had to.
• My contract is signed with no cost to me. I’m now waiting for an appointment. They may be going a bit slower since the charging cords probably won’t be ready for the initial installation.
• I’ve been told that east coast cars will be arriving mid-June. Just a few weeks to go!

Needless to say, after hearing about Peter’s fun with the car I can’t wait to get mine.

…Back to Test Drive Day

Do I Look Happy?

The MINI E demo cars have been making the rounds to dealers on both coasts. On May 19, I got my chance to drive one. Car 149, the one from the NY Auto Show, was at Habberstad MINI in Huntington, Long Island from 1 to 3 PM. I got there just shy of one o’clock, of course, and the car was out on a run with employees. When it returned, I got a few photos and then it was my turn. Cori Close, my Motoring Advisor, showed me how to slip the odd shaped tab that acted as a key into the slot in the dash and press the Start button to turn on the car. The gauges lit up but there was no other indication that the car was alive. The only noise as I slowly pulled away, I believe, was the power steering unit when I turned the wheel. There was a slight whirring sound as I accelerated and I doubt I’d have heard that at all if my window was up. Read the rest of this entry »

Test Drive Day

The MINI E demo cars have been making the rounds to dealers on both coasts. On May 19, I got my chance to drive one…

Stu will be back with his test drive review shortly.
Right now, we interrupt this post for an important news bulletin… Read the rest of this entry »