Car hand back

Deutsche Version
 So, now is the end of june and there came the day when I have to give back #014 to BMW.

...one last photo.

The car return took place at the MINI service center. #014 was in good condition and there was no damage. So no problems occured.
The car had 11476km (7128mi) on it's odometer at the beginning and I gave it back with 19507km (12116mi).
So I had driven 8031km (4988mi) with the car within 9,5 month. This was quite a lot for my circumstances.

#014 had no failures, no breakdowns or unscheduled service and with it's moderate mileage it would be good for another test phase.
Unfortunately I did not get any info concerning the future use of the car.
I hope there is one and I was very sad about returning the car.

The service center employee told me that it was the same with the other cars that have been already returned.

For the present the adventure of electric mobility comes to an end. But I will follow the next steps of BMW closely and I still have some posts to write.

Some impressions from the intersolar 2011

Deutsche Version
I visited the intersolar 2011 exhibition which is one of the world's largest trading fairs dealing with all aspects of solar power use.

Here are some impressions I got in connection with electromobiles.

There were some electric cars (mostly Tesla Roadsters and Mitshubishi iMiEVs, but also a dutch registered chinese BYD e6) to demonstrate the use of a public charging stations in connection with sun generated electricity.

smart ed and Tazzari Zero as demonstration cars

Also solar car ports for private and public parking space were extensively demonstrated.

Peugeot ion and Mitsubishi iMiEV side by side

One of the countless Tesla Roadster supported by an iMiEV demonstrating electric charging

For the direct use of solar power in a car I found the solar roof from asola that was developed for the Fisker Karma as an exhibit. With a power of 120W it needs 25 hours of sunshine to replace an 1 hour charge at a domestic 230V/13A wall socket.

Solar roof of the Fisker Karma

Smaller versions that can be used as part of an electric sunroof  to make it a real "electric sun"-roof have a max. power output of 40W.
Although I like the idea very much, the weight of the -I guess- 4mm glass roof with the solar cells will be much higher than a conventional roof of a 0,7mm steel or 1,2mm aluminium sheet. This weight increase may consume a lot of the additional energy generated. But for electric cars a solar roof is more an issue of design and political statement.
And for conventional cars using a photovoltaic sunroof with climate control it is a real gain in comfort at sunny days because the tiny 12V batteries are not capable to run the venting fan all the day.

Another interesting aspect was the storage of excessive solar generated electricity in private homes to use it later when the sun is not shining, during peak power demand or even at night. Especially at the present situation in Germany the private solar electricity producer gets more money per produced kWh by using the electricity on his own instead of feeding it to the grid. With a local energy storage at his home he can increase the use of own generated electricity.
So there were several manufacturers of photovoltaik systems that integrate a battery pack (with capacities from 5-13,2 kWh) in their systems for local energy storage (solarworld, conergy, E3/DC).

The system from conergy for example with a 8,8 kWh or 13,2 kWh battery uses the same (or very similar) Li-ion cells as the Daimler S-class hybrid. So the boost of the development that batteries get from the automotive industry already reach the private homes.

Local energy storage system with Li-ion batteries

The next step to fully integrate an electric car with an additional 20kWh+ energy storage to your home's energy management seems not to be far away. Imagine also a plug in-hybrid- or range-extender-vehicle to act as an emergency power supply just in case of need.

Another public charging station (Irschenberg)

Deutsche Version
Last weekend I made a trip to the area south of Munich. As I passed a gas station near the autobahn exit of Irschenberg, I noticed a sign advertising a charging station for electric cars. I turned round and drove to the gas station to make a test charge.
There was a charging station from the power suplier e.on similar to the one I used in Starnberg. But it was a newer version with the new standard power plugs that I need for 32A charging.

Charging station at a OMV gas station at Wendling/Irschenberg.

At the cash desk I got an identification card to get access to the charging station. I spent 20 Euros deposit for the card, but electricity was free.
After identification via the card the flaps unlocked, I plugged in and the car started to charge.

MINI E #014 charging.

I took a coffee at the shop to give the car a couple of minutes to get some energy. Suddenly I remembered that there was a sticker on the charging stations power plug that said: max. 16A. And I reminded that the charging selector of the MINI E was set to 32A!

So, as I returned to the car the charging had stopped. Even worse, as I tried to end the charging operation by using the identification card once again the charging station aborted the ending procedure.It looked like the system software crashed. No reaction. This really means trouble because the Mennekes plug on the one side of the car's charging cord was still mechanically locked to the charging station and so the charging cord could not be removed. I remembered a former incident at a different charging station where I had to leave the cord at the station.

Locked charging cord plug. The symbol above on the flap illustrates an IEC 62196-2 Type II plug.

Fortunately an employee and the owner of the gas station came by to have a look on the MINI E. I explained the situation (and the MINI E) and after some more failed attempts with the card the owner opened the station with his key.
The circuit breaker of the power plug I connected the car was turned off. After the circuit breaker was turned on again the system still didn't release the charging cord. So the charging station needed a complete shut down via the main switch to restart the system software. Finally the locking mechanism released the plug.
In the meantime I set the charging rate of the MINI to 13A to make another try. The system software still was so confused that it did not recognize the identification card properly. So we tried a different card from the shop and then all worked well.

The problem was that the charging station was converted to the new IEC 62196-2 Type II plugs, but an additional module to detect the power connectors pilot contact was not installed immediately and planned to be done later. IEC 62196-1 regulates that a plug without pilot contact is limited to 16A. So with the missing module to detect the pilot contact there was a gap of #014's demand on 32A and the allowed 16A. As a result the circuit breaker got in action and the system software could not handle this incident.
At the gas station manned 24h a day this is not a big problem, but at a charging station located anywhere an unreleaseable charging cord would cause serious trouble.

In summary it was an informative experience. I had a pleasant conversation with the owner of the gas station. A few electric cars already had used the station (once a Tesla Roadster spent an overnight charge). With the station located at a distance of 50km from Munich at an Autobahn exit it is an opportunity when going to the south by an EV.

MINI E meets Mae West

 Deutsche Version
The MINI E is a prototype car which is BMW's  first step of introducing electric cars to the market.
Based on the actual BMW MINI the MINI E has a conventional steel body frame. Due to the additional weight of the heavy batteries the car is quite heavy for it's size.

To compensate the batteries weight on future electric cars, weight reduction by using leightweight materials is inevitable.

The all electric BMW i3 features a new car body concept existing of an aluminium chassis containing the batteries and the drivetrain - the drive-module- and a CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic) module which shapes the passengers cabin - the life module.

The use of CFRP in the automotive industrie is limited at present to high performance cars with very low production output due to high cost and the production process based on manual work.
For the i3 BMW develops new automated production processes for CFRP to reduce the cost and make the material available for mass production.

So the i3 will be the first automobile with high output mostly consisting of CFRP.

BMW i3 life module of CFRP

At architecture and building industrie CFRP is not a very common material.

In the northeast of Munich, at the Effner place, a new work of art claims to be the first major architectural structure made primarily of carbon fibre.
The "Mae West" of artist Rita McBride consists of 32 tubes forming a 52m tall hyperboloid with a diameter of 32m at the ground, 19,5m at the top and 7,50m at the narrowest situation.

At the base the construction is made of steel tubes due to some structural specifications. For an optical reason the steel tubes have a carbon fibre cover. But above the first ring at a height of 15,5m the tubes are completely made of CFRP. Every tube has a lenght of 42m and a weight of 550kg (compared to 3500kg if made of steel).
Here you can find some pictures of the production of these carbon fibre tubes.

So maybe this is the beginning of a wider use of CFRP at building industry.

