MINI's electric venture, one of the steps in BMW's Project i, has been receiving an intriguing response from customers who have piloted the innovative MINI for six months. Generally, they are happy with one exception.
As one would predict with an electric vehicle and an underdeveloped infrastructure, customers have what is being called "range anxiety." Basically, they feel as though they are being controlled by an "electric leash," that prohibits how far they can travel.
When I piloted the MINI E, it is an aspect about the plucky Cooper that remains in your mind after a day's worth of driving. Soon the miles start shedding off the trip meter faster than the blink of an eye and you start trying to quantify how many miles you are from the charging station.
It gets a bit nerve wracking, to say the least.
CarChat reports:
"A study commissioned by BMW and conducted by the University of California, Davis, shows that most MINI E cutomers are generally happy with their cars after six months of usage. However, as the Financial Post reports, the most common complaint is "range anxiety."
Although a fully-charged MINI E can keep the car moving for 160 kilometers, a full recharge with the included high voltage cables takes between four and eight hours. If a MINI E owner is forced to plug the car into a standard 110-volt household outlet, recharge time takes up to 23 hours..."
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