Jason and his new "ride" (aka MINI E 053)

Meet my good friend Jason Fogelson – screenwriter, producer, all-around theater maven, automotive journalist, music lover (with a fine guitar collection) arts and craftsman, animal lover and self-described wanderer. And, a lover of good food. What more could you ask in a guy?

Jason and I have worked together a number of times toiling in the automotive communications trenches for the likes of Hyundai among others. Jason is my number one “go to” automotive source  with years of experience behind the wheel of just about everything that has wheels.

So, you can understand my enthusiasm for getting him into the driver’s seat of 053 ASAP – a mission accomplished Friday last.

As expected, we had a blast silently cruising the hills above Burbank, CA. Some of you may know these relatively deserted roads that wind through the canyon between Burbank and the valley – a great spot to check out the handling of the MINI E for those of us all too accustomed to the stop-and-go of the city streets as well as the freeways.

Jason was good enough to share his thoughts on overall handling and performance (including torque steer a phenomenon I have never really understood) – without charging me a dime I’m pleased to say (though I am planning to buy him lunch – someday) Be sure to check out the short video for an informative take on the performance of a car that is clearly winning more fans each passing day.

The BIG fella - at last!

And on a purely power note, MINI thanks to the folks at Clean Fuel Connection as I now have the BIG charge cable in the garage.

No more 15 hour sessions waiting for the magic 100% charge (which rarely if ever appeared)

Now, it’s a quick under 3 hour charge from near zero and ZAP – 100% and ready to go another 100 plus miles.

Ready, set – UNPLUG and GO!