Skyline of Munich's northeast with  Westin Grand Hotel - Sheraton Arabellapark Hotel / Mae West /  Hypo Vereinsbank-Building

All steel MINI E in front of Mae West with steel basement and CFRP superstructures 

I admit that a BMW i3 and the Mae West would have been a better couple for the photos. Due to the lack of an i3 I took the MINI E ;)

Charging at TÜV Starnberg public station

Deutsche Version
Yesterday we made a short trip to Lake Starnberg near Munich. I found out, that at the TÜV-office (technical inspection agency) in Starnberg the power supplier e.on operates a public charging station.
I tried out my charging station identifaction card which we were told that this card is planned to be accepted by e.on-powered charging stations. But it failed.

I walked inside the TÜV-office and asked the friendly employee how to deal with the charging station. It seemed clear to be a very unusual request. After consulting his boss he gave me their own card for free.

Unfortunately the charging station was an older model with two 32A CEE plugs and two 13A common Schuko plugs. There were no 32A IEC 62196 Type-II plugs.
So I had to charge via the adapter at 230V/13A.

Charging via the adapter due to the lack of a new standard power plug

We had lunch at a near restaurant  for about 1.5 hours. In the meantime #014 draw about 4.5kWh of sun generated energy provided by the solar roof panels installed at the top of the TÜV-building.
 

MINI E charging at TÜV Starnberg

In for service and first contact

Deutsche Version
Today in the morning I drove to the Munich MINI service center to get a scheduled change from winter tires to summer tires. As I handed the car over to the service personnel it became clear, that MINI E #014 needed not just new tires, but a complete service.
Since December 2010 #014 tried to tell me that service was needed. I always interpreted it as a test symbol during the starting procedure. So I was very embarrassed as I was told that the car needs service immediately. I leaved the MINI service center without #014 and got to work by public transportation (which was not a problem because I still have an annual ticket for the public transportation, work was just a few subway stations away and, anyway, it was too late in the morning to get a parking space at work without trouble).

In the afternoon I got a call that the service no problems emerged and #014 is ready to come back to duty. Thank you, MINI Munich, for the fast "unscheduled" service and the fully charged battery!

My first impression on the new tires was a smoother driving and less noise. Furthermore I was enjoying the new wiper blades in the upcoming rain.

The new Continental Conti Pro Contact SSR 195/55 R16 87V

On my way back home I had first contact to another species of EV. Of course I've seen many Toyota Prii, perhaps some Honda Insigths and once or twice another MINI E in the traffic. But I didn't meet any other battery electric vehicle (not even a Tesla Roadster) nor an electric vehicle with a range extender (like the announced A1 e-tron) on Munichs streets. But today I gave way to a Smart ED and followed for a few kilometers before we parted ways.

Smart ED - another species of EV on Munichs streets!

Power consumption in winter

Deutsche Version
As a MINI E driver you realize that spring has arrived in Germany not only on the birds chirping and the green again nature. There are also the range of the car and the stability of the indicated range that make you feel happy.
Indicated range at a full charge is about 160km again and with for example SoC going down to 50% the estimated range behaves more predictible than during winter.
In winter usually indicated range at full charge was below 120km and with a SoC of about 50% even short trips of 20km became an intense experience.

Normally I try to use a public charging station at my place of work. But this charging station does not show the amount of energy the car took. Additionally I did not log the odometer every time I used my private wallbox. But there are a few charging operations, where I have written down the distance travelled and the amount of energy.

The Homepage of the MINI E reports an average power consumption of 14 to 17 kWh/100km.

With temperatures below 0°C in the winter, a cold battery with decreased power, activated cabin heater (to generate at least a tepid breeze) and switched on headlights you double the official value without difficulty.

Mostly you achieve values between 26 and 32 kWh/100km.

The final value of 22,5 kWh/100km is probably due to the significant increased ambient temperatures.

I'm curious to see what values I can achieve at ideal ambient temperatures during the last three month of the project...