Long Term Test: 2014 Ford Focus Electric wrap-up

One of our first pictures of the Ford Focus Electric

After three years and over 24k miles of service, it is finally time to bid farewell to our daily driven Ford Focus Electric. This was the first electric car that my wife and I have owned and was the start of what will likely be a legacy of electric car ownership going forward. While it was not a perfect car, the Focus Electric has quite a few charming characteristics that made it a fantastic daily driver and with a little bit of forethought, it became a perfect vehicle for how we live our lives. The ownership experience was largely a positive one, but also not without a few flaws. However, for a first generation electric vehicle, it served us well during its three years in our garage.

Product Review: Away Carry-on Luggage

With lots of travel scheduled for this year, I thought it was time to finally invest in a properly sized carry-on bag to avoid the challenges of dealing with checked baggage when flying. The size of the allowed carry-on continues to shrink every few years and the cost of a decent piece of luggage is far more than I honestly care to spend every few years replacing a bag so I dug around the web in search of something that I felt would serve as more than just a bag to carry clothes so that the expenditure would be worth the cost. There are lots of very expensive options with all manners of different features and functionality. Some came with GPS tracking and apps that performed all manners of nearly useless functions while others lacked anything unique at all, making it difficult to justify their high price. It took a lot of searching, but I finally stumbled upon Away, a small company that produces a Goldilocks carry-on bag that was just right for my needs.

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S Post #6

Update #6
Current mileage: 28,929

Oh the horror! After nearly 10k miles and over 3 years of ownership, I finally had my incident with the big Beemer. Of course, it would have occurred during a two-up ride with my wife, but luckily, it was a rather minor drop. What happened was that we were stopping at the intersection of Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road and I had ridden the bike onto a dirt embankment to try to turn it around. It was a bit steeper than I anticipated and misjudged the amount of clutch slip for the slow maneuver. Before I knew what happened, the weight of the bike had teetered dangerously far to the left and at what was basically a standstill, the Beemer tipped over onto its side like a wounded buffalo. Luckily, we both jumped off before the bike hit the ground, and the presence of the frame sliders meant there was basically zero damage, except to my ego. The only signs that something had happened was a slight bit of scuffing on the left frame slider and a bit of dirt trapped in the left side mirror housing.

Editorial: Why gas? The Question Should be "Why Electric?"

Image courtesy of Extreme Tech

If anyone has watched TV, YouTube, or Hulu lately, you may have seen a new Nissan Leaf commercial. In this commercial, a man from Nissan's marketing and sales division extols the virtues of the Nissan Leaf and electric cars. The commercial ends with the marketing and sales goon asking, "why gas?" I really did not think anything of this commercial until something interesting happened on my way to work one morning.

As I drove towards the 405 freeway, as I do every morning, I noticed the on ramp that I usually take was unusually crowded. When I had finally made it on to the freeway, traffic was still flowing at a crawl. I thought to myself, "traffic is usually slow, but not this slow!" Inching further along, I finally saw what has holding up traffic. A man with a blue Nissan Leaf was attempting to limp his car on to the shoulder from the carpool lane. Clearly, this fellow did not charge his car and let it run out of power, causing a huge traffic jam.

Image courtesy of Cars.com

"Why gas?" I thought as I amusingly watched this fellow slowly try to get his car over to the right shoulder. "Because stupid shit like this doesn't happen with a gasoline car!" That is not to say that a driver in a gas powered car would not run into a similar situation. If you run out of gas, you would probably have to limp your car off the freeway as well. However, the difference is the gasoline car can be back on the road far quicker than an electric car. If you have AAA or any other roadside assistance service, a tow truck will bring you enough gasoline to get to the nearest gas station. Even if you do not have AAA, all it takes is a gas can and a trip to the nearest gas station to get your car moving. With an electric car, you cannot just slap in some new batteries and call it a day. The best a tow truck driver could do is tow your vehicle to the nearest charging station. Once at the charging station though, it takes a few hours just to get enough energy into the car to get it moving a reasonable distance. Even then, the nagging beast known as "range anxiety" is constantly gnawing at the back of your mind, causing anxiety and high blood pressure.

