ActiveEveryday

I have had the ActiveE for about one month and have done just over 1,600 fun miles, I'm really liking this EV.  I use it daily which would explain my play on the name in the title....this EV is active and everyday.

I use the ActiveE whenever and wherever I can

I may not put on the miles like some of my other fellow Electronauts but I do lots of short trips which is a real test of the usefulness of a car, I can tell you this car is useful and fun.  With my commute and errands I easily rack up over 40 miles a day with lots of start/stops.  What I mean by start/stop is turning the car off for a bit while I do my errand.  These trips could be a mile down the road or 10 miles to the next town....it really depends on the need but with the ActiveE it is easy.  I hop in and turn it on and I'm off enjoying my little drive.   On the weekends I often do 100 miles or more and my family is along for the ride.  We take lots of different trips here and there all in comfort, a real testament to the effectiveness of this EV as a daily car.   I do not think twice about using it - it is our first choice and I find myself looking for errands so I can go for another quick trip.   I would say the ActiveE meets 80% of our transportation needs - that is huge.  We still have our diesel SUV for the long trips and hauling all the family stuff but it is now the 2nd car.

I think BMW engineers also shop at Costco - like a glove

Charge Anxiety is back

I'm sure you have all heard of 'Range Anxiety' - that's when you think you will run out of range before you get to your destination. Then what is 'Charge Anxiety'?? That is when you you are not getting enough charge back into the battery so you can take another trip in your EV.

When I had the MiniE it was a constant issue...I was on the 110 (120v) for 4 months and the MiniE had issues with the current in my town so the breaker would often pop, effectively stopping the recharging process...my town is notorious for surges or fluctuation in the current. This often happened in the middle of the night and I found myself waking up during the night just to be sure the MiniE was still charging so I had enough to get to work and back.

I've been on the 110 with the ActiveE for almost 3 weeks and never had an issue...until last night. Sometime around 4am, best guess, the breaker tripped and shut down the ActiveE charging as well as part of my house. It was a simple resetting of the breaker but I lost a nights charge. With the amount of driving I need to do today and tomorrow I do not have enough time in the day to charge enough now...so I need to use my diesel SUV for the trip. There are no public charging stations near enough to me.

Well bummer! I'll be off the 110 soon but this bites. Oh well, having an EV is indeed a lifestyle and takes some adjusting, an adjustment I find worth it.

Bricking an EV

Well if you have not seen or heard about the 'bricking' of Tesla roadsters I'm sure you will soon. Apparently 5 cars have had their batteries 'bricked' - as in dead, unable to charge again. This is because they were at zero and left at zero for a period of time. It seems to be affecting only Tesla and if you do your own research it may effect future Tesla's. Nissan says their LEAF will not suffer from this as they have better safeguards. But it does bring up the question as to what safeguards the ActiveE has, I never heard of a MiniE 'bricking' and I do not expect the ActiveE to either.

Tesla and Nissan have instructions on how long you can leave the battery at zero before a 'brick' incident...is there a page like this in the ActiveE manual?

I for one may park my car at the airport for an extended period of time and I would hate to have the image of a 'brick' floating around my head while I'm gone so I'll be eager to find out what BMW instructs me to do.

I do not find this a negative, just an adjustment as with any new technology. I went through similar experiences as being an early adopter of one of the new clean diesels...they could only use ULSD (ultra low sulfur diesel) and that was even more difficult to find than a free place to plug in your EV and you had the added worry of was it really ULSD or did the station owner just slap a sticker on the pump - I had my share of a 'bricked' diesel. Just need to be aware is all...I got another diesel just like I got another EV ;)