Official BMW ActiveE thread

[evnow]

The 7.2kW (32amp) BLINK unit is not on the approved list, but the GE Wattstation is.

THis whole "approved" stuff is ridiculous.

The whole point of a "standard" is that the vehicles & EVSEs don't need to be individually approved to work with each other.

My question to BMW (and Mitsubishi) is - will Active E work with public chargers. If not - the car is not in compliance with J1772. If it does, what is this "approved" EVSE nonsense ?

 

[TonyWilliams]

The 7.2kW (32amp) BLINK unit is not on the approved list, but the GE Wattstation is.

THis whole "approved" stuff is ridiculous.

The whole point of a "standard" is that the vehicles & EVSEs don't need to be individually approved to work with each other.

My question to BMW (and Mitsubishi) is - will Active E work with public chargers. If not - the car is not in compliance with J1772. If it does, what is this "approved" EVSE nonsense ?

The approval list appears to be an Aerovironment compiled list. I guarantee that they don't make much money if they're not selling you their EVSE.

 

[gbarry42]

what is this "approved" EVSE nonsense ?

It probably means nothing more than, "we reserve the right to lease the car to someone else if we so choose, for our own reasons, including not having an EVSE we like".

 

[gbarry42]

Oh, almost forgot. The BMW engineer last night told me I would "love" the herky jerky regen. 98% of MiniE drivers said it was the schizzle.

I told him I'd be the 2%.

I wonder if you'd get used to it. First impressions don't always last.

 

[Boomer23]

Oh, almost forgot. The BMW engineer last night told me I would "love" the herky jerky regen. 98% of MiniE drivers said it was the schizzle.

I told him I'd be the 2%.

I wonder if you'd get used to it. First impressions don't always last.

I know that that preference is very widespread across the MiniE driver base. For me, in aggressive driving, I was thrown back and forth in my seat too much if I let off completely on the pedal after accelerating strongly. As I said, the learned driving style to avoid this would be to learn the "glide point" at which no power is called for, but neither is regen. But if you're slowing for a light or another car, you really do need to let off the pedal to start slowing down, and so you invoke strong regen. I guess the difference between the BMW and the LEAF in this regard is that it is really hard in the BMW to apply gentle braking. The minimum regen setting (i.e. Drive mode) is strong enough that it comes on like a switch quite aggressively. One way to avoid this is to drive conservatively so that the forward acceleration wouldn't be as much of a contrast with the deceleration in regen. But in spirited driving, you're forced to experience the contrast of acceleration with strong braking if you're needing to slow down at all. And if I found this uncomfortable as a driver, I know that my wife and other female family members would complain as passengers.

I will say that I rarely used the brake pedal at all. As I recall, I only used it to hold the car still at stop lights so that it didn't creep forward. Other than that, it was a "one pedal" driving experience, which I gather is what the MiniE guys like. I also heard that the Geek Squad guys in San Francisco who used Mitsubishi iMievs also really liked the strong regen available in those cars.

My advice to BMW would be to include a regen adjustment control so that drivers could dial in their preferred level of regen for different driving situations.

 

[evnow]

My advice to BMW would be to include a regen adjustment control so that drivers could dial in their preferred level of regen for different driving situations.

There have been a lot of discussion around this (here and in plugincars.com), with some asserting that "experienced" EV users will always like strong regen on the "go" pedal. I find that argument very weird - most people want to avoid change, so EVs that improve in obvious ways (less operating gas & pollution) but keep all other things the same are likely to be more popular. To cater to both normal users & some enthusiasts, making it configurable is the way to go.

 

[GPowers]

I received email from BMW today inviting me to become a "BMW Electronaut" and register for one of the 700 BMW Active E field trial cars.

Here's the web site link: http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/uniquely/bmwefficientdynamics/ExploreActiveE.aspx?enc=mDtXr5Be8R1Id7tWJMKDv61RPjujpZg+n/+uZaA0LMiJx3nPgcFW12TLuMZJkDiktOD8kj9G3DvM8UhTd8+wyNeQwwAu9CwtTe28V9TZEHWlaIBWOzdI/vdlV7yzLf2i" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two year closed end lease, $2,250 down, $499 per month, zero cost maintenance (I assume that there are no federal or state incentives that will apply, since the program is a field trial).

