First full month of new TOU-EV-1 rates

On October 1st, Edison dropped their TOU-EV-1 rates for folks charging "Off Peak". Now that my bill has come, I can report that with all taxes and fees included, we're paying 10.9 cents per kwh for charging the MINI E between 9pm and Noon. With charging at work via the 110 cable an average of 6 hours, I find myself using 21 kwhs on average to drive from Long Beach to Burbank, CA. This drive is 83 miles or so and is made up of approx 45 miles of highway driving 70 - 75 mph and the rest mixed stop and go. This brings the cost of the average trip to $2.29. Can't complain about that. Thank You Edison and MINI.

Great time in Culver City & MINI E articles

Enjoyed the latest MINI E get together on Sunday November 8th in Culver City. John O'Dell from Edmunds.com was there and wrote a short article about his visit with the Pioneers. The group picture was taken by John. Here's the link:

Edmunds visits with MINI E drivers

There's been a few articles about the MINI E of late and thought I'd include them here. Here's one from WIRED. Be sure to click on the PDF link near the beginning of the article for Richard Steinberg's presentation materials. He discusses the MINI E program and how it's been going.

WIRED article on MINI E program thus far

Here's another one from Car & Driver:

Car & Driver article

#140 is quickly approaching 10,000 miles. The quirks seem to have been worked out and the miles are flying by. We would love a lease extension and the opportunity to continue providing BMW all the research data they'd like. :)

No Fluids, No Leaks

Another reason I love the MINI E, no fluids. With no fluids, it's hard to have a fluid leak. Why do I bring that up, you may ask. Well, the past few days we've been driving our Ford Freestyle more than we have been. I started noticing a leak underneath and today took it in to get fixed. The service advisor noticed we hadn't put many miles on the car since our last visit to fix a transmission leak and asked what was up. Perfect opportunity to talk about the MINI E. He was very interested in the car and we had a nice chat. As I headed back home, I realized this type of problem is something I'll never have to worry about with an EV. Sure, there might be other problems that arise, but leaks will soon be something of the past. :)