EVs in the Middle East?

So… I was going to post about my Plug In Day 2013 experience in Long Beach this year, but I had a funny thought as I sit in the Club Executive Lounge at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai waiting for my ride (probably a fully kitted out Lincoln Navigator) to the airport to catch my flight to LAX via London.

I was in London for business last week and was disappointed at not seeing any EVs in the Congestion Charging zone and being within a few blocks walk of the Park Lane BMWi dealership. Business does get in the way of my EV obsession.

So what was the funny thought…

I wondered where the nearest “official” Plugshare charging station was from my hotel. I was wondering whether it would be within a BMW Active E, Tesla Roadster, or Tesla Model S range…

Turns out, yes, just not easily!

Plugshare Map of the Middle East ex. Israel

Have to cross borders and find other “un-official” places to charge, but the AC power in the countries in the region would have charged any of the cars as well as any other country, one just needs to carry the EVSE with you. This ability is another thing that Tesla Motors does better than other US EV manufacturers. I say US EV manufacturers because in Europe, they actually carry their plugs with them, so, I suppose that’s similar to the Tesla method.

What do you get when you carry your plug with you? Well, you get to plug in to many different sockets. The Tesla Roadster UMC or Tesla Model S MC are adapters that handle between 110-240v of charging at amperages that go from 12 Amps to 50 Amps continuous. The Active E used to be rated to get 7.2 kw per hour charging from a compatible J1772 station (this has since been hobbled via software to ensure compatibility with more public charging stations.)

So, have I seen any EVs in Dubai. Expectedly not. However, I was disappointed in not seeing any in Central London. My British EV friends really need some help to convince their fellow countrymen to step up.

UPDATE FIVE HOURS AFTER INITIAL POST:

Nissan Leaf ad inside Dubai International Airport

Saw an Advertisement for Nissan Leaf at the Dubai International Airport Departures Terminal 1… Strange… Then again, they may be advertising CarWings… (does Nissan use Carwings on ICE vehicles?)

Just lucky, I guess…

In some cultures, the number 8 is very lucky…

So, I feel fortunate to come closest to 88,888 on my Active E by posting 38,888 miles…

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Went furniture shopping this weekend and used our inverse Active E (known as a BMW X5) and that’s up to 123,456 miles. Considering I recently killed its battery, I have to remind myself to drive some ICE. Used to drive this car all the time and after 12 years, it’s finally becoming a fairly “low-mileage” 123,456 mile vehicle. Used to average approximately 15-20,000 miles a year, and it’s really been relegated to occasional use (up to the mountains to ski or to Costco/haul large items) since then.

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On the Active E front… Got really lucky getting home with 2 miles left.

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I normally back up to park, however, thought I could head in and charge… That didn’t help, so nervously backed up and re-parked (and lost one more percentage point on the state of charge and mile)

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It is better to be lucky than good…

The early Lakers exit and the Councours de Claremont 2013

So… I’m still stinging form the early Lakers exit this year.

However, this blog is about my ActiveE, EVs, etc.

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So, what do the Lakers exit and my ActiveE have to do with each other… Well, this year I decided to do some EVangelizing at my Alma Mater’s 2013 Concours de Claremont. It was held during Alumni Weekend in early May and I thought to join them on the field to display our cars. As you can see from the picture above, there were not so many of us this year, especially compared to last year’s attendance. The event was also sparsely attended this year. Perhaps it has to do with the weather as it was more overcast and rain threatened all weekend.

These stationary sort of car shows are fun, but I think the Plug in Day events are better. Really, the EV smile only clicks in AFTER someone drives an EV and it’s harder on stationary shows.

Here’s a nicer shot of my ActiveE beside a very clean jaguar and Porsche.

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Still the only EV at this event. Next year, I plan on attending with a Tesla Model S, unless I can be convinced that the i3 aesthetics aren’t nearly as bad as I think they are.

Here’s a nice picture of my neighbor, the ICE Jag… He really has such a clean engine.

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One of the benefits of an early Lakers exit from the playoffs was the fact that I was able to spend the entire show on the premises, last year I had to take off early to catch the game at 12:30pm. I got to meet and talk to some of the students, alumni, and faculty and explain why they should look at EVs for their vehicles. I also got to meet a fellow member of the Electronut family. A Freshman at the school’s father is a fellow alumnus and he, the son, stopped by to say “hi.”

If you’ll notice, I again plugged the car in at 120V as the school is just over 50% charge to get to and I figure at slow speed, it just gave me that much more juice to ensure that I got home for a half-day’s slow charge. However, it is important to note that my alma mater actually installed several Blink Network chargers not too far from the field that we were using for the show. I just don’t like to pay for public charging if I don’t need to. This is definitely a BIG improvement over last year, so I should at least praise them for providing the facilities, should I need to use them. Additionally, these pay chargers are cheaper than the ones on Chargepoint at the Pomona College location (on a per hour basis).

