My Mini-e # 353 experience

My first day, June 17th, with my Mini-e was sheer exhilaration! This car is a ROCKET!. It can thrust you back into your seat just about at any speed and handles like…. Well, a mini!


June 18th I drove #353 to work and then drove to the Secaucus rail station to take the train to Penn sta. (-14.1 mi) and while driving to the station I was a little concerned about the drive home home (-19 miles)

June 18th- The miles left indication is not an absolutely accurate indication but an estimate based on the past 18 miles and a variety of other factors like battery temp etc.. I have found the indicator to be conservative so you do have some distance “in the bank”. Since we don’t have the 220 V chargers yet I started out on the 18th with 47 miles on the indicator. By the time I got to my office it had dropped to 40 miles and I plugged in the charger for an hour before I needed to leave for NY.


Now the reality of an electric car sinks in…. Hmmm. Limited resources require planning my trip a little more carefully. Heading to the Secaucus rail station gave me a little anxiety, miles dropped significantly and I got a little nervous. It's interesting.. You become a better driver when resources are low. I made sure I didn't pounce on the accelerator and used the regenerative braking in the best way possible. When I got to the rail station I had 23 miles left. They wouldn't let me plug in there which was a little frustrating...... but a funny thing happened. When I got back in the Mini to find a parking space the batteries must have cooled a bit and it indicated I had 30 miles!...wow found resources. I got home Thursday with +14 miles! I even used the AC to reduce fogging and to cool the cabin off.

Here's the best thing. This was the first time I have ever not gotten a little torqued up with the stop and go traffic on Rt 3. It just didn't bother me! In fact the Mini-e got more efficient and the miles left indication really didn't drop as fast as I had thought it would as it did when driving 50+ mpg. That, plus the fact that I'm driving the most fantastic car in the world and the realization that no one else on the road was getting this kind of high driving an ICE vehicle just made everything all right.. I can't ever recall getting home feeling exhilarated after facing 30 minutes of traffic. How do you top that!?


This has absolutely made my mind up... I simply can’t, actually find it impossible to go back to an ICE. I need the next 12 months to figure how I can continue to drive an electric car after June 17, 2010 when I have to return this dream car to Mini.