$100 home assessment fee for Aerovironment EVSE!!!!! (I wasn't aware that BMW had partnered with AV for this program. They must not frequent this forum. :roll: )

If I didn't already have a lease with the LEAF, and if I wasn't extremely satisfied with the LEAF, which I am, I might be interested in this trial program.

BMW is still looking for their 700 field testers. Got the same post card today January 25, 2012

 

[Uccello]

I was at the CCSE meeting with the BMW rep as well and I was surprised to hear that the lease is only two years, so it doesn't qualify for some of the rebates available for other cars.

To me this means I would pay BMW $2,5k down and $500 a month and have nothing to show for my $+14,000 at the end of the lease.

I was also disappointed to hear that they were only targeting 100 miles on a charge. Like Tony said, their survey respondents said they didn't need more than 100 miles so they didn't build a car that could go more than a hundred. But I'll bet every one of the Mini E drivers had an ICE sitting next to their EV for long trips. Doh!

I drive a BMW 3 series wagon (my wife has the Leaf) so this new information was pretty depressing since I like the BMW brand and was hoping we'd be able get a 200+ mile EV to replace our ICE in a few years.

We need to get some mynissanleaf baseball caps to wear at meetings so we know who's who...

-u

 

[Boomer23]

I was also disappointed to hear that they were only targeting 100 miles on a charge. Like Tony said, their survey respondents said they didn't need more than 100 miles so they didn't build a car that could go more than a hundred. But I'll bet every one of the Mini E drivers had an ICE sitting next to their EV for long trips. Doh!

I drive a BMW 3 series wagon (my wife has the Leaf) so this new information was pretty depressing since I like the BMW brand and was hoping we'd be able get a 200+ mile EV to replace our ICE in a few years.

-u

Yes and they are apparently going to reduce the pack size for the i3 at the same time that they're reducing the weight and increasing the aero, so they'll STILL wind up with a 100 mile car.

 

[Valdemar]

The 7.2kW (32amp) BLINK unit is not on the approved list, but the GE Wattstation is. I've moved on to step 3.

Interesting, I've impulse-registered for an ActiveE today, and as I already have the Blink unit installed the system directed me to call AV directly to verify my EVSE is compatible. I called them up and the guy on the phone told me that "Ecotality Blink" was on their ok list, so I was quickly "approved" and my application was sent to the next step. In the next 20 minutes I got an e-mail from the dealer selected during registration and tomorrow I'm going to test drive one and possibly confirm I want to get it. Whether or not impulse-registration will turn into an impulse-purchase I don't know, however no matter how much I like my Leaf it doesn't really excite me when I drive it. The decision will largely be based on the discovery if I can fit a 5 year old child behind a 6'4" driver and whether I'm willing to waste 12 grand just for the heck of it. We'll see. Of course there is no guarantee I will get one as according to the dealer they've already received 1200 reservations up to this point, of course it may be just dealer talk but I wouldn't be surprised if it is actually true.

 

[GRA]

I was at the CCSE meeting with the BMW rep as well and I was surprised to hear that the lease is only two years, so it doesn't qualify for some of the rebates available for other cars.

To me this means I would pay BMW $2,5k down and $500 a month and have nothing to show for my $+14,000 at the end of the lease.

I was also disappointed to hear that they were only targeting 100 miles on a charge. Like Tony said, their survey respondents said they didn't need more than 100 miles so they didn't build a car that could go more than a hundred. But I'll bet every one of the Mini E drivers had an ICE sitting next to their EV for long trips. Doh!

I drive a BMW 3 series wagon (my wife has the Leaf) so this new information was pretty depressing since I like the BMW brand and was hoping we'd be able get a 200+ mile EV to replace our ICE in a few years.

We need to get some mynissanleaf baseball caps to wear at meetings so we know who's who...

-u

This whole thing makes no sense to me. As someone posted upthread, what data does BMW need that they didn't collect from the MiniE trial? Even if I had the cash, I'd happily forego paying BMW $14,476 for the 'privilege' of letting them collect data - that money would buy me 2/3rds of a new gas Mini, I'd have more fun driving it, and I'd get to keep it if I chose.

Nor does it sound as if I'd like the heavy regen all the time - by all means, give me either a 'B' mode or else adjustable regen, but don't make it so every time I let off to coast up to a stop light/sign the car lurches forward.

