New charger installed

New charger installed

Just had the ChargePoint charger installed via a grant from the ChargePoint America program. If you're in need of a charger, jump on it quick before the money runs out. What's great about the ChargePoint charger is that you can view your usage online, get email or text messages when your vehicle is charging, has a problem, etc. Very cool!

Consumer Reports likes the ActiveE too!

Nice to see some positive press from none other than Consumer Reports.

Our family continues to love the ActiveE. 7000 miles is just around the corner.

Still anxiously awaiting the carpool lane stickers. The only thing better than driving emission free is driving emission free in the carpool lane.

Proud owner of a 1981 Electric BMW!

Despite my numerous phone calls to the California DMV to head this off, my plates and registration arrived today listing the car as a 1981 Electric BMW. I picked up the ActiveE on 1/16/12. At least they got the mode of transportation correct and the good news is that my second year registration should be super cheap with a 31 year old car. I'm heading into DMV on Thursday morning to swap the plates they sent for my personalized KNOW GAS plates from the MINI E. I'll mention the year thing but if it's a big deal, will just go with the flow and enjoy my 1981 Electric BMW for a couple of years. Since the mode of transportation is correct, I can now apply for my Car Pool Lane stickers, woo hoo!

91 Express Lanes offer Electric Vehicles a free or discounted ride

A BIG thumbs up to the 91 Express Lanes for offering Electric Vehicles a free or discounted ride. Unlike other Toll Roads in Southern California, they are the only one that I'm aware of to offer this. Click here for more info and to get an application.

Update 4/2/12

After speaking with the 91 Express Lane folks earlier today, I discovered yet another bonus. If you're a FasTrack customer and don't generate more than $25.00 worth of tolls in a particular month, you're charged a $2.00 fee. The folks at the 91 Express Lanes don't charge a monthly fee of any kind for Electric Vehicles. However, you can use the 91 Express Lanes transponder on the 73, 241 and any other toll road in California. (you will still pay the full toll when using a FasTrack toll road as they don't discount for Electric Vehicles but the money for the toll will be subtracted from your 91 Express Lanes balance). Since I'm an infrequent user of the Toll Roads, I've been paying a $2.00 fee to the FasTrack folks for years. Happy to see that go away when I close my FasTrack account and open a 91 Express Lanes account instead.

5124 miles and the fun continues

Yesterday I rolled past 5124 miles in our ActiveE. I'm happy to report, the mysterious Drivetrain Malfunction and various other odd messages have not returned since my service visit back on 3/6/12. I've driven 1558 miles with no issues. Having the ActiveE as our only vehicle has been working out perfectly. We've been able to take the car everywhere and have yet had the need to rent another vehicle due to distance or other concerns. Leaving the house everyday with a full tank of electricity is fantastic. I don't miss stopping at the gas station every few days one bit. :)

Great time today in Los Angeles at Helm's Bakery

It was great to see fellow ActiveE drivers along with Volts, Leafs, a Tesla and a Zero Electric Motorcycle earlier this morning at Helm's Bakery in Los Angeles.

The long wait continues for the Carpool Lane stickers

As wonderful as the ActiveE has been, a boondoggle at the dealer and DMV has put a halt on my plans of cruising in the carpool lane. For whatever reason, it took almost 8 weeks for the DMV to show anything in their system in regard to our ActiveE that we picked up on 1/16/12. Then, once it showed, the VIN # was associated with a 1981 gas powered BMW, lol. I finally was able to speak to someone today who explained how that most likely happened. In my VIN#, 8 characters back from the end is a letter, "B". The "B" means "1" in DMV lingo....an "A" would be "0", "C" would be "2", etc. This number represents the year. As the computer systems are a little behind the times, when the VIN# is typed in, all the info will autofill and if the person doing the entering doesn't catch it, the year 1981 will autofill in as the year. This is what happened to me. Whether this happened at the dealer or DMV headquarters, who knows. Getting this fixed takes time, like up to 30+ more days time. Once this is resolved, hopefully the "E" (for Electric) wil be entered into the box for engine type. If not, that will require even more time to fix.

The above brings me to a suggestion for BMW before the i3 rollout begins. Insist that each dealer who carries the "i" brand have a dedicated person or persons thoroughly trained in handling DMV paperwork related to an EV. All DMV related paperwork from EV sales/leases will be handled by that person or persons and no one else. Ideally, this person would be able to process this paperwork either electronically or in some other quick manner so that the new owner can apply and receive his/her carpool stickers ASAP. This last step in the vehicle sale/lease process is a crucial step and one that I never even thought about until I was boondoggled.