Driving the Volt

As regular readers of this blog know, I'm very interested in the chevy Volt. I had been reading everything I could about it since well before the MINI E was even announced, and it was one of the reasons I decided to sign up for the MINI E.

A few weeks ago Lyle at gm-volt.com offered a contest entitled "Why I want a the Chevy Volt", with the 10 winners being invited to test drive the Chevy Volt. I submitted my essay and was lucky enough to be one of the 10 finalists.

I only live 40 miles from NYC, so my first choice was whether to drive the MINI E, into the event. Its been warmer lately and it has the range, but honestly I hate driving into the city, especially during rush hour which is when I'd have to go, do I took a different electric vehicle, the train in.

GM started with a presentation giving us a look at its new fuel efficient up and coming cars, first was the Spark, an all electric compact car, about the size of the MINI, with nice styling that seemed to take ques from the Scion, no mention of its range or when it would be released. Next up was a Ario RS (SP?) a sporty traditional compact car, then the Chevy Cruise a treditional mid to small size car, which shares many of the same components and is the same size as the Volt, and finally the Volt.

The Designers talked about the engineering, and showed off key features that increased its aerodynamics on a non-functional Volt prototype. Then we got our chance to see the real thing. The first thing I thought was wow it actually looks cute, this doesnt come across in pictures but its length seems a little compacted, and the lines seemed to flow together very well, something that wasnt obvious from either pictures or even the prototype. There was a silver and a dark gray version, and although I've told my fiancée again and again how much I hate that 90% of the cars on the road seem to be silver, I have to say it looked good, much better then the dark gray, where all of the cool black accent panels blended into the gray.

It was a rainy day as we got into drive and I had a big shock when I say the wiper blades, each of them was twice as long as a normal cars wiper blades, we had no troubles seeing through the light rain while driving.

At first I had to sit in the back seat, and I'm afraid the limited leg room in the back was my biggest disappointment from the whole experience. Luckly I dont plan on sitting in the back when I get a Volt, thats going to be someone else's problem, still 2 more inches would have made all the difference in the world.

I got to drive second and it was a very pleasant experience it was all in pure electric mode, unfortunately we didnt get to experience range extending mode. The car was so quite inside, I couldnt hear any road noise from the tires or wind or the electric motor, it made the MINI E seem down right noisy, something no MINI E driver would normally imagine.

The car has two modes an economy, or normal mode, and a sports mode, we got to try out both, and even in normal mode, it was quite peppy, with no hesitation from the dead stop, but when you kicked in sport the car jumped forward and I couldn't keep the accelerator floored for long, on the short course.

Handling was fantastic, the Volt has some very wide tires, and a very low and balanced center of gravity, and it held up to some tight weaving and sharp accelerations, and a wet track without any tire slippage, or spin outs, or even a traction control system kicking in. This car is a pleasure to dive.

In low gear you get regenerative braking when you let off of the accelerator, but even in normal Drive gear you get regenerative braking when you press lightly on the brake, and friction braking as you press harder.

We folded down the rear seats and this give you a lot of room in the hatchback, enough room for a bike, or two, or over 4 full backpacks. Well thats what I'm planning to put in there.

Yes I'm hooked, this is a pleasurable full featured car, that just happens to be electric, and I'm going to buy one the first chance I get.

Warm weather and the choice to renew

In the last week it seems that Spring is finally here on the east coast. The temperature has warmed up and the snow is melting, soon I hope to see green buds on the trees, Spring is a very happy time when you can feel the new year is coming and all sorts of possibilities are open.

I've been fairly lax about writing to my blog over the last couple months, part of that I can attribute to just being very busy with work, but much of it was not wanting to admit the limitations I've had with the MINI E over the winter. As you may remember for a month in December and January MINI E #304 was in the shop, then when I got it back, I was found running the heater on full barely kept the car warm, and killed my range, I've been averaging 70 miles per charge, vrs. 110 I was seeing in the summer.

So for the last two months I've been limiting my MINI E driving to just my daily commute, and using my Z3 to drive to my fiancee's house 80 miles away. There is a short distance route which actually takes longer but is only 70 miles, and maybe I could have gotten by using the MINI E. I would have had to leaving it outside on the 110 charger over the weekend, something even MINI USA doesn't recommend in the cold, then the car would have been VERY cold at 5 am Monday morning we've had a number of really bad snow storms and I was very worried about being caught in one of them while driving the MINI E. Even Lewis and Clark knew not to cross the Sierra Mountains in the Winter, and I was worried about ending up like the Dommer Party. Over the last two months I've only put 1000 miles on #304, while prior to that I was putting about 1200 miles on a month. Now that the weather has warmed up I'm looking forward to driving the MINI E to my Fiancee's house again, and putting many more miles on MINI E #304 until my lease runs out.

