MINI MINIe 2008 Review - International

Not so much
>> Rear seat replaced by battery pack and electronics
>> Briefcase-size luggage space
>> Special paint job makes MINI-E a target for sticky beaks and well-wishers

While other major makers are still talking expansively about how clever they'll be in 2010 or 2012 or sometime thereafter, MINI has put its electrons where its mouth is.

Why the interest and excitement? Because the whole tone of future-car designs is currently dominated by electric power. That's right; not hybrids, not fuel cells, not diesels, not LPG or whatever, but electrics.

True, there already are some obscure electric cars in low-volume production. And the big French makers have electrically-powered vans, while others such as smart, Mitsubishi and Subaru have production-based prototypes undergoing field trials. But the MINI E's unheralded unveiling at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show gave the Anglo-German marque bragging rights as the first big-name electrifier -- with a car produced in large numbers for a very public real-world development program.

The initial batch of MINI Es runs to 500 cars produced (without their drivetrain), at Oxford, UK, before transferring to a BMW facility in Munich. There the electric motor, forward-reverse transmission, lithium-ion battery and sophisticated electronic hardware are installed.

From this first fleet, about 280 units are for Californian private and corporate users, with the remainder split between New York and New Jersey. Wherever, the cars will be leased for a year, with an optional extension. A similar scheme is mooted for Europe.

No-one's pretending the MINI E is a silver bullet for all motorists all of the time. But, given that electricity generation may or may not be squeaky clean, the converted MINI promises to be a viable zero-emission solution for hassle-free daily driving.

Okay, there are a couple of, um, mini drawbacks. Like just two seats and next to no luggage space. But in terms of driving and functionality, the electrified MINI is a real goer.

Ignoring the big box filling the car to window level behind the front buckets, the situation and outlook are still very MINI-like for the driver. The wheel, stalks, two pedals and all the usual controls could come straight from an automatic MINI.

The main clue -- from the driver's seat -- is the combustion engines' tachometer is replaced by a battery-level indicator while another display shows power consumption in red and power recuperation in green. Also, the transmission selector has only three positions: Park, Drive and Reverse.

Insert the key, see vital signs illuminate, select D, depress right foot and, whoosh, experience the rush as 150kW maximum power and 220Nm peak torque unleash back-slapping acceleration.

From a seat of the pants impression, the company's claim of 0-100km/h in 8.2sec is surely conservative. Indeed, the performance is certainly deceptive because the urge is so addictively smooth, so utterly linear and so absolutely quiet. Apart from some transmission whine, wind rush and tyre noise, you could be riding an express elevator... Horizontally!
 
The other immediate driving impression is that the MINI E is right at home in the tangle of Los Angeles' fast-flowing downtown traffic and around the inner 'burbs. Not only for alacrity, but agility and comfort also. The steering is as acute as any MINI, the handling as responsive, and the ride quality possibly/probably better than standard, thanks to revised springing befitting the about-300kg extra weight.

Of that, the 5088-cell, 380 volt, 35 kWh lithium ion battery accounts for 260kg.

Aside from the electric performance (which is speed-limited to 152km/h), the driving's only noticeably unfamiliar aspect is the self-slowing regenerative braking effect from the drag that occurs when, on overrun, the motor becomes a generator to replenish the battery charge.

The outcome is twofold. According to the company's tests, in normal urban/city driving, some 75 per cent of all the E's deceleration is achieved without using the brakes. In the process, the car's range extends by as much as 20 per cent.

Ah, yes, the range. Always an electric car's Achilles' heel you may think.

The MINI E blows that objection's fuse with claimed 240km normal-driving capability (plus whatever the regen braking may add). That's way more than enough for daily commuting and/or runabouting.
 
Should the battery be run flat, recharging is an overnight deed from US 110-volt household supply. But it takes only 2.5 hours with the 240-volt hotbox provided with every MINI E for inclusion at home, and at specific public sites.

Thus, judging by the facts, the figures and our preview drive, the MINI E clearly is a portent of urban motoring's electric future. Which leads to just one conclusion: bring it on.

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