An Odd Day...

...So, I must be driving my CR-V!

Heh.

Seriously, as noted in yesterday's post, I drained 339's battery down to less than 5% capacity. And when I checked in the morning... Yup.

After 12 solid hours of continuous 110-volt, 12-amp charging, My Mini-E went from about 5% to only 46% charge -- a total estimated range of just 44-miles.

Wonderful. :-(

So, back to driving my "old faithful," my wonderful, red '97 Honda CR-V.

And, it's not bad -- except I have to consciously REMEMBER TO STEP ON THE BRAKE when I want to stop!!!

Oy!

Good thing those first few minutes back where I'm back in the saddle of my CR-V, I'm only in my driveway!!! (Phew!)

And then there's the engine noise during acceleration on the highway on-ramps and while passing.

I forget how wonderful, natural and oddly "comforting" that sound can be. Sorta like the point that's being made in this Volkswagen commercial, I s'pose:



Still, for all the "sound and fury" my CR-V's 126-horsepower 4-banger cranked out while I was driving today, I think, "Boy, we sure don't seem to be going as fast as it sounds like we should be!!!"

And yes, while even a eco-friendly Mini-E won't get the MPG equivalent of the VW TDI, I sure am "won over" by her speed and power. (As if you couldn't tell from my previous logbook posts! ;-))

Even with just over a week of every-other-day driving of 339, I've been spoiled by her electric motor, which puts out the equivalent of 201-ponies!!! She's easily the "fastest" and "most powerful" car I've ever owned.

I've "driven" faster cars -- like the NASCAR racers on the Richard Petty raceway in Orlando. But to actually own one that I can drive everyday?? (Ok, ok... yes, I don't "own" 339... And I can't really drive her everyday. Not yet, anyway. Not until I get my 220-Volt charger completed with the specialized cable I need... But you get my drift, right?)

Still, verbal technicalities aside... 339 will undoubtedly not be good for my pes pedis plumbum condition. (That's Latin for "lead foot," folks. I think.)

On an ending note: I came home to a real puzzler.

Even though I left 339 home and charging (essentially, plugged in since Monday evening @ around 8pm), I came home around 8:30 tonight and checked her SoC. ("State of Charge." C'mon people... keep up!)

54%

HUH?!?!?!?!?

I'm pretty sure after I did the "two car shuffle" (moving 339 so I can get the CR-V in front of her and ready for the day's commute) this morning, I had replugged her in. AND, I was pretty sure that her "charging light" was blinkin' before I left her. Sooooo.... "Whot happon, looocie???"

I honestly don't know. Obviously there was some charging going on if 339's SoC jumped from 46% to 54%.

Did the charger trip my home's circuit box? No. All the circuit breakers were "on."

Perhaps the "spot" thunderstorms in my home's neighborhood shorted something in 339??

Maybe. I did note that the charging light was NOT blinking when I got home. And it took several plug-unplugs of that huge Frankenstein-ien connector into 339's "recharging port" as well as an "engine start" (or more accurately a "power up") of 339 before the blinking charging light came back on.

Hmmmm... Just curiouser and curiouser. I'm going to have to find time to search the Web or other Mini-E blogs to see if any other "pioneers" experienced the same (or similar) problem.

And I really do hope the rainy weather had nothing to do to my recent charging woes because as I write this, it's raining hard...

And 339's plugged in -- to hopefully give me enough juice to drive her round trip tomorrow.

We shall see.

P.S. If the VW Jetta TDI diesel gets 58 MPG and has a 14.5 gallon tank... that means it has a range of 841 miles per tank -- 8x the range of Mini-E. But even if you go by the Jetta TDI's "true" specs: 40MPG x 14.5gallons = 580 miles/tank or 5X 339's range. :-(