MINI E a Turkey?

Hands down have to say this is one of the more worthless bits of commentary on any new car. I wonder if Mr. Neil should give up journalism and strike out as a fiction writer. To get caught up on it being a two seater with carpet in the space of the back seats as a deciding point is like deciding the R56 is bad because of its side scuttles. Nothing for his worthless journalism on this one.

This car is meant to be a test bed and not a finished, saleable product. BMW/MINI will learn a lot by putting these in the hands of real people and I would expect that the next generation will be more refined. I still remain unconvinced that a pure electric car will sell all that well, as it will only be useful as a second car for most of us, but give MINI credit for trying, and having a running prototype on the road long before the Volt is ready.

While the car itself is noting too special there are 2 remarkable things that impress me.

1) As already stated, that fact that BMW mini is doing this shows there is commitment. I don’t think a fully electric car, with current battery technology, will be a big seller it is a move in the right direction.

2) As an expansion on 1, is that BMW is retrofitting this themselves. This car is made in the MINI plant in Oxford and then shipped to a BMW facility to have the electric motors, batteries, and required electronics fitted. THis shows a bigger comittment by BMW to refine the technology and make for a more OEM setup.

I say kudos and if I lived where these are available I would consider it as a second or third vehicle for daily commuting.

Well, in a way it is “For sale”. 500 of them to be exact, to be put on “Selected” customer’s hands that will sign 12 months leases and agree to commit to $800+ monthly payments.

So yes, this car is indeed in the market in one way or another.

What he doesn’t get, and if he’d taken some time to dig into the detail, would have been obvious, is that BMW/Mini just bought electric drivetrains from another company and stuffed them into the car. What was he expecting? A fully finished complete investment in infrastructure to create just 500 cars?

Really, BMW/Mini is doing a bit of a PR bait and switch by implying that this is a full investment in developing electric drivetrains, when in fact they outsourced the drivetrain from AC Propulsion and just integrated them into thier own cars. But eventhough they were happy to let everyone go under the impression that BMW/Mini had more involvement in the drivetrain, it’s still 500 cars, and still will give them a bit of a head-start in feeling out the electric city car market.

And technically, the car isn’t sold, it’s leased. It’s always the property of BMW/Mini….

Greg is still showing his willingness to lead the pack of the “Save the Buggy Whip” squad, however, so some things will never change….
Matt

When you rent from Hertz, did you buy the car? A lease is closer to a rental than a sale. Why dealerships count a lease as a sale is probably because they’re most interested in how many new cars have been moved off the lot, but that’s still a guess. If you get a car loan, there is a lein on the car, but it’s no longer owned by the manufacturer…. But this is just hair splitting….

Really, who thinks that some of the 500 will sit on lots gathering dust?

Matt

And Greg, I was sure that you’d continue your miopic vision of innovation. FWIW, Motoringfile has an article that BMW/Mini is working withothers to create an electric infrastructure in Berlin for supporting electric citycars. I guess the phrase “first mover advantage” is probably lost on you….

And really, you can take the time to learn something or not. Want to know a good source of information on transportation energy issues? Go read the section on transportation end use efficiencies in <a href="http://www.aps.org/energyefficiencyreport/report/aps-energyreport.pdf" rel="nofollow"> this report </a> authored by that well known bed of liberal hot-heads, the American Physical Society. But I forget, that’s even longer than my posts, and would require an open mind as well as a willingness to actually learn something and maybe even change ones mind. But if you took the time to read it, you’d see that a 100 mile range with a serial hybrid (all electric for the first 100 miles, then running on a gas or diesel powered generator, like a Chevy volt on steriods) would eliminate oil consumption from 85% of light vehicle miles driven, resulting in an over 40% reduction of oil consumption for that transportation segment. Gee, it’s so liberally-biased that it even shows where battery technology falls short of what’s needed! Damn liberal scientists trying to screw us all up with unfounded opinions!

But then I forget, it’s so much easier to just ignore learning and hurl invictives and catchy phrases.

Greg, what gets me about your attitude is how you profess to know better, yet are unwilling to say “This isn’t a deal that appeals to me, but kudos to other subsidizing progress.” Instead you say “This isn’t for me, and it’s stupid for anyone else too!” That’s just self-centered. It’s like me saying “that since I wear a size 9 shoe, any shoe that’s any other size is just a waste of time and money for everyone, and just shouldn’t be manufactured. Those size 10 buyers are just a bunch of posing fools!”

I, at least, with my gutsy “band wagon jumping” posts, at least will back them up with data and references. You, on the otherhand, just keep posting tripe and inuendo, won’t get within a mile of any substatiating facts, and get all pissed when someone calls you on it.

Matt

For those who can actually read (instead of just writing blathering manifestos)I have stated several times I have nothing against this technology and I’ll be the first buy buy one if it makes sense price wise and performance wise.

This notion that one is doing something noble and pioneering by spending an idiotic amount of money on a stripped down underperforming and ughly car is BS. Mr. Spock can’t see the forest through the trees because he’s so excited about the technology (cue Kip’s wedding song at the end of Napolean Dynamite).

C4 I never took you for one of the wimpy let’s play nice types. Stay out of this and don’t try to spoil our fun. 😉