Mini Dealer Dallas

A little while ago, 450 lucky MINI people got a chance to test drive the new MINI e for a year.

A pilot project of MINI wherein actual consumers will lease the all electric, zero emission vehicle for $850 a month and use them as their main mode of daily commute.

Full scale production and sales is expected to start in 2012 in the US.

At the Los Angeles Auto show last fall where the MINI e was formally introduced, I noticed that on the outside, there were no apparent drastic design changes made to the body.

On the inside the first thing that will surely catch your eye is this big dark gray box right where the rear passenger seats are supposed to be.

That actually is the storage unit of for the high performance 572lb rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that powers the 150 KW (204hp) electric motor.

(Might be a problem if they decide to make a convertible.)

The batteries are made up of 5088 cells grouped into 48 modules which are then further grouped into 3 battery units inside the storage unit.

The unit itself has a maximum capacity of 35Kwh but a full recharge draws only 28Kwh.

Recharging can be done from any standard wall power outlet but the length of time to charge the batteries depends on the voltage and amperage available.

A wallbox provided by MINI with every lease allows for higher amperage thus shortening charging times.

Next your eyes will be drawn to the interior style cues that are all in yellow.

The MINI e’s gauges all seem to be in the same places as in its’ gas powered siblings except on closer inspection we see that instead of a rev counter we see a battery meter and the center console-the one that looks like a clock is still there, so are the rest of the all too familiar appointments.

To get even more up to date information then keep checking back here and as always, be sure to contact your Dallas area MINI car Dealership.

MINI e
Last November at the Los Angeles Auto Show, MINI announced that it is formally throwing in its hat in into the electric vehicle basket. In fact in a few weeks, 450 MINI fans in California, New Jersey and New York will get their hands and rears behind the first ever 100% emission free, highway legal, all electric vehicle to hit the streets in over a decade. But don’t go rushing off just yet to your MINI dealer. These 450 lucky drivers are part of a pilot project. What exactly is their job? To drive/use the MINI e as their primary mode of transport for a year. Not that this is free though; they will have to pay $850 a month for a years’ (which is almost twice the lease amount for a regular MINI) lease plus taxes and insurance. The $850 monthly lease goes to maintenance, parts replacement and other technical services needed. After a year the vehicles get sent back to BMW-MINI for comparative testing.
Apparently even in these times, the stiff price didn’t put off nearly two thousand people from applying for one of the 450 cars. In order to trim down the number of applications, BMW, the parent company of MINI came up with a checklist or guidelines of sorts. Items such as the existence of a locked garage and daily driving distance are two examples of the guidelines. Incidentally, this program was supposed to have launched last January but for the red tape (as usual) involved in getting the proper certification for the cable connecting the car to the wallbox charger took longer than expected.
Visit the Dallas MINI Car Dealership for more information.

Toyota has its Prius (it had the Rav4 EV), Mercedes/Smart has the Fortwo BRABUS ED, for Ford it’s the Focus and Honda has the Insight and FCX Clarity just to name a few companies that jumped on the eco-friendly hybrid/electric band wagon or whatever you call it.

Well, not to be outdone, that cute little pug of a car that people either love or hate is also jumping into the fray.

So enter stage left the MINI e.

Introduced last fall at the Los Angeles Auto show, the100% emission free MINI e is run by a 204hp (150 KW) electric motor which in turn is powered by high performance rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

The battery packs themselves are stowed behind the driver and front passenger in place of rear seats (sadly only two people at a time can have fun).

On a single charge, the MINI e has a range of approximately 150 miles and to fully recharge the batteries takes two and a half hours via a wallbox that comes with every MINI e and installed in the customer’s garage.

The drive train of the MINI e produces a peak torque of 220nm thus guaranteeing flawless acceleration from 0-62mph in 8.5 seconds.

Top speed is a regulated 95mph as compared to the Smart fortwo BRABUS ED which has a top speed of 75mph and a maximum range of only 70 miles on a single charge.

With a curb weight of 3230lbs, the MINI e is outfitted with a suspension system that’s been tuned to fit its weight distribution thus ensuring safe handling at all times.

The DSC or Dynamic Stability Control system has also been adapted to this model’s specific wheel loads.

In a few weeks, a pilot program involving 450 fans in California, New Jersey and New York will begin.

They’ll be shelling out $850 a month for the right to drive the first highway legal electric cars since the Tesla roadster and the Toyota Rav4 EV.

Sometime a few months ago, me and a friend took out the new MINI Cooper S Convertible.

It was February and it was cold.

Like 2 degrees above freezing cold.

This is rather significant as we were out and supposed to test a CONVERTIBLE.

So down goes the top and just like the first generation convertible, this new one has a “sunroof”.

By pressing the switch the roof retracts to its first position, which exposes the front seats.

If you continue to hold down the switch (for 15 secs), the roof will completely retract.

One thing we noticed is that the roof doesn’t completely retract/store itself behind the rear seats.

A good portion of it lies stacked at the rear which blocks some of the visibility.

To set the roof back up, simply press and hold the switch for another 15 seconds.

On the outside, the front is a bit higher and rounder and aside from this nothing else seems to have been radically redesigned.

This little cutie gets standard 16-inch wheels with run-flat tires, but for a more aggressive look optional 17-inch Black Star Bullet alloys are available.

On the inside, the dash looks like just any other MINI dash except for one new gadget: The Openometer.

Located left of the tachometer, it tracks the amount of time you drive with the top down.

More on the Openometer and the Convertible later.

Just like the other MINIs, the convertible comes in 3 flavors, the Base, S and John Cooper Works.

All are powered by a 1.6 liter four cylinder engine but naturally producing different horsepower.

The base is at 118, the turbocharged S punches out 172hp and of course the direct injection JCW cranking out 208hp.

The base hits 60mph in a decent 8.9 seconds and the turbocharged S cuts it down to 7 seconds.

So you think nothing more can be said that hasn’t been said about the MINI.

It’s cute, a cool ride and you can’t really expect anything more.

So you thought.

Then they go and come out with the 2009 MINI Convertible.

At the Detroit auto show the “oohs” and “ahhs” started all over again.

With the top down, the first thing you notice is that gone are the double hoops which actually was a safety feature designed to protect passengers during a rollover.

What MINI did in the 09 convertible is this: If and when the standard stability controls’ inertial sensors detect an imminent rollover, a pyrotechnic charge deploys a bar and a ratchet mechanism keeps it in its extended position.

Bad thing is in order to secure/reset it again to its standby position, you’ll need to bring it back to a service center.

No DIY here.

On the outside, we noticed the redesigned 16 inch wheels (there’s an optional 17 incher available) and were told by the MINI people that the new convertible comes with a tuned suspension that’s supposed to be comfortable for any type of passenger.

Standard are Cornering Brake control, Electronic Brake Force Distribution, ABS, Dynamic Stability Control and Hill Start-Off Assistance. Optional is Dynamic Traction Control with Electronic Differential Lock Control which is a front wheel limited slip differential system.

In Detroit we were also shown the MINIs flexible storage system by way of the rear seats capable of being folded down completely.

At the left of the tachometer sits the “Openometer”, a gadget unique to the convertible.

What this does is that it tracks the amount of time that the car is driven with the top down.

The needle moves clockwise for each minute up to 60 minutes thereafter LEDs light up for each hour.

The chassis computer tracks the overall/total topdown time for the cars’ entire lifespan.

It serves no useful purpose.

It doesn’t improve the mileage or performance or anything like that.

It’s just a cute little widget.

You should probably take a stop by your Dallas Mini Dealer to find out more.