Hybrid Mini Cooper

Herb · Apr 21, 2006

My apologies if this has already been posted.

Link to Story

Meet the Worldâ€™s First BMW Mini Cooper Plug-In-Hybrid

I have got to start attending the Geneva Auto Salon in Switzerland. Some of the coolest stuff is starting to debut there.

Take for example the Castagna Milano's Mini Cooper hybrid conversion. Originally founded about a 150 years ago in Milan, Italy to build custom coaches for the wealthy nobility, Castagna now specializes in one-of-a-kind automobiles and specialty conversions. This year, they took the wildly popular BMW Mini Cooper and turned it into a plug-in hybrid.

Rather than go to the expense of having to engineer a hybrid drive like you'd find in the Prius or Escape, they simply left the transverse, IC engine in place under the front "bonnet" (hood for us Yankees). Instead, they re-engineered the rear axle and beefed up the car's suspension, installing an electric motor to drive the rear wheels at the flip of a switch by the driver. I am told that the battery is a ZEBRA sodium nickel chloride from MES DEA in Switzerland and that the company has warranted it for five years.

Here's what Castagna Milano's press release from the 2006 Geneva auto show says:

The luxury of not polluting. Traveling silently, going where other vehicles have to stop.

From today, all our creations can be equipped with hybrid engines.

On the occasion of the Geneva Motor Show, we are showing a functional application of our technology, based on a MINI.

Retaining the vehicle's original mechanical and propulsion systems, a strengthened suspension system and an electronically controlled electric motor are fitted at the rear of the vehicle, allowing the driver to select the propulsion method he/she desires.

The latest generation batteries, managed by a specially developed on-board resource optimisation programme, guarantee a maximum range of up to 200km, at a top speed of approximately 140 km/h.

The combustion engine can be used to power the vehicle on the open road, or as a generator to charge the batteries.

A special digital instrument panel fitted to the vehicle allows the driver to check the battery charge level, the remaining range and the operating mode in use.

Thanks to a dashboard-mounted control, the driver can select either conventional or electrical mode, battery power or the utilization of the combustion engine as a generator.

There are two control options for managing the on-board electrical resources: CITY or SPEED. The former reduces consumption in order to ensure maximum range (200km) and limiting the maximum speed to 70 km/h. In SPEED mode, the top speed increases to slightly more than 130 km/h, giving a maximum range of approximately 120 km.

The batteries are guaranteed for a period of 5 years and they can be fully charged in 6 hours through a domestic power outlet.

According to Kristian Parker in Switzerland, who brought this car to my attention ("danke/merci/grazie") :

The cost for the conversion is about 40,000 euros plus the cost of the Mini. Unfortunately they have to do the stretch to have the space for the batteries and that alone costs 19,500 euros. So the hybrid part costs 20,000, of which they say 11,000 is for the battery pack.

Based on the current conversion rate of Euros to dollars, that's more than $48,000 for the conversion and more than $13,000 for the ZEBRA battery.

Kristian says, Castagna Milano has already done about 100 strech Mini Coopers, one of which is owned by a neighbor down the road.

I have asked Giacomo Dadda at Castagna Milano for more details about the car and when he replies I'll post them here. But by my count, they should be the third Italian company to explore the potential of plug-in-hybrids, and for that I say, "Grazie, L'Italia "!

Now, anyone care to give EV World a grant for $50,000 and a Mini Cooper? [/b]
Click to expand...

Rancid13 · Apr 21, 2006

It would be a plug-in hybrid? I would only put up with a plug-in vehicle if it were an EV, but a hybrid? No. Unless it was a plug-in Prius that only improved on the already existing system, range, and mpgs while keeping the emissions low.

Batteries guaranteed for only 5 years? At a price tag of $13K?! Did I read that right? No thanks!

Maximum range of 200km? Doesn't work for me...I'd rather have a true EV if my range is gonna be that limited. That kind of limitation is something that I won't put up with in a hybrid.

Wonder if the Mini Cooper Hybrid still needs to run on premium fuel?

:lol:

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