MINI USA has announced the company has opened the application phase for the all-electric MINI E field trial. Unfortunately none of us could apply as we don’t live in the designated New York City, New Jersey or LA Metro areas. But even if we did, you’d have to be extremely lucky to be among the 500 people that MINI will hand-pick to lease the vehicle for a year. For those of you that meet the criteria and would like to participate, we must warn you that MINI says the application form is relatively long and could take at least an hour to complete. If chosen, MINI will ask you to sign a closed-end 1-year, $850 per month lease

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Over at the MINI micro-site (is that redundant?) MINISpace the editors have posted an interview with Dr. Wolfgang Armbrecht, Senior Vice President Brand Management MINI, and Ulrich Kranz, Head of Project i about the company’s new electric car. The MINI E will be officially unveiled next Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, although we’ll be getting full technical low-down a day earlier. Armbrecht and Kranz don’t actually reveal a whole lot about the battery-powered two seater that we didn’t already know, but if you haven’t been paying attention, it’s a good way to catch up. The MINI E is basically a beta test for BMW engineers to learn more about how lithium ion-powered plug-in cars perform in real world conditions. In a relatively unusual move, people in the warm climes of the west coast don’t get an exclusive on this one. Customers in the New York/New Jersey area will be able to try out the MINI E in the cold as well. We’ll be interested to see how it fares.

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hese are the first official photos of the MINI E, an all-electric version of the MINI Cooper that will make its first public appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November. What’s so important about this MINI -aside from its technical specs- is that over the next year or so, BMW will produce around 500 units which will be leased to selected private and corporate customers in the U.S. states of California, New York and New Jersey, giving the Bavarian automaker the chance to evaluate the viability of a full-scale production EV. MINI said that it also considering the possibility of leasing the vehicle in Europe. The MINI Es will be built at the firm’s Oxford plant in the U.K. without engines and transmissions, then shipped to BMW’s headquarters in Munich, Germany where they will be fitted with an electric powertrain. The electric motor is powered by a lithium-ion battery that has been placed in the position of the rear seat bench - yep, it’s is a two-seater. Continued

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Believe it or not, this is the next-generation MINI Cooper Convertible that will most likely make its debut at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show in January with sales scheduled to start in Spring of the same year. An anonymous tipster sent a set of seven official images to MotoringFile, a dedicated MINI blog, giving us an early view of the new Convertible that is based on the underpinnings of the latest generation MINI hatch that was introduced at the 2006 Paris Show. Even though we don’t have any official details, apparently the Convertible will be offered with the same powertrain options as the hatch, meaning the line-up will include 95 HP 1.4-liter, 120HP 1.6-liter and 175 HP turbocharged 1.6-liter gasoline units and a 110 HP 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine. Additionally, it is said that the JCW sport package that features a modified version of the 1.6-liter twin-scroll turbocharged engine generating 208 HP will also be available from launch.

Other than that, the 2009 MINI Convertible gets a new set of pop-up roll bars at the rear just like the ones in the BMW 1-Series Cabriolet instead of the fixed units featured on the outgoing model along with a totally useless gimmick called ‘Always Open’ gauge that shows the driver the percentage of miles he’s driven the car with the top open.

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These initial images give us a clear indication of how future MINIs will be styled, and if BMW’s reputation for making only a few revisions from concept to production hold true, this is very close to the finished product.

Measuring about six inches wider and taller than the Clubman, the Crossover Concept features a five-door body style, but that’s where the similarities end. The right rear door has a conventional hinge, but the left door slides out and back, minivan-style. The rear hatch ditches the Clubman’s dual doors and is instead fitted with a single panel that opens to the right. Sources suggest that the concept’s door arrangement might be nixed in favor of something more traditional when it reaches production.

Power specifications and exact trim levels have yet to be revealed, but expect the Crossover to carry the same naturally aspirated and turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engines as its Cooper counterparts, BMW’s Efficient Dynamics system (with start-stop tech) and naturally, all-wheel-drive.

It’s likely that the Crossover won’t be spending much time off road, but with a higher ride height, more space, a comfy interior and MINI’s iconic styling, we’re sure we’ll see several on the highways and byways both here and abroad.

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Proving once again that there are many factors which impact an automaker’s plans on how many vehicles to sell is the fact that the U.S. isn’t likely to get an additional supply of Minis any time soon. Despite the fact that Mini literally cannot keep enough cars on its dealer lots (there is only a five day supply of unsold cars in the U.S.), BMW is not planning to increase production. While it would seem to make fiscal sense to build as many cars as can be sold, it’s not quite that easy. Apparently, the plant in Oxford, England where the new Mini is still produced is already running at capacity. It could take years for the necessary expansion at the facility to produce more cars, and it is difficult to forecast just how long the sales boom will last.

What may be in for an adjustment, though, is the current Mini’s sticker price. An increase may be coming due to both high demand and the weak state of the dollar.

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While not the highest-mileage car on the road, the little MINI has got style to go with its 37mpg (U.S.). Maybe that’s why MINI USA is announcing that Americans are showing more interest in MINI than ever before. Visitors to the MINIUSA website were up almost 89 percent in May compared to a year ago. People are doing more than looking, too, with sales in the first five months of 2008 up 36 percent compared to January-May of 2007. MINI USA’s vice president Jim McDowell said in a statement (available after the jump) that a lot of new people “who haven’t thought about a MINI before are checking us out. We’re thrilled to have them - and hope they join those of us who discovered a long time ago that you can have a hip, cool car that’s fun to drive - and still save at the pump.” Sure, gas prices might have something to do with this, but let’s not discount the power of the MINI Weinermobile.

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