My electric adventure in Brussels

I had left a bit late so I stepped on it. The trip from Turnhout to Brussels is about 90km so I was going to be late. I looked forward to seeing Beate Ewing again, a meeting professional I respect and a dear friend. We would have dinner together and since she came from Washington, DC (with one day in London, and one in Paris on the way over) I knew she would be hungry around 7pm and tired around 10pm. So I sent her a text message: “Not sure I will get there on my battery. Must have a plug to charge to get back”. She assumed I was talking about my phone, but I was talking about my new electric car. Top speed of my Citroen C-Zero is 135km/h but the battery was going down so quickly I decided to drive 90 behind a lorry. “7:30 is more likely” I texted Beate who was waiting for me by now in the lobby of ‘Le Meridien’ hotel. I know Brussels by heart, so I drove straight onto the drive way to the entrance of the hotel where I was quickly signalled to ‘stay out’ by the big guy at the door. It’s probably because a C-zero is not a very impressive car; these door men probably prefer to have 6 liter V6 engines at their front doors… I lowered my window greeted the guy politely and said ‘This is an electric car and I have to recharge or I can’t get back home’ I had 30km left and the trip is 90km so I was a bit nervous about my car’s potency. ‘I’m visiting a guest of your hotel and I only need a normal power plug. Can you tell me where I can recharge’? I was hoping that he would allow me to stand in one of his front-door-spots and show me the pug. He gazed at the front door, but looked at me and said with a smile: ‘The public parking next door actually has 3 spots to charge Electric cars. Just drive back and you will see it, as soon as you drive in, next to the entrance’. We now were both happy. He successfully made this too-small-to-be-on-my-territory car turn back and I had good hope to be able to return home that night.
And yes, like the man had said, a square, mini car with green letters screamed to me ‘I’m ELECTRIC!’ as it was chained to the wall with an orange extension cable. I parked myself next to my car’s buddy and saw that the system on the wall had a free plug, but I needed a key to activate it. So I went to the guard, who didn’t seem to understand my request at first, then came out and immediately produced a little frown on his forehead. His company just rents the space to an organisation that has a few electric rental cars. So he had no key to activate the system either. I knew that by now Beate would have ordered a glass of Champaign, and here I was, suffering with a stranger in this hot underground space. But the little Asian guard didn’t seem to give up just yet. He pulled the cable from the car that was charging, only to see it was not compatible with the one on my car. As he looked around clearly trying to think of a solution, I was losing faith. However, on the other side of the guard’s office there was another special space. He showed me the 15 Segways from a city service that were stalled there for the night. All of these electric two wheelers were plugged in a mix of extension cables, cable rolls and extension sockets charging all 15 batteries. The guard pointed proudly to one free plug, but I remembered the warning never to use an extension cable. My battery needs so much electricity it risks to melt thin cables or overheat sockets. The guard understood my predicament: I needed to charge or I would not be able to go home. This seems to make total sense to men making a living from cars. With a brave gesture he unplugged the main cable ending the Segways’ charging cycle. Finally I could charge my car and he even allowed me to stand outside the normal parking places so my cable could reach that plug. Finally I could breathe again; in about 3 hours I would surely have enough juice to drive the 90km back home.
The evening went perfect; we enjoyed some international cuisine, great conversation and a coffee in a cool place. The 4 hours charging time that this lovely evening had allowed for, made me feel adventurous so I took Beate for a spin before returning home. As all other passengers before her, she loved the car: its silence, its power and the fact it uses no more oil.
On the way back home I thought about the fact I didn’t have pay for the electricity. A free fill for my car; what, a unique and generous gesture, from a stranger. Although it’s probably worth only about one Euro, this is at least one good thing of being a pioneer.
I wonder how long it will last…

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just got blown away by ‘Fuse’ from Hudson Mohawke. Music in synch with brain waves: you hear it once and it pierces heart & mind. Heavenly.

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Our industry maintains status quo?
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