Quick Spin: MINI E
Leftlanenews.com, along with many other automotive journalists at the LA Auto Show this week, got the chance to actually drive the MINI E.
> The Mini E is one of few cars that allows you to pull up next to a Prius, like the one with the personalized “LESS OIL†license plate we saw on our test drive, and smugly look down upon the gas-guzzling heathen behind the wheel. The Mini E uses no oil other than a few drops here and there for moving parts lubrication. Take that, Prius.
>With a limited range and limited cargo capacity, the Mini E is a strictly in-town commuter car, and at that it excels. Handling is mostly on par with a standard Mini, though it’s possible to get the front end a little more squirrely here than in the gas version.
Look for a full MotoringFile review soon.
[ Quick Spin: 2010 MINI E ] Leftlanenews.com
150 miles and the 2 hours to charge??!! You guys are all really kidding me about thinking these are great right?
Ha,ha,ha. You really had me going there. I knew you’re all to smart to be seduced by this claptrap…..right?
Actually Greg the charging time is great, and for what they are aiming this car towards the mileage is not bad. Still without a electric car infrastructure out there right now just happy to see another electric on the street to help move our government to keep pressure on the big 3 about building monstrous low mileage slugs.
You need an electrical outlet capable of handling over 240v to reduce the time it takes to fully charge the batteries. How many people have electrical outlets in their present homes that can handle that much voltage anyway?
Second, our electrical grid is not prepared to handle the added demand and capacity to recharge electrical vehicles in full masse. Changes to the infrastructure will need to be made. Also decisions whether we are going to build more nuclear plants or increase coal production (Clean coal) will need to be addressed. There is no free ride here folks. To produce electricity you have to have the means to do it and distribute it. Creating electricity produces emissions and implies the use of fossil fuels.
Having said this, I think plug in hybrids and electric vehicles are a good start and the general direction all manufacturers will have to go in order to separate ourselves from our dependency on fossil fuels. But electric vehicles are not a quick overnight fix to a major oil dependency problem we have (2% of all fossil fuels are devoted to transportation needs in the United States).
The US needs to study the model followed by Brazil. The vast majority of their fleets run on E100 ethanol fuel and all vehicles sold and made in that country must be 100% ethanol complaint. Brazil in a period of 3-4 years completely transformed a vehicle fleet running on gasoline to ethanol.
I know a lot of people have issues with ethanol, but the stuff can be produced in cheaper ways. The point I am trying to illustrate is that there are cheaper/quicker fixes that manufacturers can implement right now to start reducing our need for foreign imported oil. It takes about $20-$30 per produced car to make it E100 complaint.
There are start up companies bidding with the government to help build the electric vehicle support infrastructure (Recharging stations and what not). But it will take years before we can see a full conversion to propulsion systems that do not require fossil fuels.
In the mean time, plug in hybrids, effective gasoline engines (Like the MINI’s direct injection setup), diesels and flexfuel vehicles are great places to start to that end.
I sincerely hope that the MINI E will not end up being just another “Foot note in history” like the late GM EV-1 was. I think these type of cars have a lot of hype and novelty surrounding them which is good for marketing and to create that vaunted “Halo” effect. But it is up to the manufacturers, consumers and government whether they genuienly want to embrace these technologies and bring them to full fruition.
I can envision in a year or so from today, current MINI E leseeses fighting off BMW’s legal machine to keep the cars past the 12 month lease period. I see another DVD production “Who killed the electric car part Deux” in the making. What will MINI do with these cars when they are returned to them? Send them to the crushers and museums around the world like GM did with the EV-1?
I agree C4, I think though we get caught up in this concept of this or that technology being the fix of it all. I think we are at a place not to unlike the start of automobiles. A myriad of designs and power plants were developed, most of which never caught on and a few that did. I expect the same thing to happen today with looking at the myriad of possibilities, and I am happy to see all of them trying their hand at making a ding in our oil based economy.
Guess I am the odd man out, I already have two 240 circuits in my garage for power tools and spent less than 2k getting them both in.
I think that auto manufacturers (Foreign or domestic) have no choice but to start making serious inroads into alternative fuel options. I just want to make a more realistic assertion on that while an electric vehicle has lots of advantages it also has many drawbacks and current battery technology and electric grid infrastructure will not make them a viable solution to cut our foreign dependency on oil in a matter of just a few months, years or even decades.
For me, I’ll take a MINI D capable of delivering nearly 50 MPG in the city and 65+ MPG in the highway with a carbon foot print that is less than the regular gasoline powered R56 justACooper.
“mugly look down upon the gas-guzzling heathen behind the wheel”
Ahh, smugness. That’s the market segment that this is aimed for.
The “Hollier, greener and richer than thou” Hollywood types?
So has Al Gore already submitted his application for a MINi E lease?
The 425 HP Challenger is looking better to me every day. When the ’09 six speed manual hits it may be time to leave all my tree humping friends in the dust.
