2nd Gen E Most liked posts in thread: Behind the Wheel | Mini E Gas-Pump Freedom (Restrictions Apply)

Very interesting article on the MINI E, Nathan. That last paragraph really jumped out at me, re: apartment dwellers (me!) and the fact that electronic hubs/outlets are nonexistent 4 the most part. I never knew the Volt could switch to gas once the battery died! Y didn't MINI think of that???

Also makes me feel sorry 4 the MINI E owners' inability to participate in long runs (MOTD, 4 example) or other enthusiast activities 4 fear of running out of juice at an inopportune time.

 

Yes, aside from the manufacturer's unenthusiastic support of electric vehicles, the biggest nail in e-vehicle's coffin is the lack of infrastructure to support it.

Apartment dwellers are pretty much eliminated. Inner city dwellers that park on the street are pretty much eliminated. And even suburbia has it's problems. How many people have a 220v/30amp circuit running to their garage? At least the suburbanites can pay and have one installed, but that is another hidden cost.

Stack on top of that the added load on the local (neighborhood) circuit. If several e-vehicles charge all night, the could overload the local capacity to supply enough amperage and cause brown outs. Fortunately, it would take a bunch of vehicles to do it, and at this point it is unlikely to happen because not many people have them. But fast forward a few years, and we could have a lot of problems if the infrastructure doesn't adapt.

I like the idea of e-vehicles, but it's time is not as near as everyone seems to think.

 

The NY Times actually published 3 items about the MINI-E today:

Gas-Pump Freedom (Restrictions Apply) (article posted by Nathan above)
Scoring the Electric Mini Acid Test (additional analysis about the MINI-E)
Riding the Electric Wave (video about MINI-E in suburbia vs city)