Second Month EDISON Billing

Total cost of ALL my Pollution Free driving this month is: $56.00!

'Fuel' Cost per mile still about a nickel!

If you factor in the cost of the lease it adds about 83 cents per mile this month.

(Didn't drive as many miles as I was in Hawaii, without Cooper E, for half the month)

The 2 weeks I was home and Jamie's use while I was gone totaled about 1100 miles.

We will make the 74 mile trip to Malibu for a Bar B Que this Saturday, the plan is to plug-in to 110v the moment we get there, enjoy the BBQ, friendship, walk/play on the beach, maybe stay overnight, breakfast, unplug and drive home. We know (from the charger share website) there are several fast chargers in the vicinity if we need them.

Won't it be great when Electric Car availability and use grows to the point we have a charger infrastructure and a proliferation of Silent, Non Polluting Electric cars on the roads.

Wind Power, No Gas either.

This was my recreational toy for 24 years.

Thousands of miles sailed without ever burning a drop of fuel!

No engine, only Dacron cloth sails,

(OK, they were made from a petrochemical I suppose)

wonderful, silent, renewable, non polluting powered FUN!

She is made of wood and canvas, still sailing with a new master and will celebrate her 100th birthday in a few years.

I've always enjoyed alternative power sources, it's not entirely necessary to burn oil to get through our daily chores or even to have fun.

Think of it, when my boat was built in 1923, Electric Autos, Trains and Electric powered Public Transportation were in common use, The Red Car Line (Electric) ran from the Balboa Peninsula, to downtown Los Angeles (6th & Wilshire) in 40 minutes, a thermos of coffee and the LA Times and you were downtown.

We've progressed so far!

They have recently rebuilt some of the system that was torn out in my childhood (the 50's) in favor of big oil and rubber, we'll never get it all back, however Public Transportation in LA is moving once again in the right direction.

Thinking has come full circle, vastly improved technology is presenting us New Ways to move into the future on Old Ideas.

I love driving this Electric Car, the MINI E.

Almost daily someone asks .."really...only Electric, no Gas?"

"How fast does it go? 40?"

I give them a ride and they are amazed!

A quick spurt to 80mph (knowing there's more left), all they can say is "WOW, why don't we ALL drive these!"

Back in the Saddle again!

Returned, rested from Paradise, to find Cooper E has exceeded 2000 mi. on the ODO, thanks to son Jamie.

Still performing perfectly, Cooper E now has his environmental plates and we are still working on the ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) sticker which will allow me to drive in the HOV lane alone.

It seems even though I filled in all the boxes on the application, Electric, even writing 'This is an ELECTRIC car', the DMV still believed it must be 'Compressed Natural Gas'.

They returned my application as 'Incomplete'.

Deciding this will be fun, I took Cooper E to a local DMV office for 'Verification' this morning.

While waiting in the lineup of cars, the Security Guard checking the lines asked what I wanted, "Verification, They don't believe it's Electric" a nice conversation ensues with the Security Guard voicing all the normal concerns," Don't you miss the engine noise? How far does it go? Does it just stop when it runs out? What do you do when it runs out?" I express to him that non of these things are really concerns in my Daily routine as I enjoy impressive acceleration without the exploding roar, I've not run out yet, I rarely exceed the cars range in my daily tasks, I plug it in, go to bed and have a full tank in the morning for less than 3 bucks.

The seriously poker faced inspector arrives and proceeds to look the car over, matching vin numbers, reading labels, etc etc, looks in the filler cap and says " I see you have two modes of power here" I said WHAT? he says you put some kind of gas in here (pointing to the Electric plug socket) I said NO thats where you plug in the Electricity! I open the rear hatch, show him the battery box, he says "Open it up" I said "I can't, they won't let me" I showed him the Emergency Cutoff switch, pulled one of the handy little information cards I'd just received in the 'goody' box, handed it to him. He read the card, handed it back and, finally, walking back to the engine compartment, still sure I'm hiding another motor somewhere, finds and reads the sticker on the hood which reads' ZEV fuel=Li*'.

He turns to me and says "you have Li * fuel---I guess that means battery!"

He signs the paper ELECTRIC - Li Fuel, hands it to me and says send it in to Sacramento with 8 bucks.

to be Continued, I'm Sure.

Sorry!

Sorry, this is what I'll be looking at for the next week.

The Big Island calls, so Jamie will be driving (and hopefully helping me blog)

So I'm off in the morning to snorkel, paddle, swim, visit with some old friends in paradise, I'll be walking and riding bikes (what a great place it would be for Cooper E!).

Very comfortable ride today to Fullerton and back to visit a project I have in process at Kickstart Customs. Gave Master Painter Jimmy (motorhead) a chance to drive the future, needless to say very impressed and surprised at Cooper's performance abilities!

That's a tease as I might let you know about project 'X' later (someday if all goes well).

I'll miss the little guy, Cooper won't be lonely, Jamie is here to exercise him.

See you soon, Aloha!

Meet Up!

Well 017 and I decided to meet up at Beach Burgers in HB, we were told it was 'Mini Night', they knew nothing of it.

Turned out it was just US.

We had a fine time eating delicious burgers and talking about experiences with our 'rides' (even though we are just beginning).

I am driving Cooper E every day, 60 to 80 miles average with plenty of charge left over at the end of the day, still thoroughly enjoying every aspect of this machine!

Son Jamie then takes over and drives the night shift doing whatever it is he does.

When done, Jamie plugs in and when I arise, in the morning, Cooper is Full and ready to go for another day.

FAMILY INTRO.

Just thought I would introduce the COOPER E family to you.

Son Jamie, who attended the Inauguration in Washington D.C., Sociologist, Scientist, Mathematician - Son Ian, who is currently (for the last year) traveling around the world on his feet, couch surfing and whatever Public transport he can find, brilliant multidimensional personality, Jamie and Ian's Mom Suzi and Dad (me) Jim.

COOPER E is My project (in that I pay the bills) but we all drive him (except Ian, whose carbon footprint is pretty tiny right now).

We feel very lucky to have been chosen to drive the Mini E for this year long (short) testing experience!

Stop by occasionally for updates and Please, leave comments or questions, or even requests for a test drive!