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After 30 Months In A Mini E Electric Car, BMW ActiveE Coming Up

 
1,683 views Dec 12, 2011
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Mini E and BMW ActiveE electric cars, New Jersey, Dec 2011 (photos: Tom Moloughney)

Mini E and BMW ActiveE electric cars, New Jersey, Dec 2011 (photos: Tom Moloughney)

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I took possession of my 2009 Mini E electric car (serial number 250) on June 12, 2009.

At the time, I signed up for a one year lease, which is all BMW was offering. It was made perfectly clear that after 12 months, we would have to give the car back and that there would be no exceptions.

One 12-month extension after that, plus a further six-month extension, here I am 30 months later. I'm finally going to give back my Mini E.

As much as I love the car and hate to give it back, BMW is taking the edge off the end of the program with their offer of a BMW ActiveE electric car to every Mini E lessee who stayed in the program for the full 30 months.

So very soon  I'll be dropping off my Mini E, but driving home in a BMW ActiveE. It's only fair; they got me hooked on driving electric, so the least they could do is continue to provide me with my fix.

In 2009, when I first got the Mini E, I didn't know much about electric cars and I had no idea if I would really like driving one. It didn't take long before I realized how great the driving experience was. I love the instant torque, the quiet, vibration-free acceleration, and--most of all--never once going to a gas station.

Mini E Gathering

Mini E Gathering

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The MINI-E is a great little EV, but it's more like a conversion electric car than a factory-built one, and there's good reason for that. BMW put it together quickly, and less than a year passed from the time the project was green-lighted to the time the cars were built and ready for delivery.

To move it along quickly, BMW outsourced the entire powertrain to AC Propulsion, makers of the T-Zero and the E-Box electric cars. The ActiveE, on the other hand, is entirely  engineered by BMW, and its powertrain is exactly what will be in the BMW i3 when it goes on sale sometime in 2013.

The ActiveE trial lease will allow BMW to test all of the components in real-world driving for about a year and a half before the i3 goes on sale. The purpose of the Mini E program was to learn what people wanted in an electric car, and BMW is now using the ActiveE to refine the hardware that will go into volume production offerings.






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Comments (16)

  1. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 12/12/2011 12:21pm PST

    Can't wait to hear how well the Active-E works. Keep us posted.
     
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  2. Tommolog avatar Tom Moloughney Posted: 12/12/2011 2:10pm PST

    John: You know I will! I'll definitely check in here every now and then with a post about the car like I have with the MINI-E
    Happy Holidays!
    Tom
     
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  3. fb_100002544459353 avatar Ramon Leigh Posted: 12/13/2011 8:51am PST

    Seem to have avoided the two questions of most importance about the Active E : price and driving range. Good to see the dumpy Mini car cast aside. It was ugly even back when the Beetles drove around London in one.
     
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  4. Tommolog avatar Tom Moloughney Posted: 12/13/2011 10:05am PST

    Ramon: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The MINI was named European car of the century and has sold over 7 million units in it's history. I'd venture to say more people disagree with your thoughts on it's style than agree.

    As for the ActiveE, it's $2,250 down & $499/month for 24 months. I have no doubt you'll find this completely unacceptable and overwhelmingly expensive for an overwieght conversion--no? Cheers!
     
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  5. robok2 avatar robok2 Posted: 12/13/2011 12:36pm PST

    @Tom, thanks, as John B. has already stated. And don't let the bitter trolls get you down, either... Nice retort as well. Interesting how "ugly" the MINI is when it sells for thousands more than its compact/subcompact rivals despite offering far less utility. And yes, it does sell... Ask Fiat how it's been competing against MINI. And I say that as a fan of the 500.

    Looking forward to your future posts and happy driving, or should I write motoring? Actually at only $500/month, I might wait for the ActiveE if I'm confident I can eventually get my hands on one. $593/month if including the down payment. Reasonable for the brand IMHO.
     
