Filed under: Economy, Green, Hatchbacks, BMW, MINI
MINI E: An American sellout?
Click above for a high-res gallery of the MINI E's unveiling
Is the new MINI E sold out? If by "rented through," yes, it looks like you may have missed your opportunity to be a beta tester for BMW's new electric Cooper.
BMW is leasing around 500 of the diminutive hatchbacks at a cost of $850-a-month (including insurance) for one year in the New York/New Jersey metro area as well as Southern California, and according to a new Bloomberg News story, applicants for the program have outnumbered the cars by more than a 4-to-1 ratio, though there is always the possibility that not all of the cars have been doled out yet.
If you're still pondering how you might be able to muscle your way to the front of the queue, be prepared for some changes from your everyday motoring routine. For one, the MINI E's range is limited to 120 miles, at which point you'll have to plug the car into the 220-volt outlet you've had installed in your garage. If you're stuck away from home, you can plug the MINI E into a 110-volt wall outlet, but be prepared to wait-a charge takes about 26 hours (versus around three for the 220-volt outlet). Beyond that, expect for MINI to require you to keep track of your driving experience with a diary and various online surveys.
Despite all of the various hoops to jump through, we're not at all surprised to learn that the opportunity to noiselessly motor about in a zero-emissions Cooper has charmed more than 2000 lease applicants. Given the brand's fanatical (and generally well-heeled) following, we're almost surprised that the number isn't higher. So don't feel bad if you applied for a MINI E of your very own, only to get turned down. Besides, there's always the PML MINI QED...
Gallery: MINI E live reveal
[Bloomberg News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ryan M 10:37AM (1/06/2009)
I don't understand how a 120-mile range is going to force me to change my "Every day" driving routine.
My "Driving to Grandmas house" or "Driving across country" routine? Maybe, but my "Every Day" routine? No.
My brother in law has the longest commute of anybody I personally know, and his commute is only about 70 miles. Although I'm sure somebody will chime in and mention their 200 mile /daily/ commute, I'm sure the great majority of us drive less than 120 miles/day.
It only bothers me because of how much the Press harped on electric cars back in the EV1s day and age.
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tankd0g 11:30AM (1/06/2009)
If I have clients to visit I'll do more than that in a day. Anyone who lives in a rural area is going to have 40-50 miles of driving each way just to get into the city, which would make puttering around town a bit nerve wracking. Obviously these cars are not for those people.
jv2k 12:27PM (1/06/2009)
I don't know about you but I've driven more than 50 miles just driving around town to different places. If I actually had to commute(and there are places in america where you need to commute) I'd be screwed
DCragtop 10:56AM (1/06/2009)
Lord I must be getting old because I'm thinking $850.00 a month 'beta lease' for a Mini Cooper seems barmy. A Mini, for $850.00 a month because it's electric? So much for economical hard times.
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Jared 11:06AM (1/06/2009)
$850/month? I could lease a gas MINI and pay for gas for a lot less than $850/month.
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bananas 11:15AM (1/06/2009)
Seriously! I pay less than half that for a minivan lease, and don't even spend $200/month to gas it up AND my second car (BOTH used daily). For that kind of money, it is definately NOT worth it at all.
tankd0g 11:30AM (1/06/2009)
You've just discovered the universal truth of electric cars. Even if the electricity was free, it still doesn't make financial sense to most people. The next big breakthrough needed in EVs isn't better batteries, it's lower cost.
jcar302 12:21PM (1/06/2009)
What's worse is that it's $850 for a lease.
At the end of the year, they take the car back and you just spent $10,200 to rent a car for a year.
If you have $850 to blow a month just because you want an electric car, you might as well buy a tesla.
jg 12:48PM (1/06/2009)
This deal isn't for people who NEED a car. It's for the idle rich who can afford to blow $850 a month. Let them test it out. In a few years there will be a cheaper production ready version for the rest of us to enjoy.
See. Rich people have a purpose. We shouldn't kill them all during the revolution.
SteveJ 12:56PM (1/06/2009)
Isn't the Honda FCX lease $600/month? And that car seats 5!
Mark 11:20AM (1/06/2009)
standard current from the grid in the UK is 240 volts, does that mean you wouldn't need a special plug installed over here?
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why not the LS2LS7? 11:30AM (1/06/2009)
Sort of.
In the UK, a standard plug is 240V, but it's only 13A. That means it can charge almost twice as fast as a US regular plug. However, the 220V outlet you can install at your house in the US to charge faster is 40A (or more, Tesla requests 70A), so it charges more than twice as fast as the UK plug.
So a UK plug should be faster than 26 hours, but not 3.
This topic has come up a bit on ab and abg, and Europeans have said that because a regular plug is so powerful, getting a high-current plug is a bit more involved in Europe (unlike in the US where every house typically has 3 or more high-current/high-voltage circuits), so they may be in a bit of a pickle trying to get to that fast charging. If true, I can't see how it would last forever, Europe will adapt.
Kattleox 11:21AM (1/06/2009)
I read the title and screamed "YES!!!" and continued to read and said: why not just get the Mini John Cooper Works package? I mean, thats why people buy electric, right? For the torque?
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caddy-v 11:26AM (1/06/2009)
$850.00 per month for a car you can't go more than 60 miles away from home unless you wait 26 hours for a recharge?
And just how many amps at 220 volt recharge? At what cost?
How is making sense to anyone?
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tankd0g 11:30AM (1/06/2009)
If you hang out on ABG and sip seaweed vanilla chi lattes while you shop for your all organic food that requires twice the refrigeration due to the lack of preservatives, this car makes perfect sense. If only it came with a bong holder.
why not the LS2LS7? 11:33AM (1/06/2009)
I'm still not sure what has been accomplished here other than PR. This program is still mirroring the EV1, and thus now breaking any new ground (although people in NJ may disagree slightly). Getting 2,000 applicants isn't real difficult, GM had more than that, the problem is most applicants aren't qualified, typically because they cannot get a 220V outlet in their apartment stall.
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Mike Womack 11:53AM (1/06/2009)
Hello,
It's about the gas, It's not the price we have to pay it's overcoming americans love of oil. Think before you write.
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Epyx 12:02PM (1/06/2009)
That sounds wonderful and all but it is actually all about the Benjamins.
Jared 12:04PM (1/06/2009)
Womack: You should take your own advice.
david 9:01AM (1/08/2009)
You sound like one of the people from the Southpark episode "Smug Alert"
"Hello" "Thannnnnnnkkkkkssss"
/rolls eyes
Get over yourself. It's $850 a month to make idiots feel better about themselves. A smart person would take their own car, or get a cheap gas sipper and donate the money to something actually useful towards clean energy (solar power, et al.) Or send the money to a college fund so that it can send kids to college so they can become engineers and scientists (the real people who will get us on clean energy)