National Drive Electric Week a Smashing Success!

Back on October 16th 2011, I celebrated the first National Plug in Day at the only event being held within driving range of my MINI-E. That was held in New York City and was one of 29 events held nationally. Last year National Plug in Day was expanded to a weekend (even though we still called it "plug in day") because there was such interest we wanted to have more opportunities to hold events. There ended up being a little over 100 different events and it was indeed so successful, that for this year and moving forward it will be called National Drive Electric Week, and we'll dedicate an entire week to host events.

My MINI-E on display at the very first National Plug in Day back in 2011

This year there were an amazing 152 events taking place in 5 countries, 39 US states and 6 Canadian Provinces. There were 150 different cities in which owners of over 3,000 electric vehicles registered to display their cars and share their electric driving experience with the public. The Cupertino California event set a Guinness World Record with a parade of 507 electric vehicles!

I was the city captain and host of the Montclair, New Jersey event which I held in the parking lot of my restaurant. We had 32 electric vehicles show up and a lot of people stopped by to ask questions and check out the cars. We even had a couple owners allow some people to test drive their car and give the person a chance to experience electric drive first hand.

Mercedes Benz of North America brought a new B-Class Electric Drive for display

Mercedes Benz of North America brought one of their newly released B-Class Electric Drives and had a representative there to answer questions about the car. I noticed it got a fair amount of attention throughout the afternoon as most people didn't even know Mercedes was selling an electric car. However the real highlight of the day was when two BMW i8's pulled up. It was actually the first time in the US that two i8's were together in public other than the initial press drive event a few months ago. Not only did we have the cars, but driving them were the two of the top BMW i executives in North America! Jacob Harb, head of EV Operations and Strategy for BMW North America pulled up in the white i8 and Jose Guerrero, Chief Product Manager for the i3 & i8 arrived in the Ionic Silver one. They both talked to the crowd, answered questions and Jose opened up a couple cases of BMW i pens and key chains and handed them out. It was a great showing by BMW and was really appreciated by everyone.

Why settle for one i8 when you can have two?  :)

The i8 is an awesome vehicle, but I'm perfectly content with my i3. I do however, want the Frozen Blue seat belts from the i8 for my i3. They would go perfectly with my Tera World interior so if anyone at BMW was wondering what to send me for Christmas... just sayin' : )

Of course I had to get some seat time in the i8. I actually got to drive an i8 last month but the i8s at the event were not available to test drive. I want these Frozen Blue seat belts transplanted into my i3!

It's really great to see how far electric vehicles have come in the past five years. Back in 2011 when I attended the first National Plug in Day I couldn't have imagined that in three short years we would be where we are now. In 2011 the electric cars we had on display were a Tesla Roadster, a Nissan Leaf, a Chevy Volt and my MINI-E which wasn't even available to the general public. At my event this year we had: a Tesla Roadster, Tesla Model Ss, Nissan LEAFs, Chevy Volts, a Honda Fit EV, BMW i3s, BMW i8s, a Mercedes B-Class ED, a smart electric drive, a Ford Focus EV and a Toyota RAV4 EV. There is still a long way to go for mass electric vehicle adoption but we are well on the way. Manufacturers are bringing cars to market and EV charging infrastructure is improving. Infrastructure deployment may not be going as fast as many electric vehicle supporters would like, but it is indeed happening.

The owner of this Honda fit offered test drives for those interested. Much appreciated!

2015 promises to be even better with more electric choices coming to market. Volkswagen will release an electric version of their popular Golf, Audi will introduce the A3 e-tron and Mitsubishi will bring their extremely popular Outlander plug in hybrid to the US in the spring. The Outlander PHEV has been a smashing success in Europe and Mitsubishi can't even make them fast enough. In some markets it has even eclipsed the Nissan LEAF to become the top selling plug in vehicle. Yes, the electric revolution is indeed underway. I want to thank everybody who attended this year's event and hope to see you all again next year!

