Field testing electric cars

Wired.com: BMW has revealed the early results of field tests of its electric Mini which it leases to 450 people for nearly $900 per month.

Displaying considerable candor, BMW North America manager of electric vehicle operations and strategy Rich Steinberg said the small-scale rollout was more difficult than expected.

The biggest problem, he said at the company's headquarters here, is infrastructure.

Installing the chargers in homes and buildings was more difficult and took longer than the company expected, he said. And even though the car, which BMW is leasing to customers in what is a big R&D project, offers 100 miles on a charge, people still worry about the battery dying.

Eight key factors would ease the acceptance of electric cars, according to Steinberg's interpretation of the Mini E field test data:

A standard connector for plugging in electric cars

Managing customer expectation for installing chargers and dealing with associated government permits.

Standardizing the numerous types of inspection permits required

Easy installation for charging wall sockets

Better diagnostics when faults develop (i.e. was it the car, the charging station etc..)

Public infrastructure for plugging in electric cars

Vehicle-to electric grid-communication

In terms of the environmental impact the electric version generated only 45 percent as much CO₂ per mile as the gas version, even though the battery ads 573 pounds to the Mini's overall weight (and loses the back seat).

Electric cars generate 1.7 times more CO₂ per unit of energy than gasoline, but use that same unit of energy 3.1 times more efficiently than gas cars, according to John DiCiccio of the University of Michigan.