When I heard that Tom Moloughney passed the 20,000-mile mark in his Mini E, I asked him to write about his experiences for our Long-Term Road Test blog. Inside Line's Mini E #116 hasn't racked up nearly as many miles. Tom lives on the East Coast and deals with more extreme weather conditions. He also has two high-voltage charging stations, one at home and one at his place of work. He owns a restaurant in Montclair, New Jersey called Nauna's Bella Casa. Here are his comments. -- Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
My name is Tom Moloughney and I'm driving Mini E #250 in Northern New Jersey. I was asked by Inside Line to write a summary of my experiences in the past eight months since I picked up the car on June 12, 2009.
I applied for Mini's trial lease program because I was looking into the future of alternative fuel vehicles. I like new technology and I believe America needs to become more energy independent for security and economic reasons. I wanted to be part of the beginning of the movement in that direction.
In my first three months with the car I was using up every mile of the 100-120-mile range per charge, frequently driving the last 10 miles after the range indicator had hit zero. Many of us in the Mini E program soon realized you can drive it about 20 miles more than the range gauge reads.
Then Mini offered additional 220-volt charging stations for anyone in the program that had a place to install one. I accepted and installed it at my restaurant. Now, I could conceivably use up the 100-mile range, plug in for 3.5 hours at work and be ready for another 100 miles in the same day. Since then I've been averaging over 130 miles per day, seven days a week, and currently have 21,000 miles on the odometer after only eight months.
I use the car for everything: commuting, delivering pizza and packing it with restaurant supplies on a daily basis. I don't even use the restaurant's cargo van much anymore. I pack it (really over-pack it) with literally hundreds of pounds of supplies at a time. (I had 18 cases of Coke in it once). Much of the cargo space is taken up by the batteries, but I use the passenger seat area and the area behind and on top of the modules. I have driven it to Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and routinely take it to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field in New York. The Mini E is capable of doing everything I need a car to do about 99 percent of the time.
By the end of the year's lease, I'll probably finish with 35,000 miles, which is a lot more than most people drive in a year. I admit I was skeptical when I first got the car. I had all the concerns that I read about on Inside Line and other blogs, but the car has really won me over. I love how quiet it is, the regenerative braking, the power and great handling. But most of all I like not buying $40 in gas twice a week, which is what I was doing driving my 2009 Toyota Tacoma all the time.
It costs me about 3 cents per mile to operate and is fun to drive. I'm always amused when I read comments on blogs where people write how an EV would be such a hassle to own and they wouldn't want the bother. Everyone has the right to their opinion. But how many people have ever owned or even driven an EV? There's no hassle, believe me. It takes all of 15 seconds to plug in at night, that's it. I'm averaging 88 miles per charge (about 105 in the warmer weather and about 80 now that it's cold), I don't stress about running out of charge, I don't worry about someone rear-ending me because of the regenerative braking, I don't worry about it at all. I just drive it like I would any other car.
I'm very glad I was selected to be part of the program. I've met many great people and learned lots about electric vehicles. There are a lot more people than I realized who want to buy an electric car. I'm constantly stopped and asked about the car and where they can buy one. I'm certain that I'll be purchasing an EV to use as my primary commuter car within the next 2-3 years.
Some facts from my 21,000 miles driving #250:
Most miles driven on a single charge: 128 (85 degrees outside, drove about 40 mph)
Least range seen on a single charge: 65 (15 degrees outside, drove 85-90 mph for 45 miles)
Most miles driven in a week: 950
Most miles driven in a single day: 177
Cost to charge the car since June: About $650
Cost in gas to drive my Tacoma 21,000 miles: About $3,100 @ $2.65/gallon
(There are about 1,166 gallons of gas that I didn't buy that are sitting in an underground tank at a Luk Oil station in Morristown, New Jersey.)
I didn't need five oil changes: $200 (and 30 quarts of oil didn't need to be recycled)
I learned that driving the car at the 95-mph electronically governed limit will cut my range in half.
Continuous A/C use cuts the range by about 8-10 percent.
