BMW's Mini-E All Electric Mini Worldwide Photo Debut. Click the above image to view more Mini-E pictures.
For some time now, many have been salivating at the inevitable possibility of an electric Mini, well BMW decided to give a small taste. This should satisfy most (for the time being.) UK auto website, Autocar.co.uk, got first dibs on details and photos galore on BMW’s Mini-E.
Not only is the Mini-E expected to have a range of up to 150 miles, on just 8-hours of charging, but it could have as much as 204bhp and 162lbs of torque. Unfortunately, the Mini-E isn’t going mainstream just yet. Although we may be seeing it in the U.S. as early as next year, only 500-1000 customers will have the opportunity to lease this vehicle. Pre-selected customers in New York, L.A., New Jersey (humm?) and London will get first crack at these beauties due to their available electric infrastructure.
Of course, the Mini-E will be powered using the latest technology in Lithium-ion battery packs (totaling 573 lbs.) The batteries push the single-stage helical gearbox, that are mounted conveniently where passengers used to be able to sit. To add a little more juice, Mini decided to store kinetic energy used while breaking. The plug-in is conveniently located where the gas cap used to be.
Curb weight starts at a mere 3229 lbs, and is fully equipped with interchange-yellow mirrors as evident in the photos. Supposedly, there will be many other goodies to come so thats seperate from her siblings. The Mini-E is already U.S. legal, and has been put through the ringer with crash testing.
Overall, we have to say we are proud of BMW, and Mini for taking a step forward and giving all-electric a try.
“This step will allow the BMW Group to gain an initial knowledge of how mobility can be achieved efficiently using purely electrically powered vehicles. Our task here is to combine the ultimate driving experience with an efficient electrified drive with practically no emissions”, underlined Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
