Paris Preview: Mini electric concept drives on two wheels
Filed under: Concept Cars, Europe, Paris Motor Show, Mini, Motorcycle
Mini Scooter E concept- Click above for high-res image gallery
Mini has shared plans with its Facebook fans (all 370,702 of them, making the automaker even more popular than David Hasselhoff) to bring its latest electric concept to the Paris Motor Show. Sporting the colors and insignia of the all-electric Mini E, a trio of drawings reveal a scooter with a Vespa-esque rear end following up a somewhat less successful fascia. The Mini-style mirrors are a nice touch while the turn signals remind of the BMW Isetta, which almost saves the design from its bland headlight, but its departure still seems significantly superior to its arrival. Perhaps it will look better when we see it in the metal. Maybe even better than its Smart competition.
More interesting than its aesthetics are hints at the mechanicals. It looks like - and feel free to correct us in the comments if you think differently - that both the front and rear wheels contain motors. This arrangement could also foretell some regenerative braking, though the extra engineering might add too significantly to the price tag should the scooter ever make it to a retail outlet near you (we said outlet, get it?). Also of interest is that little box that would be located between your shins if you were astride the little beastie facing what we hope is a Mini-style speedometer. Radio? GPS? Pedestrian warning system? We'll let you know in a few weeks.
Gallery: MINI Scooter E concept
[Source: Mini via Motorcycle.com]Paris Preview: Mini electric concept drives on two wheels originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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