And then there's the trunk - unlike Ford, BMW can at least use the excuse that it's just a demo program rather than a normal production vehicle.

 

[Valdemar]

I drove it today, the heavy regen may be annoying in city/freeway driving, but I can see it being real fun on those twisty roads - you can brake and accelerate with one pedal for the most part - no time is lost on moving the foot between gas and brake pedals. It is a fun car to drive, needs no gas, and very few will have them. There is no rationale in getting one, but I sure want it

 

[Herm]

They dont need more data, but they need to lock you to the BMW brand and away from GM, Ford, Nissan or Tesla.. plus they need the CARB credits. Many people follow form over function when it comes to cars.

 

[GRA]

I drove it today, the heavy regen may be annoying in city/freeway driving, but I can see it being real fun on those twisty roads - you can brake and accelerate with one pedal for the most part - no time is lost on moving the foot between gas and brake pedals. It is a fun car to drive, needs no gas, and very few will have them. There is no rationale in getting one, but I sure want it

The single pedal driving on twisty roads I can understand (I've read Tesla Roadster owners praising this), but most driving doesn't involve that, and the BMW's spirited driving range will be very limited in time. As I said, I've got nothing against _having_ a heavy regen mode, I want one. I just wouldn't want it to be the _only_ mode.

He did say they did a study with giving people fake money, and letting them pick from bigger batteries for range, or spending that money on something else. They bought something else.

Let's see if that claim holds up here. If any of you are given the option of spending $2,500 on a 4kWh larger battery, or $2,500 on the frill option(s) of your choice (Leather seats, fancy wheels, infotainment systems, etc.) for the ActiveE or any other current or soon to be forthcoming BEV, which would you choose?

I'll take 4kWh for $2,500, Alex. As I see it, for the same range an extra 4 kWh would probably cover an hour or more use of the heater/defroster in worst case conditions.

 

[Boomer23]

This whole thing makes no sense to me. As someone posted upthread, what data does BMW need that they didn't collect from the MiniE trial? Even if I had the cash, I'd happily forego paying BMW $14,476 for the 'privilege' of letting them collect data - that money would buy me 2/3rds of a new gas Mini, I'd have more fun driving it, and I'd get to keep it if I chose.

Plus the cost of insurance. The original MiniE trial included insurance, but this one apparently doesn't. And the cost of insurance will likely be based on the $60k sticker cost of the car.

Still, if you have the cash and don't need more than a two-seater, I can see the ActiveE being a fun personal sports EV. It's the closest thing to a sports EV available if you don't want to spend a ton on a Tesla Roadster. And it's way more practical than that Tesla would be, and easier to live with.

 

[Clippy]

I test drove one tonight. One pedal driving is fun. Heavy, heavy car. Still has that "prototype" air about it. It's got run-flats, baby. They're hard as rocks.

AV approved my AV charger as being suitable for the BMW. Gee, thanks. At least I didn't have to pay $100 twice, as I expected.

My application is now in the hands of BMW North America. But as both a certified member of the hoi polloi and Bernie Ecclestone's wrong crowd, I doubt I'll qualify.

 

[Valdemar]

My application is now in the hands of BMW North America. But as both a certified member of the hoi polloi and Bernie Ecclestone's wrong crowd, I doubt I'll qualify.

Same here, but it is a win-win situation anyway

 

[Valdemar]

Plus the cost of insurance. The original MiniE trial included insurance, but this one apparently doesn't. And the cost of insurance will likely be based on the $60k sticker cost of the car.

The quote I got from my agent is 19% more annually than what I'm paying on my Leaf for the same coverage. Not too bad considering the car costs almost twice as much, however the Leaf was expensive to insure to begin with.

 

[TonyWilliams]

My application is now in the hands of BMW North America. But as both a certified member of the hoi polloi and Bernie Ecclestone's wrong crowd, I doubt I'll qualify.

My salesman called to tell me that I was rejected because my email address on my registration didn't match the application.

 

[Boomer23]

My application is now in the hands of BMW North America. But as both a certified member of the hoi polloi and Bernie Ecclestone's wrong crowd, I doubt I'll qualify.

My salesman called to tell me that I was rejected because my email address on my registration didn't match the application.

And that's fixable, right Tony?