2011 MINI E First Impressions

[ahmed_7erzon]

A car like the MINI E would be a hard sell to someone like my father, who grew up with cheap horsepower and gas. As a car nut raised in the 80's by a car nut raised in the 60's, your correspondent, like most of his family, likes their cars powered by engines that use pistons, spark-plugs and gasoline.


The thought of boycotting gas stations and their ever-fluctuating prices is a pleasant one lately though-- and as such, automakers are scrambling harder than ever to get electric cars into showrooms. They're not popping up all over Canadian roadways just yet, but they're something we're about to start seeing a lot more of.

As a glimpse into the possible future of electric mobility, your writer recently spent a morning with an experimental model from MINI called the MINI E. A fully-functional prototype, it had recently retired from a fleet of data-collecting and opinion-gathering models deployed south of the border with early adopter types.

Before his test-drive, your gas-loving writer was sceptical to say the least.

“It's gotta be slow” I thought to myself, pulling out of BMW's Richmond Hill, Ontario headquarters.

“Or wimpy”.

Rob Dexter is BMW's Corporate Communications Specialist, and as big a car buff as any. He smirked as he handed over the MINI E’s keys. “It's a real hoot” he said, grinning genuinely.

I half believed him at first.

Once on board, things fired up and slipped into gear just like a regular automatic MINI Cooper. Relays click away as the instruments come to life, though no starter motor sounds were apparent, naturally. All was basically quiet, albeit for a slight hum from what sounded like a cooling fan for the battery packs.

The tachometer is replaced with a range gauge that reads between 0 and 100 percent, and otherwise, the E's dash and gauges were largely the same as those in the standard car.

Mashing the throttle exiting a left turn from a traffic light, the MINI E broke its front tires loose with a delightful squeal before tearing down the roadway with a hint of torque steer.


The smiles began.

Acceleration isn't the noiseless type you’ll find in most hybrids, but instead accompanied by a notable, increasingly-pitched whine as velocity gathers. With no gears to shift, 201 horsepower and 162 lb.-ft. torque available at every RPM, said gathering of velocity happens very quickly.

Aurally, the MINI E lacks the testosterone-laced gusto of a conventional piston engine, though the whining electric system sounds pretty darn cool in its own way.

Remember-- there's no gas involved here, and performance is considerably ahead of that found in your average limp-throttled hybrid car. The MINI E is as quick as a Cooper S, or, if your unfamiliar, in the same butt-hauling ballpark as a VW GTI or Volvo C30 T5.

Since the motor's torquey punch is available 100 percent of the time from any RPM, the same neck-straining power surge is on standby from virtually any speed. Only exception is right off the line, where the electronic throttle gets the MINI E rolling a little before applying full power.

Lift off, and aggressive brake-energy regeneration makes using the brake pedal almost obsolete, too.

MINI handling goodness was also present, along with the lighting-quick steering and stiff, sporty suspension that bring it all together. Air conditioning also worked like a charm.

After some 70 kilometres spent on central Ontario's winding sideroads and highways, performance from this little electric MINI had brought a smile to the face of a fossil-burning gearhead. The technology definitely works, even if it’s a little compromised in this early application.

A complete 'from-empty' charge of the tester takes 24 hours and yields a range of about 160 kilometres-- making the MINI E effectively useless for rural use by many Canucks. The battery technology isn't exactly cheap or compact yet, either. In fact, the entire rear seat and much of the cargo hold was occupied by the giant lithium-ion storage units. Of course, the power stored within them isn't free, either.

As time passes, the required electric technology and hardware will become more compact and less expensive. Looking to the future, BMW’s upcoming 'Active E' 1-Series concept hits the road later this year, and gets smaller, flatter batteries and increased driving range.


So-- can an electric Mini or BMW provide the rewarding, fun-to-drive experience required of either brand? According to Tom Baloga, BMW North America's VP of Engineering, it has to be.

“Customers buying a BMW with better mileage, reduced emissions and improved comfort will always get the ultimate driving experience. The benchmark is established in this regard, and there are no compromises on that. Regardless of changes or improvements, the customer always gets a BMW at the end of the day”.

An all-electric BMW, tentatively called the ‘Megacity’, will be on sale in showrooms as a 2013 model, too.