ITS ELECTRIC, ITS GREEN, ITS A MINI.. AND IT CAN OUTRACE AN ASTON MARTIN

BREAKTHROUGH FOR CARS
By Richard Smith

LIST the cars that could beat an Aston Martin from a standing start and the humble Mini wouldnt be among them.

This model might look like an ordinary two-door hatchback - but it can out-accelerate a £110,000 DB9.

And its one of the greenest cars on the planet.

The Mini QED has pioneering electric technology, which gives it a top speed of 150mph and 0-60mph acceleration in just 4.5 seconds.

Specialists PML Flightlink completely stripped out a standard Mini One and rebuilt it using new electric drive technology.

The car is propelled by four 160bhp electric motors - one per wheel - which also act as the braking system.

As each motor slows the car down, it harnesses the energy released through braking and converts it into stored energy to power the car.

The independent four-wheel drive also gives the car traction control and anti-lock braking in each wheel, which provides greater stability than any petrol engine vehicle.

The Mini can run for up to four hours or 250 miles with no emissions.

For longer journeys, a tiny fourstroke engine can be switched on to power a highly-efficient electrical generator, which gives the car a range of around 1,000 miles between fuel stops.

Chris Newman, from PML Flightlink, which is based in Alton, Hants, said: "Its probably the biggest technological leap forward for the automobile in the last 100 years.

"Todays electric or hybrid-electric vehicles substantially underperform when compared with high-performance gasoline cars.

"We felt it was time to demonstrate what really can be achieved today using the best technology available.

"The Mini was chosen as the platform because of its broad appeal and iconic styling.

"However, it is not a light vehicle and has limited space to fit all the components needed. If it can work in a Mini then it would be comparatively easy to do the same in other vehicles."

Not if you had to pay the going price.