While we all wait to get through the electrical inspection stage, I was wondering if we should take a minute to organize this forum now so we (and hopefully more who will follow) will have an easier time retrieving info later. Not that the "organic" approach isn't good too - but maybe in addition to starting whatever new threads we need, we can set up a logical list of topics that can be our defaults. Like:

1. Charger Installation - status, lessons learned etc.
2. Insurance - hopefully a short one since we have the Liberty Mutual fallback
3. Delivery Stories and Baby Pix
4. First drive/First Impressions
5. Juice Me Up - lists of public lots/garages with accessible electrical sockets - maybe one for each Coast
6. How Far Ya Get? - high mileage records (and HOW you did it)
7. Bugs and Fixes, Driving Tips
8. Cargo-carrying Tips
9. Get-togethers and Events (okay, so a rally to Death Valley is out of the question, but am I the only one who wants to see a silent armada of these things down PCH?)

Anyway, food for thought while we anxiously twiddle our thumbs.

 

Looks like a good start Steve.

Under "Juice Me Up", I was wondering if leasee's would be willing to provide emergency charges at their house for those who may wander too far from home? Maybe a voluntary list of home town and phone numbers of those willing to participate. I'm not sure if there are many Mini-compatible public charging stations, and any 120V will take a long time to charge. Anyway, something to think about and discuss!

Stan

 

Stan, that is a GREAT idea. I'd be willing to make mine available in an emergency. It will be interesting to see if the regular 120v option will see much use in real-life. It certainly is a non-starter for anything more than say a 10% charge, but those few extra miles could make a big difference. My own case, I'm about 65 miles from downtown LA where I occasionally need to go - which at this point may put me in range, or a few miles out. So a 2 hour charge @120V while I'm in a meeting, just might be the difference. Then again, this limit may "force" me to do what I should be doing anyway, and that's taking Metrolink.

 

Me too. Anyone want to compile the list?

 

I'll do it for the west coast! Just need an east coast volunteer. I'll wait till the cars are being delivered though to start the list.

Stan

 

good idea, some of the current threads are pretty convoluted in their topics

 

I hope the 120v option can do more then 10% charge, I plan to drive to my fiancee's place which is 80 miles away, and let it slow charge over the weekend.
I'm guessing others have vacation houses they'd like to drive their MINI e's to. I just dont understand why there isnt a 220v charging option, lots of places have these plugs for the dryer in the garage.

 

Hi Robert. I'm sure the 120V isn't limited to 10%. I was just doing some rough math - we've read that it would take 24+ hours for a full charge. For a one-day turnaround (eg me driving to downtown LA for a meeting) 2 hours is probably a reasonable number for the down-time people would be willing to endure (obviously longer if what you're doing takes longer!). So assuming the charging process is linear (and that's a BIG assumption on my part - I have no idea if it's true or not) - then 2 hours = 10% charge = 10-15 miles.

Obviously if your trip includes an over-night, YMMV.

Now that I think if it, that rally to Death Valley isn't so crazy after all - just need one spa-day for every day on the road . . . Heck with enough time, you can go meet your fellow beta-testers on the other coast!

 

These are helpful thread titles. I'll create them if no one else wants to. I would also add ones for the Federal Tax credit and the lease, but someone already has. Perhaps we also need geography-specific ones, for CA and for NJ-NY?