Continuous heater use cuts the range by about 20 percent.
You can read more details on Tom's Mini E 250 blog.
orangutan says:
03:46 AM, 02/10/10
It's a rather unfair comparison to mention your Tacoma, a far more capable vehicle for hauling and towing anything. Of course your pick-up truck is going to use a lot of gas, even if it is a "compact" one. Is your Tacoma the 4-cylinder, 2wd version? I doubt it if you speak of it averaging under 18 mpg. You know what would also save you money over your Tacoma? Practically any V6 or I4 sedan, coupe, hatchback, or wagon. Here's a crazy idea: instead of commuting in a truck, use a FWD coupe with a small four-cylinder engine. You know, like a Mini Cooper. 37 mpg > 18 mpg last time I checked, and you can drive outside the city with it, too.
anthonylam66 says:
04:07 AM, 02/10/10
I could be wrong, but I don't think the main point he was making was about saving money, it was about not buying gasoline and supporting the oil giants and I'm all for that. Electric, hydrogen whatever works as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad there are guys like this out there. I hope MINI gets the data they are seeking from this beta program. Bring a 100 mile per charge, four seat electric sedan to market for under 40 grand and it will be garage as soon as I sell my 08 Camry.
lowmilelude says:
05:22 AM, 02/10/10
Love the license plate!
LTRB should do the guestblog thing more often. Find drivers (or better yet, request submissions from drivers) who have a car that's in the fleet; and have them share the cool stuff they do with their own.
e90_m3 says:
06:12 AM, 02/10/10
Classy license plate. I'm surprised the Jersey DMV approved that.
And he should realize that much of the oil in this country does NOT come from OPEC. Blame Canada instead. OPEC does NOT even produce the majority of the world's oil.
Chances are, the natural gas used for electricity generation comes from OPEC.
mheikka says:
06:39 AM, 02/10/10
Great post, and great success story. It is good to read a review from someone who lives with the car, day in and day out, and is putting out their own money to have it.
Its also amazing that regardless of which green transportation technologies we're using (electric for you, hybrid for me) that various "gasoline addicted" people will post complaints alleging our savings results are fake, or are an "unfair comparison" and that we'd be "better off" if we bought a cheap gas-only commuter. I think you handled this issue well in the text and with your license plate...
Your experience and mine drive home the issues with clean cars - the "range problem" (if any) is really an inefficient automobile accessory problem. A/C units, heaters, wipers and other accessories really burn battery capacity. Maybe Mini will copy Volvo's idea for its electric C-30 and use a small fuel cell to power heaters, etc. This small petroleum concession may suffice until better batteries are developed.
Again, great post.
txmatt1 says:
06:58 AM, 02/10/10
Nice post. I like hearing about someone who uses the vehicle enough that they're intimately familiar with what the range is. Nice, too, that range anxiety is much less of an issue once those limits are learned. I've always felt that, just like you learn how long your commute to work takes, that after a couple weeks of EV use one would know exactly how much range they have after a given trip and would then stop worrying about making it or not. I look forward to the next few years with EV's being a purchase option.
jerry_o says:
07:07 AM, 02/10/10
I like the "guest post" idea also, nice job.
@mheikka: I totally agree with you, it's funny how people take a stand defending oil companies and gasoline, I've seen it many times here and on other sites. Keep your internal combustion engine as long as you'd like, but lighten up a little on criticizing alternative energy vehicles, they are only offering us more choices, not taking anything away from us. Like the guy said in the post, how many people that say they would never buy an electric car have ever driven one?
I don't know the first thing about driving one but I like to listen to people that have more experience on a particular subject than I do and frim what I read most of the people that drive EV's really like them. This guy sounds like he does and he drives 900 miles a week in one. I didn't even think that was possible but I guess the new EV's are worth taking a look at. I heard about the Nissan Leaf but really don't know much about it but I'm going to go to the website now and read up on it. Again, nice idea Inside Line and great post Tom. Good luck with the car.
brn says:
07:07 AM, 02/10/10
Nice Plate.