Today I received a letter from MINI USA offering me a chance to renew my lease for another year for $600 a month. Some people might consider that still a high price, but considering it covers everything but the cost of electricity and liability insurance it seems a fair price to me. But I have to ask am I right for the MINI E, during the weekdays the MINI E fits my driving well, I rarely drive over 60 miles, 80 miles tops, most days I only drive 40, for which the MINI E is a great commuting car. But on the Weekends I'm either driving to my Fiancee's or we are off to the mountains to go hiking on some back trail, or mountain biking somewhere new, we like to explore and get away from civilization, and technology. Unfortunately this means MINI E #304 usually spends the weekend sitting at one of our homes.

I'm afraid my life style isnt right for a pure electric car as my only car right now. I'm not giving up on Electric cars though, I think the Chevy Volt will be a better fit for my lifestyle. It offers the promise of pure electric driving for the first 40 miles then a gas generator kicks in and powers the car as far as you need, or to the next gas station. This will give me a almost all electric daily commute (All electric if I can convince my company to put chargers in at work), and it give my fiancee and and me the range and cargo room we need to explore the great outdoors, what could be better? Unfortunately the Chevy Volt wont be on sale until November at the earliest and then only in California, Michigan and Washington DC, who knows when it will be available in New Jersey. I may just have to buy it in Washington, and make service trips down there as needed, if they will let me get away with that.

But what do I do in the mean time? My other car a 1997 Z3 with 180,000 miles on it, is feeling her age and doesnt have the cargo space we need. As the weather improves I can drive the MINI E more and more, I'm hating the idea of returning it just as its at its getting to its peak usefulness time of year, and I have no desire to buy another car as a stop gap until I can get the Volt. I've asked MINI USA if the MINI E lease extension is only for a full year or if it could be for a few months, if I can I'd like to keep it a little longer, but not if it means driving it over the Winter.

Finally, stay tuned for a big announcement in two month, the date been set, the reservations made, the ring is being crafted, expect some amazingly beautiful pictures.

#304 back on the road

MINI E #304 is back from the shop and running well for theis relatively warm January we are having. Still no word on exactly what was wrong with it or why it was in the shop for a month, the service techs at Morristown MINI are as out of the loop on whats being done to the MINI E's as the customers are.
MINI is sending me a check for the time I've been without a car, I never bothered to get a loaner, as it would have meant anouther trip into the dealer, and I have a old Z3 I still enjoy driving.
I think the regenerative braking is aggressive again, They had turned it down after the service in September. Or it could be I've forgotten what its like to drive an electric car, but Im enjoying breaking with one petal again.

One Month without my MINI E

Well its been one month since I started having problems with my MINI E electric car, prior to that I'd had 6 months of problem free driving. It has been in the shop for repairs most of that time, I had it back for a week before it died on me, then again for a couple days when I only got to drive it once.
I've been reading other drivers posts about driving the MINI E in the cold, and needing to keep the battery temperature up, but I havent gotten much real experience with driving the MINI E in the cold weather yet.
I have a tough choice to make about driving to my fiance's house on the weekends, I can either drive the MINI E, and park it outside in the cold with just the 120v charger to warm it during the weekend, or leave it in a unheated garage at home the whole weekend. Either way the battery is going to get cold.
During the holiday I flew to Flordia, during that time I left my gas burner at an airport parking lot, where it got very cold, I'm not sure there is a good solution to leaving a electric car at the airport for a few days, its going to get cold, even if it has an onboard heating system.
Anyway I'm looking forward to driving my MINI E again, my Z3 is nice and warm, but its amazing how sensitive my nose is to the stink of hydrocarbons.

Batteries too hot?

MINI E #304 has been in the shop for 2 weeks, ever since it stopped running with the evil red battery symbol on the 20th.
I got it back on Saturday and it seemed to be running well. Still no word on exactly what work was done to it over the last two weeks. We took it out to the Movies saw Avatar what a great movie. It was frigidly cold outside hovering around 20 degrees but the batteries never dipped below 60 degrees, and the heat actually felt a warmer then I remember it feeling before the service. The range was low only around 60 miles with highway driving, but otherwise it was fine.

I didnt get to drive it on Sunday, then on Monday I went to drive it to work and I got the evil red battery symbol, meaning the high voltage system was disconnected. I had stored the car in my garage which was cold 38 degrees according to the MINI E. I thought the batteries might have gotten a little cold, but not too much, only when I looks, it told me the batteries where at 167 F degrees.
Well it looks like the battery temperature gauge is broken and #304 needs to go back to service.. again. I had to rush to work so I'll be calling the tow truck this evening if I cant get it running.

