BMW builds 500 electric MINI Coopers for California

[Andrew 30]

BMW is planning on building about 500 electric versions of its MINI Cooper for California. The electric Coopers are built at MINI’s Oxford, England plant without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks. They are then shipped to Munich, Germany to be fitted with electric powertrains.

According to a BMW source, 490 of the electric MINIs making their way to California will be leased to selected customers while the other 10 will be used as show cars for advertising. The source also said the electric MINIs are painted silver with a yellow roof.

The program is a part of a new division called Project i established by BMW to test and develop low-emission cit cars. The new electric MINIs will help BMW meet new California rules that will require automakers to sell cars with zero emissions.

A spokesman for BMW told Automotive News Europe: “BMW will announce whether it will build electric vehicles or not later this year.”

[Andrew 30]

My 2c.

Electric cars are the only viable green future. Why can't somebody build a sub $30000 electric car that does 500kms per charge. Then we get nuclear or some other green power and the stupid fuel/carbon emission BS problem is solved.

Sounds simple to me - why f**k around with hydrogen and hybrids. GM were right with the EV-1 in the early 90s and only now they are back to market in 2010 with the Volt. Meh - ELECTRIC CARS FTW.

[*Glenn* 854]

The biggest problem with battery cars are their batteries. Battery technoligy has not been able to produce a reliable, compact, light weight, high AH battery pack to power these vehicles and give them a reliable driving range.

[kiwi535 538]

and the other side of the equation is how do you charge them...the only truly green way is hydro(which has its drawbacks) or nuclear,which in the long run is NOT green.WE NEED FISSION!

[hybrid 1043]

Electric cars are NOT the way forward ... what is going to happen when we have a battery disposal problem ? Not to mention the amount of energy and materials needed to build them. It has already been proven that even before they roll off the production line they have more harm to the environment than a petrol car in its first 10 years.

Hydrogen people! hydrogen!

[bravo 35]

Also, the tiime required for charging is a huge drawback. Lets say your're on a camping trip. Normally you fill up, dirve to the campsite, and then if you need fuel to get back, you fill up on the way home. Electric you'd need to schedule a re-charging stop on the way home. (Plenty of other examples too).

It'll be interesting to see what sort of infrastructure would be put in place - charging docks at carparks?? Do they charge more than if you did it at home? Will there be enough carparks offering the service? What about rural areas? Will "service stations" start selling battery packs on a swap-basis? How then could they guarantee that the battery has a good charge? do you have to start carrying around spare batteries (heavy, take up room). I think 500km is a start, but double that and we'd be on the right track.

I see huge benefits in terms of performance though. Electric motors are hugely powerful and versatile.

[hybrid 1043]

Honda has the right idea to combat things ... just need to have a hydrogen based engine not electric.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/how-fcx-works.aspx

[kiwi535 538]

Honda has the right idea to combat things ... just need to have a hydrogen based engine not electric.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/how-fcx-works.aspx

yes but where does the hydrogen come from?

[bravo 35]

and the other side of the equation is how do you charge them...the only truly green way is hydro(which has its drawbacks) or nuclear,which in the long run is NOT green.WE NEED FISSION!

until the uranium runs out too.

[westy 614]

And we figure out what to do with the waste.