Stefano Paris at the November 19th, 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show unveiling of the MINI E.
200amp main electrical utility panel.
If you’ve been following the BMW MINI E program unveiled officially on November 19th, 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show you’ll know the process for being selected as a potential MINI E driver is a multistep one. The window to apply for a lease of a MINI E was from November 19th to December 24th, 2008, via an hour long online questionnaire.
In January 2009, I was excited to learn I was selected to be one of the potential 250 lessees of the MINI E being deployed in Southern California this year. Achieving selection status was just one of the first steps to MINI E driving sweetness. In the past couple of months I’ve been passing other qualifications. One of these items on the MINI E deployment checklist regards the residence where one is to park and charge the MINI E. MINI wants to insure their MINI Es will be parked in an enclosed garage and that the residence’s electrical system is up to the task of charging the car.
Clipper Creek EV Charge Station.
Last week I was notified by Clean Fuel Connection (the company contracted by MINI to deploy the MINI E specific Clipper Creek charge stations) that they would be conducting an initial site inspection of my garage and electrical service to insure I could support a MINI E. On Wednesday, March 11th, 2009, at 1:30pm I met with a very friendly Paul Jette of Sunpower Electrical, the electrical contractor assigned to do the actual charge station install. He inspected and took some photos of my 200Amp main electrical utility panel, and the garage space where the Clipper Creek MINI E charge station will be installed. A couple of years ago I had upgraded my electrical distribution system when I self-installed a 4kW Photovoltaic system with the knowledge that plug-in EVs would soon be in my driving future. My electrical cleanup resulted in a very neat and sparsely populated main panel, as I offloaded all individual circuits to a couple of subpanels. A majority of residences’ main electrical utility panel is their only panel, and many times it is completely stuffed with breakers and wiring, with no room for additional expansion. This is a result many times of the initial builder trying to save a few $$ and installing a less expensive panel. Generally, the cost of the electrical panel is “in the noise” (negligible), where the the majority of the cost of any electrical work is in the labor.
Milbank kWhr meter and 60amp feeder Murray circuit breaker.
Paul and I discussed the Clipper Creek charge station during his visit. It is to be protected by a 60amp feed breaker installed at the main panel. Paul confirmed the location I had already selected for mounting of the charge station to be ideal. I learned I was Paul’s 3rd MINI E initial site visit that day. These were his very first visits in the MINI E deployment program.
While MINI is picking up the tab for any and all electrical work required to install the Clipper Creek charge station, being an engineer I have the desire to install a kilowatt-hour meter ahead of the charge station to log EV charging kW/hrs. This self-imposed requirement means the charge station install by MINI at my house will be one of their simplest, as they just need to connect the charge station a few feet directly to the pre-installed and wired Milbank kilowatt-hour meter box I’ll already have in place. I’m looking forward to a callback from Clean Fuel Connection once they are ready to send out the Clipper Creek charge station for installation.
Stefano Paris sports an EV grin for the MINI E at the November 19th, 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
On a related MINI E note, if you haven’t already seen Jay Leno’s entertaining and very enthusiastic review of the MINI E that debuted earlier this week, definitely check out all the MINI E fun by watching his video below. The MINI E is powered by a beautiful, powerful, and efficient electric drive system manufactured by AC Propulsion of San Dimas, CA. AC Propulsion is the gold standard of electric drive in the EV industry. ACP has been in business for two decades and has been the force in leap frogging electric drive system technology into the modern EVs we know and love, like the pioneering GM EV1, AC Propulsion tzero, AC Propulsion eBox, the new 2009 MINI Es, and the gorgeous Tesla Roadster (a great evolution of licensed AC Propulsion electric drive technology).
Jay Leno’s Garage – 2009 MINI E
Under the hood of the MINI E.
MINI E powered by AC Propulsion!
[Source: Stefano Paris, Jay Leno's Garage]
9 Comments
Congratulations on passing the inspection with flying colors. I’m waiting for my MINI E in NJ so it will be some time before they get here. Keep us informed on each step.
I’ve linked your website to mine http://mini-e.blogspot.com
Stefano,
I can’t find pricing info on the Milbank kWhr meter on their website. Would you mind sharing the cost of the meter?
Thanks.
David
David,
Give Maggie a call at http://www.bbelec.com/ for all your Milbank needs. I’ve found bbelec to be the best/easiest source of Milbank equipment. Toll Free 888-391-3802
The Milbank sourced meter was $17 but is sold as part of a 4 pack (Milbank #CL200). I only needed 2 at the time. Trying to purchase just 2 meters elsewhere with an additional separate shipping charge negated any savings. In the end, I used all 4 meters including giving one to a friend for his submetering effort.
-Stefano
Stefano, this is Barry at MC2 magazine, I would like to talk with you about your MINI. After all, we’re the only MINI magazine outside Europe..
Barry Brazier, publisher
360.698.7926 (Seattle)
Hello, Stefano. I’m originally a Stefano as well – I’ve gone with Steve since no one ever pronounces it right (you know, emphasis on wrong syllable) and given my last name it’s unfair to ask someone to get it ALL right.
Anyway, I’m waiting on my inspection, but I’m a little worried. My house is 2005 vintage so I think I’ll be alright capacity-wise, but my main panel is at the opposite end of the house from my garage. Did you get the sense from the contractor that Mini would cover the cost of a long run from panel to garage?
Steve,
The electrical contractor who visited me for the initial site inspection said MINI would be picking up all costs related to the installation of the Clipper Creek MINI E charge station. Of course if you allow them to make the long run to your electrical panel they’ll probably only run 6awg wiring in a smaller conduit. A year or two or three from now when you’re on to your future EV (possibly a Tesla Model S sedan?) as MINI only allows a 1 year lease on the MINI E, you’re going to want a much larger gauge wire run to your garage. You definitely want at minimum 2awg for 100amp support and if you’re interested in least voltage drop and future proofing as much as you can, I’d go ahead and install 1/0 cable in a 1.5″ conduit. Copper wire is cheaper than it has been in a long time. $1 per foot for 1/0 (last year it was selling for $2.50+ a foot). You might consider installing a 1/0 feed from your main panel to a kWhr meter box in your garage (just for data monitoring purposes). Then allow MINI to wire their Clipper Creek MINI E charge station to the kWhr meter box with their 6awg wire. A year or more from now you can wire what you want to that meter box such as a Tesla charge station, or we are hoping for some finalized J1772 level 2 finalized 70-100amp charge station/connector standard if they eventually materialize. If they don’t materialize you could install a Milbank power panel with NEMA14-50R (50amp 240VAC) outlets and utilize the 240VAC charge cables like Tesla’s MC240 and others that we require since there is no finalized or adopted “standard” for modern EV 240VAC charging (yet).
http://shop.teslamotors.com/collections/charging
Thanks for the great info, Stefano – you really know your stuff. I’ll discuss these options with Clean Fuel Connection – maybe I can pay them extra to get the more future-ready wiring
And yes while the Mini E will be a lot of fun, that Tesla Sedan looks awfully compelling . . .
OK, Why are these machines always Leased (FLEECED). Why does the industry refuse to release contol of the product to the consumer. This is the same problem that we had from GM!
now all they have to do is convince people to buy their cars…lol
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