BMW’s Mini brand has unveiled its ‘Mini Scooter E’ two-wheeler concept today in London.
Mini says the design study represents the Mini design team’s ‘unparalleled expertise in recognising the challenges for mobility in major urban areas, and meeting these challenges with the development of stylish, innovative and sustainable future-focused vehicle concepts’.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The Mini Scooter E Concept breaks cover almost ten years to the day since the new Mini was first shown at the Paris Motor Show (though some of you may recall a spectacular PR stunt at Frankfurt a few years earlier when a working prototype close to the production car was shown to journalists by a triumphant Bernd Pischetsrieder).
Agyness Deyn, model and ‘icon of British fashion and design culture’ (it says in the release) is in London to help debut the Mini two-wheeler and will will celebrate the global premiere with an exclusive DJ set at an undisclosed London location this evening.
There are a total of three interpretations of the Mini Scooter E Concept conceived by Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design: two of which will be shown at the Paris Motor Show next week, while the third concept, inspired by the swinging sixties, the hey day of classic Mini is being shown exclusively in London.
Mini says the scooter meets the needs of the young urban generation: spontaneous, flexible, CO2-free mobility. Using a smart phone as the ignition key, the concept integrates infotainment, communication and navigation systems. The scooter is powered by an electric motor which can be recharged at any conventional power socket using an on-board charging cable.
“The Mini Scooter E Concept represents an electric vision of the future as urban mobility takes a new direction by Mini,” said van Hooydonk.
Mini says that the Mini Scooter E Concept is designed for the changing landscape in environmental and urban road traffic conditions, to offer a stylish and emission-free alternative for urban mobility.
Distinctive features include the circular central instrument cluster, the iconic speedometer, the visually prominent indicator lamps in the style of the classic Mini and the chrome trims on the bodywork. In addition the colours and materials all serve as identifiers, making the Mini Scooter E Concept ‘recognisably a Mini at first sight’.
The design concepts differ in the number of passengers they carry. The first Mini Scooter E Concept is a two-seater variant developed for ‘the fun of driving for two’. It mirrors the colour scheme of the current Mini E hatch prototype, 40 of which are currently on trial on UK roads – with body paintwork in matt charcoal, a yellow seat and yellow-painted mirror caps – and emphasizes the particularly intense aspect of zero-emission driving.
The second concept is a single-seater and the sportiest of the new concepts. Features include a classic combination of an upholstered seat in dark brown leather, paintwork in British Racing Green and silver mirror caps reminiscent of iconic racing cars.
The third and more design-progressive model – being shown exclusively in London – takes inspiration from the popular culture of the 1960s, a decade synonymous with the classic Mini, drawing on the distinctive graphics of the Mod era in particular.
A snap-in adaptor for a Smartphone allows the driver to use their mobile device as a route finder, music player or as a phone via a wireless Bluetooth interface from the Mini ‘cockpit’. As soon as the rider docks his mobile phone and switches it on, the vehicle is ready to go. A navigation app enables drivers to know where other Mini E Scooter E Concept drivers are on the map, similar to social networking systems, to encourage interaction between the Mini E Scooter community. Technology currently in development will mean headlights on the scooters automatically open when they meet on the road.
The Mini Scooter E Concept is driven by a built-in rear wheel electric motor which is powered by a compact lithium-ion battery. The battery can be plugged into any standard AC power outlet. A display screen clearly indicates to the driver the amount of battery life available: the Mini Scooter E Concept can be charged via a retractable lead in the rear of the Scooter.