I'm not necessarily on board with Tom, but I always enjoy his posts.
hybris says:
07:11 AM, 02/10/10
Major points for the plate.
Great post Tom not to mention you have gotten my respect for overloading the Mini E and not babying it like I have heard a lot of EV owners/testers do over the years.
Edmunds I think its stop to open a new shop in NJ and put Tom on the crew.
hybris says:
07:11 AM, 02/10/10
Major points for the plate.
Great post Tom not to mention you have gotten my respect for overloading the Mini E and not babying it like I have heard a lot of EV owners/testers do over the years.
Edmunds I think its *time to open a new shop in NJ and put Tom on the crew.
tomm250 says:
07:33 AM, 02/10/10
brn: I generally enjoy your posts also. We don't have to agree on everything, I think I learn a lot from looking at others point of view.
Hybris: You wouldn't believe how I punish the car. We aren't responsible for anything that happens to the cars so I take advantage of it 100%. I do things (like overloading) that I would never do to my own car; driving it at the 95mph electronic limit for 20 miles is another!
These are test mules, and I'm testing it for BMW. I think they expect us to beat them up some to find the weak links. I've had a couple bad battery modules so far, but I haven't been able to really break anything but don't worry, give me some more time.
I want everyone to know that I went into this with an open mind. I wasn't an EV supporter of some tree-hugging environmentalist, not that there is anything wrong with that, I just like technology and I've already stated my desire to have the country become more energy independent. I really got the plates for laughs. You wouldn't believe how many people take pictures of the plates with their cell phones while they are driving, I feel like I'm a driving hazard because of it. Driving the car for the past eight months has been a real joy and like I said, I didn't have to make any sacrifices or concessions to like with the 100 mile range. I still have my Tacoma 4X4 which I need on snow days like today with 12 inches expected. and I still have my Porsche Boxster in the garage that won't see pavement until the spring thaw when my wife will take it out for weekend drives. An electric car wouldn't do it for me if I could only have one vehicle because I always have a need for 4 wheel drive and the utility of a pick up bed for hauling refrigerators and such for the restaurant, but for just about anything else, I know now I would be perfectly happy with one. I didn't know that eight months ago.
dougtheeng says:
07:37 AM, 02/10/10
Good post, good idea of having a test blogger.
...if you need anyone to test a new Kia Soul in the Canadian winter, I'm game ha ha.
wobbly_ears says:
07:40 AM, 02/10/10
This is a FANTASTIC review. Review by an average driver like me & not some snobby 'Auto' journalist. Yes, EVs aren't where they should be to be accepted by the general public yet. But as with any technology, refinements happen & technology advances.
It is about time there was a healthy mix of fuels for transportation. Enough with the skepticism. Time to end the world's dependence on oil & fighting wars for it.
The world needs a second burst of rapid innovations in transportation as in 20th century. High Speed Trains, Hybrid cars, Electric cars, Fuel Cell cars & yes, even regular IC cars all have a place.
the_big_al says:
08:12 AM, 02/10/10
I think it's interesting. This is good to see that someone can and does use this kind of a vehicle very much so as a daily driver. Can it do road trips. No. Can it be used as a commuter car. Yes, as it has just been proved. Never once did he say he ran out of juice. Either that or he just didn't mention it, but I don't think he has...
subytrojan says:
08:40 AM, 02/10/10
Funny plate!
bodyblue says:
08:42 AM, 02/10/10
"It's a rather unfair comparison to mention your Tacoma"
Are you for real?? Of course he can mention his Tacoma....ITS HIS OTHER CAR! Who and what dont you like about his success story?
" e90_m3 says:
06:12 AM, 02/10/10
Classy license plate. I'm surprised the Jersey DMV approved that.
And he should realize that much of the oil in this country does NOT come from OPEC. Blame Canada instead. OPEC does NOT even produce the majority of the world's oil.
Chances are, the natural gas used for electricity generation comes from OPEC."
