My favorite small car is about to get greener! The all-electric Mini Cooper is coming! Before we go further, let’s take a moment to remember the last all-electric pilot program by a major manufacturer: GM’s EV1. That was 1996. It is now twelve years later, and low and behold we are exactly where we were twelve years ago! Good thing we ripped out all of those recharging stations. Oh, and a decade after hydrogen was a decade away from a reality, it is still a decade away! Before you accuse me of talking in circles, think about the fact that as a society we have made no measurable progress when it comes to bringing zero-emission vehicles to mass-market in the last ten years. Check out Who Killed the Electric Car for some of the reasons why. Maybe things will be different this time.
Mini has announced the November application process for its new pilot program for an all-electric Mini Cooper. Only 500 lucky souls will get to lease the zero-emission Mini, and only for 1 year. And, similar to the EV1, the Cooper will only be available for lease in select markets: Southern California and NY/NJ metro area. Learn more here and check back for follow-up posts here at the Green Ride Rules!

Perhaps you saw Geico’s summer “Connection” newsletter which came out in June. As a big fan of all things Mini, I was displeased to see one of my favorite small cars, the Cooper, displayed under the headline, “Did Your Minicar Pass the Test?” The article states that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its newest findings on several minicars, and that “safety concerns…are on the rise.” Furthermore, the article boldly warns readers “you may want to think again” if considering one of these cars for purchase. What is going on here? I decided to do some digging! Read the rest of this entry »