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.
At the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, MINI made public its plans to enter the electric vehicle market via the MINI e, a 2 seater, 100% emission free, highway legal, all electric vehicle.
The MINI e will be run by a 150 KW (204hp) electric motor which in turn is powered by high performance 572lb rechargeable lithium-ion batteries stowed where the rear seats would be in a “regular” MINI.
With a range of 150 miles and top speed regulated to just 95mph, it will give the likes of Smart’s BRBUS ED and Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV a run (pun intended) for their money.
The BRABUS ED has a top speed of 75mph and range of 70mph while the i-MiEV’s top speed is 81mph and has a range of 100 miles.
During the launch, the MINI brass also let it out that a pilot project involving 450 units of the MINI e will start in January.
For one year, 450 lucky MINI fans will be able to lease a MINI e for $850 a month plus taxes and insurance.
The project’s goal is to test the units under actual road conditions and daily use. After the year’s lease the units go back to BMW for comparative testing.
Actual sales are supposed to start sometime in January 2012.
At the auto show, changes to the body appeared to be minimal as compared to the regular MINIs though you can’t help but notice the newly designed logo in the form of an interchange yellow power plug.
It was applied on the roof and smaller versions of it on the front, back, the door jamb (with the MINI logo) and charger port lid.
The color of the side mirror housings, seat seams, interior style cues and roof edges are all in the same color as the logo.
On the inside where the centrally located rev counter on the gas MINIs should be now sits the central gauge and battery level indicator which has yellow lettering against a dark gray background.
The battery level is shown in percentages. A LED display in the central gauge indicates battery consumption displayed in red while power recuperation is shown in green.
Go by and pic up some details at the Dallas MINI Dealer.
