The electric classic Mini is in labor.
It would be misleading if we say that this delivery has come easy, but we hope that it comes with a bread under our arms ( as we say in Spain) for the planet and especially for our cities. The new classic Mini is about to be born.
At the beginning of the pregnancy, the complications came with the aproval, where the labs insisted for each test of our prototype (in this case with the Renault Twingo) that we rest a lot, that we had to have patience, that we had to rest and let time pass. Then, after a lot of effort and expense, we managed to pass the aproval.
Then came the ITV (MOT in the UK), which had never seen a delivery like this, and they began to panic about the unknown, so not to assist us in the delivery, they used excuses such as, the documentation is not printed in the colour of ink that we are used to, and similar… but after much more effort, we managed to reach an agreement and use the ink and the type of paper that was required (They would not understand this sarcasm either).
Later, more complications came in the following weeks of pregnancy with the batteries, where the European Union long ago released a new R100 regulation, to warn us that batteries could no longer be installed without new R100 approval in electric vehicles throughout Europe. And all the manufacturers in the EU, queuing to approve their batteries, so once again we needed to be patient, they can’t serve everyone. The collapsed primary health of unapproved batteries. But we finally got approved batteries.
Well, the delivery is about to arrive, and with everything we need, we are ready to give birth to a beautiful classic Mini powered by an electric motor.
As we have been doing in recent times, we continue to group ourselves by car models that we want to convert to electric. The Mini is the largest group, with 112 interested at the time of publishing this article. So we begin.
We are in the design phase, so the requirments are still up for grabs, but it will surely have a 90V system, with an electric motor of around 25Kw, a battery pack of around 20Kw and with all the essence of the Mini, ready to go with a zero emissions sticker.
Technicall aspects will still change, but in general it will be like described.
And when will it cost? Well, let’s hope it’s the most affordable for lovers of the classic Mini, and let’s also hope that by the time the kit is approved and available, the government has taken out more aid for the conversion of vehicles to electric than what has already been published. Let’s see if it is possible for them to help with €7,000, just as they do with new electric vehicles, with the difference that our converted and recycled vehicles have used much less energy to give birth.
And when will it be ready? Well, we estimated a quick delivery but with great pain. Between 3 and 6 months for the prototype to be designed and working, plus another 3 to 6 months to aprove the kit. With what, we hope that within no more than a year the kits will be available to enjoy, or throughout Spain or throughout Europe.