MINI E – the testers are ‘Mostly Happy’

The MINI E - testers are 'Mostly Happy'

BMW are reporting that the lessees of the MINI E are reporting a positive response and are ‘Mostly Happy’ with the electric MINI.

I know, we’ve run stories on how the lessees of the MINI Es running around at their expense to evaluate the car for BMW have had more than a gripe or two about the car. But we always try to be fair (even if more than a bit opinionated at times) so a report that US testers are ‘Mainly Happy’ with their experience of the MINI E is worth reporting.

BMW roped in the University of California-Davis (no, I hadn’t heard of them either, but their website says they are “…one of the nation’s top public research universities and part of the world’s pre-eminent public university system” – so there) to conduct a survey amongst the lessees of the MINI E in the States. And it’s true to say their findings are positive.

The conclusion is that the real-world range of 100 miles is more than enough for the daily commute; home-charging is more important than public charging facilities (although I would guess the respondents who said that don’t live in a flat in a big city) and driving ‘electrically is ‘fun’ and feels like a real car.

But there were gripes. The most obvious is no rear seats as MINI has dumped those to fit the batteries in, and there have been problems with the MINI E holding a charge in cold weather.

But considering all the MINI Es out there can at best be considered prototypes, the result is definitely on the positive side. Which will encourage BMW to push on with their plan to lease out the BMW ActiveE Concept 1-Series we saw recently at the Detroit Motor Show.

And all at the expense of the lessees (we had to get that in).