Back from 8000 mile service with Plug Decal!

Everything went smooth at the 8000 mile service. Was able to chat with Nelson, the Flying Doctor, serving Long Beach MINI. We were discussing brake wear and he mentioned they have a MINI E with 48,000 miles on it and the brakes still look great. A regular MINI, I'm told, needs brakes around 20,000 miles. During the visit we had the Plug Decal applied. It looks great. Since we had ELECTRIC put on both doors and the back hatch we thought using just the plug would look a little different. Double click the photos to enlarge. Glad to have #140 back on the road.

8000 Mile Service

The miles come quickly in the MINI E. Currently in for 8000 mile service. Next service will be at 13,000 miles. As the miles climb so does my love of driving electric. Was able to pick up a Maintenance Checklist. Click on the photos to enlarge. (There should be two photos...I noticed one disappears sometimes)

The decals should be in soon.

Alternative Car Expo 09, MINI E get together and ELECTRIC emblems

Had a great time this past Saturday with other MINI E folks checking out the Alternative Car Expo in Santa Monica. Rich Steinberg, Manager of the MINI E program, was there along with some other MINI folks. Rich took the time to visit with all the MINI E drivers and it was great to have him there. He mentioned that the decals should be showing up at the dealers shortly. He also said he understood the interest in extending the leases that many drivers have expressed and that is in discussion. Sounded like a pretty good possibility. He also understands that the price is in issue as well. While he couldn't comment about pricing particulars, my personal opinion is that any lease extension will have a lower lease payment. Current $850.00 payment is based on a closed end 12 month lease. I mentioned to Rich that with a price adjustment, I'm very interested in a lease extension that would perhaps bridge to the next BMW/MINI electric vehicle.

You may have seen other MINI E drivers that have added the word ELECTRIC to their E. Here in the Southern California area many have had it done by Michael Wittman from Third Planet Energy. I was happy to see Michael at the event in Santa Monica and asked him to set me up. You can see the result from the pictures. Before he applied them we measured to make sure that I can still apply the full decal (MINI + the plug symbol) if I wish to both doors. I'm still not sure if we'll go with the full decal or perhaps just the plug centered on each door. Michael can be contacted at www.thirdplanetenergy.com The cost is $40.00 for one or $99.00 for all three. Tax is added and this includes installation.

I'm quickly approaching 7500 miles in #140. At the expo and now hopefully with the ELECTRIC emblems, I'll continue to have more frequent discussions with folks about the E. Along with the talk of range, electricity costs, etc I have to remember to remind folks the central thing about driving the E....the driving experience itself...it's a MINI for heaven's sake. What MINI has done is create something that's Zero Emission but also a blast to drive. Fun, Quick, Earth Friendly, Low fuel costs...just a few words that describe my experience with the E.