Le Parisien, Redux

So, my sister reminds me that I never posted the article on me and Mini-E #339.

My bad.

The reporter, Monsieur Pascal Giberné, was kind enough to send a PDF of the page of the Paris paper that had his article. If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can see the file here:

PDF of Le Parisiene.

But here's the snippet (a small section of the page) with me and Mini-E:



The translation (Thanks, Tara!):

Paul Eng is among just 500 people in the United States selected by BMJ to spend a year testing the Mini E, the first electric car from the German manufacturer. This 42-year-old web designer from Queens, New York, was interested in the technology behind it. Testers must still pay a monthly fee of $850. “This is the future,” points out Paul, who for that price could have rented a Lamborghini. “It’s my small contribution towards the tough challenge of reviving the automobile industry.” The Mini E (which would cost $50,000) can cover 161 km when filled up, powered by a 150 kilowatt (200 horsepower) engine. To charge his car, Paul Eng uses two lines of 220 volts and 32 amps that were installed by BMW technicians. At an estimated 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, it costs just $5 to recharge the battery. “I no longer have to worry about the cost of gas,” explains Paul Eng, who covers 90 km a day to get to work. Icing on the cake: the Mini E is capable of reaching 150 km/hr. Read more!

Nissan's Electric "LEAF"

Two milestone have passed. It's been over a month since I've taken delivery of Mini-E #339. And last Monday was my 42nd birthday.

I could wax poetic, nostalgic or even philosophical about these two "milestone" dates. How amazing is it that I'm still part of "the future" when it comes to transportation? I mean, I can still remember when I was a kid and I thought the year 2000 seemed "so far away"... How I'd be "old" at 33!!! But of course, so optimistic about the future!!!

"By then, we'll be vacationing in space and driving flying cars," we all thought!

Well, #339 is far from a "Magic Carpet" ride... But she comes pretty close.

And while I still think "flying cars" (a la "The Jetsons") is still pretty much a pipe-dream, I can't help but still smile when I get in #339 and thihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnk, "Yes, this is the future of cars! It HAS TO be!"

Don't believe me? Consider these links and pictures:

(LA Times) Nissan's greener-than-chlorophyll EV: The LEAF

(Pop Sci) Test Drive: Nissan’s Leaf, The Electric Car’s First Shot at the Mainstream

So, by "late 2010" Nissan will have a 5-door electric hatchback that seats 4 and gets about 100-miles tot he charge. (Highly encourage readers to follow the above links to get the full story and to see pics of the LEAF -- essentially a battery-powered Versa.)

Best part: Nissan thinks it'll street at just "under $30K" -- and that's BEFORE any government incentives!!!

Of course, this spurs a LOT of questions in my mind -- one of which, in light of this development, shouldn't BMW/Mini EXTEND the Mini-E program beyond the one-year lease to us "pioneers"??? (I mean, hey, you gotta stay competitive out there, no???? Keep the fact that THEY -- BMW -- had an electric car out there BEFORE the Nissan, right???)

IN any case, it certainly shows to me that "electric cars" will have a big(ger) presence in 2010 and hopefully "jump start" (sorry) the future of cars.

Now if we could only work on that "vacation in space," thing.... Read more!

From 0 to 100% battery capacity... in TEN MINUTES?

Yeah, that's the goal of the egg-heads at MIT. Check this out:

From Engadget
Video: MIT working on rapid recharging for electric vehicles

Wow! I wish WE could charge the Mini-E in 10 minutes!!!

Here's the MIT blog on the project:

http://mit-evt.blogspot.com/

And here's their latest video!

Read more!

The future of liquid fuel-based cars is... "Grass"???

So, I'm sitting here after a long day of work -- made more difficult as with each passing hour, the little voice inside my head going: "You're thaaaaaaaat much closer to getting your Mini-E...." (Needless to say, concentrating on any one particular work task was just... ahhh... "slightly affected!" ;-))

It also didn't help that through-out the day, I'd get the "Hey, so I hear you're getting a Mini tomorrow...??" from several co-workers (fellow "car buffs" and "techies"like me) and office mates -- the "gang" that I hang out and go out to lunch with and "do stuff" with cuz, ya know, we're really all good buds and actually like each other's company. :-) 

Of course, when you get stopped and asked that, ya can't help but stop and go, "Oh no... It's not just a 'Mini Cooper,' it's a Mini-E which means its a..." (And I wonder "Where did the day go?"  ;-))

Anyway... I'm home, "rewarding" myself with some Popeye's fried chicken (my fav... Mmmmmm...) after having completed a fun -- but very "demanding" -- task yesterday. I then turn to some reading material and see the latest issue of Scientific American. And lo, what's on the cover?

The headline: "Grassoline"

The cover language: "Forget ethanol from corn. New fuels made from weeds and waste could halve U.S. oil needs.

Hmmmm... Turning to the article, the deck (the stuff after the article's headline) says: 

Scientist are turning agricultural leftovers, wood and fast-growing grasses into a huge variety of biofuels -- even jet fuel. But before these next-generation biofuels go mainstream, they have to compete with oil at $60 a barrel.

Check it out here: Grassoline: Biofuels Beyond Corn

Among the article's key points:

• Second-generation biofuels made from the inedible parts of plants are the most environmentally friendly and technologically promising near-term alternatives to oil.
• Most of this "grassoline" will come from agricultural residues such as cornstalks, weedlike energy crops and wood waste.
• The U.S. can grow enough of these feedstocks to replace about half the country's total consumption of oil without affect food supplies.

Hmmmm... The second bullet caught my eye as I munched on the delicious, golden-fried, crunchy, goodness of a juicy, meaty Popeye's drumstick. (Mmmmmm...)

"Wait a sec... So, if we all demand and eat more chicken, farmers will have to have to raise more chickens to be butchered... Which means, there will be more demand for "feed corn" to "feed" (duh!) the increased number of chicken... Which means that other farmers will have to grow more feedcorn... which leads to more "agricultural residues" (like cornstalks)... which leads to more source material for cheaper, clean biofuel!!! (Not to mention, an increased amount of "fry oil" from all those fried Popeye's chickens, which can be used as a clean bio-diesel!)"

Hmmm... More fried chicken = more "agricultural residue" and more used fry oil = more "U.S.-made," clean "grassoline" and bio-diesel (AND) = LESS money for petroleum from foreign countries that hate us and would use our own money to buy more weapons and sponsor those that would kill us!!! 

WoW!!!! A win-win-win-win situation!!!

C'mon people! Smell the grease!! Eat more fried chicken! The environment as well as the security of America depends on it!!!

Just kidding...(But still, check out the SciAm story! Good stuff!)

And OBVIOUSLY this is proof that I need to stop eating greasy fried food late at night and get some sleep!! But can I?? In less than 14-hours or so, I'll be behind the wheel of my very own Mini-E!!! How can I sleep?? (Especially if there's still some Popeye's left in the house?? ;-))

Read more!