The new #Mini #Electric has been unveiled at the company’s Oxford plant, where the very first Mini was built 60 years ago. After 15,000 potential customers expressed an interest in the car, the official order books are now open. Manufacturing will begin in late 2019, with first deliveries in the spring of 2020 and exports headed around the world.
Member of the board of management of BMW AG responsible for Production – and previous plant director of Oxford – Oliver Zipse, said: ‘We are entering an era in which electric cars will become a normal choice for our customers. The Mini Electric will kick off our new model offensive for fully electric #vehicles. By 2023, two years ahead of schedule, we will have 25 electrified models on the market. More than half of them will be fully electric.’
The Mini Electric will be fully integrated into the production process at Oxford, running down the same lines as all the conventional models.
Oxford managing director, Peter Weber, said: ‘This is such a proud moment for every single one of our team.’
Instantly recognisable as a three door Mini Hatch, the Electric version blends the timeless appeal of the design and go kart handling with the latest in zero emissions ‘powertrain’ technology and in-car connectivity.
David George, director of Mini in the UK, said: ‘Now our customers can have everything they love about Mini, but with all the advantages of an electric car – lower environmental impact and running costs and they never have to visit a petrol station again!’
Priced to be widely affordable, many customers are expected to lease the new car and rates will start below £300 per month. The on the road list price is from £24,400 after the government’s Plug-In Car Grant has been applied.
Secretary of State for business, Greg Clark, welcomed the news, ‘Our automotive industry has long been a source of national pride, and the unique collaboration between Government and industry through our Industrial Strategy has helped put the UK at the forefront of the design and manufacture of zero emission vehicles with one in five electric cars in Europe now built in the UK.
‘The production of the electric Mini in the UK will play a key role in accelerating the adoption of cleaner, greener vehicles and I am delighted this modern British icon will be manufactured in Oxford.’
The original Mini, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, was born out of the Suez crisis oil shortage and the demand for affordable motoring. The first cars rolled off the line at Oxford in the summer of 1959 and so began a global success story which has spanned six decades. As the world faces new environmental, social and economic challenges, Mini has chosen the moment to launch its first fully electric model.
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