The Wheel Deal explores the history of the electric car and takes a drive in one of the breed’s latest hopefuls – the shockingly good MINI E

The idea of an electric car might seem incredibly futuristic but weirdly enough it’s a concept that’s been around since the 19th century. Indeed, there was a time back in the grainy archives of history where automobiles powered by pure electricity were actually favoured over their petrol-slugging cousins as they were easier to operate and simpler to maintain. They ran cleaner, too, and by the time the world kicked into the 20th century, they were outselling their dirty, gas-burning rivals by some margin.

Of course, this all changed – nearly overnight – when a certain Mr Henry Ford came along and mobilised the masses with his affordable and mass-produced Model T. Interest in the all-electric car and its subsequent development throttled off and for the next 80 years or so, vehicles driven by internal combustion engines would rule. But then in the early ’90s, due to the smog strangling California, a cry went out for manufacturers to dig deep and come up with a proper, zero emissions motorcar that would help reduce the foul air smothering the Golden State.

General Motors (GM) was the first to pounce, and in 1996 they shocked the world with their EV1, a sleek Citroën DS lookalike packed with serious kudos. One hundred percent electric, it made hardly any noise, farted no fumes and could cover up to 240km on a charge. To see if the EV1 could crack it on everyday mean streets, over a thousand were made with nearly all being leased out to a select clientele. The chosen few raved about it, instantly falling in love with the EV1’s drivability and savvy engineering; the future of the electric car seemed like it was finally back in the fast lane.

Sinisterly, however, the news-grabbing success of this machine was soon clouded by its sudden and largely unexplained demise. As quickly as they’d produced it, GM made the EV1 vanish, ripping every last model from the hands of their lessees and sending them to be shredded at scrapping yards. A conspiracy theorist’s dream, there have been numerous explanations as to why this happened and many believe that oil companies, scared of losing trillions of dollars to alternative energy, made sure that the EV1 was culled in its infancy. Others muse that GM killed it off to avoid the exorbitant yet relatively short-term costs of making the car available on the US market. Whatever. The EV1 was ditched and, instead, the world’s then biggest auto manufacturer focused on plugging big, profit-spinning SUVs.

Jump to 2009 and – following their near and very public extinction – GM and other car companies are realising that in order to survive they’ve got to reinvent themselves for our changing world. The fight to combat global warming is bigger than ever now and the challenge auto manufacturers face is to make zero or low emission cars sexy enough to appeal to the tastes of the average motorist. Surprisingly enough the electric car has once again being exhumed for this adapt-or-die strategy and besides the awesome Tesla Roadster, one of the most exciting models in a new batch of battery packed hopefuls is the MINI E. Hardly distinguishable from the regular MINI; I got behind the wheel of one on a recent press trip and was staggered at just how good the switch to volts can be.

Amped to go:

Just like its EV1 ancestor, the MINI E is fitted with an electric motor that’s juiced by a hefty battery pack taking the place of the back seats. This time around, however, technology has advanced considerably and the MINI E sports the same lithium-ion cells that power our laptops and cellphones. This drivetrain does pack on a significant amount of bulk though, so the electric-powered MINI E is somewhat chunkier than its petrol brethren.

Plug and play:

To fill up exhausted batteries quickly and with minimum fuss, MINI ships the E with a special high-amperage wallbox that can revive spent cells in a mere two-and-a-half hours – but only if you live in the US. In other parts of the world you’ll have to make do with a bog standard outlet plug, which will only get you back on the road after a hard night’s charge.

All the range:

With a full charge and in optimum conditions – lithium-ion batteries deliver best performance in cool weather – MINI claims that the E will clock up 250km before it stops dead in its tracks. On my rainy roundtrip through Bavaria, Germany, I covered about 180km and still had a few bars of power left. So while a MINI E will never crack it on a lengthy trip down to Cape Town, it still makes an excellent daily commuter.

Braking the joules:

In order to boost range and improve efficiency, the MINI E uses the kinetic energy created during braking to top up its battery pack. How this works is that, every time you take your foot off the throttle, the motor turns into a generator and delivers a free shot of juice to the needy cells.

Surfing the current:

I always thought that driving an electric car would be a bit like dawdling around on an old ’80s milk float, so I really didn’t hold up much hope for my MINI E experience. But once I got accustomed to the eerie silence inside the cabin and the unusual single-speed gearbox, the vehicle proved to be properly entertaining. Of course, being more portly it’s not as nimble as a normal MINI, but that trick electric motor pumps out some serious grunt. In fact, I thought it felt like a turbocharged Cooper S in the way it rocketed off the line and thrust past slower traffic.

Now, although, my fling with the MINI E was brief, it was long enough to convince me that the electric car not only works but can easily be used as everyday transportation – provided you’ve got the infrastructure to keep it charged. Fun to drive and cheaper to fill up with electricity than prime with petrol, I’d put one of these machines in my garage without the slightest hesitation. The only problem lies in the fact that, with only 500 currently in existence for research purposes, the chances of this happening anytime soon are slim. However, if the MINI E gets the same positive feedback as the ill-fated EV1 and manages to avoid getting squashed by the greed of the world’s corporate illuminati, then perhaps we might just see a commercial electric Cooper hitting the showrooms within the next 10 years. And if that happens, price dependent of course, I’ll be one of the first to hop on the waiting list.

MINI E Fast Facts:

Price: Not for sale. 500 available to lease in the United States at $850 per month

Performance: 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds, 152km/h (limited)

Power: 150kW and 220Nm from 0 – 12 500rpm

Thirst: 0.12kWh/km

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