(Photo by dailymatador on Flickr)
BMW Group is ready to unleash the first product of its Project i initiative in major cities around the world. The MINI E, an electric-drive vehicle with a body similar to the Mini Cooper, will be used in a one-year study to test if electric vehicles are viable in major urban areas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in his recent State of the City address that BMW Group is loaning 10 MINI Es to the city’s Street Condition Observation Unit (SCOUT) starting in April 2009. SCOUT is an investigatory unit sent out in response to calls to New York City’s 311 system about poor road conditions and graffiti.
The MINI E looks like the popular Cooper but relies entirely on electrical power. The vehicle can travel up to 150 miles per charge according to the automaker, exceeding the 100 miles traveled by the average SCOUT driver each day. BMW Group inserted a 150 kW electric motor and a lithium-ion battery to ensure that the 150-mile range can be repeated from charge to charge. The MINI E can reach 62 MPH from a dead stop in 8 seconds and reach a top speed of 95 MPH. For the residential consumers who are part of the MINI E feasibility study, BMW Group plans to install wall boxes in their garages that allow full charges within two and a half hours.
The one-year feasibility study will feature 450 MINI Es used by drivers in Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Berlin and London. BMW Group will also distribute 50 MINI Es to government and corporate fleets in these metropolitan areas, putting the vehicle through the grind of frequent braking and acceleration. In order to draw interest in the MINI E project, BMW Group accepted applications from motorists in major American cities through MINIUSA.com. By the time the application period ended, BMW received more than 1,000 qualifying applications from drivers interested in the MINI E.
As the end of the feasibility study approaches in April 2010, we will begin to see whether the MINI E is a niche vehicle or a hot commodity among American drivers. BMW Group has approached this study the right way by providing wall boxes to consumers concerned about keeping their vehicles charged. Every participant will keep a daily journal of pros and cons of the MINI E, giving the automaker insight unavailable in the laboratory or the testing grounds. The popularity of the MINI Cooper along with the stated performance of the MINI E is promising for the future of zero-emission vehicles from BMW Group.
