[Dennis]

Hi all,

Figured to join the SpeakEV forum for a non-manufacturer specific EV community in my bag of EV places to "hang."

As of this writing, I'm a former Active E Electronaut, current i3 reservation holder (still waiting), current Tesla Model S (primary driver) and Tesla Roadster owner (occasional driver (my wife's car)). I can be found on forums as either Dennis or dennis or AEdennis depending on whether someone else has already snatched up Dennis as a handle or on twitter as dennis_p.

I occasionally blog about my adventures in EV ownership on my blog, "My Active E has made me Accidentally Environmental. And Tesla made me a rEVolutionary."

I am currently dealing with decreasing CAC values on our CPO Tesla Roadster 1.5 and finally having to decide whether or not to spend the money on an i3 (BMW has finally delivered the car to the port in Southern California) and have my wife garage her Roadster (and hand over the keys to the Model S to her for her normal drive.)

Anyways, that's me...

Dennis

 

[Dennis]

Gosh that's a bevvy of fine motors right there! Welcome Dennis.

Thank you Brooktop... Southern Californians like to drive... The Active E was ripped away from my hands this past February with 54,321 miles in the last two years of the drive, so that's really no longer in the garage, and the i3 has a 5% chance of being accepted in the garage, but that's STILL on order, so until I "Let it Go", it stays on my profile.

I wanted to join a forum that was not specific to a particular EV manufacturer because the really fanatical devotees to particular brand don't seem to understand that ALL EVs are GOOD (except for the iMiev (just kidding)) and wanted a forum where people can see the benefits of plugging in and that the "competitor" is ICE (and other "alternatives" such as Hydrogen and CNG).

 

[Dennis]

Hi @Dennis and welcome to Speak EV. That garage makes you sound like the Jay Leno of EV-land. Nice.

Seriously though it'll be great to have another member with cross-brand experience here. As you may have read I drive a LEAF by fell in love with electric thanks to the MINI E, and I'm interested in ALL plug in vehicles.

Glad I'm not the freak I thought I was last year.

Paul,

I only have half the EVs that MPT of teslamotorsclub.com and transportevolved.com have, but also half the drivers. The freedom of EV choice is one of the best things about being a rEVolutionary living in California, the only manufacturer that I can think of that doesn't sell/or lease EVs here is Renault. Drive-Electric-Week (formerly Plug-In-Day) is, if you'll pardon the pun, electrifying.

As for direct EV experience, I also support my mother with her 2013 Nissan Leaf (SV for the US model, don't know the relevant UK trim level, but she has the 6.6KW J1772 and CHAdeMO on her car) and constantly EVangelizing with the rest of the family and others on their need to go EV.

Because of the funny way that the Federal Tax rebate works in the US, we took delivery of the Model S earlier than we would have (before the Active E was ripped from our hands) so that we can get the incentives sooner (time value of money, and all...) So, there was actually a time when I had all three EVs in the garage.

A picture of all three cars charging -
IMG_5394 by dennis_p, on Flickr

Now, we still run a hybrid garage (with a BMW X5 (my dirty not-so secret shame)) and have to actively remind ourselves to drive the ICE every now and then as we've killed the battery on THAT car once already and nearly killed it a second time. (in my current period, counting a week of vacation that forced me into a Chevy ICE) we're at 95% YTD on EV vs ICE driving (and we drive a LOT, the Model S is at 17,000 miles since November and my wife has put in about 10,000 miles on her Roadster since September).

Welcome @Dennis.

I think it's safe to say your a bit of an EV fan!

Yup... And to think, it all started with needing to get to work faster and save some money.

 

[Dennis]

Weird one with you guys is you actually get a desirable small Italian car we can't get on our side of the pond, the Fiat 500e, which by all accounts sounds terrific.

I love the Fiat 500e... It's zippy and the EV that is most like the Roadster in terms of "fun to drive". (at more than half the cost, as well as the karmic benefit of "sticking it to Sergio Marchionne" and his complaint about losing money per car.).

Hi Dennis, and welcome, I don't mean to be rude and it's probably just jealousy of your fine vehicle collection so please don't be offended but doesn't the profligate accumulation of EVs outweigh the environmental benefits ?
Andy

No offense, the environmental benefits is secondary to me. These EVs replaced ICE cars that I had beforehand and have since sold off. I like EVs BECAUSE they save ME money and time. I've since become more environmental after being part of the Active E test group. I installed solar panels on my roof because it saves me money in the long run, I initially calculated a four to five year payback with just one EV. It's closer to 3 years now (with two EVs) and I'm in year two of my PVs. The additional benefit of saving the planet is a "nice side effect."

