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GM-Volt founder stranded, learns why EVs take so long to bring to market

Over the last several years, many of the fans of battery-powered vehicles here on ABG have asked quite vociferously why it's taking companies like General Motors so long to bring cars like the Volt to market. Many of you seem to think you can convert an existing platform and have it on the market in six months. While it is certainly plausible for individual conversions to be done in that time frame, mass production is a very different matter. Media guru Jeff Jarvis even recommended that automakers follow the Google model of just releasing ... Read more →

MINI Es gather in Long Beach Sebastian Blanco

Yesterday, about 20 MINI E drivers brought their all-electric rides to Jesse James' Cisco Burger in Long Beach, California for a little plug-in love fest. MINI E driver Todd C. was there and sent ...

Germany setting sights on one million electric cars by 2020? Jeremy Korzeniewski

According to a report from the Associated Press (via Drive.com.au), Germany is about to get serious about electric cars. How serious? Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet is currently drafting a ...

Tales of woe from the electric car frontier, MINI E edition Sebastian Blanco

We've heard the stories about the charging problems with BMW's MINI E lease program and understand that paying $850 a month for one of these electric cars doesn't appeal to everyone. Still, the ...

MINI E survives first fender bender Sebastian Blanco

MINI E - Click above for high-res image gallery The first accident we've heard of that involved a MINI E resulted in a dent in the rear hatch and not much else. The fender bender – which ...

MINI explains the drop in estimated range for MINI E 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

Those paying close attention might have noticed that as MINI USA has been delivering battery-powered MINI Es in recent weeks, the range estimate is being quoted as 100 miles. Last November, when we first saw and drove the MINI E, the range was estimated at 156 miles. When we actually drove the ...

BMW building more MINI Es for European testing 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

The popularity of BMW's MINI E test program in the United States has evidently prompted the company to expand production beyond the original 500 cars and add a smaller test fleet in Europe. The original plan, as announced last fall, was for 500 of the battery-powered MINIs to be made available ...

UK will spend £25 million ($40 million U.S.) on huge electric car test program 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

The electric vehicle money is flowing everywhere. Following the U.S. DOE's announcement yesterday, the UK has announced it will spend £25 million ($40 million) on a large project to get EVs and "ultra-low carbon vehicles an everyday feature of life on Britain's roads in less than five ...

BMW gets approval for UK MINI E test fleet 4 months ago on Autoblog Green

Ford isn't the only automaker involved in a new EV test program being funded by the Technology Strategy Board in the UK. BMW will also be a part of the year-long, £25 million field test with its MINI E. Scottish and Southern Energy will be testing the cars along with the Focus EVs we ...

MINI E recipient starts a blog about his electric adventure 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

Pasadena, California resident Mark Winkworth is one of the 450 individuals in Southern California and the New York/New Jersey areas that made it through the MINI E screening process. After having received the word that he had been accepted back in May, he'd been waiting (im)patiently until this past ...

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept gets a steal of a deal on MINI E lease 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is getting in on BMW's MINI E action in a big way. The LA County Board of Supervisors have given their approval to a deal that will see a squadron of 17 of the AC Propulsion-electrified retro-cutes join the force as part of the testing program ...

Meet a MINI E that will only use solar power 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

The all-electric MINI Es are starting to be delivered, and AutoblogGreen reader David VM. will do something a little extra with his new ride: power it completely by solar power. David has started up a new blog called MINI E 19 (his car is #19) and the first entry talks about the initial week ...

Underwriters Lab holdup means some MINI Es will take all day to charge 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

With MINI Es finally being delivered to the 450 test drivers in New York and California, a problem has cropped up that will limit the ability of many of those people to actually use the car. When MINI USA was taking applications for leases on the new EV, among the requirements were a garage with ...

First MINI E delivered to customer 5 months ago on Autoblog Green

Despite thousands of people signing up for a chance to lease the MINI E, only 500 are being produced at this stage, with 50 of those destined for Berlin. Now, after months of winnowing down the list, the very first car has been delivered to one very happy customer. After meeting all the ...

VIDEO: Jay Leno's Garage welcomes the MINI E 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

Jay Leno is no stranger to electric vehicles, having owned or driven EVs as wide ranging as the 1909 Baker Electric to the Vectrix motorscooter, Zero X motorcycle and the Tesla Roadster. The latest EV that seems to have caught the denim-clad celebrity's attention is the new MINI E. Jay found ...

UK next in line for MINI E testing? 8 months ago on Autoblog Green

It's no surprise that there is a lot of demand for the all-electric version of the MINI. We heard that London might get some of the limited-supply MINI E's last fall, but now the Telegraph is saying that a plug-in version of the MINI could be "on sale in Britain" by the end of 2009 (we assume ...

MINI E delayed? Not exactly, but it is perhaps too popular 9 months ago on Autoblog Green

The new MINI E is proving once again that there is a significant pent up demand for electric vehicles. Apparently, BMW is grappling with roughly 1,800 applicants and only 450 cars to deliver. Sounds like a good number of electric MINI hopefuls are going to miss out. While it's certainly good ...

New York City to get 10 MINI Es for road test 10 months ago on Autoblog Green

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that MINI USA will be providing ten of its MINI E electric cars to the city for the next year. The cars will be used by the Street Condition Observation Unit which prowls the city in search of potholes and graffiti. The ten NYC cars are part of 50 ...

