BMW C Evolution - I finally got my scooter back and it is working just fine :)

Last Friday, 10 days ago, I went to the BMW shop in Boulogne and returned my loaner C Evolution to get my original scooter back, after they told me the breakdown I experienced 3 months ago was caused by firmware bug, fixed by the latest release end of November.



BMW took a long time to solve this, probably gathering CAN error messages from several C Evolution scooters across Europe which had the same warning signs on their dashboard.



I was told by the head of BMW scooters in France that it was caused, or could be reproduced by turning ON, OFF, and ON again the ignition key ... Still I am the only one who got the big breakdown forcing me to stop on the side of the road and be towed back to the dealer. For this reason he also asked to shop to replace my throttle, to make sure no error was coming from this also.



I am now commuting again with it, unless the temperature is too close to 0°C, icy road being to risky with a 2-wheel. The power is like before, awesome and I am having a blast with my machine now :)
Thanks to BMW I was able to enjoy Electric rides during these last 3 months, with an identical C Evolution loaner.






I am now almost at 6 months of daily rides with a BMW C Evolution and I can assure you it is one great machine ... I am actually going for a ride today since it is sunny, taking my daughter with me, yesterday it was my son's turn, under the cold rain, but we enjoyed it also :)

If you have not test driven it yet, I recommend you do so to experience and understand why I chose this amazing scooter !

Parking the LEAF Rue de Rennes is getting more and more difficult

It was very tight again this last saturday to park Rue de Rennes in Paris, 

I put a warning ticket again for this scooter ICEing the EV spot

I had to move this green delivery electric scooter parked in the EV car spot

Tight !

a Renault Kangoo ZE was charging, first time I see it 

When we came back to the car, a jazz band was playing on the sidewalk next to it; Nice ...

A Mia not plugged in

Mairie de Paris, saturday afternoon:
First time I see a Mia here
I plugged in my Vectrix but this Mia is not - and supposed to be...
These spots are for charging EVs, not just parking for free

Difference between Autolib & non-Autolib parking spot

I took this picture while the spots were open to make it clear: this is the difference bettween Autolib and Non-Autolib parking spot; Non-Autolib is for other EVs and there is also a spot for e-scooters on the very right

Long Vectrix Video - Trip back from work

This time a video of my trip back from work; Leaving from Saint-Ouen (north of Paris), along la Seine, through Clichy, Asnières, Courbevoie, Puteaux, Neuilly, Bois de Boulogne, and finally Boulogne (south ouest of Paris):

Part 1/3:

Part 2/3:


Part 3/3:

Vectrix at work

Some pictures of my Vectrix parked at work in the building underground parking

Short clip : Vectrix in the parking (man it's loud !!)

It sounds a bit loud but it meanly echoes, also the Vectrix is reaching 28000 km and the transmission planetary gears (straight cut ?) are probably getting a bit used up ...

At least people can hear me coming, no warning sound needed :-)

My Vectrix VX1 Electric Scooter in video

This morning I started the day filming my daily use of my Vectrix electric scooter to show it to you:

Purchased half price used in sept 2010 with 18.000 km, I have used it now for about 10.000 km and I am loving it; It has great acceleration, very smooth, handles really well, and I get a lot of inquiries at the red light, at least once or twice a day from other bikers:

"Is it electric ?" , "What is the range with it ?", or "How long does it take to charge ?"
Some of them are really surprised to see how fast it can be and can not believe it is 'only' electric, they think there must be some gas involved and ask usually: "It is electric only ?" (thinking it is an hybrid bike)
I am always happy to give some information about it and it is actually very friendly among bikers


It is powerful with a 20.000 W motor, a 3,7 KWh NiMH, aluminum chassis, has famous Brembo brakes, Sachs shocks, ... really well engineered (in the USA)






One of the great things about this scooter is that you can use only your right hand to accelerate and decelerate (regenerating then power back into the batteries) thanks to its unique and patented handle system called DAaRT :

It can be purchased new at the Paris Vectrix Store, the official representative of the brand in France: Vectrix Store Paris

Just started this Blog, Welcome !

I am starting this blog to share my Actions / Ideas towards reducing my carbon footprint using Electrity in my day to day life
This Blog is called MyELifeNow which stands for " My Electric Life Now ", because I think we should not wait any longer to go ahead and use cleaner transportation means such as Electric cars and scooters, use low consumption heating systems, lighting devices, produce some electricity localy and do it Now, or as soon as possible
There are many Things people can do to get out of oil addiction, and I would like to share with you what I did; If I did it you probably can do it too, and most of all it is not boring but a lot of fun !

In this blog, I will try to show you in details:
- Nissan LEAF, a great Japanese electric car
- Vectrix VX1, an American electric scooter, very powerfull and reliable
- E-Solex, an electric version a the famous French motor bicycle

- My experience with lighting my apartment and building/condo using only LEDs over the last 5 years
- DAIKIN Inverter heat pump installation and use to heat and cool my apartment
- Uni-Solar flexible solar panels installation and electricity production used directly at home (not sold)
- A home built LiFePO4 4Kwh battery storage system to store solar production surplus and use it whenever I need electricity
- A great Energy Meter that just shows you real time how much your home is consuming (very effective)
- and more ...