The Independent American Magazine for all Mini Owners
Issue link: http://mc2.epubxp.com/i/33536
First Victory For MINI All4 Racing he Monster Energy X-raid team celebrated an amazing victory in the five-day Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, this past April 3rd-7th. It marked an historic achievement for the X-raid team. The MINI All4 Racing was triumphant in its second race — less than three months after its first appearance in the Dakar Rally. Indeed, for the car to operate so flawlessly in only its second competition is testament to the hard work of the builders of the All4 Racecar. Like the MINI WRC cars, the All4 is Countryman based, but the Monster team designed and built their cars separately and independently from the Prodrive/MINI effort. Furthermore, they did it in less time, taking just under 90-days to build the winning rally car. The duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/FRA), driving Powering Down The MINI E Witnessing the final pioneers returning the keys of their MINI Es reluctantly, Rob Marshall reports from the handback event at the end of the UK market’s trial. ver two years have passed since I penned my glowing report on the MINI E (Issue 19). I loved the car’s combination of whisper-quiet speediness, comfort and superlative handling, assisted by the battery pack that lived behind the front seats, giving the little car an almost ideal 50/50 weight distribution. The downsides were the lack of rear passenger accommodation, a limited battery range of 150 miles maximum and a monthly lease cost of over £300.00 ($500 USD) — hardly a bargain rate. Since my own MINI E adventure in Munich, trials of the electric car have been held in Germany and the US. The first UK trial ended in June 2010 and the second set of 40 pioneers (as MINI calls them) handed back their MINI E cars at Plant Oxford on the 18th of March. The Head of E-Mobility Innovation Projects at BMW, Dr Julian Weber, explained to the assembled mix of MINI E drivers and journalists the impor- tance of the project, not to just BMW but also to the UK Government. BMW now has collated over seven million miles worth of data, which will influence the development of the first BMW electric car, the i3, due for launch in 2013. The information will also be analyzed by the British Government, as electric cars are seen to play a major role in the ambitious target of achieving an 80 percent reduction in the UK’s emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2050. Journalists weren’t permitted to join the ‘pioneers’, as they held confidential Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret, expertly piloted the MINI $OO 5DFLQJ FDU WR D WURXEOH IUHH ÀUVW SODFH YLFWRU\ a MINI All4, claimed victory with their team mates Leonid Novitskiy and Andreas Schulz (RUS/GER) placing second in a BMW X3CC. Novitskiy not only secured valuable points for the FIA World Cup for off-road rallies, but he also took the outright lead in the World Cup drivers’ standings. The two X-raid crews controlled proceedings in Abu Dhabi and made the fight for overall victory between themselves. Peterhansel secured three of the five possible stage wins and eventually beat Novitskiy by a winning margin of 15m16s. “Stéphane and the MINI All4 Racing have shown to be in excellent shape and deserved this victory,” said Monster Energy X-raid team boss Sven Quandt. “Although he stalled twice, technically we had no problems. Even Leonid has shown a very strong performance. The second place puts him in the FIA World Cup lead and in a very good position. He maintained his tactics and approached the rally wisely. “ 18 www.mc2magazine.com talks with BMW representatives on their individual findings, although many of them were keen to chat informally once the official proceedings had ended. David Russell, a 45 year-old family man from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, said that he drove 6,000 miles in his MINI E, over the six month loan period, recharging the car mostly at work. When at home he ran an extension cord from his house to his driveway, to replenish the batteries overnight. Liz Buttery, who lives near Plant Oxford, said that her husband used the car for his 90-mile commute to-and-from work but they both found that the battery range and vehicle performance diminished rapidly during the harsh winter weather. Liz stated that her initial worries about driving a left-hand drive were unfounded, although she insisted that the lack of rear space meant that the MINI E was ‘an impossible proposition for a family car’. Rob and Amber Thompson (Didcot, Oxfordshire) joined the universal praise of the car’s performance, handling and acceleration. With no children and a 50-mile daily commute, neither the battery range nor the limited interior space presented a problem to them. Only the low output of the heater was criticized, despite being able to clear the windows quickly. Amber emphasized that the recharge time was not a hindrance, but that renewable energy should be used to recharge electric cars for the entire EV case to have any credibility. Overall, it is clear that the 40 ‘pioneers’ knew they were participating in something special. Most adjusted their lives to work around the car’s limited range and interior space. Despite the high lease rates, many took pleasure at not paying the horrendously steep British gasoline costs for six months. T O