I've said it before, if COAL powered (or something even dirtier) cars provided the same benefits or incentives and not EVs, I would have gone that direction, but they don't... So, I find myself more "green." In fact, had I been more "green" I would probably opt to use an i3 vs. a Model S as it is definitely more eco-friendly (and more energy efficient). However, my conclusion to skip the i3 has more to do with saving money and my adjustment to a Model S as a daily driver than the environment (still a chance I might pick one up, but it's really LOW). I'm a capitalist, just not an unbridled capitalist.

 

[Dennis]

Just wondering, what made you sign up for the ActiveE trials in the first place?

I drive between 80-100 miles on a daily basis and had purchased a hybrid Civic to use the HOV lanes by myself during these commutes.

I was looking at CNG vehicles (they qualified as well) as well as the Leaf and the Volt. None of those cars appealed to me. When I saw an article about the Active E trials on USA Today, I knew I wanted one. Just for the HOV privilege. (I am/was a big BMW fan, we had the following vehicles (in addition to my commuter 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid) at the time that we had picked up our Active E, 2000 323 Ci Convertible, 2001 X5, and 2008 328i Convertible.)

So, once we picked up the Active E, we sold the Honda Civic Hybrid, then the 2000 323 Ci Convertible. This past September we picked up the Roadster from Tesla as a CPO, so the other convertible was sold.

Basically, it was the HOV that got me started, and then associating with all my newfound Active E forum friends that got me thinking about further savings with PV, and then the environmental impacts of my new fleet.

 

[Dennis]

Forgot to add... The HOV privilege for standard hybrids ended and was further restricted to only PHEV and EVs (or Hydrogen or CNG) which was the impetus to looking at CNG, etc. Additionally, I tried to get on the Hydrogen trials with both Honda and Mercedes Benz, but they had restrictions on the city that people lived in to participate in the trial and though I was often in those cities, I did not live in those cities, so they did not allow me to participate.

 

[Dennis]

I've reached a decision on the i3... It's on my blog. [spoiler alert: we refused delivery.]

 

[Dennis]

Browser can't open that link Dennis, it's a local file on your PC

Thanks Mike...

Here's the link... (also editing the old one.)

 

[Dennis]

Surprised they've deleted AM radio. Are Dodger's games on Sirius? Been awhile since I was in a car with satellite radio.

AM works reasonably well in our Leaf. There isn't any interference from the car. We occasionally use it to listen to Radio 5. Reception isn't great as we are a long distance from the transmitter.

The Active E had Sirius/XM and the MLB games were only available on the Internet Streaming product. Additionally, over the course of my decades in Southern California, AM Radio has been the most reliable source for post-Earthquake updates, and that was also a concern. Most importantly, my wife does not want to garage the Roadster (her daily driver) for our S (and I would've driven the i3), so it was a foregone conclusion.

 

[Dennis]

Hi all,

Figured to join the SpeakEV forum for a non-manufacturer specific EV community in my bag of EV places to "hang."

As of this writing, I'm a former Active E Electronaut, current i3 reservation holder (still waiting), current Tesla Model S (primary driver) and Tesla Roadster owner (occasional driver (my wife's car)). I can be found on forums as either Dennis or dennis or AEdennis depending on whether someone else has already snatched up Dennis as a handle or on twitter as dennis_p.

I occasionally blog about my adventures in EV ownership on my blog, "My Active E has made me Accidentally Environmental. And Tesla made me a rEVolutionary."

I am currently dealing with decreasing CAC values on our CPO Tesla Roadster 1.5 and finally having to decide whether or not to spend the money on an i3 (BMW has finally delivered the car to the port in Southern California) and have my wife garage her Roadster (and hand over the keys to the Model S to her for her normal drive.)

Anyways, that's me...

Dennis

A few years ago I introduced myself to the Speak EV community... I thought that this would be the appropriate spot to also provide a link to my five year EV anniversary...

Made some great friends on your side of the Pond and I look forward to the day that EVs are the norm and not the exception.

From three years ago, I was disappointed in having to leave my Active E behind...

IMG_0158 by Dennis Pascual, on Flickr

Now looking forward to the Model 3 to join the Model S and Roadster in our fleet of EVs.