• On CHOW: Perfect grilled cheese sandwiches
October 17, 2008 9:10 PM PDT

Mini E pure electric car revealed

by Antuan Goodwin

Mini E

Mini reveals the limited production Mini E.

(Credit: Mini/BMW)

Mini just revealed the Mini E on Friday, scheduled to be revealed at the 2008 LA Auto Show. The E stands for electric, as the major difference between this and the standard Mini is the all-electric drivetrain. The Mini E will be produced in a limited quantity of 500-1000 units and leased to customers in a few major cities.

The Mini E's 204 horsepower electric motor also puts out 162 pound-feet of torque with juice being supplied by advanced lithium ion battery tech. Charge time is expected to be about 8 hours with a range of about 150 miles on a charge. Of course the Mini-E also has standard fare package of energy recapturing technologies, such as regenerative braking.

Electric Plug

In place of a gas filler neck, the Mini E has an electric plug.

(Credit: Mini/BMW)

We'll be bringing more info when the Mini E is officially presented at the 2008 LA Auto Show. In the meanwhile, Autocar UK has more photos and info.

Recent posts from The Car Tech blog
Bad Ass American Rides Pt. 5: Racing with the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am!
125: New mini rides from BMW and Mazda?
4 versions of Fiat 500 here in '11
One mile, two cars, high speeds
Fisker's good Karma
BMW 7 Series gets xDrive, M Sport package
Bad Ass American Rides Pt. 4: '68 Dodge Charger on a Test Drive
Automakers scrap diesel plans
Add a Comment (Log in or register) (7 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by Lemy77 October 18, 2008 12:54 AM PDT
You can sign up for test drives on http://www.minispace.com
Reply to this comment
by NiraliSherni October 19, 2008 3:22 AM PDT
Another electric to look forward to. Good looking too, if a little retro in appearance. EVs are coming thick and fast now!
Reply to this comment
by forever4now October 19, 2008 8:44 AM PDT
All the major car companies need to stop building their noisy, gas guzzling, high maintenance, pollution mobiles and focus all their energy on the commercialization of these vehicles. The first company to get a really nice, reasonably priced, electric car to the market is going to clean up. Anyone who hasn't seen "Who Killed the Electric Car?" should check it out, to see what happened the last go around. It's quite interesting. The link is: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5871495968130273402&ei=OSX6SN-WF5D8qAP59OAE&q=who+killed+the+electric+car
Reply to this comment
by TheStairMaster October 20, 2008 3:06 PM PDT
^_^ you sound like an overzealous electric car salesman.

The whole point of selling cars is to make money. If a company releases 1000 Gas powered cars ans 1000 Electric cars simultaneously, the gas ones would sell out first. There is a higher demand for gas cars, mostly because they're cheaper. Where there's demand, theres money, and where theres money, there's supply. Not everyone can afford expensive cars, especially in urban centers.

Will the world be be better off if all the cars were electric? Probably, but the world runs on oil, at least for now.
by platocnet October 19, 2008 9:55 PM PDT
All electric is surely the answer, if the battery package can assure a range of say 200 miles! Otherwise, the electric vehicle would be only be a close to home car! But all electric makes more sense in the long run than the hybrid model with the added gas engine weight. The Aptera design seems to me, to be on the right path!
Reply to this comment
by deysc05 October 20, 2008 9:57 AM PDT
I am a car designer designing cars for the year 2015. Our main focus for designers like me right now are to design cars with many different kinds of drivetrains (with an emphasis on electric cars). With the many options available like: Hydrogen, inwheel electric motors and all electric cars, the problem that the major car companies face is an infrastructure for these new drivetrains.

If you want great fuel economy and less pollution right now, the best option is to switch to diesel power. Its cleaner and has better MPG than gas (though the price is just crazy). It may be slightly more expensive but the benefits far out weighs the price.
Reply to this comment
by make_or_break October 20, 2008 7:32 PM PDT
150 miles is quite a bit better than most of the other all-electrics, particularly those intended for full road use (as opposed to the max. 25-35 mph city car subtype). Leave it to BMW to up the ante. That said, leased cars in a few locations DOES feel a hell of a lot like GM's crushed EV program.

What BMW? You haven't paid for all that Mini gasoline tooling yet?
Reply to this comment
(7 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next

Search Car Tech

advertisement

About The Car Tech blog

CNET's Car Tech blog covers the latest developments in the automotive industry, with commentary on car stereos, hybrid and concept cars, GPS, and much more. The Car Tech blog offers the latest news and reviews from CNET's Car Tech reviews channel.

Add this feed to your online news reader

The Car Tech blog topics