first Mini E Trial Project

We all know about the merits of electric vehicles but have you ever wondered how it would really be like owning one and driving it on a daily basis?

In collaboration with the British government, the BMW Group launched a trial program in the UK with 40 pure-electric MINI E cars given to 62 citizens and 72 pool users over two six-month periods, from December 2009 until March 2011.

Now that the trial period is over, MINI and the Oxford Brookes University, which undertook the research, have released their findings.

Here are the MINI E trial project results in numbers:

• 40 MINI Es
• 12 Months
• 138 Drivers (32 women, 106 men)
• 258,105 miles (415,380 km)
• 33,345 Journeys
• 80,282 kWh Electricity
• Highest mileage by an individual driver over six months: 7,954 miles (11,270 km)
• Average mileage per vehicle over six months, including fleet pool cars: 3,226 miless (4,830 km)
• Average single trip distance: 9.5 miles (15.3 km), compared to UK average of 7 miles (11.3 km)
• Average cost to charge over six months: £60, less than 2p per mile
• Virtually all recharging carried out at home.
• Almost all participants said they’d consider buying an electric car as a result of taking part in the program.
• 80% of the participants trips were made exclusively in the MINI E. With the addition of rear seats and a bigger boot, this number would increase to 90%.

The MINI E is powered an electric motor that produces 204HP and 204 Nm, while drawing energy from a 35kWh Li-Ion battery. It has a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h) and an official maximum range of 149 miles (240 km), although the company admits that 112 miles (180 km) is a more realistic figure.