She drinks while I work

One of the things I was able to accomplish during my "radio silence" (the month of October): Arranging Mini-E #339 to be recharged here at work.

After signing a "memorandum of understanding" (MoU) with the managers who oversee the "facilities" (including the two employee parking lots) -- and showing off the car to the guys who do the actual work and maintenance -- I got official permission to plug in to one of the outdoor 120-volt outlets on the parking lot lampposts.

That's a "big" change, in a way, from when I was already jacking 339 in on the sly. (Not by much though, since the MoU basically doesn't guarantee me a spot next to one of those rare outdoor outlets. Nor can I hold the company liable if something happens to 339 when she's jacked-in.)

I no longer feel guilty about plugging 399 into "the grid" and sucking down precious electricity -- all on the company's dime... And without their knowledge. Nope. It's all "legit" now.

But why would I "need" to plug Mini-E in now anyway? After all, unlike before, I have a 220-volt charger at home now, right? My commute distance (about 30-miles each way) is still the same and with a high-voltage charger at home, "Range Anxiety" shouldn't be a problem anymore, right?

Not really.

You see, with the colder weather setting in here in New York, I've been noticing that 339's estimated range falls well below the 100-miles per charge that I got over the summer months!!

For example, on one particularly cold day in early October, 339's "warning chime" that I had less than 30-miles range went off after she and I had gone just 45 miles!!! I was on my way home from work anyway, so I wasn't really worried. (Not much, anyway.) Still....

78-miles?? Even though I had started the day with a FULL charge and didn't go any where else but to work??? Really??? C'mon....!!!

So, having 339 connected and sucking down juice while I slave away in the office might be a good thing -- especially on a day like today, where the temps are in the 50's... But it's overcast and drizzly and the wind's blowing so it feels a LOT less warmer!!! If I didn't plug in 339 during the day, who knows how far I'll be able to go at the end of the day? Or, even if I'd make it home? (Yikes!)

So, today would be a good day to mark just what plugging in 339 while at work might yield during the next few cold and wintry months!

Here's the info about my commute in to work this morning.

Started with 100% charge and 339's meter said I had "93-miles" to empty. (Huh. Well, I guess it was a bit cold last night, too!)

I drove my usual route to work -- a mix of highway and local roads. But... I never drove faster than 60 MPH. Ok, maybe one or two brief "squirts" of 80 MPH to merge onto a highway and/or pass a truck... But I never did a sustained 70 or 80 MPH. Really. I just stuck in the right-hand lane letting everyone else pass me on the left. (I've come to realize, why am I rushing to work in the mornings???)

Here are the pictures (captured by my cell phone) of 339's relevant dashboard data screens once I've pulled into the lot and parked next to my much-appreciated, work-supplied jack-in point.

This shows that I've traveled 29 miles this morning and went from a "93-mls" reading when I left home to "68-mls" reading when I got to work:

93 miles minus 29 miles does NOT equal 68 miles to empty. I'm guessing that some regen braking added some power back to the battery. Also note the temp (49-degrees F) and that I've gone over 5,770 miles since picking up 339 back in June!

This next image shows the estimated percentage of battery I have left 'til empty: 71%!!!!

And finally, this last shot shows how much efficient I was at driving to work:

From what I remember in the manual, this means that if I was to travel 100 miles at th same "pace" that I did in the last 29 miles, I would need 67-amps per hour to recharge 339's battery. (Don't quote me on that... I'm still confused at this number! But I do know that "lower" is supposedly "more efficient.")

Anyway... That was this morning.

I've now pulled in more than my 8-hours here in the office... So it's time for me to go and see what 8+ hours jacked into a 120-volt line at 12-amps has done for 339's battery!

Stay tuned!!!

Read more!

CHARGE!!!!!!!

In my last post, I lamented over the fact that I had the wall charger installed at home, but no cable to connect it to my Mini-E #339...

And then I come home... Only to see this HUGE, orange-colored cable coiled underneath the wall charger at the side of my house!!!!

It's here!! It's HERE!! Pat, my electrician, came and installed it!!!