Customer Reactions From The First US BMW i3 Test Rides

The i3 used for ride-alongs at the San Diego National Plug in Day event. Photos courtesy Chris Llana

This weekend there were over about 100 National Plug In Day events held around the US. I was at the North Jersey event held at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. I was there with my new ActiveE and we had a total of about 25 electric vehicles in attendance. By all means it was a great day and we helped spread the word about how great plug in cars really are. However across the country at the San Diego Plug in Day event something special was happening. BMW had an i3 there, and for the first time in the US they were taking customers on test rides.

No one was allowed to actually drive the car, as it is a pre-production i3 and only BMW employees are allowed to actually drive it, but the driver was definitely giving the passengers a taste of what the i3 is capable of. He wasn't just rolling around a parking lot at 15 mph like many EV ride-alongs do, they went for a real drive on the streets and the driver was punching the accelerator to show off the power as well as the cars grip on the road. Since I wasn't there, I reached out to three people, Peder Norby, Grant Kluzak and Chris Llana, that were there and had the opportunity to go for a test drive to get their impressions.  

Peder and Grant are very experienced electric vehicle drivers. Chris doesn't yet own an electric car, but has been closely following the electric vehicles currently on the market and intends to buy one soon.

First up is Grant Kluzak. Grant drives a Toyota RAV4 EV and his wife Kristine drives an ActiveE and here's what he had to say:

"At the San Diego National Plug-in day event I had the opportunity to ride as a passenger in a pre-production model of the BMW i3. Since my wife is the primary driver of our BMW Active E, I am somewhat of a professional passenger in an electric BMW. I had a slight hang-up on the overall look of the i3, however after the ride, I now think the look fits the vehicles behavior. It's not an SUV and it�s not a traditional BMW sports car. It is truly a cross-over. You do not feel as low to the ground, or sporty as you do in the Active E. 

It appears to handle nearly as well as an Active E, possibly even accelerating faster. One truly amazing feature is the incredibly tight turning radius which will be very handy in tight parking lots or small city streets. The driver told us that the regenerative braking feel is nearly the same as the Active E and that he finds himself one pedal driving most of the time. I�m excited about this because I drive a Toyota RAV4 EV and find the regenerative braking is too light compared to the Active E. The interior cabin was comfortable and supportive as we would expect from BMW. There is an interior finish on parts of the dash and doors that looks and feels like felt. We were told that it is made from recycled carbon fibers. I really liked the look of this new material and was glad to hear it is made from recycled material. 

Riding in the back seat behind the driver was comfortable for me a six foot two large man. That is not something I can say about the Active E and the i3 was much easier to get into with it�s �suicide� doors in back. There are plenty of cup holders, two in the back and one fixed and one movable between four different locations up front. The BMW engineer I talked too found it amazing that Americans were so fixated on the cup holders in our cars. Apparently there was much debate between the US and Germany on the number and location of the cup holders. I think they got it right with one per passenger. Yes, it�s a four seat vehicle. Having loosely followed the development of the i3, I was under-impressed with the slight glimpses we saw of the vehicle along the way. I did not think it would be a good follow on to the Active E. Having now ridden in an i3 and getting to see and feel the ride comfort, I can�t wait to get behind the wheel and test drive one. I think it has great potential as being the vehicle we will replace our Active E with."

Photo courtesy Peder Norby

Next it's Chris Llana. Chris has been a longtime follower and commenter on my blogs and he even helped me out with photo-shopping for my April Fools post here this year.

"I attended the National Plug In Day event in San Diego on Saturday.  There were about 110 privately-owned plug-in cars there, of all sorts, as well as more than a dozen plug-in cars available for drives and rides (the Model S and the BMW i3 were passenger rides only).  There were seven ActiveEs there (and almost 40 LEAFs).  

 I arrived early and headed right for the i3.  Not a lot of people there at that time, but lots of enthusiasm.  I ran into Peder Norby there; there were at least a couple of other ActiveE drivers inspecting the i3.  The car looked better in person than in photos, Tom, as you have mentioned before.  The interior, in particular, was much nicer than the photos let on.  The driver's position was very comfortable, with ample head and legroom for my more than 6'2" height; the steering wheel was very nice, and placed to perfection.  Visibility was great.   

