What BMW's Learned So Far From the Mini-E Electric Car Trial

BMW Mini-E electric car with Phase 2 trial group in England.

The key results show that MINI and the BMW Group are gleaning valuable learning that will help shape the specification and operating characteristics of its Megacity vehicle which will make its debut in 2013.

The key findings from the first six months of the UK field trial are as follows:

• MINI E usage differs only marginally from a control group of MINI Cooper and BMW 116i drivers in terms of average journey distance, daily mileage and frequency of use.
• Before the trials began, users expected limitations in terms of range and charging times. In practice these have only proved to be barriers in a very few specific cases.
• Users felt reassured that both the MINI E itself and the charging process are completely safe.
• There was a very strong feeling from both private and fleet users that renewable energy should play an important role in future electricity generation. There was also a strong feeling that the battery of an electric vehicle (EV) should be charged using renewables to optimise the ecological advantages of an EV.
• The BMW Group is trusted to provide a technically mature solution to the challenges presented by EVs.
• Users reported a need for more interior space for journeys requiring more passengers and more storage capacity.
• Users felt strongly that public charging facilities for EVs were desirable and even essential. However, at the same time, the majority claimed that they coped without public charging facilities.
• In summary, users liked MINI E’s lack of noise, the convenience of home charging, low off peak power charges, not having to go to a petrol station and queue, driving a zero emissions vehicle, MINI E’s acceleration characteristics and regenerative braking.
• Drawbacks include current mileage range for certain journeys, limited carrying capacity and sub-optimal car performance during the extremely cold weather conditions in December 2009 and January 2010.

read more via WWW.EVWORLD.COM : What BMW’s Learned So Far From the Mini-E Electric Car Trial.

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