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BMW Exporting 500 Prius Killers For California Testing
BMW plans to export nearly 500 electric versions of its Mini car to California, company sources said.

The electric Minis are being built at the Mini factory in Oxford, England, without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks, then shipped to Munich, Germany, where they are being fitted with electric powertrains.

BMW sources told Automotive News Europe that 490 of the Minis will be leased to selected customers in California and 10 will be used as show cars.

The electric Minis are painted silver and have yellow roofs, the sources said.

BMW engineers working on the electric Minis are part of a new division called Project i established by the automaker to develop low-emission city cars.

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BMW Exporting 500 Prius Killers For California Testing



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silver1silver1 - 7/9/2008 12:11:38 PM
Show Comment -16 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Agent009Agent009 - 7/9/2008 12:19:34 PMView My AgentSpace
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In many ways yes...


Kraut_godKraut_god - 7/9/2008 12:47:30 PM
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silver1silver1 - 7/9/2008 2:09:15 PM
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How? The all New 2010 Prius is going to between 60mpg-80mpg, and thats not including the lithium ion batteries that the prius will be packing in 2011 that will send the MPG to a soaring 113mpg.... I highly doubt it that this 7-series-Mini Cooper will beat that...


mscottc1mscottc1 - 7/9/2008 3:51:01 PM
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PAY ATTENTION. AND READ. It very clearly says ELECTRIC powertrain, not hybrid. So the whole MPG thing is irrelevent.


silver1silver1 - 7/9/2008 4:03:20 PM
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Pay Attention. And Read. it says: BMW vs Prius


kthorkthor - 7/9/2008 8:12:55 PM
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Prius Annihilator. That is if you want to have fun driving. I'll take Joy over an Appliance any day.


PorschinatorPorschinator - 7/11/2008 5:38:14 PM
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True. There is NO other reason to buy a Prius other than is saves MPG. Not one person I know that has one said anything else. Buddies have bought Honda hybrid since it looks much better and more comfortable.


vman1013vman1013 - 7/9/2008 12:20:06 PM
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If the Cooper gets anywhere near the MPG you can say bye-bye to the horrid looking Prius. Prius' are fugly POS'. If not for $4 per gallon gas noone other than a few celeb activists would be talking about them.

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EL34EL34 - 7/9/2008 12:25:13 PM
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The Prius can't help it, it looks like a golf cart.

The Mini is a gresat lookin' car ;->


TheSailorTheSailor - 7/9/2008 12:26:34 PMView My AgentSpace
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it looks like a tennis shoe!


american_madeamerican_made - 7/9/2008 12:41:55 PM
-1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
WRONG:
#1 you can't spell
#2 the Prius looks like a bar of Dove Soap


IVANURI97IVANURI97 - 7/9/2008 2:02:39 PM
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The Prius looks like an armadillo.


silver1silver1 - 7/9/2008 2:23:28 PM
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The 7-series-Mini Cooper looks like a Beetle....(the big)


quizzquizz - 7/9/2008 4:28:45 PM
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ROFL Prius=design icon?!??

A design icon has to be considered attractive at some point in its history - the Prius was never attractive from the day it hatched. Modern? Yes. But NOT attractive.






audirevolutionaudirevolution - 7/9/2008 4:59:34 PM
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I always thought the Prius looked like a Hamster.


audirevolutionaudirevolution - 7/9/2008 5:00:10 PM
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And Micheal Taylor,

If you think a Prius is sexy, I would hate to see how your girlfriend looks.


BoredBored - 7/9/2008 5:13:15 PM
+5 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
@ the troll MT,

You have a girlfriend!?
WOW!, I'm impressed.
Is she real flesh and blood,
a "RealDoll" that you play "Doctor" with,
or is it the tailpipes of your Toyota that I told you to stay away from?


agent507agent507 - 7/10/2008 2:02:24 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
@MT:
Your girlfriend thinks it looks like something from Star Trek? Oh my god. How old is she? Is your relationship legal? LMAO


TheSailorTheSailor - 7/9/2008 12:25:33 PMView My AgentSpace
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electric, battery powered, vehicles are a useless gimmick, used to hype the company's green image. There is no way a battery powered ccan take over the jobs of your every day fuel driven commuter.

