BMW Megacity EV

BMW and the German Chamber of Commerce invited me to a dinner about BMW’s electric future last month at Stanford University. BMW Group owns MiniCooper, BMW, and Rolls Royce. Although they didn’t lend me a Rolls Royce to take friends to dinner in Napa Valley, they did let me take the MiniE for a spin.

The MiniE electric car delivered the acceleration and handling that has made the MiniCooper popular. The regenerative braking was set high to capture energy and return it to the lithium batteries. Regen was so high that at 30 mph, I could lift my foot off the accelerator and come to a stop in about 100 feet. AC Propulsion did a good job in designing the electric drive system for this concept vehicle. In the USA, 450 have been leasing the MiniE; couple of hundred are also leased in Germany, UK, and now France. Valuable data has been collected from these drivers

UC Davis ITS, BMW and the California Air Resources Board have analyzed the data. Drivers found that the 100-mile electric range met 90 percent of their needs; a second car or transit covered the remaining 10 percent. Drivers enjoyed driving this BMW EV. They found the performance and handling smooth. The car is easy to drive. Seventy-three percent liked the aggressive regen.

What concerns did drivers have about buying an electric car? They worried about the uncertain future of EVs. What if their choice was like the Betamax they once owned as consumers moved on to new platforms. They worried about safety. They worried about batteries lasting years. They asked,

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