Electric cars are going to be a tough sell to car-mad Brits. We love our hot hatches far too much to be interested in reskinned milk floats. But the world’s oil supplies won’t last forever, so carmakers are looking to the future and starting to build electric-powered concepts and prototypes. So what better to persuade the driving public that a car that you plug in can actually be fun to drive than an electric Mini, one of the most popular cars on the road today. We drove the prototype Mini E that will be trialled in the UK over the next year by private and fleet users and discovered that electric cars really could be the future, if they’re as good as this.
Mini E consumer car reviews
Mini E lease prices
Mini E new and nearly new
Ownership isn’t possible with the Mini E: as a prototype, it’s only available on a lease basis to drivers who have to apply to take part in an evaluation project. These private users – 20 for the first six months, with another 20 for the second half-year – have to live in a strictly defined geographical area in the south-east of England, which is within the area where Scottish and Southern Electric (a partner in the project) supplies the power infrastructure for charging. Drivers who wish to participate in the project also have to be willing to cooperate fully with the researchers attached to the project, spending time filling out travel logs and answering questionnaires. They’ll also have to pay a lease fee of £330 a month for the privilege, but when you consider that fully charging the car using off-peak electricity (overnight, when it’s parked outside the house) will only cost £1.50 and there will be no petrol costs for six months, it seems a pretty good deal. And you also get the warm glow from knowing that you’ll be an environmental pioneer, helping to push the boundaries in the quest for emissions-free motoring. It’ll certainly be something to tell the grandkids in 50 years’ time, when everyone’s driving electric cars.
Read the full Mini E road test
