Bits & Pieces

Hello – here’s a chex-mix of minor experiences from my electric car test.

– I had my first spontaneous sighting of another MINI E last Thursday in Morristown, NJ. It was 8:15am, and i was waiting at a stop light when I saw a fellow E turning off the green – they were too far away to see even if it was a man or a woman, but we flashed headlights. Kinda fun and communal – like exchanging a fraternity handshake.

–  I’m thinking of getting some decals put on that say “Electric Car” – so many people have told me that they didn’t recognize the stylized “plug” icon, and some other MINI E drivers have reported success with these. Here’s a shot of #250 (Tom Moloughney).

Electric Car Bling

– After nearly 2 months of plugging in at the Morristown Bank St. garage and having no one express any curiosity about it, this morning I got two questions. The first guy was parking at the same time as me, and as we both emerged from our cars he asked “Hey, I have a question – what would happen if somebody stole your cord?”, to which I answered “Uh, then I guess they’d have my cord…” (I hate it when I’m not prepared). We then talked about the program, and he said he’d gone online to read about it. As we parted company, he said “Thank you for doing this – I know it isn’t cheap, but it’s great that somebody’s getting this going.”  Just a simple and honest sentiment, but it was great to hear it from a stranger.  The second person was a co-worker, who came into the office soon after me, and asked “Hey, I saw your car plugged in again. I got a question – what would happen if somebody stole your cord?”, to which I answered “they would be hit by a Clean Diesel bus and squashed – e-karma is hardcore”.  Ahhh, sweet preparation!

– Tomorrow is my scheduled “3,000 mile service” – though i’m already at 4,000+ miles. Honestly, I hope they get good data, but I’m hoping to get a nice wash and vacuum out of it.

Living On The Electric Edge

Last night I teetered between two worlds – one side promised the successful completion of my highest-mileage day yet, while on the other side there awaited a personal disaster that could derail my hopes and dreams for an electric car future, and put a serious dent in an otherwise happy marriage.

Just another day in pioneerland!

MINI E #217, now sporting over 3,800 miles, has been averaging between 100-110 miles on a single charge (it’s an inexact science because of the variation in speeds of my mainly-highway commute). Yesterday though I knew I’d need some extra juice because I hoped to drive it to a soccer coaches meeting I had in the evening, which would tack on an additional 26 miles. So i plugged in with the “Occasional Use Cable” during the day and got an additional 15% charge (for a total of 115% on the day).

It was going to be close, but in some previous experimentation I knew that #217 had at least 2 more miles left after I hit the “—–” (empty) line on the chargeometer. That, plus a burning desire to see where the limits on these batteries are, was all the push I needed to try for a 120+ mile day.

What were the reasons I shouldn’t have tried it? I had my wife in the car with me. Our two kids were staying at a neighbor’s house. It was a school night. And, finally, the meeting of course ran way too late.

Getting there wasn’t a problem. I drove fairly conservatively, but the 13 miles it took ate up 12% of the reserve, leaving us with just 8% to get back home. And back home was mostly uphill. And it was approaching 10pm. And our kids needed to get in bed.

That’s when I made the strategic decision to not tell my wife that we faced a potential hour-long delay while I tested out the MINI Roadside Assistance program.

9 of the 13 miles were highway, and so I kept it at 60mph. But the chargeometer still read “—-” with 5 miles to go. At 4 miles, I was getting the “Battery Depleted/Reduced Performance” icon coming on and off, and I resorted to making unnecessarily loud statements like “HEY – I Just Remembered To Take Out The Recycling On Tuesday!” to cover the audible alerts. Luckily that was when I hit a nice downhill for a 1/4 mile and I regen’ed all I could.

The final 2 miles were up and down hills, and while #217 never skipped a beat I kept bracing myself for the telltale dip in speed. At just 1 mile to go, I had one more major hurdle – a 200 yard long moderate hill climb – and  I literally held my breath to the top, trying to figure out how far I could push #217, bringing up images of the dog pushing the sled in The Grinch who Stole Christmas. At the top, my wife noticed the battery alert light and asked “Are we ok to make it home?”. “NOW We Are!” was the reply from the sweaty maniac behind the wheel.

Of course as I pulled into the garage, all I could think of is “I wonder how much further…” – but it was a school night, so that question will have to wait.

122.8 miles on 115% charge.

Not E-Z Being Green

As part of my orientation package from MINI, I was told that the MINI E – being a Zero Emissions vechicle (or ZEV) – qualifies for a variety of discounts and incentives. In New York, that includes the “E-Z Pass Clean Pass” tag which features discounts at non-peak hours on various bridges & tunnels, and the Clean Pass sticker which allows access to HOV lanes.

