Today was the one-year anniversary at my "new" full-time job (my part-time job is my old full-time job). Today is also the day I picked up my new work vehicle: a brand new electric-powered Mini Cooper. Our municipality is taking part in a nationwide test of these cars as one way of "going green." Our municipality was to get six of these cars: Four for Code Enforcement and two for Engineering Services. I was told yesterday that the Director of Engineering Services had suggested that I get one. That was a bit of a surprise, considering that I am the newest employee in the department -- I guess I've been making a good impression.
There was a press conference at the dealer this morning, and we drove away with the cars right after that and a very brief orientation. We'll be testing the viability of these Mini-E's as fleet cars, driving them in our daily duties. I probably average around 40-60 miles a day at work. The range on the Mini-E is supposed to be 95 miles on a full charge, but using the AC/radio/GPS will probably drop that mileage a bit.
If it wasn't for the special graphics, you'd never know the car was electric just by looking at it. It looks like a regular gray Mini Cooper with a black interior. It has a huge speedometer in the middle of the dash (like other Minis, I guess, except for the little "power" meter), but the gauge mounted on the steering column is not a tachometer. That gauge shows the amount of power in the battery. It goes, as you might expect, from 0 to 100%. When the car is "on," there is a digital readout at the bottom of that gauge that shows miles left before running out of charge, as well as some other bits of "normal" info. Where the rear seats would be is where the batteries are, so it is a two-seater. It has power everything, a CD player, and even adjustable lumbar support in the driver's seat. No sunroof (darn). Under the "gas cap" is the plug-in for recharging. I haven't opened the hood yet, but opening the rear hatch exposes a very small storage area, with room for not much more than the "extension cord" that we have to use to plug in for recharging at the end of the day.
I will write up some more impressions of the car as time goes on (my task is to evaluate it, after all), and take some photos and video, but my initial impression is pretty good. It handles nice, and my 6-foot-250-pound self fits fine. It is a small car, and sits low (it is definitely lower than my PT Cruiser or Diane's HHR). The little bugger has some power. It is kind of freaky to not hear an engine, or experience gear changes. Hit the "gas pedal" and it moves; the more you depress the pedal, the faster it goes, seamlessly. If you let the pedal up all the way, it has a sort of automatic braking feel, which is the deceleration recharging the battery. In the 30 or so miles I drove it this afternoon, I started learning to feather the pedal to modulate this feature -- if I leave a little pressure on the pedal, the car doesn't have as much of that deceleration aspect. If you work the timing and pedal pressure right, you can avoid using the brakes much of the time.
One time you do need to use the brakes is stopped on an incline. It is like a manual transmission car in that respect. When the car stops, I guess the motor disengages, so if you happen to stop on an incline, it will want to roll downhill. That takes a little getting used to, as it seems odd to drive a one-speed automatic that behaves like a manual shift when stopped on an incline.
After one inspection today, I drove down the road to a job by one of the contractors I have come to know fairly well. He was just getting there, and when I pulled up next to him and rolled down my window, he asked "So this is how the town is spending tax money -- getting sports cars for you guys to drive?" He was surprised to hear that it was an electric car. I think this car is going to prompt lots of discussions as I drive around. Being a long-time motorcyclist, I am used to that sort of thing, as people seem to like to strike up discussions with motorcyclists (SEE NOTE). In fact, I suspect that my greater-than-average experience with public interactions may have been a factor in me being selected to get one of these cars. They are, after all, partly a PR campaign for politicians to get votes.
As long as we are confronting not-so-warm-and-fuzzy realities: While electric cars do not have an internal combustion engine, don't be fooled into thinking that they do not use fossil fuels. Most electrical power generation in the US (which is what is really powering these cars) is based on fossil fuels. While I couldn't tell you what the exact statistics are regarding the amount of fossil fuels needed for electric cars versus that for internal combustion cars, I can tell you that it is a step in the right direction. Breaking free of gasoline-powered vehicles is a good thing.
The after-work part of my day consisted of catching a pregnant feral cat and setting her up in a large cage in my music/computer room (she's napping about six feet away from me right now). It took a fair amount of time, patience, effort and animal psychology to catch her without incident. Fortunately, I've done this sort of thing several times before and have a long history of working with stray, feral and wild animals. Diane has been around me long enough to get good at it, too.
This little cat has been hanging around for probably a month or more. She is an adorable little shorthair, colored like our cat Goldie. In fact, she also has the extra toes on the front feet that Goldie's family (the Fuzzyfoots) has. I suspect that she is a relative of some sort, although I am not sure how that could be. We didn't initially realize that she was pregnant (I don't have a vet's confirmation of it yet, but I've been through this before), but we knew we needed to catch her regardless, as it was unlikely that she was spayed and had her tests and shots.
We attracted her with food (the best way to gain the friendship of animals) and worked bit by bit to get her closer to us by hanging around when we put food outside. Dry food is usually enough to get them to share some space with you, but if you really want to catch them, moist food is a better bait, with tuna being the coup de grace. Tuna is a short step away from catnip, and it is more filling for a hungry cat. Once she got a taste of the moist food and tuna, we started holding out moist food/tuna on a spoon, and she cautiously fell for that. I started petting her a little bit at a time, getting her used to it bit by bit (remember: patience). Of course, I wasn't just petting her -- I was checking her health. She was definitely a little underweight, but seemed hydrated enough. Eventually, I felt her belly and that's when I became pretty sure she was pregnant. A roundish, hard belly and prominent nipples are a give-away.
Then we started putting a food dish in a cat carrier and luring her toward it with the spoon of food. After a few days of her getting brave enough to walk into the carrier, tonight we quietly closed the doors on it, put a blanket over the carrier (the dark helps to keep them calm) and quietly brought her down here and released her into the hospital cage (which we keep ready at all times for wild/feral/stray emergencies).
She has been complaining a bit here and there but, for the most part, has been taking it well. We have been careful to create an environment that is as low-stress as possible, given her pregnancy. Hopefully, she won't get stressed or stir-crazy at any point. I have used these cages for cat birthing twice before (in 2002 and 2004), so I know they can work well for momma and babies.
I am going to set up a vet appointment for her for next week. That will give us time to get her used to interacting with people on our terms. Hopefully, she won't give birth before that (I don't think she's that far along).
So, an electric Mini Cooper and catching a pregnant feral cat. Just another day in my life. :-)
XXX
NOTE: This fact of motorcycling was the basis for one of the most successful ad campaigns in history: Honda's "You meet the nicest people on a Honda" campaign in the 60s. That campaign resulted in Honda's motorcycle sales increasing approximately five-fold.
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