You are right about most of the worlds oil not coming from OPEC... BUT most of the US's oil comes from Venezeula (witch is in OPEC) AND it is run by a communist dictator that HATES the US.....AND that fits his point about energy not coming from our enemies makes us safer SO your post is nonsensical. OH and why dont you get your facts straight before making a stupid statement....here is the link where we get our natural gas from......(most of it is produced right here in the US)....if you look you can see that only a tiny bit of our gas comes from the Mid East and that is from Egypt. So Chances are that you dont have a clue as to where our energy comes from.....and that does not make you different than most Americans.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_move_impc_s1_m.htm
tomm250 says:
08:43 AM, 02/10/10
Big Al: No I have never ran out of juice. Once, I did come close though. One night in August I had two different, completely separate construction detours on my way home and it added about 10 miles to my drive. With 18 miles left my range meter hit zero. I had never driven that far past zero so I was really thinking I wasn't going to make it. When the car has only a few miles left, it goes into a reduced power mode to conserve energy and you can only drive about 30mph. With about 2 miles left I heard some crazy audible alerts and an icon that I had never seen lit up on the dash and the car went into the reduced power mode. I made it, but I don't think by much. I had driven a total of 121 miles that day on a single charge. It was before I had the second charger at work. Now, I plug in while I'm working so it's almost always 100% charged and ready to go. No, it can't do road trips per se but I do plan on taking it to Vermont sometime soon. Each way it's 210 miles. There is place to charge halfway there in Saugherties, NY so I'll stop for a 3 hour break, get something to eat and check out the area a little. It should be fun, well at least interesting.
actualsize says:
08:43 AM, 02/10/10
Awesome bit of insight, Tom. I love driving the Mini E, too. But I still stand behind my concerns.
That's probably because my particular commute, over 100 miles round trip every day, (often with the lights and defroster on, at freeway speed) isn't suited to a car with limited range like this. My wife can't use it because it doesn't have room for the kids.
But I've always said that electric cars have their place and there are customers out there that are not affected by the range limitation. Tom is one of them. There are many Toms out there. Soon there will be cars for them.
But at the end of the day, is this car really worth $800 per month? I don't think anyone except those for whom money is no object can argue that it is.
tomm250 says:
08:57 AM, 02/10/10
Is it worth $800/month? No.
e90_m3 says:
08:58 AM, 02/10/10
@bodyblue:
"BUT most of the US's oil comes from Venezeula (witch is in OPEC)"
Ahem...
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html
That being said, I have no love for Chavez. He could turn Venezuela into a communist country all he wants. Like people around the world cares. This clown does not even deserve to be our enemy--calling him one just flatters his ego. We should put him in our "ignore" list.
wobbly_ears says:
09:01 AM, 02/10/10
@actualsize,
I disagree with you about the cost part. This Mini-E is a technology-demonstrator & in no way can be compared to a traditional car. The fact that EVs can, for some people, replace their IC engined cars, means that Evs CAN be used as a regular car for a reasonably large population.
The fact that these cars haven't been a spectacular failure means that the EV technology atleast is workable in real-world. Yes, lot of refinements & advancements in technology & infrastructure improvements need to be done before EVs can match regular cars. But the fact that these have come so much farther should MEAN something.
The montly-lease cost is more like an insurance for BMW that the lessees do take atleast reasonable care of their car. BMW couldn't possibly give away the car for free, could they??
Let us appreciate that after a long time, alternate propulsion cars like the Mini_es, Volts, Insights & Priuses show us that we needn't depend SOLELY on fossil fuels.
The $800 per month, in my mind, is inconsequential to this discussion.
tomm250 says:
09:15 AM, 02/10/10
As for the cost, yes it's crazy (about 10 grand for the year) but yes the insurance is included and any maintenance, plus a new set of snow tires they gave us. If they said $850/month for 48 months and then give the car back I wouldn't have agreed. But this was for one year, no strings attached and a chance to be part of an interesting program. BMW has been a great partner in this, even waiving a few of the monthly payments.
