The BMW Group in the United States began testing directly into the hands of the customer, the MINI E. The Mini brand will make it available, from the month of March, 250 cars in Southern California and another 200 in the metropolitan New York through its sales network. Customers interested to test the new Mini totally electric propulsion will be able to enjoy the performance of the MINI E for one year at a cost of $ 850 per month (around 640 euros). The amount also covers the insurance and maintenance.
Compared to a Mini with normal petrol engine, it was calculated that going 1200 miles per month on average (about 1930 kilometers) the cost of electricity used to operate with the Mini E is 40% lower than the same sum invested in fuel. The initiative put on by the German mark also intends to investigate the reactions of customers in respect of this car, in addition to his own behavior (with particular reference to the lithium batteries that constitute the only source of energy for the movement of this model) driving all day.MINI has not yet confirmed its product strategy for this model. In this way, the German manufacturer will enter into direct conflict with other labels interested in marketing models virtuous particularly from the environmental and fuel savings, especially in the U.S.. General Motors, in fact, in 2010 will trade the Chevrolet Volt at a price of about 25,000 euros, Honda will debut a Detroit with its Insight, while the Nissan Group has recently announced that in the same year will begin to offer this type of vehicles (a Starting from the state of California) with the formula of the rental, always in the U.S. market. Mitsubishi is also currently engaged in testing of cars with engine power alone.
