FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: MINI Electric Concept revealed

BMW’s small-car brand has released first images of the MINI Electric Concept it will debut at the Frankfurt motor show in two weeks, showing a little more imagination in its design and engineering than it does in its name.

Traditionally a brand that prefers not to launch cars at motor shows, MINI’s hand is being forced by news that Daimler is using the giant German auto show to announce that it will move to an all-electric strategy for its rival small-car brand, smart.

Though anorexic on engineering details, the Mini Electric Concept is said by MINI to offer a “window into how pure-electric, day-to-day mobility might look in the years ahead”.

Naturally, that looks a lot like a MINI, with unmistakable MINI design language and proportions, most of which will carry over into the brand’s first full-series production electric car in 2019.

“The systematic electrification of the brand and product portfolio is a mainstay of the BMW Group’s Number One > Next strategy,” said Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW.

“The MINI Electric Concept offers a thrilling preview of the all-electric production vehicle. MINI and electrification make a perfect match.”

He went on to claim that urban mobility was “ingrained into the MINI brand’s DNA, with cities as their natural habitat.

MINI released no details of the concept car’s range, acceleration, motor output or battery capacity, saying only that “The responsive drive system, sublimely judged suspension tuning and use of aerodynamic add-ons produce driving dynamics very much in the MINI mould and a fine operating range.

“It all comes together to make the MINI Electric Concept a highly attractive, zero-emission solution to the current challenges facing personal mobility in our cities and their surroundings.”

For all the evasiveness on technical specifications, it won’t be the first time MINI has stepped into the electric-car field. It unveiled the Mini E in 2008 as a rolling laboratory, building 600 cars and sending them to the US, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, China and France to gather real-world driving data to prepare the brand for the 2019 production EV.

It also has one model, the Cooper S E Countryman All4 plug-in hybrid, which is capable of running as a zero-emission car and is under consideration for Australian release.

“With its characteristic go-kart feeling and powerful electric motor, the Mini Electric Concept is great fun to drive while also being completely suitable for everyday use – and producing zero emissions to boot,” said BMW’s board member responsible for MINI, Rolls-Royce and Motorrad, Peter Schwarzenbauer.

“That’s how we at MINI envisage electric mobility in tomorrow’s world.”

With its familiar round-eyed MINI nose, kitsch half Union Jack rear lights and race-bred aerodynamic flaring on the side skirts, the Electric Concept seems to work as hard at not losing rusted-on MINI fans as it does embark in a new direction.

“The MINI Electric Concept is a quintessential MINI – compact, agile, simply the ideal companion for everyday driving,” said the BMW Group’s Senior Vice-President of Design, Adrian van Hooydonk.
“At the same time, it conveys a whole new take on the concept of sportiness. Indeed, aerodynamics and lightweight design aren’t just important in the world of motor sport; they are also essential factors for maximising electric range.

“The car’s surfaces have a sense of precision and contemporary clarity about them that lends added impact to the car’s efficient character. Plus, striking accents and vivid contrasts give the exterior that distinctive MINI twist.”

The car’s hexagonal radiator grille slots onto a face that requires far less cooling air than traditional MINIs, while the headlights are both full-LED units.

While there are air intakes in the front, they are actually closed over yet still include louvre designs to “inject some technical flair”.

While the BMW Group’s i brand has marked carbon-fibre as its territory, most of the Mini Electric Concept’s body flair comes from old-school fibreglass, including the aero parts running along the side sills.

Riding on 19-inch wheels, the Electric Concept used 3D printing for the grille and the fake air intakes, which van Hooydonk believes could open up a new market for customisation.