We have been informed that they will offer us an additional one year lease extension if we want to keep the cars for another year, but they haven't told us what the payment will be (it's assumed it will be much less for the second year) and then transition some of us into the BMW ActiveE electric car in June 2011 which is far more advanced than the MINI-E with a thermal battery temperature management system, the big flaw on the MINI-E as well as two back seats and it is overall a much more refined EV.
firstwagon says:
09:19 AM, 02/10/10
e90_m3
Ahh, you beat me to it. It always amazes me the misinformation people have regarding where oil comes from.
For example .. does any know the biggest single source of US crude oil?
Surprise... it's the US with roughly 5 million barrels a day.
Believe it or not it is quite possible to replace enough gas cars with electric cars to that the US does not have to buy any OPEC oil at all. OPEC won't care though as most of it's oil goes elsewhere anyhow.
e90_m3 says:
09:27 AM, 02/10/10
By the way, my original post is in no means of critizing Tom. If it sounds that way then my apoligies.
I'm just truly amazed NJ DMV didn't turn the plate request down.
I dislike OPEC but wouldn't blame them for our oil addiction. Let's get on with these alternate energies, dominate the world market, and these OPEC types will know who's their daddy.
minie183 says:
09:42 AM, 02/10/10
Bravo Tom.
Dude, you drive a lot! I am mostly in this for the same reasons, national independence.
....and in a very short time frame you will be powering your car by solar/wind/hydro energy.
In urban areas, 60% of our emmisions come from cars, 12% come from our homes. Cleaner air is a very good thing.
Electric cars powered by renewable energy are the ticket to eliminating those emmisions and towards that cleaner future.
Peder
Mini-E #183 11,500 miles.
bodyblue says:
09:50 AM, 02/10/10
The point Tom was making and I was making was that (I should have been more clear) is that outside of N America (not in OPEC) our biggest suppliers are
VENEZUELA 890 955 1,099 1,236 1,191
SAUDI ARABIA 848 943 1,023 1,514 1,535
NIGERIA 980 869 783 827 993
IRAQ
Now does anyone really think that if we did not have to get our oil from these sources that would be a bad thing?
"Believe it or not it is quite possible to replace enough gas cars with electric cars to that the US does not have to buy any OPEC oil at all. OPEC won't care though as most of it's oil goes elsewhere anyhow."
Oh since it is not "quite" possible to do it we should not even try? And if you think the oil companies and OPEC would not care you dont know anything about the subject. Just because we produce a lot of our own oil does not mean we dont consume too much.,,,,AND yes we are the biggest SINGLE source of our own oil we still IMPORT the majority consumed......nice try.
"hat being said, I have no love for Chavez. He could turn Venezuela into a communist country all he wants. Like people around the world cares. This clown does not even deserve to be our enemy--calling him one just flatters his ego. We should put him in our "ignore" list."
Oh Yeah that is is a great plan.......care to guess the price of gas if they stopped selling us oil? It is amazing how many Americans are truly ignorant of the world around them.
orangutan says:
10:01 AM, 02/10/10
I love how my critique of the Tacoma| E-Mini comparison is instantly turned into me being some weird chimera of a liberal/OPECer/gasaholic/antiAmerican. If you want to save money over driving a 4WD truck, the obvious and economical choice is not leasing an electric Mini. It has nothing to do with me being any of the various epithets or insinuations given above.
"But most of all I like not buying $40 in gas twice a week, which is what I was doing driving my 2009 Toyota Tacoma all the time."
Electric cars have the potential to be awesome, yes, but let's talk about the situation fairly.
bodyblue says:
10:28 AM, 02/10/10
You are not some weird chimera of anything.......You jumped on him for comparing the actual vehicle he owns and the Mini-E and that was silly. He was not attacking Tacomas or cars in general, he was just talking about his experience with his electric cars. Re read what you wrote again. The only thing I insinuated was that you were being unreasonable in your attacking his choice.
I think electric cars have a small future in this country as a niche vehicle and nothing more. But any way we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil is a good thing....including more drilling in the US. I am for doing it all in our quest to be more energy independent.
