Electric Mini trial ends

These 40 'pioneers' are part of Mini E UK Research Consortium, one of eight UK projects supported by the Technology Strategy Board and Department for Transport's £25m Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles Demonstrator Programme aimed at accelerating the introduction of viable electric passenger vehicles to the UK. Speaking at the hand back event, Head of E-Mobility Innovation Projects at BMW Group Dr Julian Weber said, '"The primary focus of the BMW Group Project i is electro mobility. All information generated during the MINI E field trials is being incorporated into the ongoing development and refinement of our first purpose built production car, the Megacity Vehicle BMW i3, due for launch in 2013. So far, we have gathered over 7 million miles of knowledge." During the UK trial the cars were tested on British roads by a mixture of 80 private, corporate and public sector drivers – all of whom gave valuable feedback to the project consortium and UK Government. Between them they covered over a quarter of a million miles throughout the duration of the trial. These findings will ultimately be used in the engineering and infrastructure support of mass-produced electric vehicles and establish the social and economic issues and aspects of running an electric car. The 40 Minis will remain in the UK and will be used in a small number of commercial partnerships, they will also be used at consumer and corporate events as well as in partnerships with government and industry stakeholders. As well as in the UK, trials have been conducted in the USA and Germany, and have recently launched in France, China and Japan.