Electrified MINI on the road

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What is it?

It's a MINI. Only it's not a normal MINI, as it's a strict two-seater thanks to the lack of rear seats. It's no super-focussed track special like the MINI GP though, instead the seats have been removed to make place for batteries. Lots of them. This is the MINI E, that E in case you haven't already guessed stands for electric. MINI won't be offering the MINI E in showrooms yet; the 500 it's making being leased out to customers in the USA to gather data on how people use their electric car. There'll be 50 in Germany too, and there's some talk of a few making it to London. Even if any do, you'll be very lucky to get one and even then you'd only be allowed to keep it for a year.

Is it any good?

The key problem with electric cars has always been performance and range. Lithium ion batteries of the sort you use everyday in your mobile phones has gone some way to solving this, the MINI E sprinting to 62mph in just 8.5 seconds. It'll cover 150 miles too, so long as it's driven sensibly. However, you'll need to sacrifice the back seats for the batteries and they're heavy too, but think back to how big mobile phones used to be and how small they are now and it's likely the same will happen with electric car technology.

It's fast. Very fast. There's 201bhp on stream, and the peak torque of 164lb.ft reaches the wheels the instant you touch the accelerator. Initially, driving it is an unusual experience. Firstly, there's no noise. Get in, push the key into its slot and the only thing to tell you that it's started is the instruments lighting up. Pop the single-speed automatic transmission into Drive and press the accelerator and the MINI E moves off briskly and silently. Lifting off that accelerator reveals the remarkable regenerative recovery process topping up the batteries - allowing the MINI E to be driven without ever touching the brakes. It's unnerving at first, but you soon become accustomed to its effect and learn to judge your accelerator position perfectly to allow you to roll up to junctions and traffic lights without ever touching the brake pedal.

The acceleration is hugely satisfying thanks to the instantaneous response to your right foot. At any speed the MINI lunges forward with real force, though driving it so enthusiastically undoubtedly ruins the E's already limited range. The steering feels a bit less sharp than in its conventional relatives and the MINI E's additional weight is felt through the suspension on bumps, but it's still a tremendously enjoyable car to drive with accurate responses and tidy body control.

Should I call the bank manager?

You'll need to live in the US for the moment if you want to get your hands on a MINI E. There, the lucky 500 people who get to lease one for the year will pay $850 a month for the chance to drive MINI's emissions-free E. Included in that is servicing after 3,000-miles, though the drivetrain shouldn't need any attention; the service is merely a check over. MINI will need to install a charging point in your home too, a 48-amp outlet allowing a two-hour full charge. Power it from a conventional socket and you'll need significantly more time than that to recharge the batteries. One kilowatt hour of energy should power the MINI E 5.4 miles, costing around 13-14 pence at the moment in the UK depending upon your supplier.

Summary

The MINI E is a field exercise for MINI, a data gathering experiment that aims to find out how people will use their electric cars. The results should allow the BMW Group to tune its future model plans to suit users' usage. BMW has as good as admitted that an electric car will feature in the company's future line-up. Whether it will be badged BMW, MINI or even another marque is still up for debate. If it's half as much fun as the MINI E, then the future is very bright indeed.

Kyle Fortune