Long time Since a Post

I have been thinking about posting for a while,but that is all I have gotten round to. As far as MINI E 249 is concerned we have much catching up to do. As of right now ,I have stated that I probably would not renew the lease for another year ,but as times change so do attitudes.Looking at the gas prices in the last few weeks could offer an idea as to why I would consider going another year without it and renew the lease for another year of gas free driving.
On 3/28/10 I experienced a major malfunction of the HV system and had to call roadside even though I made it home. They had 249 taken to the only dealer I have known,Mini of the Hamptons(MOTH) . The dealer is going through a change, of which I am not sure,and cannot as of this time service vehicles.The car was towed to Huntington (Habberstad) for the service,it was eventually sent to New Jersey for a replacement of two battery modules and a new PEU was installed. The folks from both Habberstad and MINI were fantastic ! The car was even dropped off in my driveway after the service was performed. Mind you it took three weeks + for this to transpire ,but since the service was so exemplary from the other dealer and the follow up calls from Mini,my thoughts are that they really care about me. Whatever is going on at the Southampton NY BMW/MINI dealer needs to be fixed or ,just admit the shop is going to close ,it is giving the brand a bad reputation,which will leave a bad taste in many peoples mouths and steer them away from the brand.

Wow ,it has been some time since an update ,but I procrastinate and I will get to that later...LOL
The end of summer brought more miles on #249 and a call came from MOTH and they wanted her in for the 3000 mile service. Seems the flying Docs don't want to arrive for just one car ,so they schedule as many as they can for their service visits. Don Young had a PEU meltdown which prompted them to make some calls to arrange service. Personally ,my service came and went without a hitch ,but they called a few day later to tell me the car would have to be brought in again for a bad battery module (it would be up to a week ,since they would have to send her out). I did request a loaner ,to which I was told they would call in a few days when they got a loaner for me to use. Not for nothing ,but since the 3k service ,the car has been almost perfect,charging and driving have been incredible . Maybe it does have a bad module , but my wife and I went to NJ to the East Coast Meeting last Sunday which was a total of 208.20 miles and I did not detect anything wrong. Now personally ,I don't mind them taking the car to make it better ,but after the call I was a bit hesitant about driving too far. I really want to see how far I can't go ,if you know what I mean. The dealer has not called back yet anyway ,maybe they called me when they really meant to contact someone else?
I would like to get a second charger to have at work available to any Pioneer who would like to use it . Which put in my mind the thought of having a Long Island MINI E meeting . I know there would need to be charging capability in the area . The charger at my house is one ,I would like to contact another pioneer who is in the vicinity ,then ,if I get a public one for work ,would make three chargers in a ten mile area,which would be much better than a single one . My wife and I had a bit of a wait for a charge when we went to Montclair on 11/8/09 . It seems that the biggest road block is the lack infrastructure to charge the cars. But we all know that anyway.
MINI sent their weekly e-mail about the cars and said they will suppl;y us with winter tires free for the winter! Oh,they also said we can get the MINI E stickers for the side of the car ,just like the show vehicles.Count me in!

Had a nice day yesterday,September 13th 2009 . I drove the car in the morning and got the battery temp icon ,no regen , I don't understand ,the battery temp was 79degrees , air temp 64.
Well after getting to work and restarting her it didn't happen again. Christina and I went to lunch before I drove her to work (which never happens),the only thing was that I had to pick her up later.No problem ,plenty of charge. At 8pm I go to get her and the gauge says there is 50% left good for 54miles.As I drive the 15 mile to pick her up the range drops to when I arrive to 32 mile remaining(27% charge). We get in the car to leave and the battery has flat lined,zero charge no miles left to go. Well,we drove home and the car performed as it should and did not leave us on the side of the road even though it said the battery was dead. Anyone experience this phenominon ?

A couple of nice days at the end of Summer (at least for the kids) . Labor Day weekend and I just had to ride the bike. Finally had to put gas in it too, took 4.5 gallons,the most I purchased for my vehicles since getting #249.
I checked on my custom plates at the DMV website . It says that the order has been received ,but they haven't been manufactured yet . One has to wonder ho long that could be.
Hope everyone has a safe and satisfying Labor Day.

I searched around on the net and found www.chromelettersandnumbers.com where they sell individual chrome letters for $2.75 each,there are different styles to choose from and of course some cost more than others. Personally ,I got eight letters spelling ELECTRIC and stuck them on the back of #249 . They look good and give just the right amount of notification as to what it is. Total with shipping on the letters ,which came ,in a few days from Las Vegas was $32.00. The individual letters had to be arranged on the desk and I took a piece of tape to hold them in position.
Then took a ruler and measured the space on the car ,pealed the backing off and stuck them on. Took all of two minutes.

