The BMW Group is  to deploy a fleet of nearly 500 all electric vehicles for use in daily traffic. Powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor and fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

The MINI E can travel more than 150 miles on a single charge and provides the agility and handling of a MINI Cooper. It is powered by a 150 kilowatt electric motor with the equivalent of 201 hp. The energy supply comes from a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The vehicle, which debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph. MINI will install a special wall box into each MINI E customer's garage that can fully recharge a completely drained battery in just two-and-a-half hours.

BMW Group says that putting 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hand-on experience. Evaluating these finding will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass-produced vehicles.

Based on the current Mini model, the car will initially be available as a two-seater. The battery can be plugged into all standard power outlets and its charge time is strongly dependent on the voltage and amperage of the electricity flowing through the grid. That’s why, in the USA, buyers will receive a wall-box that will ship with every Mini E. The wall-box will be installed in the customer’s garage, enabling higher amperage. Wall-boxes will fully recharge the batteries after two-and-a-half hours.

Production of the approximately 500 cars will take place at the company’s Oxford and Munich sites and is scheduled for completion before the end of 2008.

Source: press.bmwgroup.com