WATTASUPERMINI!
SHOULD Greta Thunberg, the 17-year- old eco-warrior, be looking for her first car, the new zeroemissions British- built MINI Electric I’ve just been driving on its global launch could be just the job.
Priced from under £ 25,000, the batterypowered three-door hatchback offers a scintillating performance that’s as electric as its ‘green’ power source. I loved it.
Despite being built at MINI’s factory in Oxford, the firm’s bosses at BMW in Munich held the global launch in Miami, Florida, hopeful of some sunny winter weather. Naturally, it poured.
But the MINI electric coped with the super- slippery roads, proving sure-footed and grippy.
Acceleration is instantaneous and rapid — from rest to 37 mph in 3.9 seconds and up to 62 mph in 7.3 seconds.
Top speed is electronically restricted to 93 mph. It’s fun, fast and agile. You quickly forget this is an electric car. It’s just a very sporty MINI.
But the real revelation was just how easy it is to drive with your right foot planted mainly on the accelerator, and rarely touching the brakes. Just lifting your foot off the accelerator creates its own braking effect and the resistance created simultaneously recharges the battery, boosting its range.
Riding on 16 in or 17 in wheels, it has a claimed range of up to 145 miles. It is powered by a 184 hp (135kW) electric motor charged from a 32.6kWh lithium ion battery. There are four driving modes. Sport is perfect for spirited driving. But ‘Mid’ is still lively around town. To save power there’s Green and Green+ which switches off functions such as air- conditioning. Its satnav can work out shortest, fastest and ‘greenest’ route.
For the ‘Greta’ generation, it’s not cheap. The least expensive
MINI overall is the petrol threedoor Hatch Classic from £16,195.
By contrast prices for the MINI Electric start at £24,400 for the entry Level 1, after the £3,500 Government plug-in car grant.
Charging costs are about 4p per mile, says MINI. On a public fast charger the MINI achieves 80 per cent charge in 35 minutes or 3 hours 12 minutes on a domestic 7.4kW wall-box.