Clean Air Vehicle Stickers and Second Service Visit

A true miracle happened this past Friday when the Clean Air Vehicle stickers arrived from the California DMV which allow me to travel in the carpool lane solo. We've had the car since January 16th so that's roughly 4 months and a week. I spent way too much time getting the decals. Numerous factors all came together to create the perfect storm leading to the delay. I hope when the i3 arrives, the process will be painless.

As luck would have it, our car went in for its second service visit at just under 9000 miles, before I had a chance to even drive in the carpool lane. Thankfully, the service went smoothly with no surprises and I picked up the car this morning. Drove a 2011 328i loaner and put 101 miles on it. Fuel cost was $21.50. Those miles in the ActiveE would have cost approx $3.00 in electricity from my in garage fuel pump, aka charger.

One soon becomes so accustomed to the wonderful driving experience, smooth starts, quiet drive and instant torque that after a while you start to take it for granted. A loaner car helps you quickly realize just how fantastic the ActiveE really is. I would say it's as drastic a difference as say driving a 325 and a M3. I'm not saying the ActiveE is as quick as an M3, it's not. I'm referring to the overall differences one feels when driving the two vehicles. It's like night and day. Speaking for myself that's how I feel. I find myself looking forward to driving the ActiveE and missing it when I have to drive something else.

Time to put the hammer down and start putting on the miles!

Charged up in Santa Clarita, CA

While public chargers are sprouting up all over the place, one city they so far haven't is Valencia, CA. However, 9 miles away in the Kohls parking lot in Santa Clarita right off the 14 freeway is a ChargePoint Level 2 charger, free for public use provided you have a ChargePoint card available via their website. Yesterday, I met my Mom and her husband Gary there for a early Mother's Day lunch at the Chili's near there. Charger worked great. The drive from Long Beach was 63 miles with a slight incline and a few hills towards the end. I kept the cruise control set at 67 or so and didn't have much traffic. I arrived with approx 35 miles left. I only needed to get back to Burbank for work where I could charge for 8 hours via a regular outlet but after charging up with the ChargePoint Level 2 charger, I could easily have made it all the way back home to Long Beach. An added bonus....the drive to work from Santa Clarita was mostly downhill meaning I used less battery power per mile than I did to drive there.

As the 8000 mile mark quickly approaches, I continue to LOVE driving the ActiveE!