BMW to Extend Mini-E Lease Program to Britain - With Just 40 Cars
By John O'Dell October 14, 2009
Great Britain, where the Mini was born, will finally get a chance to sample the all-electric version of the tiny car (right).
BMW, which now owns Mini, said a lease program that has put nearly 1,000 battery-electric new-generation Mini-Es on the road in the U.S. and Germany will be extended to the United Kingdom next year with 40 of the cars available for 6-month leases.
Half the leases - at 330 British pounds per month ($527 at today's exchange rate) - will be with fleet users and half with private parties who agree, as in the U.S. and Germany, to drive the car at least 300 miles a month, keep it garaged when not in use and provide Mini with a regular stream of comment and criticism.
The purpose of the program is to find out how people use the cars, especially their driving and battery-charging patterns.
Edmunds.com is leasing one of the 500 U.S. cars for its long-term fleet (we pay $850 a month for a one-year lease - they're getting a bargain in England) and you can read our impressions of life with a Mini-E right here.
As in the other markets, the British Mini E will cnme with a 575-pound lithium-ion battery pack occupying the space where the back seat used to be. It will provide a travel range of approximately 100 miles on a single charge (we're finding ours is good for about 80 miles, but daily driving speeds in the U.K. are a bit slower than in Southern California).
The Brits have been told the same thing BMW/Mini said when it began the U.S. lease program - the car is a case study and there are no plans for a retail version. That doersn't mean we won't see a BMW EV - just not in the Mini package.
LEAVE A COMMENT