Image courtesy of Cars.com

I am not saying that I do not like all electric cars. The Tesla Model S is a fantastic example of a well built electric car that is not only quick, but also handles very well. Even with its performance advantages though, the Model S still suffers from range anxiety, just like any other electric vehicle. The two biggest problems with electric vehicles are the long charging times, and the lack of a proper charging station infrastructure. Sure, there are plenty of stores and hotels that offer free electric charging, and Tesla is attempting to expand its Supercharging stations. When you buy an electric car, you can also purchase from the manufacturer a small charging station to install in your home. However, none of this changes the fact that charging takes hours, and if you get stuck in the middle of nowhere, you probably will not be able to charge your vehicle for hundreds of miles.

Until the vehicle the charging infrastructure can match the current gasoline infrastructure, and charging can be done in a quick and reasonable amount of time, electric cars will continue to be limited to large urban markets. With that in mind, I have to ask, environmental issues aside, why electric?

Long Term Test: 2007 BMW K1200S post #2

Second update
Current miles: 23,065

With just over 23,000 miles, the K1200S has been nearly flawless. The power is still utterly intoxicating, offering speed on demand anytime I want it. The versatility is amazing, as I have used the big Beemer for everything from canyon carving in the mountains of New Hampshire to picking up groceries from at the Chinese grocery store in Downtown Boston to day tripping down to Cape Cod for whale watching. In every situation, the bike proves that it is capable of everything I have to throw at it and I continue to explore the limits of its usability. As I ride pretty much year-round, it has experienced temperatures ranging from well down into the low 30s all the way up to well into the high 90s. No matter what the temperature, the bike is comfortable and offers a sense of stability and security that my much smaller Kawasaki Ninja 650R was unable to provide.

Of course, as with any high performance vehicle purchased pre-owned, it has not been entirely without issue. Last fall, the battery started to struggle to provide sufficient amperage to overcome the resistance in the wiring, leading to challenges starting the bike when the engine was hot. That created a few embarrassing moments at gas stops when I had to push start the bike in order to get it going and on more than one occasion, had to jump-start it to get it running. Luckily, a swap of the battery from the older and less efficient lead-acid variety to the new
AGM model used on current BMW motorcycles more than cured the issue. I have also taken to pulling the battery and storing it on a trickle charger anytime I expect to be unable to use the bike at least once every 2 weeks. The battery issue also created a minor problem with the electronically adjustable suspension, causing the damping setting to get stuck. Luckily, it was stuck in SPORT mode so I was still able to really enjoy the ride, though I do admit that I missed the other damping options on some of the longer trips.

In July, when I had the bike's inspection brought up to date, the mechanic doing the inspection notified me of a few items that needed to be addressed in the near future if the bike was to remain safe on the road. This is what prompted my detour to MAX BMW during the Kancamagus Highway trip. While I did not get the service performed that day, I did collect enough information to feel confident that these were the guys I wanted to use when it came time to have the service done.

Test Drive: 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In

MSRP: $40,570
Price as tested: $40,570

Hybrid cars are not really my thing. I admit, the only hybrid I have driven to date is a Toyota Prius and yes, it is as boring as all the automotive publications claim it to be. Hybrids have always been seen as appliances by the enthusiast crowd and while there are manufacturers working on making enthusiast friendly hybrids and hybrid super cars, the bulk of hybrids will still always be people movers. But can a manufacturer straddle both sides of the fence and make a hybrid that is both practical and fun?

With the lease on our long-term 2011 Acura RL about to expire, East Brother and I discussed what cars to consider. Given the driving habits of the primary driver, we felt that a hybrid was worth considering, especially given the long stretches of purely city driving that will be done. The problem is that most hybrids are, for a lack of a better word, boring. They are incredibly slow, and handle as well as a wet noodle. When Honda announced the specifications of the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, East Brother and I both perked up our ears and after reading the initial impressions of the car by various automotive publications, our interest was genuinely peaked. It would seem that Honda has created a hybrid that is not only practical and efficient, but fun to drive too. Maybe not quite a 4-door CR-Z, but certainly more fun than any Prius.

Unfortunately, as of this writing, the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid was not available for us to test, but we got the next best thing, a 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In. Seeing as how both East Brother and I enjoyed the 2013 Honda Accord Sport sedan, and how impressed the automotive press is with upcoming 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, I figured I would give the Accord Plug-In a go. Maybe Honda is able to capture the magic of being efficient and fun in this car as well.