Mini E - Field Trial Program

Field Trial Program

The field testing of the Mini E was part of BMW Project i, and was followed in January 2012 by a similar trial with the BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicle which accommodates seats for four adults and cargo. The Active E is based on the BMW 1 Series Coupe and was built based on the lessons learned from the Mini E field testing. The last phase of "Project i" is the development of the BMW i3, formerly known as the Mega City Vehicle (MCV) urban electric car, which will be part of a new brand called BMW i, which will be separately from BMW or Mini, and plans to go into mass production between 2013 and 2015. The field testing of the Active E will include fewer than 1000 cars and will be conducted in Los Angeles and New York, but BMW is also considering expansion to other areas. After the MINI E trial program ended some of the cars will be displayed in museums, other will be shipped back to Germany for further lab testing, and the rest will be dismantled and crushed.

Mini-E drivers participating in the field trial program of the vehicle were required to participate in online surveys and discussions, as well as bring their vehicle into their local dealership to have their car worked on. The program was available only as a three-year limited lease, and drivers were required to turn their cars back into Mini, where they would be crushed and/or melted down, or donated to tech schools and museums for display, disassembly, and analysis purposes.

Edmunds.com leased a Mini-E to use in their long-term test fleet. The company owned the car for one year before they turned the car back into Mini. The company reported about their Mini-E on their website.