2009 New York Auto Show: Mini charges up Mini E customers' garages

At the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, Mini introduced the Mini E, a battery-powered Mini Cooper that it will lease to 450 consumers in California, New York, and New Jersey starting in May. With one sitting on the show-floor at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, we decided to check in on the project to see how it’s progressing.

The cars have been built and Mini has chosen the applicants who will get the cars to drive for a year, said Nathalie Barthmuss, a Mini spokeswoman. But before the cars are delivered, Mini is sending electricians to the customers’ homes to install 48-amp/240-volt charging outlets in the garage or where the cars can be recharged. With that kind of power, the Mini E's giant, 35-kwh battery pack can be recharged in about three hours. Using a regular 12-amp/110-volt outlet, it would take 26.5 hours.

The lithium-ion battery pack is more than twice the size of the one in the upcoming Chevrolet Volt and takes up the Mini's whole back seat. It gives the car a range of about 100 miles and will only cost about $3.30 to "fill up."

Still, it would only cost about $6 to drive a standard Mini Cooper the same 100 miles. And the monthly lease would cost a whole lot less than the E's $850-per-month lease price.

More info on the Mini E.

—Eric Evarts

See Consumer Reports' coverage of the 2009 New York auto show.