Cost results are in!

Received my Edison TOU (Time Of Use) meter bill yesterday.

TOU is the separate meter installed by Edison to monitor the power consumption of the 240 volt 40 amp charger exclusive to the Mini E.

The breakdown on the rate sheet is very complex but shows the percentage of sources behind the power you used. almost 25% was provided by DWR (Department of water Resources)

The Bill, including the $15 account setup charge, totals $91.14.

$76.14 is the cost the electricity I used in the process of driving over 1200 miles since installing the meter. (I've deducted the mileage driven the day I used 'New Deal's charger to recharge mid-run to Hollywood)

This works out to fractions more than .06 cents per mile for "fuel" (electricity).

Add the cost of the lease (which I don't pay till next month) the total cost, including lease, for the next 1200 miles (one month) will be around .83 cents per mile.

Compare this to the $1.84 it has cost (fuel and cost of vehicle) me to drive a mile in my 'other' vehicle (F250 Diesel, it's paid for now, so I'll keep it for the occasional hauling/towing trip)

To "fuel" 1200 miles in my other vehicle (@.1875 cents per mile @$3 per gallon) would have cost at least $225.

My fuel saving, this month, is nearly $150!

Add to this saving, the JOY I feel while driving the CLEANEST, least polluting, car on the planet.

I'm a Happy Boy!

How many tons of pollution do stoplights produce?

I've always hated idling at long stoplights, wasting fuel and polluting the air we breathe.

Driving the Mini E it's wonderful to sit now at a long stoplight and know I am not contributing. Yesterday I had to fire up the 'Dino' fuel truck and haul something I couldn't fit in the Mini. Really hated to do it but had no choice.

It's amazing how different I felt driving it after a month of Electric Car heaven.

The guilt I felt idling at stoplights, the sound of the engine, I used to like to hear, now sounds primitive and unnecessary.

Personally I can't wait for this to be my reality!

My next investigation is the conversion of my roof to Solar collection, I know it's expensive and I probably won't live to see the payoff but I feel it's worth investigation. There would be no better feeling than to know I was cleanly generating the power necessary to haul me around in my daily routine.

I can't make Hydrogen, or natural gas, I don't want to spend money on foreign non renewable fuels, I CAN MAKE electricity, we have the technology, it is the OBVIOUS SOLUTION.

Saw 222 today.

Saw the second OTHER Mini E I've seen on the road.

For the 2nd time in the month I've had COOPER E,

I had to fire up the Diesel truck to haul something I couldn't fit

in the Mini. So I was cruising south on Jamboree in my Ford Diesel Truck and there it was, a Mini E, gliding along in the fast lane beside me!

Of course he couldn't know I had one too, so I just watched as he passed by with a huge smile on his face.

I got home and looked up 222 in charger sharing website but he hasn't signed up,

so, don't know who you are 222.

Anyway, welcome, we should all have a meetup someday!

www.spacex.com

Just a reminder

this is what it is like

to drive a vehicle

powered by CLEAN,

RENEWABLE,

ELECTRICITY.

It is empowering

and refreshing

and guilt free.

ENERGY MADE HERE.

Turned 1000 miles today

ODO: 1046 miles

TOU: 310 kwh

mileage: 3.4 mpkwh

Cost: about a nickel a mile!

I get my Edison bill soon I'll report exactly what the cost is.

I HAVE BEEN TO THE PROMISED LAND!

My son Jamie and I were invited to go along on a scheduled tour of SpaceX, with the kind folks from New Deal Studios.

We left at 9am, again the philosophy was to keep it under 65 mph, no a/c, drove the 40 miles and arrived having used 40%.

After our visit we decided to head home and not overly mind the mph but keep it down with an occasional burst to 70 mph, run the a/c, etc for the 40 mile ride. We arrived home having used 40% of our battery charge! 20% left.

Space X is Space Exploration Technologies, founded by Elon Musk who is also responsible for the Tesla electric car.

We not only toured the entire manufacturing facility (800,000 lb thrust rocket motors, etc) but saw in the back of the building, in a little white tent, the first Tesla roadster along side two Model S prototype cars! A wonderful facility, where Boeing used to assemble 747's, is now Spacex where alongside rocket engines they are building the prototype Teslas completely in house!

All of this right here in Southern California, privately funded.

As we finished the tour, everyone wanted to see the Mini E. Soon the entire Tesla design team had spilled out of the building to surround our Mini E, inspect it and ask questions about range, performance, how we liked driving it etc, etc.

Talking with the youthful Tesla engineers and designers was truely a joy and I felt the passion they feel for what they are doing and the happiness they felt to see another electric car on the road, we all agreed that once you drive Electric, you don't want to go back to gas!