“Yes, Grasshopper. But can any man afford such arrogance?” – Master Po

Before taking delivery of our ActiveE, I voraciously read everything I could find from the Mini-E Pioneers.  I read the Facebook posts; I read the forums, and most of all I read the blogs.  Mini-E blogs as well as ActiveE blogs.  Since the Mini-E Pioneers were the first to take delivery of ActiveEs, their blogs were a great place to get information about the EV we would soon be receiving.  I just couldn’t get enough.

'93 VW Corrado

In retrospect, I should have known better.  These were folks with a wealth of experience in the realm of EVs, and I respected that.  But I was a car guy – my garage has housed a Dark Green Metallic Corrado, a Red Autumn Metallic A4 Quattro as well as cars that were Bright Caramel Metallic, California Sky Blue, and Kasan Red, so I must know about some things that these Pioneers do not. 

By the time we took delivery of our ActiveE, Electra Girl had washed her ActiveE 11 times.  Eleven times in 3333.3 miles.  Once every 303 miles.  How could a car need to be washed that often?  My Dark Green Metallic VW didn’t need washing that often, and I was meticulous about keeping that car clean.  If a car that’s almost black doesn’t show dirt that badly, there’s no way a white car, electric or ICE (see EV Acronym definitions here courtesy of Keith Davidson) would show dirt worse than a black car, right?

250 miles behind the wheel of the ActiveE and I owe Electra Girl an apology.  We’ve never met, and I’d only thought she was crazy for washing her car that often - I’d never even shared my thoughts on the topic with anyone, until now.  Due to my arrogance, I owe her that apology.  It’s been a lot of years since I labored to keep that Corrado clean, and I’m not as diligent or meticulous about my cars as I was back then.  But clearly the ActiveE needs to be washed. 

At this rate I’ll be washing it 20% more often than Electra Girl – and as such, this grasshopper bows to the wisdom of Master Po – a.k.a. Electra Girl.

It's a Dirt Magnet