BMW to create Electric Mini

500 examples to be shipped to California
by Clinton Deacon
July 11, 2008 12:00 AM
Filed Under: BMW, German, Green, MINI

The electric vehicle offensive of BMW has been pretty quiet with very little action coming from the premium automaker. That is of course until today's announcement which stated they will create 500 electric versions of the Mini which will all be exported to California. 490 of them will be leased to selected customers with the remaining 10 set to be saved for display purposes.

The electric Minis will be built at the Mini Factory in Oxford ,UK, but these special models which will featured a silver livery and yellow roof will be starved of an engine, gearboxes or fuel tanks. They will then be shipped over to Germany where BMW will equip the models with an electric powertrain, before making the long journey across the pond to California. This will help keep BMW in check with the Golden State's strict emission guidelines that will requires that automakers offer zero emission vehicles.

The success of the project could then lead to a mass production of the vehicle, sources state BMW are likely to make an official announcement later this year.

Source: Automotive News
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Comments

You must do for that sort of response.

by stillthewhizz | July 11, 2008 12:17 AM
I hope they do something with in-wheel motors like PML Flightlink has done.

by dekub | July 13, 2008 11:11 PM
I seriously think that whoever who wrote this article ought to be sent for extra English lessons

by sovietmole | July 11, 2008 4:33 AM
What a joke when looking at green power and responsibility by BMW. Manufactured in the UK, shipped to Germany, and then back to the US (East Coast). Then shipped over to the West Coast. The carbon count involved in that mass transit probably equates to a 6.0 litre V8 manufactured and sold in the States. Actually, it's probably WAY HIGHER. As one trans-continental flight can equate to a year's worth of a car's carbon emissions.

by fusion01 | July 11, 2008 10:21 AM
did u no that the prius makes more carbon imissions than a land rover discovery does in it whole life time! that is becuase da prius' battery needs to b shipped around the wolrd

by BabyMilo | July 11, 2008 2:44 PM
Just stop it, both of you. Your idiotic banter is the stuff of conspiracy theorists and UFO abductees. You are arguing the carbon count of airplanes and freight liners as though, if BMW didn't undertake this endeavour, such services would not exist. Are you being intentionally obtuse? Consider what 500 EV Minis mean: a significant undertaking by a large automotive manufacturer towards a zero-emissions future. Cars today are an international effort; it is easy to find at least five countries' names listed on the components of any given automobile. If you are going to start counting the molecules of CO2 produced by every individual component's journey, why not tax each mol and see which automaker goes bust first? The problem is not carbon emissions; the problem is the lack of viable alternatives to emitting carbon dioxide.

by Bremen_Koenigsegg | July 11, 2008 8:09 PM
I subscrive your statement!

by dogfalcon | July 12, 2008 12:34 AM
The battery in an electric car and all the electronics are actually more harmfull to the environment than the pollutants produced by a gas powered car.

by gazer23 | July 16, 2008 11:55 AM
more info please

by dekub | July 20, 2008 1:00 PM

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