Oct 19
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THE MINI E - Emissions free all-electric car

Posted by: Vandit | CommentsComments

The BMW Group is about to become the first manufacturer of premium automobiles to deploy a fleet of nearly 500 all electric vehicles for private use in daily traffic. Powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor and fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the vehicle will be nearly silent and emissions free.

The Mini E will have a range of about 150 miles and will initially be offered to select private and corporate customers in California, New York and New Jersey, but will first be given its world premiere at the LA Auto Show on November 19th and 20th, 2008.

As for its speed, BMW claims that it will offer acceleration to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds with a top speed that is electronically limited to 95 mph.

BMW Group says that putting 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hand-on experience. Evaluating these finding will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass-produced vehicles.

Based on the current Mini model, the car will initially be available as a two-seater. (The space in the back seat will initially be taken up by the lithium-ion battery.) The battery can be plugged into all standard power outlets and its charge time is strongly dependent on the voltage and amperage of the electricity flowing through the grid. That’s why, in the USA, buyers will receive a wall-box that will ship with every Mini E. The wall-box will be installed in the customer’s garage, enabling higher amperage. Wall-boxes will fully recharge the batteries after two-and-a-half hours.

The Mini E’s styling is a bit different. A specially designed logo in Yellow, depicting a power plug in the shape of an “E” is set against a silver backdrop. It will be applied to the roof, the front and back, and the charger port lid.

Production of the approximately 500 cars will take place at the company’s Oxford and Munich sites and is scheduled for completion before the end of 2008.

More info @ BMW Group

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  • Hudson
    While this is a big improvement over gas-powered vehicles, electric cars cannot properly be called "emissions-free," because emissions result from the production of electricity. And most of the electricity in our country comes from coal-fired power plants.

    So while you will not see the result of your driving habits in local emissions (unless you live next to a power plant), some other part of the country will be getting emissions when you "fuel" up.
  • Cait
    They're certainly not the first... if you look more closely, electric cars were around maybe five years ago, in California. But the oil companies weren't ready for them, and when the leases were up on the car, the companies collected them and had them all compacted.
  • Hudson,

    What you're saying has nothing to do with the car. This car is just one part of the puzzle. By having a 100% electric car, it makes it POSSIBLE to have 100% emission-free transportation. If someone is powering their house by Solar or Wind energy, then driving this car is in fact putting 0 emissions into the atmosphere.

    I think what you should be focussing on is getting governments to clean up electric plants, find new ways to generate clean energy and promote research into green tech, rather than bad-mouthing a very admirable step on the journey to a cleaner planet.
  • LeFiffre
    Correct, Hudson. But the central generation equation works out to be cleaner than individual combustion engines, and much more economically, too. It also leaves open the option for some people to install PV and/or wind turbines to "gas up" their vehicle.
  • Sean
    I've heard that chestnut before. The truth is, emissions coming out of one power plant can be (and are) regulated much more effectively than emissions coming out of twenty thousand separate automobiles.

    Electric is the future. Either get on board or get out of the way.
  • April
    Although Hudson is quite right that our electricity comes from non-renewable sources like coal and nuclear power. The MINI E is about giving us options that will hopefully in the near future, well at least before I die, push gas guzzling monsters like the Hummers off the road. While the MINI E won't do much to off set the global human carbon footprint, it'll reduce each owner's carbon footprint while promoting development of new energy efficient technology to replace our high energy consuming tech.
  • Mal
    So, say I want to make the trip down to see my folks and I jump in my fully charged electric car and set off. The distance is approx. 750 miles and takes me a little under a days driving in a normal car that can travel at a decent speed continuously.
    But wait, the battery will only get me 150 miles down the road at best before it needs recharging.
    Most of the trip is across vaste unpopulated distances.
    So I need to make sure I run out of power near a recharging point, need to recharge 4 times en route. Charging is usually done overnight while you sleep, so we can assume it takes a few hours.
    Looks like my one day trip is going to take me days in an electric car world.
  • a
    So... according to Hudson, if we all want to be truly emissions free, we all need to walk, run and/or ride our bicycles everywhere. Because that would wonderful for those who commute more than 5 or 10 miles to work. I hope when I breathe out the carbon dioxide doesn't offend him too. Really people, I'd say this is a good 1st step and face it, we will never be 100% emissions free.
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