Meet a MINI E that will only use solar power
MINI E - Click above for image gallery
The all-electric MINI Es are starting to be delivered, and AutoblogGreen reader David VM. will do something a little extra with his new ride: power it completely by solar power. David has started up a new blog called MINI E 19 (his car is #19) and the first entry talks about the initial week with the battery-laden MINI E. Oh, and he describes what the G.A.S. and B.R.A.K.E pedals are for. They're different than look-alike pedals in a MINI Cooper ClubmanS, for example, which David also owns.
David powers his whole house using rooftop power, so adding the car to the solar mix wasn't exactly difficult. While the leases for the MINI E aren't cheap ($850 a month, plus tax), David says the EV replaces another car, so it only costs him about $100 more a month to cruise in true zero-emission style. You can see the solar-powered MINI E in David's gallery below, along with his first electric vehicle: a GEM.
Gallery: Solar-powered MINI E
[Source: MINI E 19]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zeph 3:07PM (6/09/2009)
So basically, the only reason this guy cannot run his car on free energy and be free of everything except maintenance costs (which on an EV are basically battery packs, lubricant oils and tires) is because BMW won't sell him the car...
See how this works?
This is what the current economical-political establishment does not want people en masse to realise, that it is possible for a middle class family in most of the global climate zones to run their house and a car or possibly more from nothing but the solar energy said house receives on it's own footprint.
This is the sort of direction we should be going, energy freedom for the middle class using renewables. And nothing, not patents, not zoning laws, not the not so free market, not the banking sector, not the military, nothing should stand in the way of the people who say "enough", now the power is mine.
God did not create scarcity, this concept is the work of the devil, with a few economists as proxies. :)
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Rich 3:40PM (6/09/2009)
Our house here in NJ is zero energy. Yeah, that's great but...
We can't buy an electric car!
That's where H2 comes in. THEY produce it and sell it to us. THEY do not want us to generate our own power.
Dag 4:28PM (6/09/2009)
No need for conspiracy theories. EVs are coming eventually . . . they just need to be able to build and sell them at a profit. If he really wants an EV, he could buy a Tesla, NMG, or one of the many electric bikes/scooters available.
These EV & Solar power households are truly inspiring. They show that in the long term, mankind will be able to get by without oil. However, they just are not very economically practical yet. But with improved EV & solar technology (such as the great CIGS solar technology) and increasing oil prices, it is only a matter of time before we switch over. I just hope it is more due to reduced EV & solar costs than increased oil prices.
Rocketboy 4:49PM (6/09/2009)
BMW will not sell the car because it's a testbed.
And if you would actually read into it, the EV aspect is shoe-horned into the car.
Rather badly.
Zeph 5:00PM (6/09/2009)
I'm getting tired of the conspiracy theory meme. Will you guys stop being repeaters and actually think and research for yourselves? Please?
It's not conspiracy theory, it's conspiratorial history. Were it not for actual documented conspiracies we would be using electric cars since the days of NikolaTesla, ie late 19th and early 20th century. Even the technology we have now is underperforming because there is an oligarchy that has an industrial stranglehold on earth's population which is based on fractional reserve banking and artificial energy scarcity due to an oil addiction, which was not needed.
Were it not for conspiracies the internal combustion engines would run on ethanol or biodiesels. Were it not for conspiracies hemp would be used for everything from animal feed to fuels. Were it not for conspiracy we would still have the family farm as the backbone of industrialism, instead of this modern strip mining mentality in centralised industry.
It's not theory, it's history. Learn some.
Comments about the mini are true, it's not the best EV. But do be warned, there are very powerfull and influential people out there that don't like electric cars, and I think many of you can see that the mainstream autoindustry is biased towards hybrids, which are just overcomplex pieces of crap, even if they do get good mileage. Biofuels and full electrics are technologies that need to be defended, don't just sit around and expect them to be a natural progression because, in case you have not realised it, we don't live in a fully free market. Or even free countries.
The future is what people make of it.
Rocketboy 7:21AM (6/10/2009)
"It's not conspiracy theory, it's conspiratorial history."..
Oh, I get it, if you just slightly change the name, it means SOOO much different.
IC engines became popular because they were a good solution to the problem. There is NOTHING stopping people from researching EV. NOTHING.
"Were it not for conspiracies the internal combustion engines would run on ethanol or biodiesels"
Like the conspiracy that we do not have the resources or the infrastructure to support ethanol. Damn Reality!
"Were it not for conspiracies hemp would be used for everything from animal feed to fuels."
Like the conspiracy that it's rather hard to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana. Damn Evolution!
" Were it not for conspiracy we would still have the family farm as the backbone of industrialism, instead of this modern strip mining mentality in centralised industry."
Like the conspiracy of economies of scale. Damn Economics!
Not everyone is out to get you.
Zeph 8:38AM (6/10/2009)
"Oh, I get it, if you just slightly change the name, it means SOOO much different."
Yes, that's what words are for, atributing meanings.
"IC engines became popular because they were a good solution to the problem. There is NOTHING stopping people from researching EV. NOTHING."
And I am fine with IC if we were more judicious in our use of fuels.
As for EV's, there is one major thing stopping it, which of course is money, the root of all conspiracy. Study money and I dare you to come up with a world view that is not conspiratorial. There are only two possible views of history: coincidental and conspiratorial, and I do not know how anyone can seriously defend the coincidental.
"Like the conspiracy that we do not have the resources or the infrastructure to support ethanol. Damn Reality!"
Oh, the infrastructure is out there, but the farming industry to make it is vanishing thanks to the likes of Monsanto. Another interesting thing is that internal combustion engines are being changed to Alluminium alloys, and ethanol can't be used on these without quickly eroding the engine, iirc. Coincidence? In your mind probably. In my mind I think they are scared of ethanol, it would break their fuel monopoly.
