MINI E #140 generated quite a bit of interest today

It seems I can go for months without anyone noticing anything special about our MINI E and then all the sudden everyone notices it. Today was one of those days. In a two hour period, I had four conversations about the car with curious folks inquiring about range, availability, speed, etc. All four were very excited to see the car and mentioned that getting away from oil and gasoline was something they felt strongly about. Perhaps all the press of late about the Volt and Leaf is helping bring awareness to electric cars. Later on the freeway I got a couple of thumbs up from other vehicles.

I'm always happy to talk about our experience with the car. It's an exciting time for electric vehicles and we're thrilled to play a small part in the testing and rollout of future BMW vehicles.

Last Thursday we attended the local unveiling of the Fisker Karma at the USC Campus in Irvine, CA. It was hosted by Fisker Automotive of Orange County. The car is even more beautiful in person. While it won't be affordable for the average commuter, it's a head turner and will generate a lot of interest once it's out on the road. A video from the Santa Monica unveiling can be viewed here.

MINI releases MINI E Field Trial Report

Interesting things MINI learned during the 1 year MINI E Field Trial:

http://miniefieldtrial.com/report/MINI_E_results.pdf

Latest Electric Car Will Be a BMW, From the Battery Up

Copy and paste links below into your browser for the latest BMW update on their upcoming electric vehicle:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/business/global/02bmw.html?_r=1&src=busln

Here's another link with more details:

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/07/02/in-depth-bmw-megacity-vehicle-and-project-i/

Battery fan replaced, all is well again!

The MINI-E is back on the road again. After a quick visit to Doctor Nelson, the battery fan was replaced and things are back to normal. Zipped to Burbank via the carpool lane on the 110.

I was given a X3 loaner for the day and half the MINI-E was visiting the Doctor. Nice ride but at 17 or so miles per gallon, it cost $19.00+ to fill up after 95 miles. Same miles in the MINI-E would have run about $3.25. This was my first time driving an X3 and found it roomy and comfortable. Wouldn't mind having it as a secondary vehicle with the main one being electric of course. :)