First Drive: Mini E
March 14, 2010 – 7:45 am
As you read this, 20 people in Oxfordshire and Hampshire are preparing to take delivery of what BMW hopes is the future of the car. The electric Mini is part of a field trial to get real-world experience of how everyday drivers get on with electric cars. That is real electric cars, not the quadricylces being presented as cars by the likes of G-Wiz, as demonstrated by the Mini E having a Cooper S-beating 201 hp. Unfortunately, it does suffer one deficiency associated with traditional electric runabouts, however: it is only a two seater as the lithium-ion battery pack takes up the space once occupied by the rear seats (and indeed most of the boot). That is a consequence of using an existing car as a base - future electric models under development by BMW, Renault, Nissan and others will be designed around their battery packs, so passenger space will not be compromised.
From the outside, the Mini looks normal apart from a few electric stickers - in a nice touch, the socket for the recharger is positioned where the fuel cap normally goes, so owners can easily guess where to put the plug. The statistics of the Mini E are impressive: 0-62 mph in 8.2 seconds an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph , a maximum range of 156 miles and a normal range of 100-120 miles. Of course, we have been hearing impressive-sounding claims for electric cars for at least 40 years, so we wanted to know how the Mini E really drives.
Pulling away is simplicity itself - it only has one gear, so you put it in Drive and accelerate - rapidly. Electric motors produce their torque (pulling power) instantly, so 0-10 mph is pretty much as fast as any manual car you can think of. Driving around the lanes of Hampshire, the car feels like a Mini, but a slightly odd one. The batteries are in the middle of the car, so the weight distribution is now like a mid-engined sports car. However, the batteries add 300 kg to the weight, so it feels less nimble than that might suggest: there is always the feeling that a giant hand is pressing the car into the road. The strangest thing, though, is that the Mini E is effectively a one-pedal car. When you come off the accelerator, the electric motor goes into reverse to recharge the battery. The amount of mass involved means it immediately slows down as if you had applied the brakes reasonably firmly. Thus you can drive up to stop signs without ever touching the brake pedal, which is actually rather neat. The only thing to remember is to come off the accelerator gradually - if you simply let it go, your progress will be distinctly jerky.
As regards the all-important question of range, we pushed the car pretty hard to see how it behaved and got a range of 80 miles, so 100 miles in normal use seems achievable. That means the Mini E is not a realistic alternative to the main vehicle in the household, but it could make a sensible second car. However, the thing to remember is that this is a prototype. Lithium-ion batteries will steadily improve over the next five years and a 200 mile range is a reasonable expectation. In 10 years, lithium-ion batteries could be replaced by oxygen batteries that offer a greater range. 300 miles range and a sub one-hour recharge are not impossible goals, by which time battery powered-cars could be mainstream alternatives. Finally, after decades of broken promises, the viable electric car could be on the horizon.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