I quickly parked 339, shut her down and ripped out the key, unlocked the doors (which also unlocked the "recharging port"), got out, flipped open the port as hurried to the charger, unwrap the cable.. ("Man, this thing is THICKER that the 110-charger cable... Talk about Frankenstein-ish!") and then a piece of paper flutters down...

Ut oh...

"Remember to reset the car... 32 Amps"

Oh, right!! Thank you, PAT!!!

Coil the cable back... fish the key fob outta my pocket, get back in 339, stick the key in, push start... scroll through the options... press to set the charging current from 12 to 32 Amps... (HO BOY!!!)

Shut down 339, push then pull the key out, get out, close the door, reach for the cable, plug it in, and....

"Fffffffffffffaaaaa....wwWWWWHHHHHOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The fans kick in, the little charging light just above the steering column starts to blink while the "charging" light on the wall box turns on a SOLID green.

WHHHOOOO Wee!!! WE are in business!!! My little 339 is sucking down juice like she's meant to -- through a nice BIG straw with twice the voltage capacity and nearly thrice the umph!!

Good thing, too. Although I started the day with about 80% battery capacity, by the end of the day, I drained it to about 10% of charge after about 60-miles of driving.

But now that she's plugged in to a 220-volt line, as proper...

Who-weee!!!! I can't wait to drive her tomorrow, exactly two-weeks after first picking up Mini-E #339 from BMW/Mini of Manhattan. She'll have a full charge and I won't have to worry or have that range anxiety anymore!!

WOW. I can hardly sleep! Read more!

Another Manic Monday

So, the weekend's over... And one of the most important things I forgot to mention was that, Pat, the electrician, came over last Friday and installed the 220-Volt wall charger for my Mini-E #339!!! Woooo hoooo!!!!

Right?

Not really! :-(

Pat did a great job installing everything inside the house, in the basement, with the electrical panel, running that "long length" of cable out to the part of the house where I wanted the box -- which I neglected to take pictures of... again..

While he put everything in place and drew me thaaaaaaaaaaat much closer to being actually able to feed 339 through a fire-hose of electricity, it seems I'm still the "victim" of BMW/Mini's woes.

The cable that's needed to connect the wall-mounted charging box to the Mini-E wasn't in sight. Pat said they were still slow in coming. His office might have gotten a shipment of cables, while he was out installing my box AND tending to 3 other "jobs" [customers] today [Friday]. But he said that if the cables were in the office, he'd come back on Saturday or Sunday to do that "one last thing."

Needless to say, he never came back! :-(

Still, I gave him a ride in the 339 -- and it was his first time in a Mini-E! (I guess despite all the installations he's done for other "pioneers," he never got offered a ride! Huh!) And, he was absolutely THRILLED with the ride and wished he could actually buy one. (Hmmm an electrician wanting an electric Mini... Whodathunkit? ;-))

Anyway, the lack of a 220-volt charger left me pretty much in the same predicament as the previous week.

Drive, ride, operate, use 339 past the 50% charge capacity and you might as well right it off from using it the next day.

So, after charging (and driving) my Mini #339 off and on over the three-day weekend, I started Monday with about 88% charge and roughly a 73-mile range. More than enough for my usual roundtrip commute. And it was pretty much the "usual."

About the only thing different today:

1. I gave another co-worker a "joy ride" -- up a nearby (and very "aggressively up-sloped") hill. She, too, was impressed by 339's speed and agility -- and a wee-bit apprehensive of my...uh... "zealousness" to operate 339 to its full potential.
2. On the way back in to the company lot after this short little coffee run (which produced no coffee, BTW. Stupid Dunkin' Donuts' "Coolata" machine was busted.), two more co-workers stopped and asked, "Is that the electric Cooper?" One of the co-workers also owns a conventional Mini. He sat in it and said it was exactly like his.
3. I made a run, after-work, to BJ's Wholesale Club. Didn't buy anything outrageous. But it was nice to know I could fit a few "bulk" items in "the boot" if I had to. (That is, if you count 4-lbs of sugar, a box of Twix (36-bar count), and a "brick" of coffee (4 one-pound, vacuu-packed "bags" wrapped together).

