BMW publishes results of MINI E field trials
Tue 09 August 2011
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BMW has revealed the results of the electric MINI E field trials involving 62 members of the public and 76 pool users. The results are based on over 250,000 miles of driving in which BMW says the average daily distance driven was just under 30 miles with the average cost to charge the vehicles working out at less than 2p a mile.
The results of the fiels trials add a significant amount of data which will help enhance understanding of how electric cars are used in real world conditions. A large amount of data was collected electronically by data-loggers in the car and the home charging points, and also from extensive driver research carried out by Oxford Brookes University.
The UK trial discovered that everyday use of the electric MINIs didn’t radically differ from the typical driving patterns of a control group of drivers of conventionally powered cars in the same segment. In fact, the daily journey distance of 29.7 miles was slightly more than the 26.5 miles recorded by the control cars, a mix of MINI Coopers and BMW 116i models.
The UK average daily distance driven for private cars overall is less than 25 miles. With information gathered by on-board data-loggers, the average single trip distance was recorded as 9.5 miles compared to the UK average of seven miles.
Given the daily average driven distance of just under 30 miles, the drivers felt confident enough not to have to charge their vehicles every night. In fact, the average number of recharging sessions was 2.9 times a week according to information fed back via electricity smart meters. Drivers benefited from night-time tariffs successfully encouraging individual drivers to charge their vehicles when electricity was at its cheapest.
Nine out of ten drivers told the researchers that charging actually suited their daily routine, with 81 percent agreeing with the statement “I prefer to plug in the car than go to a fuel station”.
Most users charged their vehicles at home, with 82 percent using their wall-mounted charging box 90 percent of the time. The lack of a comprehensive public charging infrastructure in the UK was noted, with four out of five participants (82 percent) saying they thought that it was “essential” that a network of charging points was established. However, almost three quarters (72 percent) said they were able to use their car perfectly adequately right now as they had access to private charging.
Most users surveyed in the trial were positive about their driving experience enjoying the silent, smooth drive and good pick-up and acceleration.
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