North American International Auto Show Detroit 2009 (NAIAS) - Electric Mini

Right next to the BMW exhibit was Mini. Keeping in line with the rest of the auto show, they had their Electric Mini. The Mini E.

We asked about the single one on display and were told it is one of 500 here in the US on a fixed 1-year lease.



What Mini done was offered applications to 500 people in New York, New Jersey, and California. ( Note: No Detroit. Thanks Mini.) Apparently you had to be in an area where the power grid could support this.



After a year, Mini would repossess the cars, and they will tear them down and evaluate what condition they're in. Kinda smart, but hopefully for them, they won't miss the Electric Car boat.



One interesting thing is that, as can be seen from the picture above, the batteries take up the entire 2nd row- this is now a 2-seater mini, and seems to have very little trunk space. So, in comparing it to a traditional gas car, yes, the Electric Mini might be cheaper to get you there, but you can only take half as many people!

The car was locked, this was because, according to the Mini show person, it was Car #1, and was destined for the Mini Museum.