Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4 Seconds

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Sxotty

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Electric Mini: 0-60 in 4.5 Seconds

So yeah hybrids are neat and all, but if they were like this I think they would generate a whole lot more interest.

here

The QED supports an all-electric range of 200-250 miles and has a total range of about 932 miles (1,500 km). For longer journeys at higher speeds, a small conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) is used to re-charge the battery. In this hybrid mode, fuel economies of up to 80mpg can be achieved.
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Anyway we all will have to wait and see if it is all marketing BS. Now if only they had something better then our current batteries for storing energy.
 
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4.5 seconds.

Good performance still.

They compare the weight of all four electric motors to the mini one's gas engine - I have to wonder how that would compare if generator and batteries were included.

I'd really like to know whether the wheel motors are connected via universal/cv joints or if they are directly mounted at the bearing. Hopefully the former... all that weight as unsprung? Yikes!
 
I fixed the title for you. Still if only hybrids had good batteries I could not help but love a car like that. High performance and great mileage, the only thing not to like is probably the price I guess :)
 
Very interesting - I remember back in one of the previous Electric car/fuel economy threads it was mentioned that putting the motors in the wheels would improve efficiency a great deal.

The only thing which isn't mentioned, of course, is the cost of the damn thing! Doesn't do you much good getting 80mpg in hybrid mode if the car costs three times as much as the standard petrol-driven version!
 
Bigus Dickus said:
They compare the weight of all four electric motors to the mini one's gas engine - I have to wonder how that would compare if generator and batteries were included.

I'd really like to know whether the wheel motors are connected via universal/cv joints or if they are directly mounted at the bearing. Hopefully the former... all that weight as unsprung? Yikes!
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If it's in wheel, it's most likely unsprung. Does anyone here have an idea about the weight of a mini's engine?

Notice also that they say that they've removed the usual brakes! Should save some weight (but not as much as the motor). But it's kind of scary to rely completely on the motors/generators for braking. Or did I misinterpret "All braking is performed by the wheel motors..."

sytaylor said:
There's no way a mini one could do 60 in 4.5 seconds though. Even the coopers are at about 7.9...
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Well, with 640 bhp and four wheel drive, it should be pretty quick.
 
The brakes are kind of like wedges instead of what we have now. These require a very little amount of power for braking and save weight because all the hydraulic parts should disappear then.
 
I don't know how bhp and kW at the wheel correspond exactly, but the motors listed there seem to have way lower power than what is mentioned in the linked article. And you would need to have huge wheels to reach 150 mph with 900 rpm
 
sytaylor said:
There's no way a mini one could do 60 in 4.5 seconds though. Even the coopers are at about 7.9...
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bah! even the old one can do better than that. :p though you need a Twincharged Hayabusa conversion kit to do that, but still.

Hayabusa Mini Cooper S makes 0-60 in 3.9 seconds with top speed of 180 mph. Nothing is left from the excelent handling the old Mini had and it's a bit intense to drive, but still it's the one shopping rocket that you won't be challenging in every street lights. ;)
 
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Simon F said:
That sounds more practical, but perhaps not as "sexy" as the Tesla.
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What I really like about the cooper is the fact that it uses gas to generate electricity so you could actually drive the thing and the range is awesome. The only real problem is that with a car as small as the cooper I don't know how much the range matters since you probably won't go on long trips in the thing anyway since there is no room to pack gear.
 
Basic said:
But it's kind of scary to rely completely on the motors/generators for braking. Or did I misinterpret "All braking is performed by the wheel motors..."
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Well, obviously you need something else for the handbrake when the car is not being run when parked, but regenerative breaking surely would be simple to make antilock.

Sxotty said:
The only real problem is that with a car as small as the cooper I don't know how much the range matters since you probably won't go on long trips in the thing anyway since there is no room to pack gear.
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Small? The modern minis are huge compared to the originals!
 
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Nappe1 said:
bah! even the old one can do better than that. :p though you need a Twincharged Hayabusa conversion kit to do that, but still.

Hayabusa Mini Cooper S makes 0-60 in 3.9 seconds with top speed of 180 mph. Nothing is left from the excelent handling the old Mini had and it's a bit intense to drive, but still it's the one shopping rocket that you won't be challenging in every street lights. ;)
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Hayabusa + 2 wheels more than usual = trouble
 
Sxotty said:
The only real problem is that with a car as small as the cooper I don't know how much the range matters since you probably won't go on long trips in the thing anyway since there is no room to pack gear.
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For Europe thats a pretty average car size.
 
Bigus Dickus said:
That's what it sounds like. So much for good handling...
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Which is really too bad, but perhaps the handling isn't really all that bad. I wish they had released more information about the performance characteristics of the car.

And yes the mini is bigger than the old mini, perhaps it is average size for EU, but it is still a small car in the US. I went on a pretty long road trip this summer (10k miles) and I used all the room in my car.
 
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