Drove the ActiveE- Intital Thoughts

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

My dad is trying to get one. If he does weve already discussed this idea.

And I will be throwing my OZs on it and autoxing it a tleast once.

I will pay money to witness this!

[Dackelone]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ken1137
One more question; will BMW pay for the electrical set up in your garage?

I apologize for my ignorance on the subject...read briefly about this testing program before but I did not review any specifics.

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

No, its like a $1500 charge. Still not terrible.

Plus... doesn't the IRS give you a huge tax incentive for buying an all electric car? $5K or something like that. I thought I remembered reading about that. ???

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Quote:
Originally Posted by ken1137
One more question; will BMW pay for the electrical set up in your garage?

I apologize for my ignorance on the subject...read briefly about this testing program before but I did not review any specifics.





Plus... doesn't the IRS give you a huge tax incentive for buying an all electric car? $5K or something like that. I thought I remembered reading about that. ???

Yeah, you get a nice tax incentive and a reasonable insurance discount aswell.

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

I will pay money to witness this!

Haha ok sure, I post up when im autoxing. Although im not sure that the battery will take the drive from home and the stress of autoxing...Ill probably end up bringing a support vehicle with my dad's emergency generator in the trunk.

Very ecofriendly there, haha

[dicker]

Ok guys I just drove it today. The power is good, the car pulls smoothly all the way until the 90mph speed limiter.

It comes with oyster interior, not black, and it has the black headliner, sport steering wheel with blue stitching, manual heated seats with blue stitching. All cars come with Nav, BMW assist, iPod, Sirius radio and PDC. no comfort access or alarm.

The cars on the west coast come with Low Rolling Resistance tires which will help range but are not as grippy as what we are used to. The east coast cars will come with the typical all season Continental run flats that come on most 328i's.

It will be a 24 month lease only, and it is on a first come first serve basis.

Ask me any questions you would like and I'll do my best to answer them.

[dicker]

Originally Posted by Cuz5150

See, that can be "pulled off" in New Jersey
A person with AW locates the owner of active E,
Asks if they can swap hoods, for some $$'s.(money talks)
Active E is a lease so...who cares.
I bet money, when the car is returned in 3yrs at some BMW dealership,
NOBODY is gonna notice the "power dome missing"

Wont work, you need the dome in the hood to fit over the battery pack.

[ken1137]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Quote:
Originally Posted by ken1137
One more question; will BMW pay for the electrical set up in your garage?

I apologize for my ignorance on the subject...read briefly about this testing program before but I did not review any specifics.

Plus... doesn't the IRS give you a huge tax incentive for buying an all electric car? $5K or something like that. I thought I remembered reading about that. ???

Yep, but I think it will be reduced or eliminated in the near future. Still overall a pretty decent deal when considering the gas savings. I luv my 135 so I will have to convince the wife to give up her MDX

[bgwelistyl]

I definitely want to lease one for sure. I think the IRS thing only applies if you purchase a vehicle right?

Dicker, which dealership did you go to if you mind me asking?

[dicker]

Originally Posted by bgwelistyl

I definitely want to lease one for sure. I think the IRS thing only applies if you purchase a vehicle right?

Dicker, which dealership did you go to if you mind me asking?

I work for a dealer and am one of the Active E sales reps so I went to drive it at BMW's training course. If you want one go to http://bmwactivatethefuture.com/ and put your name on the mailing list. As of right now the sign up date starts 12/01/11 and the cars are very limited.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by dicker

I work for a dealer and am one of the Active E sales reps so I went to drive it at BMW's training course. If you want one go to http://bmwactivatethefuture.com/ and put your name on the mailing list. As of right now the sign up date starts 12/01/11 and the cars are very limited.

Don't you mean... "not limited but hard to get!"


I think there are (barely) more ActiveE's made than 1M's.

[dicker]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Don't you mean... "not limited but hard to get!"


I think there are (barely) more ActiveE's made than 1M's.

Hahahaha! The active E has 700 units for the US 300 for ROW. Mini E pioneers get first right of refusal on them and after that it's first come first serve. They can only be Registered in CA, CT, NJ, NY and MA however.