  The back seat was the big surprise -- very usable by full-size adults, and the front seats did not have to be moved forward to give room for the backseaters' legs.  At one point, both Peder and I were in the back seat -- both of us commented about how comfortable it was, for short runs at least.  Peder is about as tall as me, and not a small man.  We pretty much filled all of the available space, with no extra headroom, but that means most adults will find the back seat more than adequate.  

  I was in the i3 for the first ride of the day (in the front passenger seat), along with two others in the back seat (including one ActiveE driver).  A BMW engineer was driving.  The drive was out on the streets surrounding the parking lot where the event was held -- city speeds, no highway travel.  The acceleration from a stop was impressive, even with four people in the car!  I can only imagine what it would be like with just the driver in the car (and 500 fewer pounds).  With the windows open, the car under hard acceleration sounded like a muted jet engine spooling up -- very cool sound!  The ActiveE driver in the back seat said it was quieter than the ActiveE, and after one spirited take-off, told the driver he had just sold a car!  All in all, I was very impressed!"

Lastly, it's Peder Norby weighing in and he's a real EV pro. Like me Peder has been BMW's e-mobility trial lease programs since 2009. Peder had a MINI-E and now has an ActiveE as well as a Honda Fit EV and has racked up nearly 70,000 all electric miles. Here's what Peder wrote on our i3 group's Facebook wall:

There was plenty of room for Peder and Shawn in the backseat

"I think Shawn is 6'2" and I am 6'3" We thought we would put the two biggest guys in the back. Warning do not try this in an ActiveE! I would never think of trying to shoehorn myself back there.

Lots of room in the i3 for a small car. With the drivers seat fully back there is 4 inches between the seat and the back seat as compared to the ActiveE where the seat touches the back seat. Width wise up front I would say larger than the Active E but not quite as wide a as a 3 series. The space in the rear of the seats is very good, with the seats folded down there is a lot of room. Similar or greater to the Honda Fit EV. The Fit EV is a touch wider but not as deep.

Sitting in the back was very comfortable and we had a 6'0" driver in his comfortable driving position in front of me. I was just fine and not cramped.

Test drive was great, MUCH faster than a Mini-E which is MUCH faster than an ActiveE, and it all comes from the rear so much better control. The driver punched from the lights and it was very impressive even more so than the Mini-E.

Best impressions are:

That the car looks much much better in person, It is very planted on the road at speeds just like the ActiveE and unlike the Honda Fit EV (I love the Fit EV but its a bit of a tinny dancer on the highways. The car for me seemed even quieter than the ActiveE. The interior on the test car was the highest class and it was indeed higher in quality than the ActiveE,

Insights, The rep said that if dealers are taking list it's not official from BMW but unique to the dealer. He also said that BMW will be reaching out to the Electronauts and that they will be in the first group to get the cars. The driver of the i3 said he has lots of seat time in both the i3 and the ActiveE. He described the range on the freeway of both cars as similar and range in the city of the i3 as superior to the ActiveE.

One very interesting conversational detail was that the braking distance in the i3 is among the best of the BMW cars including the M cars. They are validating the stopping distance currently but that it is going to be a big surprise to a lot of people. That bodes very well for performance and for safety

We made some circles in the parking lot and I have never been in car with that tight of a turning radius. The carbon fiber roof is awesome, many areas where you can see the carbon fiber such as the sills and when you open the rear hatch. BMW left a lot exposed and that is good. Love the rear lights.

Very Impressed." 

Peder also maintains a blog about his electric driving experiences and wrote a post on the i3 driving event. You can read the whole post here. So I'd say so far so good. The people at the event that had the chance to go for a ride all seem generally impressed. I suspect it won't be long before BMW gets a lot of production i3's delivered here to the States and opens up actual driving events, that will be the real test.