After three weeks of daily driving, I still consider the ActiveE a fantastic overall experience. In my last post, I listed my favorite aspects of daily driving on all electric power. Here, I document my short wish list of mostly petty items that would never prevent me from buying a car like this, but, if changed, would make it near perfect. Here we go:
#5 - The horn - Really? Has anyone had to actually use the horn in everyday traffic? Luckily I haven't, but when I tested it out with my teen-age daughter in the car, she started laughing uncontrollably. It sounds like a bad computer error message is about to pop up. Here's an idea: Horn Tones. The car is completely computerized, how about downloadable horn sounds so we can program in a more menacing noise.
#4 - Interior Storage- I have seen Chad Hogan's after market arm rest where the storage bin should go. That's nice, but I need a place to store normal driving accessories like sunglasses, winter gloves, toll pass, spare change, those extra golf balls that always end up in my pocket. The two little areas in the center console just don't cut it. How about taking the space under the presets and putting a little door to another storage area?
#3 - HomeLink - I hate to bring up my 8 year-old Prius when talking about an electric BMW, but Toyota put three HomeLink buttons in the mirror that opened my garage doors. Can't cost more than $5 in parts.
#2 - Keyless - One last time with the Prius comparison....In 8 years, I never put a key into the car. The wireless key unlocked the doors when I got near the car and allowed me to push the Start button as long as the doors were closed. It even prevented me from locking the car if the key was inside. I understand the ActiveE matches personalized settings with the different keys. That's great for cars with multiple drivers, but I would expect that even if those settings are stored on the physical key, they could be transferred wirelessly into the system.
#1 - Saved settings - Many other ActiveE drivers have documented these issues in more depth but add 1 more vote for, programmable EcoMode setting, scheduled, repeatable preconditioning times, scheduled, repeatable charging times and an option to automatically reset the trip computer after every trip.
Footnote: I considered adding "it's white" on this list, but I know that's just for this group of test cars. I do get a kick out of Electragirl's carwash count (17 last I checked). I'm up to 3 with only 850 miles! Don't think I will ever buy a white car again, at least not one that attracts dirt like this one!
#5 - The horn - Really? Has anyone had to actually use the horn in everyday traffic? Luckily I haven't, but when I tested it out with my teen-age daughter in the car, she started laughing uncontrollably. It sounds like a bad computer error message is about to pop up. Here's an idea: Horn Tones. The car is completely computerized, how about downloadable horn sounds so we can program in a more menacing noise.
#4 - Interior Storage- I have seen Chad Hogan's after market arm rest where the storage bin should go. That's nice, but I need a place to store normal driving accessories like sunglasses, winter gloves, toll pass, spare change, those extra golf balls that always end up in my pocket. The two little areas in the center console just don't cut it. How about taking the space under the presets and putting a little door to another storage area?
#3 - HomeLink - I hate to bring up my 8 year-old Prius when talking about an electric BMW, but Toyota put three HomeLink buttons in the mirror that opened my garage doors. Can't cost more than $5 in parts.
#2 - Keyless - One last time with the Prius comparison....In 8 years, I never put a key into the car. The wireless key unlocked the doors when I got near the car and allowed me to push the Start button as long as the doors were closed. It even prevented me from locking the car if the key was inside. I understand the ActiveE matches personalized settings with the different keys. That's great for cars with multiple drivers, but I would expect that even if those settings are stored on the physical key, they could be transferred wirelessly into the system.
#1 - Saved settings - Many other ActiveE drivers have documented these issues in more depth but add 1 more vote for, programmable EcoMode setting, scheduled, repeatable preconditioning times, scheduled, repeatable charging times and an option to automatically reset the trip computer after every trip.
Footnote: I considered adding "it's white" on this list, but I know that's just for this group of test cars. I do get a kick out of Electragirl's carwash count (17 last I checked). I'm up to 3 with only 850 miles! Don't think I will ever buy a white car again, at least not one that attracts dirt like this one!
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