One year ago today, I became
the proud new owner (well lessee anyway) of the BMW Active E. It’s been the best year of my automotive
life. And the start of what I hope is a
long and happy life driving electric.
For me, the E has been the most
reliable car I have ever had (knock on electrons). It just works. I plug it in, I go, sometimes I go fast, and
I stop without brakes. Quiet, clean, fun
mobility. I have had one error message
that prevented me from starting the car (about two months ago), but it cleared
after about ten minutes and never brought it up again. When I took the E in for service last month,
BMW decided to change the battery pack due to that single error. Didn’t seem like a big deal to me, but I have
no problem with new batteries either.
Since getting the car back, it has run like a charm.
And the infrastructure for
electric cars is improving too. Over the
last year, I have seen a number of charging stations installed in locations
near where I work and shop. With this
influx of new charging infastructure, the future looks bright for EV ownership.
The best part of driving
electric: EVERYTHING. I have written
about the pros and cons of EV’s many times before, but it never gets old. EV’s just drive better in every way than gas
guzzlers. Smooth acceleration, easy braking,
no shifting gears, quiet operation, easy “refueling” (I don’t miss the gas
station stops). The ease with which a
person can simply go is far superior to gas-powered cars…well not in every way
I guess. There is one small drawback to
quick smooth acceleration: speeding tickets.
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| Objects in Mirror are more expensive than they appear |
I got my fist speeding E ticket
last month. While flying by a “slow”
minivan, I was suddenly reminded how hard it is to tell how fast you are going
in an electric-powered car. There is no
engine revving up, or multiple jolting shifts between gears to remind you that
you may be going 62 in a 50 mile per hour zone.
The E keeps its speed a secret as you whiz down the road. But that secret was suddenly revealed to me
by an outside influence—hello officer. Luckily,
it was my first time speeding (caught?) in the E, so after promising never to
do it again, and insisting that I had learned my lesson…the officer issued me a
ticket anyway. Lesson learned, my fault
for not buying a fuzz buster.
Not every E owner has had
smooth sailing unfortunately. There have
been a few problems along the way with motor replacements and software
errors. All to be expected on a field
trial, but still not pleasant when you’re the one being tried. Luckily, my experience has been more wide
open field than trial. Like a kitchen
appliance, the E just works for me. And
it seems the same is true for a majority of my fellow Electronauts.
Overall, I love driving
electric and can’t believe the first year has gone by so quickly. I look forward to the launch of the BMW i3,
which should be a far superior car to the E in terms of technology and
weight. The E’s 4,000 pounds is its one
big draw back. Not only does it suck
power to move that much mass, but it limits the E’s handling in corners. Whenever I have a loaner 3 series BMW, the difference in cornering becomes immediately apparent due to the substantially decreased weight of any 3 series over the Active E.
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| Tipping the scale between good and evil |
The i3, by comparison, is expected to weigh
in around 2,700 pounds—1,300 pounds lighter than the Active E—thanks to
extensive use of carbon fiber and aluminum.
That change alone will make the i3 an attractive ride.
For now, I’ll keep enjoying my
electric bliss in the Active E and hope that the second year doesn’t pass so
quickly.