#304 gets towed

Friday night I began experiencing problems with MINI E #304, the battery temperature warning light came on and indicated that the batteries were too hot or cold and regenerative braking wouldnt work. We were already near our destination and I continued driving without the regenerative braking, the feeling of coasting in the MINI E was a little disconcerting, I've become so use to the regenerative braking it felt strange without it, the exact opposite feeling non-electric drivers have. Anyway we got home with about 27% charge, much less then it should have been for our 50 mile trip.
The next day we needed to do a few errands before the big snow storm hit, I wasnt planning on driving more then 20 miles. I unplugged and reset the trip odometer, something I do every time, I think I looked at the charge and it was at 100%, but I'm not completely sure I did this anymore, I was concerned about the battery temp, and quickly switched to that view. From the start I had the battery temp warming light, and regenerative breaking wasnt working even though the battery was at 56 degrees. After a short stop for lunch we were off again, after 5 miles the battery temp hadnt changed much was 57 degrees and the warning light was still on, I was curious what not having the regenerative braking was doing to my range so I switched to % range, where I normally keep the display, and was shocked to see 35% charge left.
I'd only driven 5 miles and had stopped for about 30 minutes during that time there was no way it should be at 35%. I had a few ideas about what might have been wrong, either the car was using energy at a very fast rate, I did have the heat on max (as I always do in the cold) and the regenerative braking wasnt working, but I wasnt driving more then 40 mph so this seemed unlikely, or The car hadnt charged overnight even though it was plugged in, which would happen if the computer was confused and thought the battery temperature was under 30 degrees, and might explain the battery temp warning light, even though it was reporting the temp as 57 degrees, or the percent charge indicator could be out of wack, I'd just read a facebook entry stating anouther drivers opinion that the Charge indicator got less and less accurate as the temperature dropped.
Anyway we didnt have far to go so I just kept going and kept my eye on the charge, after shopping for a couple hours we headed home. As we got close to home the yellow service warning light came on indicating we could continue driving but should bring the car in for service, about a mile later there was a audible click the car starting slowing down suddenly and I looked down and see a red battery symbol, meaning the high voltage system has been disengaged, ie we had no power.
At this point we were only a mile from my house, I called MINI for a tow and my girlfriend got a ride home, it was just starting to snow. I was near a busy light and people seemed to be having the hardest time realizing they needed to go around the car even though the hazard lights were on. a few people had camera phones out and were taking pictures, after all I had the brand new MINI E side decals just put on.
After a half hour the hazard lights stopped working, I needed to let people know to go around me and didnt have any flares, so I opened up the hood. I was a little worried about snow going in there, but I was more worried about being rear ended as visibility was getting worse. A little while latter a fire truck pulls up and offers to push me into a parking lot across the street, they block the light with the firetruck and four big firemen, and firewomen push me accross the street, Thank you Liberty Corners Fire department.
At this point I realized the red battery warning light hadnt come on. I tried to start the car and sure enough it worked I could drive around the parking lot, the battery temp warning light was gone too. I think opening and closing the hood must have reset things. The tow truck was due to be there soon, and my girlfriend was back with her car, so I figured it was best to just wait in the parking lot rather then risk it breaking down again. The tow truck arrived a little bit late, and #304 got towed to Morristown MINI, I have to wait till Monday to give them this story as the service department was closed by then.
We awoke Sunday to a foot of snow, guess Im going to have to wait to see how the MINI E preforms in the snow for myself, until then I'll be reading other peoples blogs.

#304 back from service

I got MINI E #304 back from the service department on Friday after 2 days, They did a lot of work on it. Foremost of which was replacing the PCU thats the gold footlocker under the hood which is the brains of the MINI E, I know a number of people have had this replaced numerous times but this was the first time for #304. It sounds like if a MINI E has any problems at all the first thing they do is replace the PCU.
They also preformed the second scheduled maintenance, I'm at 7000 miles a little short of the 8000 mile point but it was over 3 months since the last scheduled maintenance.
The Tires were replaced with snow tires for the Winter, MINI is covering this for all MINI E drivers in NY NJ and will be storing our summer tires to put back on in the spring. They also put the Side decal on my MINI E, this the words MINI and the E plug symbol, I've been asking for this for six months, hopefully more people will recognize that its electric now.
I had also asked them to test the heater, as the heat output seems very low to me, but they couldnt find anything wrong with it.

Anyway its been running great since the service, but my range is down to 80 miles, due to running the heater all the the time, the batteries being cold in the morning, and I think the Winter Tires reduce my mileage too.

Had a little trouble this morning, I'd forgotten to plug it in the night before, this is only the second time I've forgotten to do this but its an annoying mistake. I was reading about the Chevy Volt and how they are going to have an iphone app to communicate with the car, it would be great if it could tell you at night, "hay you forgot to plug me in".