"Like the conspiracy that it's rather hard to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana. Damn Evolution!"
So what? Legalise Marijuana while you're at it. Stoners are some of the most loving and morally integral people out there. Just because they know how much the system screws everyone over, you know "da man", and don't like to work because of that dosen't make them bad people. I don't do drugs, but I'm not a fascist either. Live free and love free.
"Like the conspiracy of economies of scale. Damn Economics!"
Economy of scale is built on banking which is the central conspiracy. Again, understand fractional reserve banking and the money as debt model and I dare you to come and tell me it is not a conspiracy. Untill then you're just adding to global warming (which is done by the solar cycles btw) by sprouting out hot air ;)
"Not everyone is out to get you."
It's not personal. However some people are out to control as much as they can because their psyche is geared for that. If you want some insight into the mentality of the elitist google "ponerology".
Rocketboy 10:34PM (6/10/2009)
I was going to do a point by point reply, but that would let you control the argument, and I'm not about to do that.
All I can say, is that your 'research' seems to be as in depth and fact based as the Spare Change kids. You seem more than happy to ignore anything that does not support your argument of a "non" conspiracy (which oddly enough, reads just like your average conspiracy, but you like to call it something different to make it sound new and exciting).
I will also leave you with this. If I had enough money for multiple cars. I would do so to buy an electric car. Because as a second car, it would be a good idea. But in no way shape or form would I trust an electric car to be able to fill all of my needs. If I get stranded in a snowstorm, I want IC. If I have to evacuate, I want IC. If I want to go on vacation, I want IC. Electric just will NOT cut it for these types of situations.
And no amount of evil power brokers will change that.
For a bonus, "Economy of scale is built on banking which is the central conspiracy."?
That's about 4 kinds of crazy right there.
Zeph 9:46AM (6/11/2009)
Well, even with internal combustion there is a long going conspiracy which is the suppression of biofuels, specifically alcohol, which would be cheaper, more than carbon neutral and lead to longer engine life than petroleum derivatives, which also happen to be far more toxic, depending on which pollutants are in them in any given day. We should never have gone down Rockefeller road.
Recently on Conan O'Brien there was a comedien that stated, as a joke, "I think bankers rule the world" "that's some kind of new world order [expeletive]". Nobody laughed. It's not 4 kinds of crazy, it's common sense and verifiable. But just keep denying reality and it might go away.
Rocketboy 5:00PM (6/11/2009)
Ah, the reply I expected. Ignore any major point that I wrote, and try to control the argument.
Zeph 8:38PM (6/11/2009)
Rocketboy, tou only made two basic points and I'll be nice and address them:
1) The depth of my research. How the heck do you know that? You have no idea what I have read and what I have watched and who I have talked to and what I have seen. I gave you just my conclusion, which you, out of negative bias of your own, inferred was baseless. You're wrong on that, but since I don't want to spend hours giving you bibliography I'm just going to let it fly.
2) Electric cars: Fine! I can even agree with you to a point. Ethanol at the moment is probably better than electric, because there's a massive userbase of convertable cars, because it revitalises farming, because the money can potentially stay in the community, because it is democratic, because it neutralizes heavy CO2 levels and creates oxygen. Because with 60 liters of the stuff you can drive 700kms give or take with a modern engine, and this powertrain is lighter than an electric one. Electricity will probably be better in time, and we need to start somewhere, but, at the moment, I would like to have an electric short range runaround run on solar panels and a longer range IC viehicle. What would be important, and should be the focus, is getting off oil, oil does nothing but enslave humanity and trash environments. We should all know this by now. It might be a golden cage with nice trips in the country behind the wheel of our hot rod, but it's still a cage compared with the alternative, which is energy freedom.
Again, there are only two possible views of history, the coincidental and the conspiratorial. The first has it that things happen and are loosely disconnected and follow "natural" dynamics. The conspiratorial has it that a central group of people have the majority of power and pass it down amongst themselves throughout history. Just follow the money and see which one you believe in. As for me, I've seen enough in my lifetime to accept the latter.
But I'm not telling you what to think, your mind is free and always will be.
kert 4:46PM (6/09/2009)
ABG is kinda slow to pick this story up:
http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/09/transportation-tuesday-the-solar-powered-blue-car/
http://www.bluecar.fr/
http://www.pininfarina.com/index/storiaModelli/Pininfarina-BlueCar.html
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KM 7:35PM (6/09/2009)
Sure its possible to live off the grid, but does anyone have the number on how much it cost to install the solar panels that enabled this? I suspect many don't like the idea because of the high cost of entry.
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Zeph 8:24AM (6/10/2009)
You're right, most people don't want or cannot pony up the 20-30k € that a good system costs, in my region. Price may vary, I'm sure it's cheaper stateside. Sadly people are usually short term focused in their thinking, because when you add up the cost of electricity and gas it is far more than this over the lifetime of the solar cells. And of course, if you're making your own electricity you can use as much as you can produce and you're not vulnerable to brown outs or price enronesque price hikes. And you're not financing wars.
It won't be for everyone, but the middle class could and should do it, those that have their own houses and some disposable income. They would bring in the economy of scale and overtime builders could not sell a building that were not someohow making it's own power.
Rocketboy 8:07AM (6/11/2009)
"would bring in the economy of scale"
But, but, but, I thought economies of scale are part of the "central conspiracy".
dr61 10:53AM (6/10/2009)
My solar PV system (3 kw) cost about the same as a small gas economy car. Now our home will be independent of electric power pricing with the inevitable increases for the next 25-50 years. We produce about 20% more power than we need for the house. I'm looking forward to purchasing or leasing an EV to use the extra energy. I would love to try the Mini E but it is not available in my area.
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