BMW to use MINI E platform for future electrics 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

We've spent plenty of time going over the design of the new MINI E electric car since it was formally unveiled at the LA Auto Show. We've been inside, underneath and even behind the steering wheel a few times, and we can therefore say with authority that the car works as advertised. There are a ...

What's it take to get a MINI E? Well, do you have an iPhone? 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

There's not been any lack of information on these pages recently about the MINI E, but there's one question that still needs an answer: how do you get your hands on one? We know that only 500 of these all-electric cars will be leased at $850 a month and that they'll only be available to people ...

MINI E regenerative brakes will turn on brake lights without hitting the pedal 11 months ago on Autoblog Green

An interesting question came up the other day regarding my quick drive review of the new battery powered MINI E. I noted that the MINI uses much more regen than other electrically-driven vehicles that I've tried, with deceleration on the order of about 0.4 g. That's actually pretty heavy ...

50 MINI E vehicles bound for Berlin 12 months ago on Autoblog Green

Did you think that MINI would leave Germany without a MINI E test? No way. Perhaps because SMART is doing something similar, Berlin is going to get 50 MINI E vehicles for testing. MINI has partnered with Swedish energy company Vattenfall so that the electricity powering these cars will be ...

ABG Quick Drive: Battery-powered MINI-E w/VIDEO 12 months ago on Autoblog Green

For three days before and during the media previews for the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, BMW had about a dozen electric MINIs available for evaluation drives. We finally got our crack at one Thursday morning at the LA convention center. The 6.5 mile loop that BMW laid out was both a ...

LA 2008: Confirmed - AC Propulsion provided the electric drive systems for the MINI E 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

In conjunction with the official unveiling of the MINI E a the LA Auto Show, AC Propulsion has confirmed that it has produced the electric drive system for the car. When BMW first released some of the details on the new battery powered MINI E a few weeks back we speculated based on the description ...

LA 2008: Live reveal of the MINI E 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

This afternoon BMW representatives took the wraps off the first "production" MINI E, #1 of a run of 500 that will be leased to customers in the southern California and metro New York areas starting in January. Dr. Friederich Eichiner presented the electric car to the press on the roof top ...

In the Wild: 2009 MINI E in Beverly Hills 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

The electric MINIs have arrived! While getting ready for today's festivities here in Los Angeles, we spotted one of the 500 MINI Es that will be leased starting in January. Apparently international media are trying them out today and we'll have our opportunity in the next couple of days. The ...

MINI executives talk about the MINI E 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Over at the MINI micro-site (is that redundant?) MINISpace the editors have posted an interview with Dr. Wolfgang Armbrecht, Senior Vice President Brand Management MINI, and Ulrich Kranz, Head of Project i about the company's new electric car. The MINI E will be officially unveiled next ...

MINI E will reportedly cost $850/month for one-year lease 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

For those of you hoping to snap up one first electrically powered MINIs, we have what may be bad news. The price of the MINI E keeps creeping upward. The other day, Automotive News reported that the battery-powered prototypes were going to cost over $500 for the lease. Today however, another ...

9,500 people sign up to lease MINI E, will cost over $500/month 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Since MINI USA opened up the MINIspace.com site a couple of weeks ago to allow people to register their interest in leasing the new MINI E next year, over 9,500 people have signed up. Unfortunately most of them will not actually have the opportunity to get one. BMW is only building 500 of the ...

MINI E gets it guts from AC Propulsion, not Tesla 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

While we were discussing the upcoming premiere of the new MINI E at the LA Auto Show, we mused that the retro-cute might be sporting a drivetrain courtesy of Tesla Motors. Now comes word via Paul Scott at the new website for the film, "Revenge of the Electric Car" that the MINI will get its ...

Sign up for a chance to get a MINI E at Minispace.com 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

One or two of you have indicated in the comments on yesterday's posts about the new MINI E that you would like to get one. Unfortunately BMW is only building 500 examples in the initial run that is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Those will be available to customers in New York, ...

LA Preview: Officially, official: the MINI E! 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

BMW has now released official details of the MINI E that will rolling out at the LA Auto Show next month. As we learned last night, the MINI uses a 204 hp, 162 lb-ft electric motor for drive purposes with a single-speed helical gear, transmission. Energy gets stored in lithium ion battery pack ...

Revealed: Electric MINI E 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We've known for a little while now that BMW would be introducing an electric version of its iconic MINI, and now we have the photo proof as Autocar has taken the wraps off the new electric car. Equipped with a 572-pound lithium ion battery of unknown capacity, the MINI E reportedly has a range ...

MINI EV won't come with lithium ion batteries? 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We won't have any official details on what will be powering the electric MINIs that we know will be prowling the streets next year until the vehicle is unveiled at the LA Auto Show later this year. That doesn't mean that we can't all speculate until then, right? We've seen spy shots of test ...

Spy Shots: MINI EV may be making its debut at LA Auto Show 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

We learned just a few months ago that BMW was preparing to build a fleet of 500 battery-powered MINIs that it would unleash for field testing in California. When we spoke to MINI USA VP Jim McDowell in July, the U.S. staff had been caught as off-guard by the announcement as we had and they didn't ...

Electric MINI will be in US customer hands in summer 2009! 1 year ago on Autoblog Green

Click the MINI for a high res gallery var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/Electric_MINI_to_arrive_on_American_roads_in_Summer_2009'; At a breakfast meeting with MINI USA VP Jim McDowell this morning he was asked to elaborate on recently announced plans for a battery powered MINI. McDowell ...

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