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 ;)

Charger choices

Being that I had a MiniE about a year ago I had the Clipper Creek CS-40 installed and since I still have it I was not interested in purchasing an entirely new unit from AV. Bottom line I needed a J1772 connector as that is the new standard, the MiniE did not have this. Fortunately I was able to upgrade my CS-40 with Clipper Creeks J1772 upgrade kit for $400, includes shipping. The picture above shows the new connector.

The kit comes with a 25 foot upgraded cable and everything you need to hook it up - cool!

So now I just noticed that ChargePoint America has a program where I might be able to get a new charger for free and other goodies, interesting to say the least - so I applied. Let's see, maybe if not at my home then at my office...I'll keep you posted

Just a little bit longer...

I'm hoping to receive my ActiveE near the end of February. The MiniE drivers that were in the 2nd year lease will get theirs first and that should almost be done. Then the rest of us get ours, those that signed up via the Friends and Family program and those that registered through the public reservation portal announced recently.

I'm counting the days

So how does it drive...

Amazingly actually. I was seriously impressed.

I was able to take a test drive at JMK BMW in Springfield NJ which happens to be the place I ordered my ActiveE from. Give them a call for a test drive of your own or choose them as your selected ActiveE dealer - ask for Manny

The car drove like it was cut from a single block of steel, it was solid with no flex or vibration. That is probably because the BMW engineers reinforced the front end with brackets between the shock towers which is just one of the many chassis enhancements. In addition the ActiveE, based on the BMW 1 series, has improved on its nearly 50/50 weight distribution. What you have is an improved 1 series with the bonus of being an EV...pinch me please.

It may not be as spunky as the MiniE was but it is not slow and you are in the 60s before you even know what happened. The car just glides...a real pleasure to drive and will be fantastic for longer trips where the MiniE became a bit tiresome, fun, but tiresome. The ActiveE is much more of a grand tourer (GT).

Range is supposed to be around 100 with the new EcoPro activated. Once I have the car I'll be able to see what I can get. I'm hopeful the range will be a bit more than my MiniE which gave me over 110 (when weather was good) as the ActiveE has better battery management and is more aerodynamic.

BTW - my old MiniE blog can be found here.