SnakeDoctor says:
10:32 AM, 02/10/10
Tom -
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
I have two questions:
1. Did you have any difficulty at all starting your car during cold weather conditions?
2. Did Mini impose any mileage restrictions on your vehicle? (We won't have that problem with our MiniE.)
Thanks.
actualsize says:
10:49 AM, 02/10/10
@wobbly_ears:
I salute Tom for being excited and committed enough to the concept to essentially donate his hard-earned money to the electric car development effort. Radical new products absolutely need the support of early-adopters like him. But make no mistake: BMW/Mini is gathering valuable engineering data and PR benefits off his considerable sum of dimes. Free? No. $800 per month? No.
tomm250 says:
10:52 AM, 02/10/10
No I haven't had any problems starting it in the cold. I haven't heard of anyone in the program having trouble starting it in the cold. I have heard that is the batteries get too cold, the will not accept a charge. That's where the MINI-E comes up short, and I believe the single reason why it would not be sold as a production vehicle; remember, this is a test mule.
There are no mileage restrictions. As far as I know, they want us to drive them as much as possible. There will be quite a few of us that end up with well over 20,000 in the year. However, as far as I know, nobody has more miles than I do at this time.
I used the Tacoma as a comparison because that was my daily driving car before I got the MINI-E. I had another Tacoma before that. I need to have a 4wd truck because occasionally I need to haul big items and get to the restaurant when it's snowing.
tomm250 says:
11:12 AM, 02/10/10
Actualsize: I know you keep bringing up the money, but that's immaterial. This is a closed pilot program. NOBODY in the program is doing this because it's a good financial decision. That being said, It's not all that bad once you look into it. Also, it's$850/month not $800.
As I said before BMW waived some of the payments, 5 actually. The car will cost me $5950.00 in lease payments.
There was no sales tax because in NJ ZEV's are tax exempt.
I get a discount on all tolls with NJ Green Pass: $??
Driving it 35,000 I will save between $3,500 and $4,000 on gasoline if prices stay at this level.
I would need a set of tires on the Tacoma, I only get about 35-40K on a set, that's $800.00
I would need 8 oil changes. There's over $300.00.
The truck would depreciate about $2,000 from the excessive mileage
I'd be halfway to a major tune up that costs about $1,200.
I drive pretty hard, I'd probably need a set of brake pads or at least be close to it. $200
Comprehensive/collision insurance: $650.00
I'm installing a solar array on my roof with no money out of pocket, my electric bill will be about 15% of what it currently is in about 4 weeks, this will reduce my fuel cost to almost zero.
If you ad it up, it's really not costing me anything at all.
allenychung says:
11:23 AM, 02/10/10
I was very skeptical about electric cars, especially the Mini E, but this article makes me want to get one.
minie183 says:
11:28 AM, 02/10/10
actualsize,
The actual cost of the Mini-E compared to a gas car is not that bad.
Two examples from our prior cars.
1. 2005 G35 purchased for $32,000 sold for $13,500 after 49 months of operation.
that's $398 a month just in depriciation. Throw in interest on the payments, brakes, tuneups, tires, gas and insurance its around $750 a month to drive that car.
2. Volvo S60t
$405 a month lease
$ 70 a month for lease start (36 months, $2500)
$100 a month for tires brakes service
$ 80 a month for insurance
$160 a month for gas
=$815 a month
With the Mini-E feild trial all that is covered (my liability only insurance is $30 a month).
Now this is not to compare the car with a used car or an inexpensive new car those are obviously cheaper.
I would say that the cost to be a pioneer with the Mini-E compared to my prior gas cars is approx $100-$200 a month for me. I like the Mini-E better than the two above cars.
peder
firstwagon says:
11:36 AM, 02/10/10
"Oh since it is not "quite" possible to do it we should not even try? And if you think the oil companies and OPEC would not care you dont know anything about the subject"
You misunderstood me. I am very much in favour of electric cars and fully expect to see a lot of them on the road in the next 10 years.
