Official BMW ActiveE thread

[EricBayArea]

Today I was with a buddy at a Mini dealership to look at cars and we ventured into BMW afterwards to see some cars there. To my surprise they had an ActiveE in the showroom with a fake L2 wall mount (it was plastic) with a fake J1772 plugged in. We sat in it and as BMW'esk it was very nice and great build quality. The bulge on the hood was pretty big when you're standing next to it. We popped the hood to see the set of batteries they put there. But the biggest surprise came when we popped the trunk. WOW! There is hardly any room in the trunk because of all of the batteries they put in there. I was never planning on waiting for the ActiveE since I knew I wanted to buy, but part of me envied the build quality of the BMW. But after seeing the trunk, I know that the BMW would not work for us.

As the LEAF is not for everyone, the BMW is not either - people who use their trunk.

That said, its still a nice looking car (I did not ask to drive it).

 

[glemieux]

Anybody been by the Weatherford BMW in Berkeley to see if they have a floor model? I just got a new job and I need to give up my bike for a car for the commute. The ActiveE would be a great fit for me. Wish I had jumped on the registration process sooner!

 

[surfingslovak]

Anybody been by the Weatherford BMW in Berkeley to see if they have a floor model? I just got a new job and I need to give up my bike for a car for the commute. The ActiveE would be a great fit for me. Wish I had jumped on the registration process sooner!

You always try, but from what I can tell, the ActiveE was heavily oversubsribed on the West Coast. There were nine (9) allocations and 22 people on the waiting list at my dealership.

 

[surfingslovak]

There is never a bad time to start blogging. I just finished my first post, for a good reason. Enjoy!

http://electronautx.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TomT]

I applied and actually received an allocation, but ultimately decided not to exercise it primarily because of the short, 2 year lease cycle. I agree though, having driven one for an extended test, it is a very nice vehicle and drives like a BMW throughout. It is such a nicer experience than the Leaf that I had to debate long and hard over whether or not to jump ship, particularly at their heavily subsidized lease rate...

Anybody been by the Weatherford BMW in Berkeley to see if they have a floor model? I just got a new job and I need to give up my bike for a car for the commute. The ActiveE would be a great fit for me. Wish I had jumped on the registration process sooner!

You always try, but from what I can tell, the ActiveE was heavily oversubsribed on the West Coast. There were nine (9) allocations and 22 people on the waiting list at my dealership.

 

[eHelmholtz]

There is never a bad time to start blogging. I just finished my first post, for a good reason. Enjoy!
http://electronautx.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wow! An extreme experimental battery - one of 2. Way cool!

 

[lukati]

There is never a bad time to start blogging. I just finished my first post, for a good reason. Enjoy!
http://electronautx.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wow! An extreme experimental battery - one of 2. Way cool!

The blog entry is dated April 1.

 

[surfingslovak]

Proud owner of a 1981 Electric BMW! The funny thing is that this is no April Fools' joke. If you wanted to plan a screwup like this, you couldn't ;-)

 

[Spies]

What I am impressed with is that you paid $472 which is only $3 more than I paid for my Leaf. So what value did BMW put down for calculating the registration anyway if you don't mind sharing?

Back in 1998 when we first leased a Honda EV Plus we almost walked away on the day of delivery since no one bothered to tell us in advance that we would need to pay for registration based on a value of $53,999 at singing. I seem to remember the registration fee was around $2,000 and that was in 1998 dollars.

Thinking about this I went and pulled out my old Honda EV Plus paperwork and the registration fees at singing were actually $934 and not $2,000. Still it was $1,000 I was not expecting to pay at the time. For those that are curious monthly payments were $491.65 and the odometer when they took it from us was 62,283.

 

[KeiJidosha]

What I am impressed with is that you paid $472 which is only $3 more than I paid for my Leaf. So what value did BMW put down for calculating the registration anyway if you don't mind sharing?

Back in 1998 when we first leased a Honda EV Plus we almost walked away on the day of delivery since no one bothered to tell us in advance that we would need to pay for registration based on a value of $53,999 at singing. I seem to remember the registration fee was around $2,000 and that was in 1998 dollars.

Thinking about this I went and pulled out my old Honda EV Plus paperwork and the registration fees at singing were actually $934 and not $2,000. Still it was $1,000 I was not expecting to pay at the time. For those that are curious monthly payments were $491.65 and the odometer when they took it from us was 62,283.

MSRP is $60,395 Including destination.

 

[surfingslovak]

MSRP is $60,395 Including destination.

Indeed, and if you needed more information beyond that, I entered the lease terms in a Google spreadsheet. Steve, the registration fee for your EV Plus sounds awfully high, and I wouldn't have an explanation for that either. I went to the DMV website, and if you ignored the sales tax for the moment, the fee their calculator suggested ($481) is very close to what I actually paid for the ActiveE.

 

[Spies]

I used the calculator over at http://www.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorWeb/index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and it also pretty much computes the same amount for the license. So the registration fees do come out almost the same for the ActiveE and the Leaf which surprises me considering the price difference. Registration fees were certainly computed differently back in 1998

 

[surfingslovak]

BMW's PR firm started recording a series of videos about Electronauts. That's how they prefer to call their ActiveE drivers. The production quality is quite good, and this particular clip will likely resonate with all EV drivers:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lRZfEVaV0[/youtube]

 

[surfingslovak]

As a follow-up to RegGuheert's comment from the dropout thread: here is a photo of "Max" getting his sixth tow this summer. They did not dispatch a flatbed truck this time. By my estimate, the repairs and maintenance costs to date have likely exceeded the MSRP of the vehicle. I'm impressed by BMW's commitment to this program.

 

[mwalsh]

I'm impressed by BMW's commitment to this program.

I have no skin in the game, but I'm kind of annoyed at BMW for cobbling together such a science experiment to unleash on the unsuspecting. It's almost like they learned absolutely nothing from the Mini E program. :?

 

[Valdemar]

In retrospect, I made the right decision not becoming a BMW's guinea pig. For one, when I'm talking EV to other people, I don't have to mention lack of reliability as yet another disadvantage

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Yeah, I've spoken to surfingslovak briefly about his ActiveE breakdown experiences and how long it was out of service (around the time of Tony's range test). Personally, if I were in his shoes, I would be really pissed off and want to find a way out of the lease. I don't know if his feelings are along those lines.

In the time I and my parents have owned cars and I was able to understand what was going on, we've never had any car out of service for so long (weeks), even after the car passed the 10 year mark and even w/the POS GM cars from the late 70s and early 80s my parents used to buy (but not anymore). The only exception is in the event of an accident.

 

[surfingslovak]

As Rich Steinberg put it this morning: baker's dozen!

Click to open

 

[ebill3]

As Rich Steinberg put it this morning: baker's dozen!

Whoops! A baker's dozen is 13. I count 12.

 

[surfingslovak]

Whoops! A baker's dozen is 13. I count 12.

Right you are! OK, I blame Rich, and the no-show driver!
My ActiveE is third from the right. Event details are on Facebook, and you can find more photos are in the ActiveE group.