[mPlasticDesign]

Everyone keeps mentioning a 3yrs lease. I signed up for updates and at least in the US it is a 2yr close-end lease.

[plien69]

Are they all going to come with the circuit board graphics on the exterior? I'm all for developing E-propulsion, but I'd rather not be a rolling billboard to that effect.

[dicker]

Originally Posted by plien69

Are they all going to come with the circuit board graphics on the exterior? I'm all for developing E-propulsion, but I'd rather not be a rolling billboard to that effect.

They all will, the customer is allowed to remove it, but we discourage it.

[Greenkirby21]

my dad really wants one, but we live in texas : \. Why is it limited to those places?

[dicker]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

my dad really wants one, but we live in texas : \. Why is it limited to those places?

Charging Station infrastructure.

[bmw]

Sorry for the mistake guys, it is a 24 month lease with unlimited miles. If anyone in the eastern region wants one I'd be more than happy to help.

Price of the charging station varies, they are projecting that it will be in the $1800-$2200 range. You do keep the charging station and it is the standard connector that works for everything but the tesla.

[tommolog]

Originally Posted by bmw

Sorry for the mistake guys, it is a 24 month lease with unlimited miles. If anyone in the eastern region wants one I'd be more than happy to help.

Price of the charging station varies, they are projecting that it will be in the $1800-$2200 range. You do keep the charging station and it is the standard connector that works for everything but the tesla.

The AeroVironment wall charger will charge Tesla's also, you just need an adapter. Here's a picture of my garage with a J1772 charger like the AeroVironment unit that the ActiveE will use charging a Roadster while my MINI-E is charging:

[tommolog]

Originally Posted by bgwelistyl

I definitely want to lease one for sure. I think the IRS thing only applies if you purchase a vehicle right?

Dicker, which dealership did you go to if you mind me asking?

Hi I can't respond to your PM. Maybe because I just joined this site today, but it says I don't have permission to PM.

BMW took the IRS tax credit and applied that to the lease as a capitol cost reduction, so no you cannot claim it because it has already been claimed for each vehicle.

As for you PM, yes, the dates coincide with what has been the plan, however it is possible it may be pushed back just a week or two. The MINI-E lessees, like myself will be getting our cars first, starting around December 15th. We are getting our wall chargers(EVSE's) first but we haven't been contacted about that yet which is a little troubling. We all have wall chargers already, but the connectors were developed before the new standard (J1772) connector was adopted so BMW is swapping our wall chargers for free (New participants will have to pay for the unit & installation) with the new AeroVironment chargers. Since that hasn't even been scheduled for any of us yet(there are about 100 MINI-E drivers that will be taking ab ActiveE, leaving 600 for everyone else) I'm wondering how they can keep the anticipated time line. I still think they will begin to accept applications from the general public around December 1st, but I'm thinking you won't even start getting your cars until February.
I'm hoping to get mine in the middle of December, but I don't have to wait for the wall charger installation because I already installed a J1772 charger in my garage months ago,(see above pic) I just need the car now!

[BrokenVert]

^My dealer got their timesheet for Active E deliveries a few months ago. Theyre getting their 5 in mid January

[tommolog]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Forgive my ignorance everyone but does BMW think these things will fly apart after 36 months or something? Why force only a lease and on a short period at that?

As mentioned above, it is just a prototype test car. In 24 months when this program ends, BMW will have the i3 electric car available in showrooms. The real goal is to sell those cars, not lease these. This program lets those of us that want to drive electric cars use this one until we can buy a BMW electric.

I've been driving the MINI-E for 30 months now and will drive the ActiveE for 24 months and then buy(probably) the i3. I've been off gas since june 2009 ans I'm not going back

http://minie250.blogspot.com/

[dicker]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

^My dealer got their timesheet for Active E deliveries a few months ago. Theyre getting their 5 in mid January

Your dealer sounds to be full of it, there is no set amount of cars per dealer....

[tommolog]

Originally Posted by dicker

Your dealer sounds to be full of it, there is no set amount of cars per dealer....

Exactly. The lessees decide where they want to get their cars from. BMW will only give a dealer a car if it has been assigned to a customer for delivery. These are all pre-orders