And now a break from Active E coverage… The Smart Car 3rd Generation “smart fun drive”

For Earth Day 2013, I thought I’d do something fun. I test drove the soon to be released third generation Smart Car Convertible. Smart is touring the vehicle and allowing the lucky registrants test drives. The Los Angeles area run (at Santa Monica Place Mall in Santa Monica, CA) will be ending on the 28th of April. See here to register.

A $28,000 EV Smart car with some upgrades from previous generations. The most notable one is the $28,000 version is a CONVERTIBLE. Yes, you read correctly, the first production line convertible EV. Living in Southern California has its advantages. One of which is the fact that it is one of the locations where it actually does “make sense” to own a convertible. You definitely get enough perfect weather days to drive with the top down! Now, it’s funny to me to drive a Smart convertible because I think that the Tesla Model S with the Panoramic Roof opens up to practically the same amount of open space as a Smart Car convertible, but I believe you can buy three Smart Cars for the price of the Model S.

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The instrument cluster for state of charge (SOC) and others are analog

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The car comes with 17.6 kwh capacity and a stated 60-90 mile range. The onboard charging is at 3.3 kwh per hour, so a full charge on L2 from empty will take 6 hours. It does come with a convenience 120V charger, but that’s slow as well (like the ActiveE’s where it could take a day from empty.)

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same picture with charger packed away.

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And finally with the rear closed.

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The car does not have any other drive modes than the single gear EV drive, so no Eco Pro or B mode that the Active E or the Nissan Leaf has. So, it really is up to the driver to adjust his or her driving style to maximize the range. The stated 0-60 mph is around 11.5 seconds, but it is rather peppy from 0-30 mph. The test drive was only on city streets, so I was unable to try it faster than the stated speed limits around Santa Monica Place.

As you can see in the pictures, I test drove the convertible. The hardtop is available for $3,000 less at $25,000. Now the Smart representative that accompanied me on the drive mentioned that this is the first of the three generations that customers can buy. The car was warranted for 4 years and 50,000 miles including the battery. To alleviate battery worries, Smart is introducing battery leasing to the USA and I did not get the details as, again, I drive a ton of miles and would probably hit the mileage cap on any capped lease in no time.

No DC Fast charging, just J1772 and, as I mentioned before at 3.3 kwh per hour.

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The lit instrument cluster –

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As a bonus for the test drive Smart will entertain you on the second floor of Santa Monica Place and provide free “beverages”. Additionally, you get entered into a drawing to win a two year lease of the vehicle and get emailed an offer for $500 off any Smart car that you decide to pick up.

A few pictures from the lounge on the second floor –

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More pictures at flickr.

Would I buy one… Probably not. It was a fun, little car though. Drove much better than the ICE version of the Smart Car. Now, I’m waiting for that Fiat 500e. That looks like a fun, little car. More akin to the i3, but less functional, and more aesthetically pleasing.

30,000 Miles…

One less than 30,000 Miles:

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and finally, 30,000 Miles:

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So, what’s been up.

Well, I TRIED to meet up with the West Coast Active E Facebook folks in Morro Bay on April 7, 2013. However, since I was busy on Saturday and didn’t head out for a Range Insane 240 mile drive from home to where the meet up is, I decided to ICE it with my BMW 328iC. I guess we run what is known as a hybrid garage and I figure that to supplement the Active E, a convertible and SUV are definitely two types of ICE vehicles that are not quite EV ready (as of April 2013).

So, to match some of the capabilities of the Active E, I had to wire up my portable Sirius radio to the convertible and wired it up.

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As I documented in other locations, the dangers of going to a FB meetup when I don’t have FB is that when plans change, I may not be updated. So, after driving 240 miles one way, I missed the Active E folks by about 15 minutes. I actually got to see Mariel and Edison drive by as I spoke to Tom Moloughney to see if he can get me in touch with the West Coast guys. At least it was a beautiful California day and my wife and I had a fun drive with the top down for a bit of the journey!

The day after the meetup, dropped off the car for 30,000 mile service, a little early at 29,650.

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This service took a little longer than the 25,000 mile service as I actually had a transmission malfunction a few weeks ago that required me to go to the battery switch to reset it. Unfortunately, even after four days in service, they didn’t find anything “wrong” with the car.

So, got the car back.

Did a little driving around and got to 30k.

So, what have I learned this past 10,000 miles… I really enjoy EVs and I am really intrigued by the new Fiat 500e and so happy to live in California where Fiat is offering this vehicle.

