Live from the official gathering of the newest MINI E test drivers in Berlin March 29, 2010

The long winter is finally over, and Berlin is coming into bloom. While the capital enjoyed its first real spring evening of the year, the newest group of Berlin MINI E drivers, who had already been driving the sporty electric car for a month, came together. The anticipation of the coming months was enormous. The MINI Berlin showroom on Thursday was once again the scene of a relaxed soiree for the second group of private test drivers of the "MINI E Berlin - powered by Vattenfall" project, supported by the Federal Ministry of the Environment. The event was organized to give MINI E drivers an opportunity to get to know each other and exchange their first impressions. The drivers spoke with enthusiasm of their experience to date. "It's a lot of fun driving the car, simply because it has power, and because it's very lively," Christiane Vogel gushed. Driver Gerd-Udo Schrader described it as: "Nice to drive in the city, a calm driving experience. Comfortable." The group as a whole made an optimistic impression, with regard both to the coming period of participation in the pilot project, and to the overall future of electric mobility. Everyone agreed that the MINI E is ideally suited to everyday driving within the city limits of Berlin. The second phase of the Berlin pilot project will run until the end of August 2010. Many of the drivers were so impressed with their initial experience of driving the car that they were already looking for ways to remain electrically mobile in the future.     The BMW Group recently announced that they plan to enlarge their fleet of 15 MINI E in Munich, which has been on the road since summer 2009. It will be expanded to include 40 electric cars as part of the Model Region Munich project supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport. Interested test drivers from Munich will be able to apply beginning in spring 2010; the MINI E will be handed over in Munich in September 2010. Check back here soon for further details regarding applications.   For the article on the gathering of the first Berlin test group of the MINI E pilot project, click here.