The BMW Group has already been gathering insights into the day-to-day use of electric vehicles since mid-2009, when it launched a global field test involving more than 600 MINI E models. 2011 will see the handover to customers of a further fleet based on the BMW Concept ActiveE unveiled in January of this year.

In the Chinese market too, the BMW Group anticipates high demand for electric cars. For this reason, 50 units of MINI E are to be delivered to China as a field trial before the end of 2010.

The renowned China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) is the main partner in the preparation, implementation and assessment of the practical use of these vehicles.

State Grid, as the leading public utility company in China, will be the grid partner of the project and fully support in charging facilities and infrastructure-related studies.

Moreover, the MINI E field trial project is under the framework of Chinese-German Forum for Economic and Technological Cooperation.

Since 2008, BMW Group, jointly with Shanghai Tongji University, began to work on a program to develop the "ECHO" electric car, which marked the first ever Sino-German project on developing pure electric vehicle as well as BMW's first co-research program in China.

The results will be fed into the development of electrically powered vehicles for the Chinese market