The Most Rewarding 25,000 Miles I've Ever Traveled

I recently rolled past the 25,000 mile mark and had time to reflect about what I thought of my ActiveE and driving an EV.  After a year and a half, simply, I'm loving it!!

So many thoughts and words come to mind but I have to say it is the overall experience, it just feels right.  I currently drive 80 miles round trip daily and I'm not dreading it.  I look forward to hopping into my ActiveE and driving, I enjoy taking longer routes home, if only there were some public charging stations along my route I'd drive a little extra.

People coming up to the car and asking about it never gets old and showing the car off at events is awesome.  Speaking of events this has been a very busy summer for them, nearly one event after another and its not over.  How much do I enjoy showing the car and talking and spreading EV luv....see below....

Long Valley NJ Green Festival
8.17.13

 Prepping for the event

I eventually squeezed my up into the action on the grass - much better.  Nobody heard me sneak in

Cars and Croissants - Chatham NJ
8.10.13

 A bit of red here

Always fun to park adjacent to a classic

Cars and Coffee - Ridgewood NJ
8.14.13

I was their first EV, great turn out.  That's a pre-production M6 Gran Coupe next to me...good to know peeps at BMW

Tesla Owners Club Meet-Up - Paramus NJ
8.14.13

 Right after Cars and Coffee I rolled on down and crashed the Tesla Users Meet-up - Well...I was invited

 Nice to get attention, we don't compete - all EVs are amazing and compliment each other - this gave folks a chance to see other EVs that are on the road or coming and talk shop. 

These Model Ss look like they are going to take a bite out of my rear

Not staged...we really had to push an ICE vehicle for a rolling start at the Tesla Meet-up - nice ZR1 though 

Getting a boost at Bergen Community College before my next adventure 

Cars and Croissants - Hacklebarney State Park
7.27.13

On the way to Cars and Croissants Hacklebarney Park, Long Valley  - was hoping to recruit this guy to join me...no dice 

We had 2 Honda Fit EVs join us - awesome 

A very good turn out and 4 EVs in total 

This is really a great event, all cars welcome

We are usually the last to leave 

Offered my Fit EV friend a boost before he headed home - wow these Fit EVs charge fast!


NJEAA SmartED Ride and Drive - Wagner Farms
6.30.13

A full review of this event can be found at InsideEVs

We had two SmartEDs (Electric Drives) to toss around

 We brought a few other EVs show up - Mitsubishi iMiEV, Tesla Roadster, Tesla Model S, Ford Focus EV, BMW ActiveE and the Chevy VOLT

 This was a fun little EV - very stable

Something you don't see very often - an EV chasing other EVs



Cars and Croissants - Chatham NJ
6.29.13

Forming our EV row - a SmartED joined us

 The Honda Fit EV always draws attention

 The SmartED was the crowd favorite

Father's Day Cars and Croissants - Summit NJ
6.16.13

The biggest Cars and Croissants to date - 500 cars

Yes that really is a potato and a few visitors really thought we got a boost

 We had a lot full of EVs - 2 Tesla Roadsters, 1 Tesla Model S, 1 BMW ActiveE, 1 Honda Fit EV, 1 Nissan LEAF, 1 Chevy VOLT, 1 Prius Plug-in and 1 Zero S motorcycle

 Group shot

Metuchen Cruise Night
6.6.13

 On main street - joined by a Nissan LEAF and a Zero S motorcycle

The ActiveE was very popular

Educate, educate, educate...then educate some more

I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you want people to adopt EVs you have got to get out there and show those EVs in the wild, not some show room or fancy press event, and make sure you have actual drivers doing the talking (with their cars and not just one) not a test driver or engineer from the manufacturer.  Fancy flash work and test drivers are cool on a closed course or environment but as soon as the audience goes home the interest fades and they go back to thinking ICE thoughts 

We have to get people to think - "Wow, he drives it everyday, he takes his family in it, he did over 15,000 miles in one year and he is having fun.  He used to drive a gas car and he does not want to go back, I want to know more".

