Wow, never seen a real battery, I thought it looks different. I actually surprised that MINI had EV idea for a while now, but still don't have it in their product lineup.
Jay Leno's MINI E
Seems like someone has MINI EV for a while already. Check out 2009 MINI EV review from Jay Leno's Garage.
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One good point he brought up then was range which these days isn't as much of an issue but because this is a compact and the most compact EV that will hit the market, Mini is up for a real challenge. Fortunately EV charging networks are more common to come across these days
... Especially these days, when BMW, Ford, Daimler and Volkswagen Group have organized Ionity network and planning to build their charging stations all over Europe.One good point he brought up then was range which these days isn't as much of an issue but because this is a compact and the most compact EV that will hit the market, Mini is up for a real challenge. Fortunately EV charging networks are more common to come across these days
Just goes to show us how long the technology has been around for, just unused on a massive scale until now. It even had regenerative braking, granted not as efficient as what we have these days, but still ahead of its time.
I was shocked about it too. That was 9 (!!!) years ago, can you imagine. After watching this video, I started to think, may be there are other car makers, who just hiding their EV models.Just goes to show us how long the technology has been around for, just unused on a massive scale until now. It even had regenerative braking, granted not as efficient as what we have these days, but still ahead of its time.
Back then we were't as environmentally friendly and green minded as we are now. It has only been blowing up in recent years, but before then automakers probably didn't see a large enough market to produce something like the Mini EV. There's also the lack of charging infrastructure before Tesla came along.
Well you do have to consider the fact that it takes a lot of years to develop any new car especially when we're talking about something that has an entirely new powertrain. With these EV's car makers are being sent back to the drawing board.I was shocked about it too. That was 9 (!!!) years ago, can you imagine. After watching this video, I started to think, may be there are other car makers, who just hiding their EV models.
I remember watching the great documentary film about EV market of the mid-1990s called Who Killed the Electric Vehicle?. This film explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States. I was really shocked how old EV production is. If you have some spare time, watch it, you won't regret it.
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Not really interested, but I assume one contributing factor was just how cheap gas was back then compared to today. Why pay more for electric with cheap gas?
I guess there was a long-term investment factor. People didn't know how well this segment will be performing in a few years, so some of them might think that by 2005 there will be 50% of electric vehicles on the market and infrastructure will be prepared to take care of them.Not really interested, but I assume one contributing factor was just how cheap gas was back then compared to today. Why pay more for electric with cheap gas?
Well they can quantify it by looking at whats going to impact buying and how people choose products whether that's by need or want. Often in these cheaper segments people are driven more by price and how the way things are shape their buying habits.I guess there was a long-term investment factor. People didn't know how well this segment will be performing in a few years, so some of them might think that by 2005 there will be 50% of electric vehicles on the market and infrastructure will be prepared to take care of them.
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