BMW says 45,000 drivers are interested in buying electric Mini

BMW has reported surging interest for the Mini Electric, which is expected to hit the market in 2020.

There are now 45,000 expressions of interest for the electric vehicle, Mini project manager Elena Eder told German news site Faz.net, up another 5,000 since numbers were first unveiled in July.

“So far, we already have over 45,000 registered prospects,” says Elena Eder, Project Manager for the E-Mini to Faz.net (translated from German).

While these are not reservations per se (that is, no money has been put as is required for Tesla vehicles), if most convert to sales the all-electric Mini will compete fairly against its cousin, the BMW i3, of which just shy of 20,000 units were delivered in the first half of 2019 according to BMW’s latest financial report.

Given the BMW i3 has now been on the market going on for four years, this is no minor (mini?) achievement, and is an indicator of the growing interest in electro-mobility.

The iconic carmaker invited people interested in purchasing the all-electric Mini, which was unveiled by BMW and Mini in Rotterdam, Netherlands and is slated for production on November 1, 2019 at the carmaker’s Oxford plant – the day after the UK intends to finally and officially depart the European Union under Brexit.

The Mini Electric has a power consumption of 15 kWh/100km and will come with a charge of 32.6 kWh battery delivering up to 235-270km according to the carmaker (it is understood that the former figure is WLTP, and the latter NEDC).

With a front-wheel motor outputting 135kW of power, the Mini offers as much boot space inside as the internal combustion engine (ICE) version, but is about 18mm higher than the conventionally powered model due to the battery mounted in the floor of the vehicle.

At an unladen weight of 1,365 kg, the Electric Mini weighs only about 145 kg more than the Mini Cooper S 3-door with Steptronic transmission, and can accelerate from 0-60km/hr in 3.9 seconds and from 0-60km/hr in 7.3 seconds.

With a maximum speed is limited to 150 km/hr, it is equipped as standard with a two-stage configurable regenerative braking, LED headlights, 2-zone automatic air conditioning, heating with heat pump technology and auxiliary heating.

While the production date of November 1 could cause turmoil if the UK government goes ahead with the suggestion to introduce a bank holiday following Brexit to mitigate financial stress, Eder says that Mini is not concerned.

“The Brexit is a disruptive factor,” said Eder. “Whatever happens, we are ready for any eventuality… it has been talked about for so long that we are prepared for all eventualities.”