‘Electric Mini Cooper’ – a high-performance hybrid

0-60 in 4 seconds: a car with motors in its wheels!

A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW’s Mini Cooper.

The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph. It uses a small gasoline engine with four 160 horsepower electric motors — one on each wheel and has been designed to run for four hours of combined urban/extra urban driving, powered only by a battery and bank of ultra capacitors.

Martin Boughtwood, MD of PML says: “Until now, most electric vehicles have been little more than souped-up milk floats, limited by range and speed, with compromised performance. For those with a green conscience who also value an enhanced motoring experience, there is still something missing…..

…We took a standard BMW Mini One, discarded the engine, the disc brakes, the wheels, and the gearbox. These components were replaced by four of our electric wheels, a lithium polymer battery, a large ultra capacitor, a very small internal combustion engine (ICE) with generator -so small it almost fits alongside the spare wheel – an energy management system and a ‘sexy’ in-car display module.”

The benefits of PML in-wheel drive technology

• It is adaptable to other vehicle chassis;
• It eliminates the need for gearing and mechanical drive train;
• It allows more space inside the car.

What the electric Mini will do
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.

Read the full article at Treehugger
or check out the PML Mini QED website.