By far the most popular display during the first Press Day at the LA Auto Show was the unveiling of the MINI E. The crowd started gathering an hour before the MINI E was uncovered and were not disappointed.
[pictobrowser dbwilldo 72157609492659179]
I also have audio from the event plus a little video. Keep an eye out for that later today.
The trunk space is the E is not as bad as I originally thought. It seems much smaller in the press release pics that MINI put out.
$60k. No sunroof. 16″ wheels. No auto AC. No Hi Fi stereo. 0-60 in eight seconds. And an automatic to boot. Grey and yellow?
Happy trails to the PC chumps who shell out the cabbage for this pet rock.
<blockquote>And an automatic to boot.</blockquote>A manual stick shift for an electric car makes no sense at all.
like grey bezels – would be a great option
How accurate is the interchange yellow trim in the pics?
>$60k. No sunroof. 16″ wheels. No auto AC. No Hi Fi stereo. 0-60 in eight seconds. And an automatic to boot. Grey and yellow?
There are some that will pay the $850 lease because they can and because they are doing what they can to further the technology. It’s those people, the early adopters, that are helping to make this technology cheaper and more readily available. If I could afford it, I would be one of those early adopters in this case.
>How accurate is the interchange yellow trim in the pics?
As accurate as the brutal lighting of the auto show will allow. I double checked and that is what the color looks like in person.
I second that DB, rather amazed at the sour grapes over this. I am sure many out there would like to be part of the early adopters to help prove the concept. Some will be priced out by the costs while others don’t happen to live in a geographical area. I would love to be part of the test group but I fall into being well outside of the test markets.
Early adopters? Farcical to think that one would drop over $11K (when you add tax to the lease payment) to look foolish and drive a base cooper that’s this ughly. Talk about the emperor’s new clothes. Do you think Mini will enshrine these brave pioneers in the Cooper hall of fame?
Can you say symbolism over substance? A base Mini that looks better than this is $19,200. That car is plenty “green”(gag)and the “E” is completely base except for the automatic (which exacerbates it’s lameness).
Sheep to the slaughter.
Greg guess your much happier with the genius idea of the R60. Remember this is really the first step in Project i, and with the increasing standards from many state governments BMW/Mini really has to keep working on this. By building more green cars it allows them to keep building the higher horsepower toys we all love.
I can see where Greg is coming from with his comments. I tend to agree on that the the cost of admission to drive one of these puppies around town is extremely high. Like I said in another post, $11K buckaroos will buy you enough gasoline for the next 7-10 years to power your lowly fossil fuel MINI.
MINi is trying to recoup part of the development costs of putting the MINI E out in the street and I can see that as a justifiable means to do so. I could probably afford it but unfortunately Miami, one of the biggest MINI markets was excepted from the test bed, so like the GM EV-1 was (It was limited to California and Arizona), this is a car that I will probably will never get to see and touch in person anyway.
MINI is doing the right thing and in doing so they will get both praise and criticism for pulling off something like this.
To me the irony of it all, is that I have a better chance of getting behind the wheel of an electric MINI in this country than getting a diesel MINI. Ironic isn’t it?
Hey where’s the spelling police? Jon, how did you clump me in with the R60 crowd? I think that sucks too but still makes more sense than this lemon.
I agree about the Mini-D C4, still would love a Clubman-D for a commuter car.
Love the yellow stitching on the seats and yellow door inserts = sweet
I think it’s pretty cool, if only as a discussion starter. For electric, the range is good and overnight charging (assuming this is the way things go…who knows?) will no doubt become standard practice. I like the unique trim features of the car…I dismiss the exterior “E” graphics as temporary. All in all, I think BMW deserved kudos for taking this step…the first of many I hope. We need leadership in the area of zero emission vehicles, and I for one will not be shooting them in the back for this move.
I was at the LAAS yesterday, and swear the ‘trunk’ space is much smaller than pictured. You can get a couple briefcases in, and that’s it; the photo looks as if you can get a couple small duffles. For me this is the deal breaker…obviously this isn’t a car for weekend getaways, but it does need to be able to accomodate a passenger and some groceries.