There are a lot of reason to use less oil but if the reason is to piss off OPEC then you are wasting your time. Growing markets around the world would take up any reduction in US use and the only suffering OPEC would have is a short term drop in the price of oil.
It's a global market now and everyone is dependent on someone for something. Don't stress about it.
wobbly_ears says:
11:48 AM, 02/10/10
@actualsize,
Agreed, $800 is one tidy amount. I think what BMW was trying here for was to get the cars into the hands of relatively caring drivers who want to be at the forefront of of technology. They probably didn't want to keep the lease price too low that it attracts every college student out there. By keeping it relatively expensive (but not outrageously expensive), they were trying to attract people like Tom who not only can afford it but also live with idiosyncrasies. These are test mules, afterall. These cars need the driver to be cognizant of the limitations.
Think of this way. It's like going to a somewhat-fancy restaurant. Food may not be the very best, but atleast it keeps the riffraff out. (Is my example too elitist?? Lol!!)
sunfighter says:
03:07 PM, 02/10/10
So which power plant in New Jersey does this energy come from? Our power grid is already stressed out as it stands, I cant see how slapping a bunch of autos to the list of things drawing energy from it would be helpful without a massive government investment into upgrading the system. Plus if the power plants are coal or oil based (natural gas included) how much environmental damage are you really saving? To me it just seems like this is nothing but a guilt shift from the consumer to the producer. Plus as stated before most are oil comes from North America. And of that most our oil isnt used in Cars but in industry mostly for plastics. So the whole getting off of oil is a silly arguement and investing just for that reason is a pointless waste of resources because it wont work.
On a side note, I am suprised New Jersey supports this car. As we know New Jersey doesnt allow you to pump your own gas, mostly to save a pretty much useless job for some lower end people. Youd think theyd be up in arms about the potentinal loss of jobs if people started plugging in their own cars at night. Maybe they will have an offical inspector job where they just come to your house everynight and plug it in for you or something lol.
bodyblue says:
03:27 PM, 02/10/10
"So the whole getting off of oil is a silly arguement and investing just for that reason is a pointless waste of resources because it wont work."
Now that, Mr Exxon, is about the silliest thing I have ever read on this forum.
"As we know New Jersey doesnt allow you to pump your own gas, mostly to save a pretty much useless job for some lower end people. Youd think theyd be up in arms about the potentinal loss of jobs if people started plugging in their own cars at night."
WOW an even more ignorant statement .....I did not think it was possible! I was going to write more but I will let your post speak for itself.
siarizona says:
08:10 PM, 02/10/10
Thanks for the report, Tom. Very interesting to hear from a full-time Mini-E driver.
@IL: Guest blogger is a great idea! You should do it more often.
azk says:
09:42 PM, 02/10/10
Tom, Thanks for the report. It is quite amazing to me that some people over here are bashing you for trying out a new technology and letting us an insight into it.
tsport says:
11:06 PM, 02/10/10
Classic!!! The first comment is by a retard!
I just did the numbers using the local cost of fuel, which isn't amongst the cheapest in the world like in the US ($1.20 per liter in Australia... works out at $4.55 per US Gallon.... still half the price of EU petrol).
When calculated using the factory L/100km number for my daily driver which has similar PERFORMANCE to the EV, it's basically a 90% saving on fuel alone!
If you include the elimination of service cost an EV just gets cheaper to own the longer you own it. What a 21,000 mile test drive can't tell you is that the car won't EVER need maintenance like an ICE car. Aside from the fact there's only 1 moving part in the motor and bar the final drive gear the entire power train is solid state, because the motor isn't converting 85% of the energy it consumes into waste heat like an ICE, there isn't anything close to the heat stress. Most IC engine faults are heat stress induced!
Electric motors are routinely rated at 100,000 hours. That equals 6 Million kms. Most ICEs are burnt out at 1/10th that!
He gets stopped in the street and asked where they can buy an EV..... NO KIDDING. The pent-up demand for EVs will out strip supply for years!!!