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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 3, 2008 - 29 You'll get a charge out of the all-electric MINI By Jim Robinson Metroland Media Group www.yourautos.ca LOS ANGELES, Ca.: The MINI stand at the LA Auto Show is one of the last places I expected to find one of the biggest green car stories of the year, but that's what the MINI E is. While the Chevy Volt is still months, and perhaps now years away, BMW, which owns MINI, presented the electrically powered MINI E to the global media for the first time in Los Angeles. Not merely a concept car, 500 MINI E vehicles will be shipped to California, New York and New Jersey for testing with private and corporate customers who will lease it for (US)$850 a month for a year. MINI had a veritable fleet of them available for test drives and it proved eye opening, especially the acceleration. BMW is on record as stating it's plans to be in series production in the mid-term of all-electric vehicles, starting with the MINI E, as part of the BMW's `Number One' strategy. The MINI E's electric drive produces a peak power of 204 hp and 162 lb/ft (220 Nm) of torque that is routed to the front wheels through a single-stage helical gearbox. On the street, the MINI E goes from 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds with a top speed of 152 km/h. Range is subjective but with 58 per cent power in the battery, I was told that I was good for about 100 miles. BODY STYLE: Luxury electric two-seat sedan. DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, front-wheel drive. ENGINE: One electric motor (204 hp, 162 lb/ft) FUEL ECONOMY: 28-kilowatt hours for 150-plus miles. PRICE: 500 leased at (US)$850/mo for one year. WEB: mini.ca use, homes will be fitted with wallboxes, usually in a garage, that are hooked up to the power grid. The recharging system uses the same technology as in charging a cellphone or laptop. According to the people I spoke with, a full recharge draws a maximum of 28-kilowatt hours of electricity. A kilowatt-hour roughly translates into 5.4 miles for a total of about 150-plus miles depending on your driving habits. Starting is basically the same as the MINI with an electronic key fob that is inserted into a slot on the dash and then a starter button is pushed. What's different is a central gauge and battery level indicator on the steering wheel hub replaces the MINI's tachometer. The battery level is displayed there in percentage figures. The huge signature central gauge includes an LED display indicating power consumption in red and power recuperation in green. There is no sound at startup. Pull the transmission mounted shifter back to Drive and you're ready to go, but don't hit the accelerator too hard because the MINI E takes off like a rocket. With 204 hp, it is about the same as the turbocharged MINI Cooper S but without any noise. Every time the driver lifts off the accelerator pedal, the electric motor acts as a generator. This results in braking force, and the power recovered from the kinetic energy is fed back to the battery. This interaction ensures a comfortable and smooth driving experience. In city traffic, some 75 per cent of all deceleration can be done without the brakes. This energy regeneration feature extends the car's range by up to 20 per cent. Regenerative braking feels like a parachute being opened. Each time you lift, the brake lights come on to warn drivers behind you because the deceleration is so abrupt. You can get around it by left foot braking but that seriously lessens range as the whole system depends on as much regenerative power as possible. Los Angeles rush hour traffic is never fun, but in the downtown core, it is horrendous. In this environment, the MINI E with its already great handling, can nip, tuck, bob and weave where few others cars could go. Much of this agility is due to the Electrical Power Assisted Steering (EPS) and is the same as the one used in mass-produced MINIs. Another plus is that the MINI E's hefty 1,465 kg weight is evenly distributed around the chassis. A car like this in the city makes a believer in an electric future out of anyone. But Los Angeles is one thing and Canada is another. I also learned MINI E has gone through the major phases of product development for massproduced vehicles and passed numerous crash tests and safety standards. The great thing about the MINI E, and the "green" cars at the Los Angeles Auto Show, is that something is being done and there is a future for the automobile and it's cars like the MINI E that are leading the way. Photos by Jim Robinson The MINI E is an all-electric two-seater that has a range of about 150-plus miles with a top of speed of about 150 km/h.The electric motor sees the MINI E accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds and a theoretical top speed of 150 km/h. The MINI E is based on the current hatchback model but will be offered only as a twoseater because the massive lithium-ion battery pack takes up the entire back seat and most of the rear cargo space. The lithium-ion storage unit has a maximum capacity of 35kilowatt hours (kWh) and transmits energy to the electric motor as direct current at a nominal 380 volts. The rechargeable battery is made up of 5,088 cells grouped into 48 modules. These modules are packaged into three battery elements that are compactly arranged inside the MINI E. At the Los Angeles Convention Centre, MINI had power stations about the size of the tire air pumps. In everyday