| BMW MINI Doubling it's Mileage to 60 MPG |
| Written by Billy Shih | ||
| Monday, 28 May 2007 | ||
 BMW MINIs are surprisingly inefficient. You'd think that such a small car would have some impressive stats, but city / highway ratings for Mini Models top out at 23 / 31. BMW is working on the problem, however. The MINI Cooper D will be receiving the same treatment as a few other BMW models: regenerative braking systems and Auto Start-Stop functionality that will as much as double mileage of the vehicle. BMW's regenerative braking system uses an Intelligent Alternator Control (IAC), which improves upon traditional alternators "by only engaging when required to charge the battery", and collecting energy when the car is coasting or slowing down. Other technologies used are an Auto Start-Stop Function and a Switch Point Display. The former turns the engine off when at a stop, and restarts automatically when the clutch is used, while the latter lets the driver know which is the most efficient gear after analyzing the "speed, road situation and accelerator pedal position". With their previous and current ventures into regenerative braking, BMW seems to be going not for an eco-stance, but for their mainstay of a premium driving experience. It's not as awesome as an all-electric MINI, but it seems like a pretty good deal for BMW owners as well as the rest of the world. Via: Green Car Congress.
Comments
(2)
start stop features
written by James , May 29, 2007
Just finished a weather class at college and the professor showed statistics of pollutants from various cars when she was going over global warming. It showed that while Hybrids have better gas millage and pump out less CO2 than a conventional car, but it also showed that hybrid release much more of the other pollutants that come from Gas engines because of the auto-shut off features. As we all know a gas engine is least efficient on start up and doesn't burn the fuel as much as its capable. So, this feature may be great for mpg and CO2, but not so much for pollution.
Check numbers on existing MINI mileage
written by dp , June 01, 2007
While the first generation MINI was surprisingly inefficient - but I have to add that you are quite a ways off in saying that "city / highway ratings for Mini Models top out at 23 / 31."
The current US Cooper manual gets 32 city, and 40 highway. I agree that Bringing the MINI D and Auto Start/Stop to the US are really good ideas... | ||
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