I guess I just don’t “care” as much as the elitists.
Hey Greg, that Challenger R/T is a nice looking ride. Make yours Orange baby and start grooving!
Also don’t forget that the Camaro is coming up and Ford just redesigned the Ford Mustang.
Just keep your Challenger away from the Tesla’s so you don’t get embarrassed ;), not to even mention the concept Shelby is working on.
<a href="http://www.shelbysupercars.com/news-071208.php" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.shelbysupercars.com/news-071208.php</a>
Remember guys that what Mini is dealing with is the need of States like California that are requiring a % of no-emission cars, something that not even the Mini-D I ache for can do. I personally don’t see electrics becoming dominate but I do believe along with many other technologies its a part of the equation.
I by no means consider myself even vaguely rich but I could cover the payments. I actually believe a lot of these cars are likely to go to businesses.
For $100,00+ I would hope the Tesla cab beat a $40K Dodge ( which I doubt it will). I just read today that that thing is having some type of issue or problem.
C4 is correct as orange with black stripes might be the ticket. Or maybe the other way around….
It won’t be grey and yellow -PUKE
<blockquote> You need an electrical outlet capable of handling over 240v to reduce the time it takes to fully charge the batteries. How many people have electrical outlets in their present homes that can handle that much voltage anyway?</blockquote>
Only the people who have a an electric stove or electric clothes dryer.
I do believe that electric cars are the future… for everyone. They just need to redesign them to have the power source (batteries) to be a VERY easily removed (and swapped) module. This would mean that when you’re going on a long trip and you’re low on energy, you pull in to your nearest “recharge station”, and swap out your used power source for a fresh one. Voila – on your way in just a few minutes, just like we have today with gasoline vehicles. It would be a direct adaptation of gasoline stations to recharge stations.
Sure, we’re a ways off, and yes, it will still require major electrical power grid increases, but I can see it happening, one day.
Still waiting for Greg or C4 to tell me how if they are at the reigns of Mini how to meet the demand of California for 0 emission cars. Or maybe BMW/Mini should just stop selling cars in markets with this demand 😉
Hmmmm. How many like thier over 100 HP a liter car? I think even Greg would fall into this camp. Know why we have them? Emissions legislation forced the adoption of computer controlled fuel injection.
Some of you really need to get some perspective. Go ahead and craap all over electrics, and yes, the Tesla will smoke the Challenger, all but the limited edition drag model.
Matt
Ethanol is IDIOTIC. It was not thought through.
Any fuel source based on plant matter is a huge accident waiting to happen. Not only will farmers raze the land to support its demand but it will also deflect farmers from growing food for people to the more lucrative food for cars. One model we should never alter is the production of food. Food has far devastating effects then coal/gas/electric if something were to happen to it. And I’m not even bringing in natural disasters into the equation.
True Matt about the drag strip version, yet don’t expect that to be road legal anytime soon and the Tesla would whip right back past it on the first corner. Just remember Hamsters reaction to the car. The Challenger is a proper US car, it goes fast and then wallows around the corner. The Challenger is a decent attempt to reclaim some history, which seems to be Detroit’s only hope for survival since they don’t seem widely capable to compete in the present.
Better be careful Matt. The spelling facists will git ya.
C4, unfortunately we cannot follow Brazil’s model. Compared to the US, they have far less demand for energy and are able to produce vastly more efficient sugar cane-based ethanol; we’re stuck with corn-based ethanol, which consumes about as much fossil fuel to produce as it saves, and displaces corn crops used to feed the world.
With government subsidies now bringing consumer solar cost down to a 6-8 year payback, and cars with lithium ion batteries like the MINI becoming available, true zero emissions are quickly becoming a reality.
Does anyone know the lifespan for these lithium-ion batteries? How much to replace them when they will no longer accept a charge? Seems like I also read somewhere that they have to be treated as hazardous waste when they are disposed of; or do they have some big cave picked out in the Nevada desert to put all the dead batteries?
I’m sure that if blogs were available 100 years ago, pretty much every negative comment above would have been fired off at horseless carriages, as opposed to using horses.
I think BMW are making a bold move in using Mini as a test vehicle for electric power. Anyone slating them off for it may as well have a go at people that like orange cars – you don’t have to buy one.
We’ve all seen that electric cars have the potential to outpace petrol power, and this is just one more step in that direction.
Here in the UK it’s a small island, and commuting is on average much lower than the US. A 150mile range wouldn’t be much of a problem for us. Use one of these in London and you don’t even have to pay the congestion charge.
Hi,
Two test drive videos of the MINI E can be found <a href="http://www.minispace.com/en_us/article/Video-MINI-E-World-Premier-LA-Autoshow/135/?utm_source=nk_en/" rel="nofollow">here</a> and <a href=”http://www.minispace.com/en_us/article/electric-mini-driving-video/136/?utm_source=nk_en”here.