Showing off our cars is easy, just driving around is not enough, you need an audience, how?  Easier than you think.  There are tons of free car shows that you can call up or just appear at and they will let you in.  I find it most effective to go to all ICE shows, they really like EVs and you will be the center of attention.  Another very effective way to show off your EV is to ask schools if you could demo your car, I have never been turned down by a school.  They love these cars, especially as most have 'green days', and they totally get it.  It is a lot of fun for you as well.  The kids have great questions, especially when you tell them EVs are fast and fun.  After all, they very well could be future EV drivers.  I've shown mine to pre-schools up to Colleges.  You may be surprised how 3 year olds totally get what EVs are about.  Best comment I've received so far from a pre-schooler was the car does not stink since there is no pipe in the back.  He was 100% correct.

I'm just tossing a few photos up here (there are many more) to give you an idea of all the types of educating you can do with EVs....it is a lot of fun and it really works.  Want to get involved?  Message me or join one of our facebook groups to keep up to date.

New Jersey Electric Auto Association (NJEAA)
BMW ActiveE Group

Showing EVs at Kimberly Clark School in Montclair

Demonstrating the ActiveE to Mount Olive High School Physics Class

Presentation at Pershing to 'Going Green' employees

Pershing 'Going Green' corporate event

Just pulled in and they found a spot for me

Cars and Croissants - Chatham NJ

Demonstrating the ActiveE to pre-schoolers

Demonstrating the Benefits of EVs at Bergen College teen STEM day

Kids love to plug EVs in - would you do this with a gas car?

People love to see EVs in action - Princeton Airport

Green Day at Princeton airport

People walk away seriously considering an EV....but, and this is to those manufacturers...we drivers plant the seeds but we need to keep it going and we can't do that without your support.  We are your biggest marketing asset.

Cars and Croissants - Dawn of the EV

I attended my 4th 'Cars and Croissants' this past weekend and so did a few more EVs.  We had some great weather today and other than the amazing cars that turned out - probably 75 cars- we had 3 ActiveEs including mine. They were joined by a Chevy Volt and a Prius plugin.  At this rate we will need our own EV section soon.

I arrived early and the ActiveE is already attracting attention 

Tom Moloughney joined us for the first time, passing 21,000 miles in the process.  Yes you read that correctly, Tom has 21,000 miles on his ActiveE already - not a drop of gas.  We were also joined by Michael and his ActiveE, his first time at Cars and Croissants too.  Mark brought his Chevy Volt and another newcomer drove up with his brand new Prius Plugin.  This was a fantastic EV turn out.

A 2nd ActiveE joined by a Chevy Volt 

As usual people came up to ask us questions.  Cars and Croissants is such a great event because the drivers and guests are all car people, they love them.  They are as interested in the exotics as they are in the EVs.  In fact, many are open to getting an EV and some were even on the list for the ActiveE.

The ActiveE is a 1 series and gets lots of compliments, stripes included, of course I show them pictures of the new i3 and more often than not at this event it gets a luke warm reaction.  I'm usually asked when will BMW build a 1 series EV they can buy....hear that BMW?

Anyway - it was great talking EV talk and cool car talk...check out the pics.

Prius Plugin -  interesting how the EVs all have their hoods up

That is a lotus in the middle - not a Tesla.  No Tesla today

Tom shows up and is immediately swamped with questions - having 3 ActiveEs surprised everyone

 A 1956 Ferrari 250 - the owner told me it took him 10 years to restore it - he did the restoration!

Another look down the row 

I'm a big muscle car fan - used to restore these back in the day 

 This is the 2nd set of cars

A real beauty and for sale

Interesting plates 

You don't see one of these everyday

Nor one of these Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 - only 600 made and 126 in the US

Looking up the line 

There was lots of American muscle today (new and old) - really great to see 

As a couple of EVs left I shifted over to bunch up

The event is winding down - it was so great to see everyone

If you are in the Northern NJ area and you drive an EV please come to the next event....you will be pleasantly surprised at how much interest there will be in your EV as well as the equally amazing cars that surround you.  Since dates and location change often, sometimes the day before, I'll post here and to the ActiveE facebook group when the next one is - but next tentative date is August 25th 8:30 to 11 at the Chatham NJ HS parking lot - they are usually every 2 weeks.