MINI E joins Government electric vehicle announcement.

BMW Group supports British Government plans for development of electric
vehicle infrastructure. Ian Robertson, Sales and Marketing Director of
BMW Group AG, today joined Business Secretary Peter Mandelson and
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon in Scotland as they launched the
Government's vision for ultra-low carbon transport in the UK. Both
ministers drove a MINI E electric car at the event as they announced
plans to support motorists by providing help worth
£2000-£5000 towards buying their first electric or plug-in
hybrid car when they hit the showrooms. BMW Group has announced that
MINI E will go on a twelve-month field trial in Germany and the USA
this year, to evaluate the technical and social aspects of living with
an all-electric vehicle in a real world environment and plans to
include the UK in this programme. Ian Robertson said, "We believe
the MINI E is an excellent vehicle for trialling this alternative form
of sustainable mobility. And what better time to do this than in the
year we celebrate the 50th birthday of MINI. We look forward to
extending our German and American trials to the UK." "Such a
trial cannot be conducted by any single organisation on its own,"
he added, "as it goes far beyond the simple test of a prototype
electric MINI. To make electric mobility a reality, organisations in
both the private and public sectors will need to think differently and
act together." BMW Group recently applied to the UK Government's
Technology Strategy Board in response to a funding competition
announced in December 2008. Proposals were invited for innovative,
industry-led collaborative research projects involving ultra-low carbon
vehicles. The UK trial would bring together central and regional
government departments, regional development organisations, energy
infrastructure providers and academic partners. The common objective is
to develop ultra-low carbon vehicles that customers want to buy - and
bring them to market as rapidly as possible. BMW has already established
a number of key proposed partners for the UK trial. Scottish and
Southern Energy is the UK's leading generator of energy from renewable
sources and will be installing the private and public charging points
required for the MINI E test vehicles. Academic support will come from
the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre at Oxford Brookes University
to carry out the data analysis and reporting the findings. The MINI
E research project supports the BMW Group goal of achieving
emission-free driving and underlines its commitment to reducing CO2
emissions without compromising the driving experience. The company aims
to begin series production of all-electric vehicles in the medium term
as part of the company's Strategy Number ONE. Know-how gained from the
MINI E pilot projects around the world will play an important part in
informing future strategic and technological decisions. At the end of
the one-year trial a comprehensive report documenting the main findings
of the MINI E research project will be published. This will help inform
those organisations seeking to create the political, technical and
commercial framework necessary to enable sustainable mobility in a low
carbon future to become reality. The BMW Group is the most sustainable
car company in the world - as the latest Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(DJSI) recently confirmed for the fourth year in succession. The
company already offers the most efficient cars in the premium segment,
thanks to Efficient Dynamics technologies. The BMW 118d was named World
Green Car of the Year 2008 and the Hydrogen7 has already made CO2-free
driving a reality. MINI E specification and performance The MINI E's
electric drive train produces a peak torque of 220 Nm, and power is
delivered to the front wheels via a single-stage helical gearbox. This
unique engine and transmission arrangement powers the MINI E seamlessly
to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and on to an electronically-limited top speed
of 95 mph. Based on the current MINI Hatch, the car is available as a
two-seater. The space normally inhabited by rear passengers is
reserved for a lithium-ion battery. When in use in the zero-emissions
MINI E, the battery unit combines high output with ample storage
capacity and remarkable power output. The lithium-ion storage unit will
have a maximum capacity of 35 kilowatt hours (kWh) and transmit 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. The energy storage unit's
components are based on technologies proven in power supply units for
mobile phones and portable computers. The MINI E's lithium-ion battery
can be plugged into all standard power outlets. Its charge time is
strongly dependent on the voltage and amperage of the electricity
flowing through the grid. As with existing research projects in the
USA and Berlin, users can recharge a battery that has been completely
drained within a very short period of time using a wallbox that will be
supplied as standard with every MINI E. With 240V/32A, charging time
for the car will be around four hours. There is also an intention to
establish a network of public charging stations. The wallbox will be
installed in the customer's garage, enable higher amperage, and thus
ensure extremely short charging times. Wallboxes fully recharge
batteries in just two-and-a-half hours. Only lockable garages or
similar buildings will qualify as suitable power stations for the MINI
E. Driven by electricity: zero emissions at minimal cost A full
recharge draws a maximum of 28 kilowatt hours of electricity from the
grid. Based on the car's range, a kilowatt hour translates into 5.4
miles. Besides the benefit of zero-emissions driving, the MINI E thus
offers significant economic advantages over a vehicle powered by a
conventional internal combustion engine. Fully re-charging the battery
using off-peak electricity at current prices will cost around
£1.50. Using higher-rate daytime electricity, the cost will still
be less than £4.00. The heavy-duty battery delivers its power to
an electric motor, which is mounted transversely under the MINI E's
bonnet. This power unit is able to unleash its full thrust from a dead
standstill and is complemented by its dynamic deceleration potential,
which is directly coupled to the accelerator pedal. As soon as the
driver releases 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 ensures a
comfortable and smooth driving experience. In city traffic, some 75 per
cent of all deceleration can be done without the brakes. Making
substantial use of this energy regeneration feature extends the car's
range by up to 20 per cent. The MINI E's brake system comes with a
newly developed electric pump. Its Electrical Power Assisted Steering
(EPS) is the same as the one used in series-produced MINIs. The MINI
E's 1,465 kilograms is evenly distributed across the car.
Modifications to the suspension system and the car's Dynamic Stability
Control (DSC), adapted to the car's specific wheel loads, ensure safe
and dynamic handling, typical of MINI. Unique styling to mark out the
new MINI E Every MINI E produced for this pilot project will have the
same paintwork and bear a serial number on the front bumper. The MINI
E's coachwork is painted metallic Dark Silver on all panels but the
roof, which is coloured Pure Silver. A special MINI E logo depicting a
stylized yellow power plug in the shape of an "E" set against
a silver background appears on the roof, front and rear wings and the
charge point cover. The dashboard trim, and the door jamb, feature the
same logo in slightly modified form. The colour of the roof edges, door
mirrors, interior styling accents and seat seams will match the yellow
of the "E" logo. Inside, the central gauge and battery level
indicator behind the wheel of the MINI E - which replaces the MINI's
rev counter - feature yellow lettering against a dark grey background.
The battery level is displayed in percentage figures. The central gauge
includes an LED display indicating power consumption in red and power
recuperation in green. Production in Oxford and Munich The MINI E has
already gone through the major phases of product development for
series-produced vehicles and passed numerous crash tests on the way.
The MINI E's energy storage unit emerged completely unscathed from all
of the crash tests mandated by European standards. Production of the
40 cars for the UK trial will take place shortly at the company's
Oxford and Munich sites and is scheduled for completion before October
2009. MINI's Plant Oxford will be responsible for manufacturing the
entire vehicle on the standard production line, with the exception of
the drive components and the lithium-ion battery. The vehicles will
then be transferred to a specially equipped manufacturing facility
situated on BMW plant premises in Munich where the electric motor,
battery units, performance electronics and transmission will be integrated.