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The surge in electric car news unleashed at the North American International Auto Show is continuing as New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg revealed that BMW Group will loan a fleet of 10 experimental, all-electric Minis electric cars to the city.
The Mini Es will be used by city inspectors who search for potholes and graffiti. The vehicles are scheduled to begin arriving in April. and are part of a BMW project designed to research and develop transportation strategies and new types of vehicles that meet the needs of the world’s growing mega-cities. Carmakers now think that electric cars are particularly well suited for big mega cities that generate their own unique pollution problems.
“We are delighted to work with New York City in developing this new form of sustainable transportation,” said Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. “Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative has demonstrated a keen understanding of the importance of sustainability and we fully share the same vision and enthusiasm for developing new ideas, technologies and forms of transportation to make it a reality.”
The Mini E can travel more than 150 miles on a single charge and provides the agility and handling of a Mini Cooper, according to officials from BMW. The car is powered by a 150 kilowatt electric motor with the equivalent of 201 hp. The energy supply comes from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and it can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph.
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As part of its experiment with electrification, BMW plans to deploy a total 500 electric Minis in New York and New Jersey and Los Angeles metropolitan areas with additional vehicles being tested in Berlin, Germany and London, England. Of the 500 U.S. vehicles, 450 will be leased to customers that applied online at MINIUSA.com to be part of the one-year field study.
Electrification is quickly becoming the buzzword in the automotive world, as automakers start looking at everything from hybrids to full battery cars to address issues like global warming – and increasingly strict emissions and mileage regulations. Toyota unveiled its own version of the electric city car during the NAIAS press previews, and Daimler confirmed it is teaming up with the Silicon Valley start-up, Tesla Motors, to build a fleet of 1000 electric Smart cars.