Two months into its field trials of electric-powered automobiles, Mini USA is gathering valuable, real-world data from 450 drivers of Mini E electric-powered vehicles.

These vehicles are now in daily use in metropolitan New York, New Jersey and Los Angeles, where they are being driven by private customers, municipalities, universities, public utilities, non-profit and commercial organizations.

Since the field trials began in June, these experiences have been fed back to Mini USA, with users describing what it is like to live with, and to drive a vehicle that has a purely electric drivetrain.

Several Mini E pioneers have started blogging about their experiences on the web, reporting on detailed aspects of their day-to-day experiences of their plug-in Mini.

Residential charging stations have been installed in the garages of Mini E drivers.

There are two high voltage charging systems, the 220-volt, 32-amp system allows a full charge in three to five hours, while a 48-amp system allows a full charge in two to three hours.

Every Mini E comes with a 110-volt cable that allows Mini E drivers to also charge the car at locations away from home charging points.

The 100-mile range on a single charge that is being reported in the trials is an accurate reflection of the typical range of the Mini E on a full charge driven in the variable conditions of the real world.

Although one contributor to a dedicated Mini E Facebook group has reported that he has achieved 141.2 miles on a single charge.

The Mini E is the first chapter of BMW Group’s Project i, the company’s long-term commitment to research and develop a new type of vehicle specifically to meet the needs of the world’s fastest growing mega-cities, where the majority of vehicle growth will come in the next 20 years.