Trouble is, the people at E-Z Pass New York don’t see the MINI E as being a ZEV.

In New Jersey it hasn’t been a problem, and I’ve seen at least one other NY MINI E with a Clean Pass sticker – but the rejection letter I got, and the almost identical conversation I had with a Supervisor at the E-Z Pass NY Center, said “The MINI E doesn’t meet the MPG requirements”. I pointed out that it doesn’t take any G, therefor it has no MPG rating, and got the bureaucratic “I’m sorry sir, that’s not what I see here on my screen”. Apparently the good people at MINI didn’t fill out the paperwork correctly in NY.

Next step is to go into an E-Z Pass Service Center and see if I can entice a supervisor to come outside and look at my gas tank. Stay tuned.

New Bling

I took the “window word stickers” that MINI sent out to the “MINI E Pioneers”, and cut out the url to this blog. Some may say it was a waste of time, while others would say it was an incredible waste of time. But I figured that with just one xacto knife on a lazy Saturday morning, I could hit two birds with just 25 hand-cut characters:

– publicize the blog (I’m already at 1,000 views – my goal is 10,000 in 1 year)

– get some attention to the fact that this is an electric car (see my July 2 post on “The Incredibly Invisible Electric Car”

So far I’ve it on my rear window for a week, and I’ve actually noticed a slight uptick in the daily visitors (above 20/day now, used to be 15 or so) – looks like this advertising thing really works.  But it would be fun to confirm it – so if you’re reading this now as a result of seeing this URL on the back of my car, please make a comment!

As for the car itself, it’s been a quiet couple of weeks as I’ve been watching my daughter’s 11/12 Softball All Star team play in the Eastern Regionals in Albany – at 144 miles away, just outside the range of #217’s batteries.

Electric: $.03/mile vs. Gas: $.13/mile

Disclaimer: Math has never been my strong suit, so double check me on this.

Tom Moloughney gave me a very handy equation to figure how how many kilowatt hours I was using to recharge #217:    Amps used per 100miles (Ah on my gauge) x 390 (voltage on MINI E) = watts, divided by 1,000 to get kWh.

In my case that is:  67×390/1,000 = 26 kWh.  From what I can tell (Orange & Rockland utilities doesn’t make it easy to find this #)  our electrical rates are $.15/kWh – so that means I’m paying about $.03/mile.

My gas car gets about 22 miles/gallon, and figuring gas costs around $3/gallon (premium), that equals $.13/mile.

In my case the calculation is a little more complicated because I generate around 24kWh each day from Solar Panels, so what that electricity actually costs me is probably a little less. However the point is the same – mile for mile, electricity is a much cheaper, and greener, fuel to power my commute. Over a 1-year period, I should save approximately $2,250 in fuel costs alone by driving electric instead of gas (and that doesn’t consider that I’m also not paying for oil changes and other gas engine-related maintenance costs).

Many other factors need to be added to the equation – I once figured that I would need to drive an electric car for about 3 years to generate enough savings to offset the current high-cost of batteries; there are usability issues related to range/recharge time and infrastructure; I don’t yet know how the car will perform in the very, very hot (100F+) or very, very cold (20F-) weather we get in the Northeast; others in the MINI E field test have experienced maintenance issues and even battery failures; etc., etc.

However, I have the answer to the most commonly asked question I get – “how does it compare to gas cost-wise?” – it beats it by $.10/mile. And in that answer lies the true promise of a commercially-viable electric vehicle: a much lower-cost over the medium-long term, and an ecologically-superior propulsion system from the start.

Poll: Getting from A to B

Today I get the high-voltage cable installed in my garage, enabling me to recharge #217 from Zero to Full in “about 4 hours”. This means I can start driving electric on a daily basis, instead of the 3-times a week I’m able to make now due to the range limitation of ~100 miles.

It’s been about 3 weeks now, and I love the MINI E – mostly I love the quiet, the torque of the electric motor and the knowledge that the carbon impact of my 90+ mile commute is that much less (especially with my solar panels helping to generate the electricity). And while I have great hopes and expectations for the high-voltage recharging station, to date the range and recharging limitations have meant that the electrical car is just not practical for me.

Which raises the question – what propulsion platform would be ideal?

For several years now I’ve read with interest about the promise of Fuel Cells. But there are other alternatives as well. I thought I’d take a poll to see what others think (and in case you’re not familiar with some of these options, this Wikipedia article a great place to start).

The Electric Car That Didn’t Climb Mt. Washington

For the July 4^th weekend I met up with my brother and some good friends to hike Mt. Washington & Mt. Madison. I would’ve loved to have taken MINI E #217 up there, and I actually spent a few minutes kicking around some scenarios. But it all came down to one simple fact: Twin Lakes, NH is 332 miles from Pearl River, NY.

