2009
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New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
Announces Use of MINI E Electric Cars provided by BMW Group to City of New
York in State of the City Speech
New York,
NY January 15, 2009, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today
announced in his State-of-the-City speech that BMW Group will loan a fleet
of 10 MINI E electric zero-emissions cars to the City of New
York.
These vehicles will be used in its Street Condition Observation
Unit, known as SCOUT, and will be among the 500 MINI Es the BMW Group is
producing as part of a one-year pilot field study to determine the viability
of electric vehicles in real life use. The MINI Es will be used by SCOUT
inspectors who drive New York Citys streets in search of street conditions,
such as potholes and graffiti. The vehicles are scheduled to begin arriving
in April. The MINI E is the first product of BMWs Project i, a program
designed to research and develop transportation strategies and new types
of vehicles specifically to meet the needs of the worlds growing
mega-cities, of which New York is one. "We are delighted to work with New
York City in developing this new form of sustainable transportation," said
Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA. "Mayor Bloombergs PlaNYC
initiative has demonstrated a keen understanding of the importance of
sustainability and we fully share the same vision and enthusiasm for developing
new ideas, technologies and forms of transportation to make it a reality.
This MINI E zero-emission vehicle is only our companys first step."
The MINI E can travel more than 150 miles on a single charge and provides
the agility and handling of a MINI Cooper. It is powered by a 150 kilowatt
electric motor with the equivalent of 201 hp. The energy supply comes from
a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The vehicle, which debuted
at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph
in 8.5 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph. MINI
will install a special wall box into each MINI E customers garage that
can fully recharge a completely drained battery in just two-and-a-half hours. |
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The 500 MINI Es will be deployed in New York and New Jersey and Los Angeles
metropolitan areas with additional vehicles being tested in Berlin, Germany
and London, England. Of the 500 U.S. vehicles, 450 will be leased to customers
that applied online at MINIUSA.com to be part of the one-year field study.
The others will be dedicated to full-time extensive and intense daily use
in select fleets, such as the NYC SCOUT fleet. Those selected will be asked
to provide ongoing real world use feedback to BMW on their experience with
the zero-emission electric cars. More than twice the number of people applied
as there are cars available in the U.S. BMW has also arranged to provide
MINI Es to the city of Los Angeles to test the MINI E in conditions different
from those in New York City. In New York City, the MINI Es will serve as
SCOUT vehicles and be deployed across the five boroughs beginning this spring
for one year. The vehicle operators help identify problems on New York City
streets and ascertain whether complaints logged into the Citys 311
phone system are being adequately addressed. SCOUT vehicles log nearly 100
miles per day.
MINI in the US
MINI is an independent brand of the BMW
Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW
of North America, LLC which has been present in the United States since 1975.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW
Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial
service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles,
the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA,
an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley
and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co.,
LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Groups global manufacturing network
and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles
and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented
in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports
Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 83 MINI passenger
car dealers, and 30 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp.,
the BMW Groups sales headquarters for North, Central and South America,
is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. |
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MINI US Press Information,
January 15, 2009 |
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