BMW to bring MINI E to China as field trial this year

Shanghai, May 4 (Gasgoo.com) German carmaker BMW anticipates high demand for electric cars in the Chinese market and is set to deliver 50 units of its MINI E to China as a field trial by the end of this year, Xinhua News reported recently.

In mid-2009, BMW launched a global field test involving more than 600 MINI E cars and next year it will deliver to customers a further fleet based on the BMW Concept ActiveE that was unveiled in January of this year. The carmaker has been exploring the day-to-day use of electric cars.

The China Automotive Technology and Research Center is the main partner to prepare, implement and assess the use of these MINI E vehicles. State Grid Corp of China, the country's leading power grid operator, will be the grid partner to provide charging facilities and infrastructure for the project.

The MINI E field trial project is under the framework of Chinese-German Forum for Economic and Technological Cooperation. The results will be fed into the development of electrically powered vehicles for the Chinese market, China Daily said.

BMW and Shanghai-based Tongji University began in 2008 to work jointly on the "ECHO" electric car program, as BMW's first co-research in China and the first Chinese-German project on developing all-electric vehicle.