MINI E joins Government electric vehicle announcement

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.


MINI E technical data
(Please see downloadable press release for formatted table of data)

Ends