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Mini will show a plug-in electric scooter concept at the Paris Motor Show next month. But it will have some competition from Smart with its own plug-in electric scooter at the show.
The Mini features a lot of styling cues from its plug-in electric car concept, right down to the large dishplate speedo. It features an electric motor in the rear wheel with power from a lithium-ion battery under the seat that can be charged from a standard A/C power outlet via a retractable cable.
Mini is making no comments yet on whether it will go into production, but a scooter would be a better fit for the brand than for BMW, even though the German made a C1 scooter with a roof in 2001-02.
BMW Motorrad last year developed an electric version of the C1 for a European study into traffic congestion, but the company's motorcycle division is concentrating more on performance bikes. It would seem logical that Mini produce scooters, rather than diluting the BMW motorcycle brand.
The Smart scooter concept uses a lithium-ion battery with 100km of range and will even include an airbag like Honda's massive Goldwing touring bike. Smart has made no comment yet about going into production with the scooter.
