50% of Mini E Leasers set to Extend Lease into second year

All Electric Mini E

Lease price is also being cut from $850 (?675) per month to $600 (?476)

Good news for BMW Group's MINI brand - half of its MINI E customers are renewing their leases for another year.

The MINI E is an electric version of the MINI model and the iconic British brand has 450 of them prowling the streets of Los Angeles and New York in a pilot project intended to test the real-world viability of the car.

Rich Steinberg, in charge of BMW North America's electric vehicle operations, told InsideLine that the brand will only be offering the renewals to private customers and not fleet users. The monthly lease price is also being cut from $850 (€675) per month to $600 (€476).

Under the bonnet of the MINI E is a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries. The all-electric boasts a range of around 120 miles (193 km). The MINI E is slated for production next year.

Source: insideline

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oh nice to hear. $850 per month lease, that better be without downpayment.

May 14, 2010 1:34 pm

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Intense

A convertible electric mini with a $300 - $400 lease makes a lot more sense to my fruganomics

May 15, 2010 5:04 pm

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v6s_stink

Wow, this is an incredible way to spin a story. With a near 29.4% price cut in play, %50 of customers stilled bagged out. Doesn't sound like a good thing to me.

May 17, 2010 8:38 am

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radmeister

You have to remember this is California we are talking about. With the lease price it was already an upper class car, i am surprised 50% came back. Most of those people never wear a pair of socks more than once, so to have kept a car for this long it's saying something. Also with the car going into production next year why would you lease an old model again. Also the lease on the production model should be less, 600$/mo is roughly a 70k car. So unless the production model costs 70k which i doubt i expect the new lease to be for 300-400$ and with a convertible most likely on the plate i can't blame them for not renewing it and just waiting it out.

May 17, 2010 11:06 am

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