Range Anxiety and Range Insanity…

Today was going to be a longer day… (i.e. at least 102 mile roundtrip) and I got to the car and noticed that the car did not charge last night.

First thing I check is the state of charge… Basically the screen that looks like this:

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Though, obviously, NOT the screen on the picture. It was registering close to 70% SOC or somewhere around a 65 mile range (based on what the guesstimator thinks I would do).

Now, when I first got the car, I would’ve been somewhat panicked at the lack of range for the ENTIRE roundtrip and would’ve taken one of our other ICE vehicles for the day and let the ActiveE sit at home. Today, it was a non-event. I figured my one way was about 51 miles and 60-65 mile on the guesstimator would get me there with 9-14 miles to spare, so I wasn’t worried. Additionally, we left earlier today, so I COULD stop for breakfast at La Dijonaise at Helms Bakery, so I could at least get a charge during breakfast. Which is what I opted to do…

Eggs Neptune at La Dijonaise

I had the Eggs Neptune, which was quite good, but I actually prefer either their Croque Madame or Salmon Omelette.

Which leads me to the idea of how far is too far. What is Range Anxiety and what is Range Insanity. I always assert that the range of the Active E is unlimited, if you have the time to wait for it to charge and the opportunity to get power. Active E users around the country are looking to meet up in a few weeks at a couple of locations. The Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York contingent are meeting at Tom Moloughney’s Nauna Bella Casa for this meet up and the Northern and Southern California Electronuts will be meeting at Morro Bay.

Morro Bay was chosen because it almost equidistant from LA and SF (around 205 miles from each city center.) Now for me it’s closer to 230 miles… Considering the fact that I’m not a very good hyper-miler (the product of a lead foot and impatient driver tendencies) and the following Monday is a work day, I think that I’ve discovered the upper bound of my tolerance to drive the Active E for a distance, and it’s not Morro Bay. I am considering driving one of two ICE vehicles that we have. If the weather is nice, we might drive that “top-down” in our 328iC or if I felt like being “funny”, we might get our LESS fuel economic X5 and drive that up there… Somehow, I’m sure I’d go with the more fuel efficient option between the two ICE vehicles, but not as energy efficient as the Active E to Morro Bay.

Two weeks and change to go before we have to make that determination.

To those who will brave that drive in their Active E, my hats off to them. Luckily there is a larger charging infrastructure NOW, but stopping and charging for at least 4 hours for three times in my Active E is 12 hours of waiting that I would rather not do.

Election Night!

I am an Electronut!

After an evening of showing election maps and their various red and blue states for the Presidential election, instead of focusing on the outcome, it made me think of one of my favorite ActiveE websites…

I am, of course, talking about, the website that is tracking the mileage of FB connected ActiveE Electronuts

Looks like Tom is still a TON of miles ahead of me, but this is definitely the map that I am obsessed with tonight…

So, I figured to publish the spreadsheet of my mileage.  It would seem that I am one of the leaders in the West… As I am driving to get to my 20k mile appointment Monday, November 12, 2012, I continue to hope that the service will be a quick one and I will get back on the road soon after.

PS: Congratulations to President Obama on his re-election and to Governor Romney for a hard fought battle.  It is always impressive that for most of our country’s existence this change of power has been mostly bloodless (yes, I understand that the Civil War was fought, and it was not the direct result of an election result, however, it DID split the country.)

Long Range Test… planned but not implemented… (or Long Beach to Santa Barbara, but chickened out).

Ok, so I live in Long Beach, the southernmost city in Los Angeles County (and the county’s second largest city).

According to Google Maps, about 135 Mile Trip between home and some of the Chargepoint Public Chargers on Anacapa Street in Santa Barbara.

So, to make it from home to Santa Barbara and back in the same day, I would have to seriously plan this out AND have the time to execute.

Under ideal circumstances I MAY make it there, but after 4 months of driving the ActiveE I know that this is near impossible for the way that I drive, so I needed to PLAN my trip between the two locations AND have the time to charge each way AND midway.

So, what was my plan…

I’ve always attested that the range on the ActiveE is UNLIMITED…  You just have to make sure that you have enough time to charge in between stops.  My destination was 135 miles away, there are chargers about 60 miles away and another around 90 miles away, so I had identified two locations.  Additionally, to charge for the difference, I figured that I would need at least two hours before my appointment to ensure that I feel confident that I would have enough charge to make it to my destination.

So, I identified two possible charging stations.

1) Thousand Oaks – Janss Marketplace, 275 N. Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.  These chargers are on the Blink Network, and showed up as available on the application.  (About 60 miles from home)

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2) Ventura, CA – Pacific View Mall, between Sears and Red Robin. These are some non-networked Clipper Creek chargers that I would not have known the status of, until I got there (there are several pay Chargepoint chargers in the City of Ventura (another 5 or so miles further, if I had been more daring).

