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All-Electric MINI Coopers Available in 2009

By Hank Green

You can get an electric MINI Cooper right now, but you're not gonna get it from MINI. Hybrid Technologies has had one available (for only $65k) for over a year. But now BMW will be making their own (significantly more impressive) electric MINI Coper E, hopefully for a bit less cash.

The car will deliver impressive acceleration, a 150 mile range and a regenerative braking system keeps the battery charged for longer in city driving. The only real reason why it's not as nice as a regular is that the backseat (small to begin with ) is now completely gone. In order to make room for enough battery to get the car a 150 mile range, MINI's engineers had to take out the back seat.

Every lessee will get a fast-charging station installed in their home that ups the voltage so the car can be charged in less than three hours. A standard plug will take all night to charge the car.

The real bad news is that only 500 will be sold in America next year. They'll only be leased in California, New York and New Jersey. And there's no word on whether MINI will look to expand the program beyond 2010.


via:AutoBlog