BMW i3 Owners Map - New Features!

Just short of a year ago in July of 2014, I created the BMW i3 Owners Map. This is a little project to help BMW i3 electric car owners see where other i3 owners are in the world. It has been exciting to see the community build to 1,300 listings in 38 countries on all continents except for Antarctica.

The BMW i3 Owners Map is 100% opt-in and does not track the cars actual location (like the VoltStats owner map which uses OnStar), but rather shows where in the world the owner resides. The accuracy is up to the person submitting their listing but I also show the model year of the car, if it is a BEV (only electric) or a REX (has a gasoline range extender), and if the owner has owned a plug-in EV prior to getting the BMW i3. I calculate that the Map is a representative sample of around 7-8 percent of global sales.

You can view the Map on my website along with the form to add a new listing or update / delete an existing one.  I also have a few charts and a link to open the actual data file in case you want to make a heatmap or filter for specific data.

Today I added a script that posts submissions in real time, so you do not have to wait to see your listing represented on the map. This also makes the process simpler for me as I no longer need to do a weekly batch update. Yay!

If you have an i3, list your location today to show the i3 global impact!

Poem: "Easter Wings" by George Herbert

This is a great "concrete" poem. Notice in the shorter lines, the length echoes the sense of the words. And of course the whole shape of the poem echoes the theme. Happy Easter!

Easter Wings by George Herbert : The Poetry Foundation

Poem: "One of the Twelve"

I am sharing some of my poetry for National Poetry Month. It is dark on Holy Saturday.

One of the Twelve

I couldn't help myself
It all happened so quickly and I did what I thought I
Was supposed to.
He was marvelous!
I remember his soft brown hair and his hard words.
“Sell everything you have!”
Who could follow that?
He knew me. He knew what was in my thought,
In my eyes, in my purse.
I thought it was the right thing to do.
How the rabbis glared at me over the Torah stand
In the Temple stick with incense smoke
And hate.
Thirty silvers for you Judas,
Thirty! You, son of a no one, could be rich.
Oh, I am just like them!
I have killed my God!
That night,
I remember the room. Those narrow black stairs
That led to our door, our room.
I never intended to do it. That night
He passed the bread, was so peaceful,
The rough, quiet table
And carved oak cup, filled with friendship.
I felt at rest for the first time in my life.
All of us, the Beloved, James, even Thaddeus asked in wonder.
Only I got the answer.
“Go and do what you must.”
I had to do it,
He said I had to do it.
Those sinister coins tricked me,
The black pouch felt so heavy on my belt,
It was cool and smelled of myrrh.
So many times we had given coins away.
Oh I hate Him! With his stories and images
And ways of life and his Father!
They ruined me!
I have no glory, no kingdom, no friend,
Only a broken, lonely field.

------------------------------------------------------------
© October, 10 1988 - Scott Lawrence Lawson

Poem: "The Victim"

I am sharing some of my poetry for National Poetry Month. This one, in a villanelle form is a very different tone from yesterday.

The Victim

The emptiness rings behind her back,
The tilted street shines black and wet with rain,
She waits and waits and waits for attack.

Fear seeps into her mind through every crack,
And soaks her every thought and move with pain,
The emptiness rings behind her back.

She wonders what she has that he lacks,
And what on earth he hopes to gain,
She waits and waits and waits for attack.

She knows she hears the heavy footsteps clack
That always echo monotonous, loud and plain.
The emptiness rings behind her back.

She thinks of good and warmth and tries to black
Out the frozen memory that has stained
Her mind and heart and soul and face and back.

Any moment she'll feel the familiar whack,
Sprawling her on the floor or street again,
The emptiness rings behind her back.
She waits and waits for the typical attack.

--------------------------------------------
© 1988 - Scott Lawrence Lawson

Poem: "Forever Eleven"

I am sharing some of my poetry for National Poetry Month. Enjoy!

Forever Eleven

What a fabulous love is this love that we love,
What a thunderous tabulation of kisses and songs,
What a trick: a canonization of tumultuous times that
We had, are having, and will ever on have
'Til the end of all time, all strife, and separation.
I will love you & you will love me, until gravity ends
And gravity bends to a positive sensation -
We are friends, we are lovers, we are perfectly matched,
And I hold on to you, and move into you, and sing by your side.
You're my guide, and my light, and my forever elation:
What a fabulous love is this love that we love.

------------------------------------------------------------
© Scott Lawrence Lawson

Poem: "Poetry"

I am sharing some of my poetry for National Poetry Month. Enjoy!

Poetry

The inky lines pierce my head,
I shout and shout, I’m never heard,
“I must stop thinking,” I said.

My choices are opinion fed,
In my road is paved with words,
The inky lines pierce my head.

“You stink of ritual!”, the madman said,
He eyeballs me and no one stirs,
“I must stop thinking,” I said.

I tremble, thinking of what he said
And of my belief in the absurd
The inky lines pierce my head.

Poetry and life are alive, not dead,
Type is not mine, ink not yours,
“Never end your thinking!”, I said.

------------------------------------------------------------
© 1985? - Scott Lawrence Lawson

BMW i3 Owner's Map - Enhancement!

When I ordered my BMW i3 one year ago in March 2014 I and others on the BMW i3 Facebook Group were curious to connect with other owners. A simple post began by asking others where they lived. After a dozen people responded, that gave me the idea to allow the owners to list themselves on a map. So I started the BMW i3 Owner’s Map and began taking submissions in June 2014. 

I simply wanted to know where on earth were the other owners of i3s so I collected a name/ID and the address (specific or general). I also wanted to ‘evangelize’ this revolutionary EV that has captured my respect and (dare I say?) love!

Since June, the Map has grown to have over 1,000 listings and I have added a simple chart and table showing the distribution by country of owners on the Map. All of the listings are voluntary and do not represent all i3s made, but by my rough calculations the listing represent 7-8% of the total sold worldwide.

Now, 10 months later and with new 2015 BMW i3 model year beginning, I feel it is time to enhance the Map and add other data points. While there are a lot of things one could know about an owner’s car, my purpose is to get some glimpse into how the car is spreading in the world. Do people in big cities favor the BEV? Do people in colder climates favor the REX since cold shortens the effective range? How many people who do not control their parking space at home (possibly apartment or condo dwellers) own an i3 compared to those that do?

I am not sure exactly what to capture that would provide the most interest and value so I am asking YOU to help me decide. Please fill in this form with a lot of choices and I will get to work to update the map.