Second Week 6/13/09

Today I put 50 miles on COOPER E, a wonderful drive up Pacific Coast Hiway (PCH) to Long Beach to visit friends. Saw #140 in Belmont Shore, my first sighting of another Mini E, did a double take as I passed by and saw it parked at the curb.

A few more test drivers today and I am noticing the recurrence of some initial concerns people have as they realize it is an ALL Electric car, not Hybrid.

First concern is Range. Really, how many people drive an excess of 50 miles a day to work?

I used to drive 55 miles, thats 110 Round Trip and after 5 years it nearly killed me. Even that was theoretically in the range of this car.

Today, however, most of the work I do is done at home, digitally delivered, and I find I am averaging no more, many less, than 50 or 60 miles daily (some of which is just because COOPER E is so much fun to drive) waiting till off peak hours, plug in before bed and wake up to a full tank in the morning, it's so easy!

Funny, what seems to concern some people most about driving an electric car,

(before they ride in or drive the car), is that they think they will miss the sound of the engine, the exhaust note, the engine rev cues.

Only after they get in the car and feel the acceleration, experience silently gliding and instantly accelerating from speed to pass, hearing only wind noise and tires wearing on the road, the performance is so overwhelming, sound is no longer important.

They exit the car saying.."this IS the future!"

Because we are used to it, the sound of cylinders exploding and sending gases thru the exhaust is what we associate with speed. Once you feel what the electric car can do, drive it, feel the tremendous performance, the joy of driving cleanly leaving NO noise pollution or fumes behind, its so exhilarating the sound no longer matters.

Eventually it seems the proof lies simply in a short test drive, demonstration of the fact you can do all that which a gasoline driven car can, with this alternative, renewable source of power that is accessible through wind, solar, geothermal, hydraulic generation, non of which use up non-renewable resources.

The infrastructure for the delivery of electricity already exists, we all have electric power in our homes.

How many of us drive further than 50 miles to work each day?

We CAN do Electric Cars NOW, take the time, continue developing other fuels, Hydrogen, Fuel Cell, etc., systems requiring development of entirely new delivery infrastructures but get the Electric Car on the road now.

Begin the process of replacing Dinosaur Fuels today, for me it feels REALLY good.

Can you imagine what the very near future could be?

Test drive an Electric Car, it IS the future and it is HERE today!

Soon they will be affordable and available if we really show them we want them!