Honorary Member of the Active E Club: We all know its not a honor just to be nominated!

"It's an honor just to be nominated."  You hear this all the time from actors who are nominated for an Oscar or an Emmy, but don't take home the prize. Well that may be true in part, but if truth be told, it's also damn frustrating.

I have been "nominated" of sorts by being allocated a BMW Active E.  I was very excited to receive my allocation email on February 22, 2012, which essentially gave me a key to the Active E club, limited to 700 people in the U.S. (finally, I am a member of something).  But then the wait began, and now over five weeks later, I am still without my prize--the actual car.  The car will arrive eventually, of course, but the wait is hard to bear.

It reminds me of waiting for Christmas to arrive as a child.  The excitement and anticipation of rushing downstairs Christmas morning to see what awaits.  Funny how a car can bring that childhood anticipation back to life.

But the Active E is no normal car, and that's what makes the wait so excruciating...and frustrating.  The promise of an all-electric vehicle with a range of about 100 miles is breathtaking.  While I can certainly appreciate cars like the Chevy Volt, which can go between 35 to 40 miles on electric power only, it pales in comparison to the pure-electric vehicle.  Electric power is the future and the more EVs that hit the road, the sooner they will be adopted by the wider public.

Newly installed public EVSE at Riverside City Hall in Riverside, CA

Already, public EVSE's are being installed, and USED(!), by EVs because between the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and now the BWM Active E, there are more vehicles than ever needing a charge and using the equipment.  As this demand rises, the infrastructure will rise with it--allowing wider adoption of EVs.
It's all very exciting and I can't wait to claim my prize and join the club.

In the meantime, I will place some cookies and a glass of milk next to the fireplace and go to sleep with visions of sugarplums, and gas-free transportation, dancing in my head.