A gas-powered vehicle offers the convenience of fast refueling at disparate locations. The fastest that I can refuel #217 will be about 4 hours (from zero), when the high-voltage cable is installed (fingers crossed, this Thursday). And while that can only happen at my house or another similarly equipped location, let’s say that I had such locations spaced about 100 miles away, here’s what this weekend’s trip would’ve taken:  7 hours to travel + 12 hours to recharge = 19 hours.

Now the math still vastly favors the promise of an electric car – I need to drive 90 miles a day for work, 5 days a week. I only need to drive outside of that range maybe once every two months. It’s no contest that the electrical car makes sense for 95% of my needs.

But long-term, what can we be looking at to address that other 5%?  Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place, thinks he has the answer: replaceable battery packs that can be swapped out in about 2-3 minutes, available at Swap Stations that are as ubiquitous as today’s gas stations are.

This past March, David Pogue of the New York Times interviewed Agassi. Like a Railroad Baron of old, Agassi has a grand vision that sounds almost ridiculous, and yet makes logical sense and is technically viable: sell miles like AT&T sells you minutes, and sell those miles in the form of charging stations (available at your local parking garage, commuter stations, etc.) for daily use, and battery swap stations for that occasional trip up to Twin Lakes, NH.  Here’s the key – those charging spots and swap stations are up and available before you buy the car. You can read the full article here.

This Brother Climbed Mt. Washington

As I was hiking those miles away this weekend, I couldn’t poke any holes in the thinking: nobody bought a train ticket when there was just one station to go to; nobody bought the first fax machine until there was a second; nobody bought automobiles until there was a significant gas distribution system. Those other innovations took several years to tease out, all Agassi is saying is let’s leap to the logical and inevitable future now.

It’s a bold vision, and there’s a ton of strategic threats to it (a new battery technology that increases range dramatically could come along, or on-board energy generation – solar, wind, fuel-cell – could become far more efficient, etc.), but you have to admire the beauty of the idea.

Meanwhile, my brother and I were admiring the beauty of Mt. Washington on the 4th of July. Unfortunately, #217 was back home in my garage.

My New Favorite Parking Spot

I got a call from Patrick Geary, who is heading up the “Green Initiatives” at the very enlightened Morristown Parking Authority (where they have not one but two MINI E’s running around town). Patrick and his boss have graciously agreed to let me plug in with my 110v cable when I’m at the Bank St. Garage.

I have to say that I’m still a bit amazed at this – but the more I think about the   more I realize that I’m the beneficiary of timing. The MPA of even a few short   years ago i’m sure would’ve denied this (“Sir, those outlets are for        maintenance use only and have not been cleared by the Assistant Director of Electrical Use as a power replenishment system for out of state vehicles”). And in a few years from now, as Patrick Geary said to me, “We probably can’t accommodate a dozen electric cars plugged into our garage”.

But we’re in a new era now – and “in-between” state, and people from all backgrounds and vocations are recognizing the need to take individual and collective actions to solve our energy and environmental needs. For the MPA it’s about seeing how they would accommodate electrical vehicles as both customers and consumers.

This collective desire for “green experimentation” is an incredibly powerful thing. And in my own little corner of the world I see signs of that – on an even less dramatic level than what this photo shows – everyday. People with reusable grocery bags, parents organizing car pools to kids sports activities, restaurants coming up with less packaging for delivering take-away meals, etc.

The immediate benefit of my newly energized parking spot is unclear. I doubt I’ll be able to recharge more than 20% or so, which would leave me with about a 20% charge left at the end of my day. So as long as I still have only the 110v cable, #217 will be relegated to an “other day” vehicle.

But maybe now I can rev the engine a bit on the way home!

Electric Serendipity

I’m back in #217 again today, and had a great ride in this morning – the sun was out (a rare and special occurrence here in the Northeast lately), the traffic was really light for some reason, and I think I may have gotten my second “stranger wave” (though it could’ve also been someone shooing a trapped fly out of their car, so i’m not going to count it).

Things being so nice, I decided to take a really long-shot at a possible solution to my 110v slow-charge situation. By “really long shot” I mean this: it involves me contacting a government bureaucracy (where I don’t live) about allowing an unusual exception to what are no doubt a long list of rules, safety procedures and protocols, so I can plug my car in at a municipal garage.

Yup, that kind of a “really long shot”. Here’s how my call went:

ringing…Good morning, Morristown Parking Authority, how may I help you.