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At the start of the day, I just couldn’t get up early enough to charge for a few hours mid-route, so we ended up ICEing it up to Santa Barbara.  The weather was nice and we at least went convertible, so there was something that the ICE did that the ActiveE did not to minimize my “guilt” over ignoring the ActiveE for the day.

After my lunch in Santa Barbara, I decided to do a survey of a few of the city of Santa Barbara charging stations.  The stations themselves are free, but parking will cost money.  The first 75 minutes are complimentary, and every hour (or fraction thereof is $1.50.  Parking is limited to 72 hours continuously and the lots are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Pictures of the two Chargepoints at 1221 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, California 93101

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Down the street from there are a couple of other Chargepoint stations at 1115 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, California 93101.

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So, having surveyed a few spots to charge along the way to Santa Barbara.  With enough time to wait in between, a weekend drive to Santa Barbara may well be in the plans for the future…  I just have to get my car back from BMW Service since they’re taken it for its 10,000 mile checkup (and now replacing the e machine…).

Range Anxiety and the Longest One-Way drive so far!


I’m sure others have done longer and I’ve had longer days (with multiple charge stops… personal record – 175 miles in one day (two charge stops)) however, aside from Las Vegas, folks around LA normally think of driving to Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, or San Diego to be a long drive, so I figured to try one out.

Since we live in the Southern Tip of Los Angeles County, it seemed best to pick San Diego as the destination.

Trip planned, remote charger identified.  Time to conquer range anxiety…

Our planned stop – The North County Transit District stop in Oceanside.  Ideal choice because on May 6, they were running extra trains for the weekend (Cinco de Mayo was just the day before and there were still festivals and a Padres game going on).


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This is a 65 mile journey one way, of which around 25-30 miles near the end there were not only NO public chargers listed on any of the Apps, but no gas stations Between San Clemente and San Onofre, so even ICE vehicles were warned of “no services for the next 20 miles” .

The plan was to get to the Train Station and hop on the Coaster to get down to San Diego.  Blink Network and the North County Transit District had both installed 6 chargers at the station and taking the train from here would provide a day’s worth of entertainment.

I debated as to using the cruise control and setting it at a moderate 67-68 miles per hour on the ActiveE (it overstates it’s speed and that would get me around 65) but opted to enjoy the drive and use the pedal manually.  I decided to go Eco Pro and also was not driving as aggressively as I normally do and found myself being passed by many cars (that last stretch by San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant tends to be a really fast one)

Though the navigation had recommended that I use the toll road around the El Toro Y. I opted around it as that route has a lot more hills and I decided on staying on the 405 to the 5 freeway as it is considerably flatter and I wanted to arrive at my destination with as much charge as possible (to minimize the charging time for a full charge.)

This conservative driving worked wonders for my range.  I ended up at the train station with 25 miles left and State of Charge (SOC) around 20% (the car did its customary warning at 27 miles to go).  However, plans #1 and #2 for the day was shot as I arrived at the chargers only to see the Coaster pulling away from the station and the Amtrak soon after.  There were five chargers available as one was being used by a Leaf and I decided to plug in and charge.

Luckily, we had a plan #3.  Four hours to charge the car and a few miles away was the Carlsbad Premium Outlets.

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So, we decided to jump in a cab ($23 one-way, $25 with tip) and get down to the outlets to do some shopping. This is a smaller outlet a stone’s throw from Legoland.      It has a lot of the same stores one finds at other outlet stores around Southern California, but it does have a nicely stocked Crate & Barrel Outlet, not that we ended up getting anything there.

The shopping center was well attended, but not crowded and the sales were actually very attractive.  Ended up picking up a few items that more than off-set the round-trip cab fare ($50, I did $25 with tip on the return cab trip as well.)  Additionally, the food choices near the outlet stores were quite good (namely a PF Chang’s, and BJ’s across the street and Ruby’s Diner in the outlet stores) and it helps that Starbucks had the Frappuccino Happy Hour going to recharge during our 4 hour shopping trip (that’s about 3 3/4 hours longer than the better half can stand).

We made it back to the ActiveE right as the blue light stopped blinking.  I literally saw the car blinking when the cab arrived at the train station, and stay off as I walked up to the car to get it disengaged from the Blink Network charger.

Having the confidence of making the range on the Southbound trip earlier, the Northbound trip was a lot more pleasant.  I stayed on Eco Pro, but definitely drove a little more aggressively.  I stayed OFF the Toll Road route as I wanted the opportunity to get off the freeway at any of the cities in between.

The roundtrip was approximately 135 miles with a single 4.25 hour charging session in between.  I arrived home with about 30 miles left on the car and about 25% SOC.