Anyway, not much to report -- other than all this drained 339's battery down to like 7% and 9-miles range... Which means I'll be back to driving my CR-V for Tuesday. :-(

Read more!

My first weekend with 339

Here's all the "other stuff" that came with my Mini-E #339. Clock-wise from the top left: Card with the list of Mini-E dealers in the Metro NY area, a "leather"(?) pouch to hold the books (and insurance papers, registration, business cards for dealer's sales and service people), two "smart" wireless keys, manual of "safety tips," quick "Getting started booklet (pages produced by my dealer using a color printer/copier), a folding "booklet" on how to operate the radio, a guide to service and maintenance, the full 116-page owner's manual, and (finally) a "Mini-E Insider's Guide." (Click to enlarge for a cruddy image. Sorry. Only have my cell phone camera!)

So, it was a beautiful (if muggy) weekend here in Neuva York. But alas, I couldn't drive 339 since I drained it so much after Friday's commute from hell. :-(

Given the sticky weather (and my own laziness), I really didn't want to go anywhere anyway. (Now if 339 were a convertible Mini-E... ;-))

Anyway, I spent some time with the fairly substantial (116-page!) owner's manual. A LOT of time! Wow... BMW/Mini really tried to cover EVERYTHING in a pretty substantial manner. Everything except that burning question I had yesterday:

Could I have charged 339 in the rain yesterday without worrying?

There's nothing in the manual about it, at least not about the 110-V charger.

I suppose that the cluegy charger wouldn't be covered in the manual. It is, after all, called the "Occasional Use Charger." (Uhhh.. it takes 26+ hours to charge a Mini-E with it. I'd call it something more accurate -- if a bit politically incorrect!)

No, BMW wants us all to be using the 220-Volt charger since it could completely recharge a dead Mini-E's battery in just 4 or 6+ hours.

Speaking of which...

I got a call from Clean Fuel Connection, the folks who are coordinating all the contractor work that needs to be done in pioneers' homes.

The good news: The local contractor wants to come over and install the box (and 220-V line) this Friday, July 3rd!!!

Woo hoo!!!!

This is the 220-Volt "wall box charger" that will (supposedly) be installed by my local contractor, tapped by Clean Fuel Connections to do the work. I don't know if this "Clipper Creek" box will be actually installed on the outside of my house. But it seems to be the wall box other Mini-E pioneers are blogging about (Click to enlarge.)

That's quite symbolic, now that I think about it... On the day I have time off from work (for the Saturday July 4th celebration of our nation's independence from tyrannic British rule), I'll be getting a box installed that frees me from the high price of gas and taking a step that might help our nation end our dependence on foreign oil!!!

More personally (and immediately) satisfying: Pat (my local contractor) will finally put an end to the whole mess that plagued me from nearly the beginning of the Mini-E program.

Will my house support yet another 240-volt line running 40- (or even a 32) amps? And will BMW/Mini pay for it all? The answer, thankfully, is "yes"... To BOTH questions! YAY!! (There were, as late as mid-June, questions about BMW's commitment to paying for the "long run" of cable to go from my electrical panel to where I want the wall charger. But we got that all worked out, too!)

Yes, getting that box will really free me -- especially from insufficient charges due to manually stopping the 110-V charger way short of the 16-26+ hours it really needs to juice a Mini-E's battery.

BTW: I didn't get a "100%" on 339 until Sunday. That's not to say my Mini-E needed a continuous 48-hours to recharge from 8% on Friday!

I spent some time during Saturday trying to isolate an indoor 110-V outlet with enough amperage to charge 339 without tripping a breaker. And, it had to be accessible from the outside. Thankfully, I found one in the basement laundry room that was close enough to my driveway (through a cellar window!) So, 339 spend almost all-day Saturday and all night Sunday, drinking down juice without "sharing." (Really, no one in the house could do laundry this weekend! What a shame! ;-))

Still... I can't wait until Independence Day! Read more!