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  6. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 12/13/2011 4:45pm PST

    I once heard an interesting argument that BMW has done more for fuel efficiency than any other car company. I found this ridiculous because BMW's are not know for efficiency.

    The argument was that by introducing the Mini, which is seen as cool, BMW shifted people out of less fuel efficient vehicles into relatively fuel efficient Mini's.

    It is an interesting argument. If you make a cool vehicle (that just happens to be fuel efficient) it will be a bigger win for the environment than something like the Prius which is much more efficient , but, sadly, viewed as less cool.
     
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  7. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 12/13/2011 6:18pm PST

    I have to say that BMW i3 is the EV that I am most looking forward to seeing. It seems that BMW really understands the importance of light weight design. Of course the i3 is not VLC type of light weight design, but it is the best we have seen from a major car company.
     
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  8. Tommolog avatar Tom Moloughney Posted: 12/13/2011 7:36pm PST

    John, Having had the opportunity to see the i3 up close and talk to the program managers, I share your enthusiasm. While I'll certainly enjoy my time with the ActiveE, it's just another test car. I fully expect to get an i3 as soon as they are available (Sept-Oct 2013). By then I'll have 4 1/2 years of driving BMW prototype EV's under my belt and I'll be ready to finally own one. I like BMW's approach with there EV's. They will have years of real world testing and about 20 million miles driven in their test cars, all while getting us to pay for the privilege to drive them so they can collect data. Brilliant!
     
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  9. fb_1001015277 avatar John Briggs Posted: 12/16/2011 4:44pm PST

    Thanks for the added details.
     
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  10. fb_1797878866 avatar Jack Rickard Posted: 12/14/2011 4:05pm PST

    So what will become of the MiniE's you guys are turning in?

    Jack Rickard
    http://www.EVTV.me
     
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  11. Tommolog avatar Tom Moloughney Posted: 12/15/2011 9:28am PST

    I would suspect they will eventually be decommissioned like any test car(GM made dozens if not hundreds of test volts) However in the short term I know they will have various uses. Currently 50 of them have been donated to the 2012 Olympic committee to use and I'm pretty sure they are getting more soon to use through the Olympics. I know some non-profits have been given some, and that many of them are used by BMW employees. When I was in Munich fro the ActiveE press drive in October, I saw many MINI-E's wizzing around Munich by BMW staff. I suppose eventually they will take them out of service though as they aren't going to continue to service them for ever.
     
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  12. jstack6 avatar Jim stACk Posted: 5/2/2012 7:16am PDT

    Tom, We are trying to do a V2G trial with our non profit and a non profit college Rio Salado and our non profit utiltiy SRP but can't get an eBox any longer. The MINI E would be perfect.
    Who can we contact to buy or lease some ? Jim PHXEAA
     
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  13. golfprofred avatar Edward Arthur Posted: 12/15/2011 6:56am PST

    Greetings Tom!

    After 71k miles with the regenerative braking - were you ever nearly rear-ended for NOT breaking? This would be a concern of mine.

    Thanks,
    /Ed

    PS: Is your blog name going to change?????
     
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  14. golfprofred avatar Edward Arthur Posted: 12/15/2011 6:56am PST

    "...for not braking..."

    What was I thinking?
     
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  15. Tommolog avatar Tom Moloughney Posted: 12/15/2011 9:35am PST

    Ed, not that I ever noticed. There really is no reason that would happen any more than on any other car. The car doesn't suddenly slow down, the driver is in complete control of it's deceleration. The brake lights come on when you use the regenerative brakes (at a certain point, not when you are only slightly using them, and the car is mostly coasting)
    There is really no reason to be even the slightest bit concerned about this. In fact, I think it's safer because the brake lights come on more frequently warning the drivers behind you that you are decelerating.
    As for the blog, I'll transition to my ActiveE blog which I've already been maintaining for a while now:

    http://activeemobility.blogspot.com/

    I hope you continue to follow!
     
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  16. fb_606631802 avatar Edward Arthur Posted: 12/15/2011 10:58am PST

    I certainly shall!
     
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