The problem is that you can't recharge your batteries fast enough. And unlike a gasoline car, you can't just fill in a gallon or two if you run out of juice on the road. you need road assist every time. We need hydrogen!!!
JUst take a look at the tesla roadster! that takes 30 hours for a full charge on your 110volt system in the us... that means that if you want it as a daily commuter, you need two, one for driving and one for charging... and as it looks now, Tesla can't even deliver one to you!!

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ghosthunterghosthunter - 7/9/2008 2:31:04 PM
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Agreed.

To quickly recharge a battery with that capacity, you need a lot of current. (the voltage is fixed to 110v). Having that much current is extremely dangerous and you need some really good electrical components with very low resistance or else it will heats up and burn off, and ultimately can kill you in an instant if you touch it. And don’t forget Li-ion is horribly unstable and flammable when reacted with oxygen. To carry something highly explosive is really not something I’d like to do.



TheSailorTheSailor - 7/9/2008 4:17:53 PMView My AgentSpace
-2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
not only is that much current dangerous, but at such low voltage, you would need a hell of a lot of cooling to avoid overheating wires and the battery! On my last ship, we had two 9 MW (Yes ladies and gentlemen, that wouuld be nine megawatt) shaft motors helping big bertha (look in my agentpage) along during high speeds, and even though we fed them 6,6 kV, they still sucked up more than 1000 amps each meaning direct water cooling from the variotransformers and all the way through the coils... not something you want to fool around with at home... if you have a leak, you'd basically have liquid electricity running out of the charger!. And you are not allowed to have high voltage in your home anyways, so what does that help? At a 110 volt, or even220 volt, the current for such a charger would reach somewhere around 2-400 amps that is upwards of 450 kVA (don't ask me about the wattage as that depends on your cos phi)

Another issue with high capacity charging is that you need a high capacity inverter to invert alternating juice into direct juice... and if that had to cope with the amount of energy needed to charge an ev battery in say, an hour, it would be more expensive than the car itself!


TheSailorTheSailor - 7/9/2008 4:41:20 PMView My AgentSpace
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I am just going to repeat myself, all in favor of getting this guy banned say "aye"...

I'm getting tired of these mindless bursts of fanboyism... am I really the only one?!... maybe we should all try and ignore him and then maybe he'll get bored, get off daddy's computer and leave the rest of us alone!

reply to this comment
BoredBored - 7/9/2008 5:30:25 PM
+3 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
@ the troll MT,

You said "The MINI is so overweight and impractical compared to the Prius".

Toyota's website listed the Prius' curb weight at 2932 lbs.

Mini's website listed the Cooper's curb weight at 2546 lbs. at its lowest with 6-sp. and 2800 lbs. at its heaviest as a convertible with auto.

So the Cooper beats the Prius by at least 132 lbs. and as much as 386 lbs.

I say "Your gurl has a FAT A**!"



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Htay7500Htay7500 - 7/9/2008 8:42:47 PM
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85bmw745i85bmw745i - 7/10/2008 2:06:44 AMView My AgentSpace
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Hey STUPID why don't you research before you talk your rubbish nonsense. the mini is quite a bit lighter than the prius and is a hell of alot more fun to drive, especially the cooper S with the John cooper works package, blows the doors and batteries off of the prius and still gets over 30 mpg. the hybrid will be very fuel efficient.

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sectorsector - 7/9/2008 9:04:43 PM
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remember, base IS250 = fully loaded 3 series :)

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M35MTM35MT - 7/9/2008 1:46:09 PMView My AgentSpace
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Prius killer? Hmmm...what are consumers going to do with that oh-so-huge "mini" trunk? I think most of you forget how much cargo space a Prius has.

Mini: 5.7 Cubic Ft

Prius: 14.4 Cubic Ft


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sectorsector - 7/9/2008 9:10:00 PM
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Mini has the wheel base of Landrover discovery, yet has the interior capacity of a dog house :)

although, since it looks like a dog house on wheels I guess it's alright...


answeranswer - 7/9/2008 1:47:45 PMView My AgentSpace
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Cool.

