http://www.autospies.com/news/A-NEW-EXPERIENCE-DRIVING-PLEASURE-WITHOUT-EMISSIONS-THE-MINI-E-36264/
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A NEW EXPERIENCE – DRIVING PLEASURE WITHOUT EMISSIONS: THE MINI E
Agent00J submitted on 10/18/2008 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 2:47 PM
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A NEW EXPERIENCE – DRIVING PLEASURE WITHOUT EMISSIONS: THE MINI E
Woodcliff Lake, NJ – October 18, 2008… The BMW Group will be the world’s first manufacturer of premium automobiles to deploy a fleet of some 500 all-electric vehicles for private use in daily traffic. The MINI E will be powered by a 150 kW (204 hp) electric motor fed by a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery, transferring its power to the front wheels via a single-stage helical gearbox nearly without a sound and entirely free of emissions. Specially engineered for automobile use, the battery technology will have a range of more than 240 kilometers, or 150 miles. The MINI E will initially be made available to select private and corporate customers as part of a pilot project in the US states of California, New York and New Jersey. The possibility of offering the MINI E in Europe as well is currently being considered. The MINI E will give its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19 and 20, 2008.

The MINI E’s electric drive train produces a peak torque of 220 Newton meters, delivering seamless acceleration to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 152 km/h (95 mph). Featuring a suspension system tuned to match its weight distribution, the MINI E sports the brand’s hallmark agility and outstanding handling.

By introducing the MINI E, the BMW Group is underscoring the resolve with which it works towards reducing energy consumption and emissions in road traffic. The BMW Group is drawing on its unique technological expertise in the field of drive systems to develop a vehicle concept enabling zero emissions without renouncing the joy of driving. Putting some 500 cars on the road under real daily traffic conditions will make it possible to gain widely applicable hands-on experience. Evaluating these findings will generate valuable know-how, which will be factored into the engineering of mass-produced vehicles.

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BMW what's the cost going to be $40,000 dollars?

GM,just last month announced the "development" of the Chevy Volt a hybrid car that can be run on a battery for 40 miles and switched over to a gasoline-electric mode.This is still under development and is only slightly different from the Toyota Prius which is also a gasoline-electric hybrid.Unlike GM,however, Toyota never called the Prius an electric car being content to call it a hybrid.The Prius has logged many millions of miles in actual highways and city driving and has proven legendary Toyota reliability.

GM, in its quest to establish its technology credentials has already decided that the Volt is superior to the Prius and the public is going to be grossly disappointed in the Volt.We have been down that road with GM before.Meanwhile,Toyota and Honda are adding plug in capabilities to the hybrid and are planning to introduce an an electric vehicle when the new generation of lithium-iron phosphate batteries make their debut.

BMW's announcement of a Mini with a range of 150 miles or more with 500 test vehicles should also fall in the range of credible motor vehicles.We will see who wins.My bet is on BMW and Toyota.

I don't know if you saw the film Who Killed the Electric Car. I believe the American companies were actually ahead of the Japanese ones on electric cars (the Japanese only got into electric and hybrid technology because of a California law, the same reason GM got into it, but got out of it when they and the oil companies took this law down). But they decided to do the bidding of the oil companies, and bring the hammer down on their own vehicles. Now they're bankrupt, who are the marketing geniuses at GM? Die GM, you can't die soon enough! Die you greedy, immoral GM sons of bitches!

Like all GM executives, the ones involved in the project prefer the tried and true and not stick their neck out with anything new.A new technology means effort and who wants it or needs it?That would give young hotshots a leg up on you and you would soon be pounding the pavement looking for job.So,you just go with the flow and kill all new ideas to make yourself more secure.

That attitude is pervasive among all Detroit carmakers.They hate the Japanese for producing cars that the public wants,that run and run and run without any trouble for years.If the American carmakers decide to go upscale and fleece the rich with their junky cadillacs and Lincolns, there too the Japanese and the Germans have staked out their positions with their Lexus and BMW's.What is a carmaker to do?

In the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car, they go through a litany of reasons the electric car was 'killed', I personally believe Big Oil killed it. But there was certainly a confluence of factors.