TOWN and Gown are to join forces in a bid to make the first electric Mini a production reality.

Mini’s parent firm BMW has asked academics at the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre, at Oxford Brookes University, to analyse data from an extensive trial of a prototype version of the car, which is set to be staged in the UK.

BMW is hoping to get Government funding to help with trials of a prototype of the car, called the Mini E, which have already started in the US and will also take place in Germany.

If it is approved, 40 cars will be made at the Cowley works before they are shipped to the firm’s Munich base, where the electric drive technology will be fitted.

Mini spokesman Dan Connell said the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre “are experts in electric drive trains, which was a logical fit for us and it also works very well that they are based in Oxford”.

Data compiled by the Sustainable Vehicle Engineering Centre will then be analysed and could pave the way for a production version of the car to be launched in about two years’ time.

An Oxford Brookes spokesman declined to comment on the project until a formal deal was signed.

The project fits in with Government plans to offer drivers up to £5,000 towards buying one of the next generation of electric cars when they reach the showrooms in 2011.

BMW said the switch to electric power – first revealed by the Oxford Mail last July– was designed to cut fuel consumption and emissions produced by conventional vehicles, particularly in big cities.

The cars will have a range of about 150 miles, powered by a battery, which can be fully charged in two-and-a-half hours using a specially-developed plug-in box set to be supplied by Scottish & Southern Energy.

Unlike electric vehicles of the past, the Mini will be quick off the mark and will be able to reach 62mph in just 8.5 seconds, and a top speed of 95mph.

All the trail cars will be painted silver, with bright yellow power plug logos.

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