The University of California, Davis and the BMW Group today released the largest publicly available study of electric-car users ever conducted – including over 120 families who drove the fully electric MINI E automobile more than 1 million miles in California, New York and New Jersey from June 2009 to June 2010. The report shows that the participants found the cars to be fun yet practical, easy to drive and recharge, and many said they would buy an electric car in the next five years, according to UC Davis researchers. . . .
Among the key findings of the study are the following:Several of the Mini E lessees "adapted their driving around the capabilities of the vehicle." For example, the reduced range due to running the heater or A/C led some drivers to make do without those comforts.
- 100% of respondents said BEVs are fun to drive and practical for daily use
- Respondents said the MINI E met 90% of their daily driving needs
- 71% of respondents drove fewer than 40 miles/day; 95% drove fewer than 80
- 99% of respondents said home charging was easy to use
- 71% of respondents said they are now more likely to purchase a BEV than they were a year ago while only 9% said they are less likely.
- 88% of respondents said they are interested in buying a BEV or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the next five years
- By the end of the lease period, MINI E drivers overwhelmingly thought that the electricity for charging their BEV should come from renewable resources such as solar, wind and hydropower, and were strongly opposed to using coal to generate electricity for their vehicles.
MINI-E lessee No. 250 tells about driving the MINI-E for two years here on his blog.
[Source: via autoblog/BMWblog]