An eventual electric Mini clubman (with decent range) would be awesome.

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sectorsector - 7/9/2008 9:11:23 PM
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the clubman looks like a coffin on wheels :)


_43LE_43LE - 7/9/2008 1:49:50 PM
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I don't think that the Mini will be cross shopped with the Prius. Different demograhpic altogether. Not only that, the packaging of each car is very different. Nice try 009.

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raysatinaraysatina - 7/9/2008 2:01:26 PM
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BMW is getting aggressive on the greener side of things. Now what BMW needs to do is price it right and the buyers will bite.

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Bmw8terBmw8ter - 7/9/2008 2:03:03 PM
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009....how about you turn on the Electric Mini's HVAC unit while commuting through traffic, and THEN decide if it's a "Pruis Killer".

reply to this comment
SpeedoholicSpeedoholic - 7/9/2008 4:43:26 PMView My AgentSpace
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Lexus Fans: They are copying the Lexus LS 600h L bla bla ....

Mini could be my first car ... I really like it. I saw a Cooper S today, it looked amazing!

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LemonadeLemonade - 7/9/2008 5:18:09 PM
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Prius Killer???? YOU WISH!!! This car is YEARS behind the current Hybrid trend. While the Japanese hybrids are focusing on innovative ideas such as solar roof, an improved battery (lithium) while the Mini Cooper get's an electric motor.. all of a sudden, it's a Prius Killer??? Agent009, you've really outdone yourself this time..NOT!

reply to this comment
MZautoMZauto - 7/9/2008 5:28:40 PM
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Speed up the process. We need it asap!

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LUXCAR32LUXCAR32 - 7/9/2008 6:02:39 PM
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wasn't their a post a few months back about diesel minis getting better fuel economy than a prius??? their only available in europe though so idk why they dont start bringin them here?

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sectorsector - 7/9/2008 8:53:52 PM
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This is good on BMW's part, since the poor ergonomics of the standard mini will help you develop a back problem on any longish trips, the low range capacity of a battery Mini will discourage it's owners to take any long trips.

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t_bonet_bone - 7/10/2008 1:44:46 AM
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Driving dynamics and style of a MINI with lower operating costs than a Prius? Who wouldn't want one? Does a bear have a bowel movement in the woods?

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Agent63Agent63 - 7/10/2008 8:47:11 AMView My AgentSpace
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The difference between a Prius and a MINI is that the MINI's well built. Anyone who knows what quality won't back Prius on that no matter what mileage it can do. I rather buy a better built product than a car filled with cheap plastic any day.

Electric MINI wouldn't be a bad thing. You drive a small car for the convenience so an electric option would only further that convenience.

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_43LE_43LE - 7/10/2008 9:43:04 AM
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Really? JD power rates the Prius build quality at 4.5 and the mini at 2.


huu76huu76 - 7/12/2008 12:48:45 AM
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Sailor,
I agree with you, electric cars aren't entirely what they're cracked up to be if you need to go far unless they have a more efficient charging system (i.e hydrogen hybrid)

Just like the 4mpg V12 gas powered Hydrogen7, 500 electric go karts isn't going to make a difference except for the marketing department.

Agent63,
EURONCAP rates the Prius a 90, the Mini a 76. I highly doubt a Mini is better built, I knew someone who worked contract at BMW plant-oxford, their union boys are just as lazy as ours.
http://www.euroncap.com/tests/bmw_mini_2007/288.aspx
http://www.euroncap.com/tests/toyota_prius_2004/193.aspx

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dodgedartdodgedart - 7/12/2008 11:53:05 AM
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http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/02/all-electric-microcar-zenn-poised-for-us-release/

BMW has produced an alternative to the electric LeCar.

How much fun can you have on a five mile drive in stop and go traffic?

reply to this comment
dodgedartdodgedart - 7/12/2008 11:53:08 AM
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http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/02/all-electric-microcar-zenn-poised-for-us-release/

BMW has produced an alternative to the electric LeCar.

How much fun can you have on a five mile drive in stop and go traffic?

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