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07-bmw-evs
Mini E (2008)
The Mini E program marked the first time BMW offered an EV to the public. More than 600 hit the road in the United States and Europe in what was essentially a real-world EV R&D program for the technology.
Based on the diminutive hatch that proved Americans would pay a premium for a plush compact car, BMW throttled that mindset by requiring early adopters to shell out $850 a month (which did include a charge station and insurance) for the privilege of driving this rolling testbed. But with a 35 kWh lithium-ion battery pack taking up all the trunk room, even the 200-hp electric motor was barely enough to motivate this 3,600-pound retromobile.
Lithium-ion battery packs were finally implemented, boosting range and performance in the process, and special charging stations available to owners were able to top up the cells in around three hours to provide a theoretical range of 155 miles (real-world use was closer to 100 miles). The data it gleaned from these field trials began to prove the efficacy of EVs as day-to-day vehicles, and nearly all this tech made its way into the first BMW-badged EV.
All images courtesy of BMW
