We sing the Mini electric
It looks as if California will be getting 500 electric-powered Minis. Reports say that 490 will be made available for leasing to selected customers and that the 10 others will be used as show cars.
Minis are made in Oxford, England. These examples will be partially assembled alongside the normal cars, minus the engine, gearbox and fuel tank. Then they'll go over to parent company BMW's facility in Munich, Germany, to be fitted with all the necessary electric drivetrain components and batteries before heading west.
Once here, they'll be easy to spot. Electric Minis will be painted silver with, um, yellow roofs. We hope that's the only shocker involved here.
New state regulations require automakers to offer zero-emissions vehicles, so this move is for expedience as much as anything else. But because the conventional Mini drives so well, this should be interesting.
However, the news is not yet completely official. A spokesman for the Mini brand (who only gets a name check because he has such a brilliant name) says he cannot confirm the story of the DC Minis. "BMW will announce whether it will build electric vehicles or not later this year." So sayeth Cypselus von Frankenberg. No, really.
Photo: Mini/BMW
Why only 500 electric Minis? And why, of those 500, are they going to lease 490? Is it that the production of the electric Mini is too labor intensive? Why doesn't Mini do a ship to order on their electric offering? It seems to me that 500 is barely a drop in the bucket and, while I know it's a start, why lease when you can buy other electric cars? I think the Mini is a desireable little car and an electric Mini, moreso. So get on the ball Oxford and BMW and offer California something more than a handful of leased possibilities.
Posted by: Ellen Hilburn | July 12, 2008 at 07:50 PM
Any driving test results available?
Posted by: Herb | July 13, 2008 at 07:44 PM
Gas or electrical Mini. Still a undersized unsafe Mini. Not enough sheetmetal between driver and the oncoming SUV... I'll pass...
Posted by: J in Az | July 13, 2008 at 07:58 PM
Oh no!! ! That sounds like taking the fun out of the Mini.
People who drive Minis do it for the fun and plugging it in doesn't connote as fun.
Gary
Posted by: Gary Holbrook | July 14, 2008 at 06:37 AM
If your preference is for an SUV you're not the target audience anyway. I would love a car with such solid design as the Mini to be completely electric--it wouldn't subsidize the middle east like my SUV does, it would make more and more sense as gas prices rise, and simply put, I can't drive a Prius. Fun is never going to a gas station again.
Posted by: josephm | July 14, 2008 at 12:22 PM
It's not about size it's about not having to depend on oil and the rising prices! If you guys want a SUV to make you feel taller go for it I have nothing to prove and if the MIni meets crash test regulations then I'm ok with that.
Posted by: Micheal | July 14, 2008 at 05:40 PM