I just dropped off my beautiful black 2013 Fiat 500e at the dealership where I got him 3 years ago.  I fought back tears as I patted the hood to say goodbye.  I hope he has many more adventures with someone who loves him as much as we did.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Antonio.  3 years have gone by so fast.  He passed inspection with the only bad mark being two bald tires that I hope I dont have to pay for since the car has so low miles on the odometer.  At 10am tomorrow we have our little Fiat caravan down to the dealership where he came from and say our goodbyes to our first ever electric car.  We will still have Sophia for a little over 2 more years but it has been awesome having a pair of these as our daily drivers.  *sigh*  I hate giving him up.


Last bath from us.

I just made the appointment to have Antonio inspected prior to the lease ending on 7/26/16.   So on July 1st someone will be coming to my house and going through the car with white gloves and a fine tooth comb to make sure he is all set to be returned.

I am sad to lose the first electric car we ever got but I am not sad to lose the $220 monthly payment and the insurance costs.  For a little while I think we will enjoy the extra cash and just live with Sophia (the light blue 500e we picked up last October).

As for our next automotive move?  Not sure yet.  This Summer we sold my 1993 delSol and now we will lose Antonio.  This means we will go from 6 cars to 4 which is totally ok.  We are only 2 people.  However I know my husband has the itch to get soemthing electric and new.  We have looked into the Chevy Bolt as well as the possibility of a Tesla.  Who knows, stay tuned.

Yep, we just picked up a second 500e.  Introducing Sophia.

That is Antonio in the background.

Our original lease runs out next Summer and our local dealer had one 2015 left with a crazy deal of $96 a month on a 3 year lease.  We decided to jump and get it now so for the next 8 months or so, we have two Fiats in our fleet. 

So this past week my husband's office moved from a spot just 2 miles from home to a freeway commute more like 7 miles each way.......in traffic.    *sigh*   Our rule has been that whoever drives longer each day gets the electric car and that has always been me.  Now however, this commute thing is going to change things up.  I have to hand over the keys to my beloved Antonio at least 2-3 days a week.  The main perk is that we are no where near the lease miles limit on the car AND my husband can use the carpool lanes with the Fiat.

So yeah, now I go back to a gas engine car the other days of the week.  This is going to be weird.  I havenet put gas in a vehicle in a long time.  I heard prices came way down, thats nice. 

It is not often that we get this cold in my location.  Tonight i hear we may dip into the mid 30's and I live just a few miles from the Pacific Coast.  As you can tell from this photo, the cold has quite a effect on the batteries and the range you will get out of them.  On normal days my batteries will hold around 90-100 miles range on a 100% charge.  On a hot day (80 degrees or more), I have had range go up as high as 114 miles but keep in mind I ate all that extra range up by cranking the a/c which takes about 10% off the top.


As you can see here it is 42 degrees outside and the battery is at 97% capacity.  My range is only 61 miles!

Something to keep in mind if you live in a colder climate.

Oh and on that note:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Wishing you all the best in 2015 and may your electric car dreams come true.

Today I am naming officially Invisible Fiat Day.  I had 4 cars and 2 pedestrians jump right in front of me in the last 24 hours.   Either there is a holiday death wish going around or people are really not watching where they are going.  Thank goodness for great brakes on this little car.

I suggest if you are a new small car driver you just plan on people not seeing you and if you happen to drive a electric (SILENT) small car, act as if you are Wonder Woman in the invisible jet.  It is totally up to you to avoid obstacles because you are not seen or heard by anyone.

Antonio now has 7700 all electric miles!  I did have to have the inverter replaced which was a recall and it died the day I was leaving for a vacation which was handy.  Just dropped off the car at the dealership and hopped on my cruise to Hawaii.  Picked the car up the day I got home.  It's like we both got a little vacation.  I came home with a tan and Antonio was clean and running again when I got home. 

Just got a newsletter from Fiat stating that the 500e is now available up in Oregon!

Im seeing more nad more of them here in Southern California.  They have done pretty well here and have gained in popularity.

You can still lease one for $199 a month which is just a killer deal.

HERE is the latest info from Fiat on the 500e and the incentives.

Sorry this blog has lapsed a bit.  My life has been crazy the last few months and there has not been much news in Antonio's life.  Just day to day getting me around town. 

In this one year of ownership I have used 6300 miles on the odometer.  Just about half of what my lease allows per year.  Hopefully we will use more next year as one in our household will have more of a commute and we will be sharing the car a bit more when this happens.

Got this in the mail a few weeks ago:

Here we go again.......
This time it is not a life or death situation so they did not come to my house and take the car away.  I called yesterday and was told that the parts are not available yet and I am on a waiting list for when they come in.  Hopefully will get called in a few weeks for the repair.  I honestly don't know much about what it is.  Something about a cooling leak that could fry some electronics.

I still take random shots of my Fiat out in the wild just because:


Oh let me tell you a "smug moment" story.  My other half was in the Fiat and came upon a Prius that was plastered with bumper stickers talking about what he was doing for the environment by driving a hybrid.  We pulled up just far enough at a intersection that he could see we were solar powered.  Yes there is that moment of "oh yeah, well look at this".  Environmentalists can be competitive ;)

Last but not least, looks like Clint Eastwood also like driving electric:


until next time, get outside and DRIVE!

I just got our first annual "True Up" bill from our power company since adding the electric Fiat to our household.  I am thrilled to say we earned the right to put this sticker on the back window: