Electric Mini 'with 150 mile range'

[dipsydoodle]

INCLUDES VIDEO.

Mini E designer Patrick Fuller demonstrates the car that engineers say can travel 150 miles before its battery needs to be recharged.

BMW is setting up a pilot project in the US which will be extended to Europe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7762840.stm

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

1. I hope it's true!

I think a lot of us are looking for a viable (and affordable) battery/electric option that has more than the current 40 or 50 mile range. Our gov. should make that a priority...push for cars that have more than 100 mile range, and then give a rebate of $10,000 per car for us to purchase them. Just my humble opinion.

[MichellesBFF]

2. I got an e-mail from Mini about this...

An invitation to be apply to lease one for a year. (I have a 2006 Mini) But you had to live near a major city (NY, LA) to participate, and I don't. C'est la vie...

I hope they have great success with the car and I will hopefully be able to buy one when I have to replace Scooty in the future.

[mn9driver]

3. The back seat battery is huge.

It will be interesting to see if they have solved the problem of needing to replace that thing every 3 or 4 years at a cost upwards of $15k-$20k. That has always been the show stopper with electric cars.

[kristopher]

4. hmmm - Build your own...

AC-150 Electric Drive System

Press Release for 2008-11-19
AC Propulsion Provides Power for 500 New Electric Vehicles

San Dimas, CA – Nov. 19, 2008 – AC Propulsion supplies the electric propulsion and battery technology for the MINI E electric vehicle introduced today at the LA Auto Show by BMW Group. AC Propulsion has delivered more than 500 drive systems to the BMW Group factory in Munich for MINI E production.

“Working with BMW Group on the MINI E project has been a great opportunity,” said AC Propulsion CEO Tom Gage, “The schedule was tight and required a lot of discipline and coordination. We really pushed our manufacturing operation to meet the production schedule. I drove one of the cars in Munich and our drive system delivers the power, I couldn’t stop smiling. We’ve had cars with our drive systems on the road since 1992, and some have well over 100,000 miles on them, so we’ve seen our systems handle the rigors of daily use. This is a big step for electric vehicles.”
AC-150 A

Download a high resolution version of this photo here.

The MINI E uses a specially-developed version of AC Propulsion’s proprietary tzero™ technology to provide...

http://www.acpropulsion.com/company/press-releases.php

[IDemo]

5. I doubt AC Propulsion sells the AC 150 system for off the shelf conversions

Besides the tZero vehicle, which AC Propulsion may or may not still be selling, the system is licensed to manufacturers like Tesla.

This is easily the most under-recognized company in the EV business. Alan Cocconi designed the control system which later became the AC 150 for the GM car
that was the precursor for the EV-1. They are also at the forefront of V2G technology.

[kristopher]

6. Thy do conversions of Scions

Or at least they did. Yes, I'm familiar with them and agree they are one of the leaders in the field. I'd like to see them get substantial funding for mass production of a universal drive platform around which other entities could build a fashion/function shell.

[IDemo]

7. They've really pared down the website, it looks like

I liked the old one much better.

This is the kind of company I could get behind giving tax dollars to (as long as we're handing it out like Halloween candy), over a company that thinks a hybrid Excessive suv is green.

[NickB79]

8. Does the conversion still cost $50,000 plus the cost of the vehicle?

[kristopher]

9. Cost is a function

Cost is a function of several variables. As fast as things are changing in the EV field, it is hard to say what the cost would be.

Just like any other electric appliance, once demand creates the manufacturing facilities the price plummets. Do you have some reason to think that battery drive vehicles would be any different?