The family and I just took a week off and went to Ocean City MD camping for a week. MINI E 249 spent the week unplugged ,but fully charged ,in the garage. Got in her this am and what do you know ? A full charge. Nice to know the charge doesn't fade too fast if the car is sitting for a while.
When Stu came by I took a few pictures with my wife's cell camera and finally loaded them into my computer . It is something to see two MINI Es together but,away from the dealership.

Finally,I received the welcome email from MINI inviting me to their MINI E website. I went and commented ,but the character limit was too short for my ramblings and I had to cut it short. The funny thing about it is that they were welcoming me as if I had just picked the car up when in fact ,I have been driving it for two months and have put over 2000 mile on it.
So ,Wednesday of this week (8/19/09) I got a surprise when I started the car....100% charge! This is something that I never see ,even though I plug her in every night. For example ,this morning when I got her going charge was at 89% after being plugged in all night. Still the range showing on the gauge was 88 miles ,it really is not a problem unless I plan on a longer trip.
When I got to work 13.2 miles the battery meter was at 50%,go figure,but I am sure it will bounce back up as it sits for the day.
I keep wondering if any pioneer has run out of charge and totally depleted their batteries....

I was driving the MINI E east on Sound Ave in the middle of no where yesterday morning and coming in the other direction was a Tesla Roadster! The whole thing lasted 2 seconds ,I wonder if the other driver realized the MINI was electric also?
249 turned 2000miles yesterday as well!

Well the weather has been nice,the MINI performing better all the time,yet I am torn because up to now ,I have felt an obligation to drive the car ,but I do have a motorcycle ,which is just begging to be ridden. Today I threw caution to the wind and let my knees in the breeze and rode my bike. Perhaps I can trade days with the car and bike ,maybe every other day,but then I will eventually have to buy gas for the bike,which since getting #249 hasn't seen an empty tank. On a regular year I put between 5000 to 8500 miles on the Harley. So far ,not even close thanks to the new member of the family (249) which has been getting much more attention,and miles.
Well ,I broke down and ordered custom plates for the car ,I got the registration yesterday which means the plates can't be to far behind. Oh, if your wondering they say "NOGASCAR" ,I hope it does give her the attention she deserves. I also ordered chrome letters to stick on the back "ELECTRIC " is what they spell ,we will have to be very careful installing them so they will really let folks know what they are behind.

Here I am left wondering again. This morning I went out tto the garage and unplugged #249 ,started her up and the battery meter went to 99% . Alright ,maybe if I plugged her in for a little longer it might make up that last 1% of charge. Plugged her in and the yellow light flashed ,the fan started to blow and it seemed to be charging more. Came out about half an hour later and everything had stopped. Fine I thought it got that last bit in and it will be at 100%. Wrong . The meter now went to 74% but as it sat the meter went up to 84% before starting to fall again. Now at work and with 13.2 mile driven the meter is at 74%. Maybe it will come back up while sitting.The car doesn't have too far to go so I'm not worried about range,just why is a full charge so elusive.

I was walking out of the garage and noticed something strange, so I took a picture of it . Can you see why I took the picture?

Well,I had a nice visit yesterday from Stu ,who has #277 . He came by my restaurant and we had a great time,he had one of our burgers with bacon and Swiss cheese,nuf said about that I am getting hungry..
My wife Christina took 249 to work yesterday.Christina made a few stops on the way to work at 11 am . The car was parked for almost 12 hours. She called me on her way home that power was lacking and both battery lights were on. She said the car wouldn't go more than 40 mph
and she had pulled over . When she got home the batteries were at 61%. Christina said she had people pull over and ask if she needed help. When she got home at 11:30 pm ,I took 249 out for a ride and failed to experience what she said happened. Battery temp was 97degrees . I drove to work this am and failed to repeat what she claimed to happen. Has anyone had the same experience ? She is pissed at me for not believing her story that this event happened.If it has happened to you ,please let me know,please.For one I have not had this ever happen , I really need to know what happened.

Woo Hoo ,249 turned 1500 miles last night. Everything is running smoothly. I have been forced by nature to us the AC ,it works great ,and the batteries don't seem to mind too much...39.5 miles yesterday .When she was plugged in for the night we had 54% on the meter. Not too bad.

Just to give a perspective ,I had to take my other car Monday because my son had a friend over ,and they needed a ride. The VW hasen't been in use for a while and what do you know,the battery was dead. We needed to go because of time constraints ,so I had them help pop start the car. It started right up (like it should) but quit about a block away from home. We walked back and got my wifes car ,drove them to where they were going,came back home ,got MINI e 249 ,went to work and when I got home my brother inlaw gave me a jump start and the VW lives! Seems a light had been left on ,which drained the battery,which if I was driving the car regularly ,probably wouldn't have been noticed,but after a few days ,the battery is depleted. On the other hand ,I still ,have not been to a filling station since recieving the MINI E ,lets see how long I can go..

