Less than a year since the launch of the Mini E, BMW is at it again - but this time on two wheels, with the Mini Scooter E Concept.
The Scooter E's electric motor is integrated into the rear wheel and its lithium-ion battery can be recharged at any conventional power socket using an on-board charging cable.
The concept, which will be displayed for the first time at the Paris auto show on September 30, is aimed at a target group that sets store by premium quality and advanced technology as well as sustainability and individual.
It's also a great way, says BMW, to attract a younger audience to the Mini brand.
Two version of the Scooter E will be on show - a fun, practical two-seater and a sporty solo.
The two-seater version is finished in dark grey with a bright yellow seat, headlight surround and mirror housings. The seat is trimmed in tough fabric material, rather than vinyl, with a yellow strip along the bottom.
In each version this strip sweeps downwards from the front of the seat into the frame fairing and continues along the edge of the footrest towards the front, where it also runs around the legshield to create a visual boundary between the body of the scooter and the rider/passenger area.
The single-seater is steeped in the Mini's heritage and British origins with British racing green paint and dark brown, leather seat trim with a "used" look. The mirror housings are chromed and special flip-flop paint (that's either green or silver depending on the lighting) is used around the headlight.
The instrument panel has a centre speedometer, like the Mini, but with a smartphone clip in the middle. The actual speedometer is a tube around the rim filled with fluid that expands like the mercury in a thermometer as the speed rises.
The snap-in smartphone operates simultaneously as the scooter's key, display and central control element. As soon as you dock your phone and switch it on, you're ready to ride. While you're riding you can use the smartphone as a navigation system, music player or phone via a wireless Bluetooth connection to a special Mini Collection helmet with microphone and headphones.
But that can be taken a lot further; for instance, the navigation function can include a special map view in Google Maps that indicates the current position of other Mini scooters nearby, similar to social networks on the internet, so riders can be identified and invited to meet by simply pressing a button.
The headlight even automatically flashes its high beam when meeting another Scooter E.
There are two storage compartments on the inside of the legshield and an aluminium centre rail, derived from that of the Mini Countryman, extending downwards into the foot-well, with a clip-on mechanism that offers a range of options for transporting items required during the journey or at your destination such as helmet hooks, umbrella clips, eyewear pouches and thermos-flask holders.
GRAB A QUICK CHARGE
BMW's style gurus also envisage specially-made, clip-on music players, calendars, stopwatches, and even tea cups with clips to mount them on the centre rail.
The lithium-ion battery doesn't pick up a "memory" from part-charging as earlier nickel-cadmium batteries were prone to do and the five-metre charging cable plugs into any domestic socket so you can grab a quick charge every time you stop to shop or refuel on cappuccino.
A button-operated spring mechanism retracts the cable - just like a domestic vacuum cleaner! - before the scooter will start.
There's not much that's actually new on the Scooter E but it combines clever ideas from four-wheeled Minis, domestic appliances and modern electronics with a user-friendly, battery-powered single-speeder for a refeshingly different slant on urban transport that seems aimed straight at the café crowd.
Espresso, anybody?