First Drive: 2010 Mini E

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Los Angeles–Imagine your next car not only emits zero tailpipe emissions but also never asks to be filled up at a gas station. Ever. Now imagine that it doesn't look like a golf cart or a rejected prop from a failed sci-fi movie. It meets all of today's stringent safety requirements, and is fast enough to get you pulled over for speeding on Hwy. 401. Just a dream, right? BMW is trying to turn that automotive fantasy into reality at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show by inviting media to test drive its new all-electric Mini E. First, know that the Mini E isn't for sale, or available in Canada. It's part of BMW's Project i, an initiative to develop a low-emissions city car that could become an additional brand. The 500 motorists selected to be part of BMW's electric Mini test program, starting this January in southern California, New York and New Jersey, will pay a monthly leasing rate of $850 for only one year. (In Canada, a $22,800 2009 Mini Cooper Classic can be leased for three years for $336 a month.) Then the cars go back to BMW, where the German automaker hopes to find out about real-life effects, range limitation, how customers find "filling up" at home as opposed to visiting a gas station, and how much value they place on zero-emissions driving. It's not a hybrid – a 204 horsepower electric motor with 162 lb.-ft. of torque, hooked to a single-speed helical gear transmission, powers the Mini E's front wheels. Energy is housed in a lithium ion battery pack with a capacity of 35 kWh. Similar in concept to the Tesla Roadster, the battery is made up of 5,088 cells arranged in 48 modules. Like a lot of electric vehicles we've seen, the size of the batteries compromises the room you would expect in a regular gas-engine Mini. Although the Mini's rear two seats are already cramped for anyone who has reached puberty, the installation of the pack removes the seats entirely, and cargo room is lost as the battery pack is as tall as the window line. BMW says recharging the Mini E takes only 2.5 hours. But that's not from the same 110 V/15 A outdoor plug that you would use for your gas car's engine-block heater cord. Mini E lessees will get a special 220 V/80 cargo box that, like the Tesla, will need to be installed by an electrician. (A Tesla takes about 30 hours to recharge on a regular home outlet.) The Mini E looks like, well, a Mini – albeit with a blatant promotional Mini "E" logo resembling an electric plug plastered on its roof, radiator grille, bonnet, rear end, dashboard and battery charging cap. Of course, zero emisions – as in nada, nothing, zip – is the holy grail of all-electric vehicles like the Mini E. But a gas-only Mini Cooper is already one of the most fuel efficient cars in its class, rated at 7.3 L/100 km city, 5.4 highway. My drive time in the Mini E was limited to a 45-minute loop in stop-and-go evening rush hour downtown L.A. traffic. In other words, a perfect test of a car that's targeted to über urban drivers. After having my test drive delayed for an hour to let The Governator – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – get his Mini E opportunity (the irony that he showed up with a fleet of Cadillac Escalade Hybrids did not go unnoticed), one of the first things you notice is how little the electric Mini's driving experience differs from a regular gas model. Except for the battery status information that replaces the odometer in a regular Mini, there's nothing inside that gives the car's propulsion away. Start up is like any other gas-electric hybrid: silent. But where the Mini E differentiates itself from the Prius is how much fun it is to drive. At 1,465 kg, the Mini E is heavier than a comparable gas Mini. You can feel it when making cut-and-thrust moves in traffic. But it still has that stable, flat cornering characteristic that makes the gas model one of the most fun-to-drive small cars on the market. BMW says it can scoot from 0-to-100 km/h in 8.5 seconds – or about 0.6 seconds slower than a gas Mini Cooper. During the first couple of clicks (and thanks to the relatively prodigious amount of instant torque provide by the electric motor), I gleefully squealed the Mini E's tires whenever a hole in traffic opened up. Not that I had a hope of achieving this in L.A.'s clogged streets, but with a top speed of 152 km/h, theoretically, the Mini E should be on Ontario's street racer wanted list. And the power delivery with the one-gear tranny is linear and smooth. The only complaint is with the overly aggressive regenerative braking system – the most obnoxious I've ever encountered. The car almost brakes on its own, which is not good. According to the in-dash meter, my 45-minute, 5-km run dropped the battery capacity from 59 per cent to 51 per cent. And remember: the Mini E didn't use a drop of gas or emit a whiff of smog. But what if I was so enthused with the Mini E that I wanted to drive it to San Diego or San Francisco from here? I may need a long extension cord. With only a 200- to 240-km range between charges, that's about one quarter the range of a gas Cooper. For now, the Mini E is city bound. 2008 MINI E PRICE: One year, $850/month lease ENGINE: Electric motor POWER/TORQUE: 204 hp, 162 lb.-ft. FUTURE COMPETITION: 2010 Chevrolet Volt plug-in, hybrid and Nissan EV WHAT'S BEST: Zero emissions; no trips to the gas station; "real car" safety. WHAT'S WORST: Only two seats; limited cargo room; extra curb weight, not available in Canada WHAT'S INTERESTING: The Mini E is the first step in BMW's Project i, an initiative to develop a low-emissions city car that could become a new brand.

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