MINI E: mobile test bed for the future of electric motoring

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog

IT’S ONE of the big questions for any forward-thinking business car manager – are electric cars really worth considering for your company? Well, this week I’ve been trying to answer that by spending a few days living with the MINI E, writes Sam Hardy, our road test editor in a special blog report.

Essentially a regular MINI, but with a 204bhp electric motor in place of the engine and a whopping great set of batteries where the rear seats should be, the E is a motoring test bed.

Don’t be too bothered, then by the fact it’s a two-seater with a boot barely big enough for a rucksack – the E is never going on sale. It’s merely preparing the way ahead for BMW’s upcoming range of electric cars, due in around 2015.

So far 20 specially selected UK drivers, along with hundreds in the US and Europe, have been trialling the machine, at a cost of