Electric MINI revealed -- The Mini E

TEG · Nov 27, 2008

Green Car Congress: AC Propulsion System Powers the MINI E

WarpedOne · Nov 28, 2008

From GCC:

AC Propulsion’s air-cooled copper-rotor induction motor produces maximum torque from zero to 5,000 rpm and spins all the way up to 13,000 rpm.

I thought this copper-rotor thing is Tesla's (patented) trick and AC used aluminum rotors?

Joseph · Nov 28, 2008

Tesla Motors - think

In the Tesla blog "motor city," Martin says,

"Like Tesla’s motors, the EV-1 motor, and the AC Propulsion motor, ours gets its incredible efficiency largely due to its copper rotor."

Maybe they used to make motors with aluminium, but not as of recently.

WarpedOne · Nov 29, 2008

Thank you for pointing me to that blog. I guess it is copper alright.

We’ve studied the EV-1 motor carefully. The technique they used to construct their copper rotor was not great, resulting in suboptimal efficiency, and (I suspect) low manufacturing yield.
We have studied AC Propulsion’s rotor manufacturing technique. Their process creates a motor with much better efficiency. But there is quite a bit of hand labor and tweekmanship in the process, and it would not work for the production volumes we forecast at Tesla.

Maybe BMW will give ACP a hand in optimizing their manufacturing procces.

doug · Dec 4, 2008

BBC NEWS | Business | Mini points to electric car future

Includes a nice little video.

dpeilow · Dec 9, 2008

MINI E verdict | First Drives | Car Reviews | Auto Express

JRP3 · Dec 9, 2008

Mounted where the back seats would normally be are 5,088 AC Propulsion lithium-ion battery cells, similar to those in most mobile phones.

AC Propulsion batteries? I don't think so.

Starting takes about 10 seconds, as the electronics check the state of the battery and confirm the vehicle is working correctly.

That seems ridiculously long to wait to get moving, an EV should start at least as fast as an ICE.

dpeilow · Dec 9, 2008

The Roadster takes a few seconds when you turn the key, you can see that in the OnCars video.

Kevin Harney · Dec 9, 2008

I suppose that means the the Roadster could be turned on AND be going more than 60 mph in the same amount of time !! LOL

doug · Dec 9, 2008

dpeilow said:
MINI E verdict | First Drives | Car Reviews | Auto Express

Doesn't look particularly crash worthy. I wouldn't like to be sandwiched by those batteries. I guess that's a common problem with conversions. For safety, structural members of the car really need to be designed with the batteries in mind. But I appreciate that this is being taken on by Mini/BMW and ACP. Certainly feel better about it than something from Hybrid Technologies.

graham · Dec 9, 2008

Doesn't look particularly crash worthy. I wouldn't like to be sandwiched by those batteries.

I agree! But BMW would not be able to sell them in the US if they were not crash tested, I assume?

Or are they getting around the safety tests somehow?

JRP3 · Dec 9, 2008

I imagine there is a substantial bulkhead in front of the battery pack. Really the location isn't that much different than Tesla's, is it?
Frankly, I'm glad they are doing an EV and I understand why they would use a Mini, but it's a terrible vehicle to convert. Most home conversions have better battery placement than that because they have more space to work with.

dpeilow · Jan 3, 2009

I was in a newsagent this afternoon and saw Modern Mini Magazine had a pretty comprehensive (IIRC) 6 page review of the Mini E. I didn't have time to read the whole thing (and wasn't feeling like buying it) but in conclusion they said it is a good start and "Rome wasn't built in a day"...

UK members might like to pick up a copy if they are interested.