Wow,this car is a killer. A few days ago I came upon a group of birds in the road ,and since they did not hear me coming ,I ran over two of them,yes they died. Today on the way to work ,same thing,but with squirrels ,one got away ,the other ,not so lucky. Maybe I should just drive down the street with my hand on the horn...

Been a few days ,my daughter got married and we catered the wedding,needless to say ,I was preoccupied.
I got a package in the mail that was a welcome kit for the MINI e trial testers. There was a MINI E hat,a numbered key chain,a pen,and reusable shopping bag. Oh ,don't forget to look closely as there is "something secret" in there that we don't want anyone else to know about. That is all i will say about that.
The charge finally has been 100% for about a week now . I really have no idea why she never fully charged till now. Less range anxiety is what it amounts to.
Car and Driver Magazine did a short test on a MINI E and it was less than positive. If they asked the folk who drive them everyday ,they might have a different view than driving one for a few hours. for all intents and purposes it is the perfect commuter car . I drive to work everyday and have yet to be dissapointed by the lack of range or power . There is an abundance of both for my needs. As I drive the car,my perspective on the range issue is that one has to know the limitations as presented. A range of 100 miles on pure electric power is quite a feat ,especially at highway speeds. Battery technology must be advanced to provide power as well as range in a vehicle that is to be used on a daily basis. Weight ,size of the battery pack,amp hours ,etc.. must all be considered and hopefully will be ,to produce an affordable , electric car that will take us down the road to energy independence . Besides the fact ,it has been nice not to have to stop at a gas station for the last month. Personally ,I love it(the MINI e ) and if I could buy it ,I would.

Things are quiet and running smoothly this week ,really nothing to report,the car finally got to 100% charge ,I think it was fully charged before ,it just didn't show on the readout correctly,maybe there is an amount of "float" with the charge as I have seen it go up and down several times in a day.
The only thing that is bothering me now is ,after waiting,and waiting,and waiting some more (but ,I am VERY patient after all) for the car to arrive (9 months from the initial contact to delivery) it was very satisfying to finally have 249 home in my garage. One of my employees ,knowing my car, saw another like it and approached the driver ,well after a short conversation ,the other driver was a town employee and he bragged how the car cost only $10.00 a month to lease! Makes me feel used at $850.00 a month. And we have town workers who couldn't give a damn about the car ,just that it only cost $10.00 a month.In this economic environment they should realize that a lot of the folk leasing the MINI e are stretching their budget to make the car payment,and quite a few backed out because they lost their job .Money is tight right now ,don't have someone come by and show that you(MINI) discounted to move more cars to municipalities to get your energy credits. After all no one likes to be kicked in the face or be made a fool. That is how I felt after hearing from my employee.

Well after yesterday morning without 100% charge I checked everything to make sure it wasn't me doing ,or forgetting to do something to charge the car last night before turning in. Around 8:30am was the time that I hesitantly put the key in its slot and pressed the power button. The needle rose and I watched as it settled at 81% then as I sat there wondering why it won't give me a full charge ,the needle starts to rise! Slowly it crept up ,but I couldn't wait any longer ,had to go to work.as I drove down the road the needle went to 91%, the battery temp was a cool 73 degrees . Now I have driven 30 miles today since there was an errand that needed to be made and the gauge is at 50% .
Still good ,but I would like to get in the car and find it fully charged, even once in awhile would be nice. Other than the full charging problem ,249 has been very trouble free and a real blast to drive ,beside the fact ,I haven't been to a gas station in a month!

The 220 cable was installed on Wednesday , NOT Tuesday like I had originally planned,but it is here. I was so excite ,then I found the cable was about 3 feet too short to reach the car the way I normally pull it in (nose in). So now I have to "thread the needle" and back her in ,or I can find another place for the motorcycles,not gonna happen. So for the next 11 months I am going to have to back up the driveway,make sure there isn't anyone blocking the way and go back and forth till I can open the door to get out and plug her in.
I had plugged her in at 12pm yesterday ,I had to ferry kids so I took the TDi . What do you know .after being on the new charger ,I get in turn her on and same as before 94% charge. It would be nice to see 100% ,but now I can charge at a super high rate ,and just being plugged in yesterday after the install for 45 minutes brought the charge up waaayyy more than with the 12amp cord.
Did anyone notice how massive the cord is? Its HUGE! Looks like a garden hose more than a charger cord.I was told due to UL listing as a houshold item it needed to be overbuilt. The one at the dealer is higher amps ,but half the diameter. Go figure.