Los Angeles, New York City to Get 500 MINI Es
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that BMW is giving the city a fleet of MINI Es as part of a feasibility test. In fact, BMW will be testing 500 electric MINIs worldwide. Other cities included in the program are Los Angeles, London and Berlin.
MINI E is the first product from BMW’s Project i program. Project i takes aim at vehicle and transportation strategies for the world’s mega-cities. The cars will be loaned to both customers and the cities for a full year.
Read our article on BMW’s greenest diesel car yet!
In NYC, the cars will be used by street inspectors. They are responsible for ascertaining street conditions such as potholes and graffiti. Inspectors currently drive up to 100 miles a day.
Luckily, the zero-emission car, powered by a 150 kW electric motor, can travel more than 150 miles on a single charge. And the car’s battery can be fully charged in less than three hours.
Of the 500 cars the BMW Group is providing, 450 of them are being leased to customers who applied online at MINIUSA.com. I was one of those customers. I didn’t qualify as MINI is installing charging units in every customer’s garage, and well…I don’t have one of those.
Since this program tests the viability of the MINI E, I have to wonder if this is a bunch greenwashing. They are taking aim at mega-cities, but how many of us have a garage in big cities like New York or where I live, San Francisco. Maybe I am just bitter.
Without ample charging stations, how successful can this “field test” be? Is it just a way for MINI to say, “Hey..we tried!” What do you think?
The vehicles are scheduled to arrive in April.
Photos: MINIUSA.com
I don’t think it is green washing, I think it is seriously poor judgment. BMW is betting that this is a fad and that the TDI systems will win. At least that is my take. If they can produce these cars in that #, BMW should start selling the MiniE now.They would clobber the EV market.
If you have enough brainpower to design such a car, why not to use it a bit more.
So you can plug your MINI into any power outlet !
“Installing charging unit” sounds cumbersome and if you happened to run out of juice away from that charging unit …. ?
Also I think that BMW would have been better off to offer MINI as a ZipCars !
Pretty much all of them parked in the garages, they are used for short trips and
people would have chance to try it, tell their friends and start the fad. Otherwise
mini might end up in the same “toy box” with Segway