Hello, i’ve got what will be, no doubt, your most unusual phone call this month…maybe this year…

(silence)

OK, see, ummm…I’m a monthly customer at the Bank St. Garage, and, ummm, I’m taking part in this year long test of an electric car, and…it’s a completely electric car that you plug in and, you see, well it’s funny because where I usually park in the garage there just happens to be this electrical outlet on the column – it has a cover on it, but it’s not locked, and anyways I was just wondering…

Are you driving a MINI E?

(stunned silence)

Sir?

yes! sorry…wow, just…how’d you know? you guys have camera’s in here?

We’re going to be taking part in that test at the De Hart St. Garage as well. The man who is overseeing that for us isn’t in yet however, so I’ll take your name and number and he’ll call you.

ok, oh wow. great. great. Hey, I’m not sure how we’d meter this or anything, but I’d be happy to pay-

He’ll call you back sir, can I get your name and number?

oh right, ya, of course…

I haven’t heard back yet, but even if it doesn’t work out, what an extraordinary moment that was for the concept of electric cars. Here I am “pioneering”, thinking I’m making a completely alien call to an utterly disinterested government agency unequipped to even consider the request, and instead they’re already on it! All credit to the MPA (it was like she had a phone script), but it begs the question – if the Morristown Parking Authority is this far along on electric cars, how much longer can it be until electric cars are mainstream?

1pm – Not hearing from the MPA, I called Dean at Morristown MINI, and he graciously offered their high-voltage recharger (too bad they just recently moved – their old location was in walking distance of my office). So now i’m sitting in their lobby, drinking their soda, working off their Wi-Fi, eyeing their snacks and waiting for #217 to get a top-off. Ahhhh, this pioneer life is hard sometimes. My hope is to get a head-start on tomorrow’s commute – though even with this ‘boost’ I think I’m still going to need a recharge during the day tomorrow…where exactly that will happen, I don’t yet know.

Gas Stations vs. the 110v Recharge Cable

One of the most compelling things for me about driving an electric car is the idea of saving time. Time being the one non-renewable resource we have absolutely no control over, the idea of utilizing it better by not stopping at gas stations every 380 miles, and not waiting for the oil to be changed every 3,500 miles, is powerful.

The concept is I get to fill up every night while I sleep, at the ultra-convenient filling station in my garage. It’s called a high-voltage recharger, and it was installed a week before I picked up #217.

Charging Station/Lax Stick Holder

It’s promise is to fill my MINI E from zero (or —-) to 100% in 4 hours or less. It’s a great thing. It’s also currently useless, because it has no high-voltage recharging cable to connect it to #217. Apparently there is some delay in getting the cables approved for consumer use.

So while this bureaucratic delay works itself out, we pioneers are relying on the 110v “occasional use cable” to fill up our batteries. Originally intended as a portable “uh-oh” cable (thus the “occasional” in it’s title) this little beauty plugs into any normal, 3-prong household socket, so it’s also very convenient.

Trouble is, it’s also a very slow way to recharge #217’s large battery packs. The literature says it could take 24 hours or more. In my recent experience the “or more” added on another 1/2 a day.

After running the batteries down completely on Friday night, I plugged in with the 110v casual use cable at about 11:30pm. At 8:30am on Saturday, I was at just 24%. I had calculated that I could get 4% an hour earlier, but that was when I had started with a certain % of energy already stored. And I’ve talked about the “chargeometer” being less than a perfect gauge of what energy is present, so I have to assume my earlier 4% experience was a bit of the meter catching up.

I finally reached 100% charge around 11am on Sunday.  35.5 hours – 2.8% per hour – is not a practical solution for me to make #217 a daily vehicle. The Gas Station wins this round.

High Voltage Recharge so close, yet so far away...

After tooling around town on Sunday afternoon in #217, I plugged back in with enough time to get to 100% for Monday morning. Which was a very fun commute – I gunned the car a bit on the highway (70+ for at least half the ride), knowing that I would have enough juice for the return trip. I also had to lay down some electric torque on two wide-bodies — for some reason, on separate occasions, different Japanese Luxury SUV’s almost sideswiped me.  I was able to make clean getaways both times. Nimble beats big. My ride home was uneventful, though I did take it a little easier just to keep the chargeometer above “—-“.

So here I am on Tuesday with my old gas machine, trying to think about options. I think I’ll contact the local MINI Morristown dealer – they are also participating in the E trial – and see if I can get a charge during the day there. That, combined with my 110v charge at night, should get me working daily with #217 until the high voltage cable comes in.

But I do have to question how the repeated use of the 110v cable will affect the Lithium Ion batteries?  I know in my laptop – which offers a convenient model since it too uses Lithium Ion – there is a warning not to use slower voltage rechargers since it could “damage battery life”. I also know that the more I recharged & discharged the batteries, the less energy capacity they held.

Stay tuned for the answers to these and many other questions….