– Check against delivery –
Pieter Nota
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG
Customer, Brands, Sales
Welcome everyone!
It’s great that you could join us on this very exciting day:
The world premiere of our new MINI Electric!
[MINI Cooper SE: combined fuel consumption: 0.0 l/100 km; combined
power consumption: 15.0 – 13.2 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km*]
We chose Rotterdam to showcase the new MINI Electric because quite
simply, this city embodies what MINI is all about: Urban, edgy and
forward-looking. It’s also a place that embraces electro-mobility,
having already implemented a comprehensive charging network. In a
nutshell, it’s a city that points to the future. This is also our
approach at the BMW Group.
The MINI Electric is another milestone in our BMW Group
electrification strategy. Of course, it’s also a milestone for Plant
Oxford, the Home of MINI.
Very early on, the BMW Group recognized the importance of sustainable
mobility and was a pioneer with the BMW i3 in 2013. Since then, we
have been consistently expanding our offer. Our approach is to focus
on both fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to suit various
customer needs.
Today, the BMW Group offers the broadest range of electrified
vehicles: From our 2 Series all the way up to our 7 Series. We have
the right model with the preferred drive train – for every customer in
every segment – in every region of the world. That is what I call true
customer centricity!
Plug-in hybrids – as well as fully electric vehicles – can deliver a
very real and positive contribution to lowering emissions. They
provide a way to quickly improve air quality in urban areas.
Last year we cooperated with the city of Rotterdam on the “Electric
City Drive”. We created an app to remind plug-in hybrid drivers to
switch to all-electric mode when in the city zone. The result: Nearly
all of the kilometres driven within the city zone – were fully
electric. Now we are planning to make this intelligent software a
standard feature in our plug-in hybrid vehicles, starting 2020.
At the BMW Group our goal is clear: To be the driver of premium
electric mobility. Our strategy is proving successful: Last year in
Europe, we sold more electrified vehicles than anyone else. At the end
of 2019, we will have over half a million electrified vehicles on the
road. And we continue to step up the pace: Already in 2023, we will
offer 25 electrified vehicles – two years earlier than originally
planned. More than half will be fully electric. Next year customers
can look forward to the BMW iX3. And 2021 will be a truly phenomenal
year for the BMW Group with the launch of the BMW i4 and our new
technology flagship, the iNEXT.
For us it is clear: Emission free mobility is crucial for a
sustainable future.
At the BMW Group, we are taking responsibility for next generations.
We are investing in future technologies that will help solve
significant challenges in society. We want to be part of the solution.
MINI has always been about solutions – MINI was created to provide an
answer to the mobility challenges of its time. Once again, it is
delivering timely and innovative solutions. MINI and electro-mobility
go together like hand in glove – as the success of the MINI Countryman
Plug-In Hybrid has shown.
[MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4: combined fuel consumption: 2.1-1.9
l/100 km; combined power consumption: 13.6 – 13.5 kWh/100 km; combined
CO2 emissions: 47-43 g/km*]
Our new MINI Electric demonstrates how emotional and how much fun
e-mobility can be. True to the MINI brand, it is the perfect car for
urban areas.
The fantastic customer response shows that many people have been
waiting for this great new car!
We are thrilled to already have over 40,000 customers who have
registered their interest in the MINI Electric. So, you’d better be
quick if you want one!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All of this shows: At sixty years old, MINI is as innovative and
up-to-date as ever – ready to drive into an exciting and emission-free future!
And now, the moment has arrived: Please welcome the new MINI Electric!
Bernd Koerber
Senior Vice President MINI
MINI was founded on the idea to deliver a solution to the mobility
challenges of its time. We are committed to this idea and to ensure
sustainable urban mobility for the future.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I have the great pleasure to introduce you
to the first all-electric production model MINI, the MINI Cooper SE,
or as we briefly call it the MINI ELECTRIC.
Unmistakably a MINI – a premium small car that embodies all MINI
attributes, and transmits them to the segment of EV’s. In other words,
we have electrified MINI, now we will MINIfy electro mobility.
A new chapter in the history of MINI begins today. I am very excited
to share this moment for the future of the brand with you. The last 60
years, MINI has shaped individual mobility in the urban environment.
With unconventional and pioneering concepts that we owe to the
nonconformists and lateral thinkers in our design and development
departments, and who make driving in a MINI an emotional experience.
Alec Issigonis, the designer of the classic Mini didn’t subscribe to
conventions. He challenged the status quo and arranged the engine
transversely under the bonnet of the Mini. The result was like a
revolution for the entire industry – small cars were soon developed
almost exclusively according to this pattern. Despite its minimal
external dimensions, the classic Mini surprised with plenty of space.
Thanks to its “Wheel at each corner” architecture offered unsurpassed
agile handling the MINI typical go-kart feeling. Alec would certainly
have been a pioneer of electro mobility, and so we continued this core
idea of MINI.
It is this Go-Kart feeling, the sense of individuality and
unconventional concepts that have kept MINI in the spirit of the
times. It is not surprising that MINI pioneered the way to electric
mobility more than ten years ago. In 2008, the MINI E was the first
BMW Group electric vehicle to be produced in a small series. It
gathered important insights – insights that influenced the development
of the BMW i3. MINI drivers who participated in the field tests with
the MINI E at that time still praise the inspiring driving characteristics.
With the MINI Countryman Plug-In Hybrid electric driving was brought
to the brand in 2017. The new MINI Electric is both, the leap into the
future of MINI and also into the future of electric mobility. From now
on, electro mobility is synonymous with MINI’s typical go-kart feeling
in individual style.
The MINI ELECTRIC is based on the conventionally powered MINI 3-door.
It keeps exactly the same boot capacity because its high-voltage
battery is cleverly housed in the vehicle floor. This is creative use
of space in its most modern form. The battery allows for a range of
235 kilometers. The new MINI Electric comes standard with a fast
charging DC feature which allows the battery to be recharged in only
35 minutes time.
With 184 hp and the spontaneous power development that is typical for
electric motors, the MINI ELECTRIC keeps some sports cars at a
distance at the traffic lights accelerating in a mere 3.9 seconds from
zero to 60 km / h. Perfect traction and driving stability are
guaranteed by the innovative wheel slip limitation, which was
developed especially for electric vehicles.
Standard features of the MINI ELECTRIC include LED headlamps, a
2-zone climate control system, heating with heat pump technology,
stationary air conditioning and auxiliary heating, as well as a
navigation system that displays – among other things – the range in
the form of an operating radius and charging stations in the area.
For us, the MINI ELECTRIC is not just a car, but the beginning of an
all-in-one solution for urban mobility that we have dedicated
ourselves to. The MINI ELECTRIC has all the latest MINI Connected
services plus pioneering features such as a sharing function. The
owner can share the use of his MINI via MINI Connected with family
members, friends or other people by means of a smartphone which allows
him or her to unlock and start the car. Until the launch, we will be
able to offer further innovative services and features in an electric ecosystem.
So…when does the MINI Electric hit the road? We have been accepting
orders from all over the world for a few weeks now, and we are doing
our utmost to ensure that our customers do not need to wait too long.
We have decided against one single launch date for all markets.
Production of the MINI Electric starts in Oxford in November 2019. The
first vehicles will then be delivered as early as possible, because
one thing is clear: it is about time for electro-mobility in MINI
style, don’t you think?
Thank you.