Mini Releases Electric Concept Ahead of Frankfurt Motor Show

Mini has released details and photos of its Electric Concept vehicle ahead of the vehicle's debut at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. The aim of Mini's creation is to show people how the future may look in terms of pure electric cars, but more importantly, there'll be a production version in 2019.

BMW believes that going electric is one of the most important strategies and the Mini brand is perfect for this. "With its characteristic go-kart feeling and powerful electric motor, the Mini Electric Concept is great fun to drive while also being completely suitable for everyday use – and producing zero emissions to boot. That's how we at Mini envisage electric mobility in tomorrow's world," says Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Mini.

This is not Mini's first rodeo (as the saying goes) when it comes to electrification of its products. It was in 2008 when the Mini E was unveiled and it formed part of an extensive field trial with over 600 units entering service globally, purely for feasibility studies. Of course, the tech and the experience garnered from the experiment were included in parent brand BMW's i3 electric car. Fast forward to 2017 and we have a plug-in hybrid Mini on its way in the form of the Countryman. However, this concept is radically different to what the Countryman offers.

Mini thinks that small electric cars are the future and this Electric Concept shows where the brand is going

Mini Electric will become a standalone brand and, in many ways, this Electric Concept showcases Mini at its best: compact for the confines of a city, agile for some fun driving dynamics, but with zero emissions. There are few design elements suggesting it's an electric vehicle, but it's definitely a Mini thanks to the trademark cues such as round headlights and body shape. We're also big fans of the Union Jack tail lights!

There's some clever use of 3D printing, which will help minimise production costs down when the road-going version comes along. Under the skin, we're likely to see the BMW i3's powertrain grafted straight into the Mini, which will give the newcomer a range of around 290 to 300 km per charge.