SEAT chosen Oslo in Norway to finally confirm that the Mii electric will be its first electric car. It will be available before the all-electric SEAT el-Born, which was having all the media attention.
Let’s see some highlights of the press release.
Considered the electric vehicle capital of Europe, Oslo will be the first stop of this inaugural ‘SEAT on Tour’ roadshow where the company will present the Mii electric. The new e-model will enter the market by the end of the year and it will be one of the most affordable electric vehicles offered. Pre-sales of the SEAT Mii electric for customers will be starting in September.
Completing the range of novelties, Norwegians will get a first hand look at the SEAT el-Born, the first all-electric SEAT vehicle based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, and the second Group car to be built on it.
SEAT Mii electric
- SEAT Mii electric is the first electric vehicle from the brand, laying the groundwork for more to join the family in the future
- Mii electric is the ideal vehicle for the city, mixing dynamic performance with practicality and a range of 260km* (WLTP)
- SEAT’s first all-electric car makes the technology affordable, with purchase costs on the same level as an internal combustion engine vehicle and low cost of ownership
- Pre-sales of Mii electric will start in September
It’s no surprise that the SEAT Mii electric will share the same powertrain with its siblings, ŠKODA CITIGOe iV and Volkswagen e-up 2.0.
Technical data
Motor:
Max. power 61kW (83PS)
Max. torque 212Nm
Battery:
Lithium-ion
Capacity 36.8kWh
Charge time at AC 7.2kW to 80%, ~4 hours
Charge time at DC 40kW to 80%, ~1 hour
Range:
260km* (WLTP)
Performance:
Acceleration, 0-50km/h in 3.9 seconds
Top speed 130km/h
Dimensions:
Length: 3,557mm
Width: 1,645mm
Height: 1,478mm
Wheelbase: 2,420mm
Boot capacity:
250 litres (up to 923litres with rear seats folded)
Now that many European cities are banning dirty cars to improve air quality, this electric city car seems the perfect candidate to takeover. It’s a shame that Renault is taking so long to release the Twingo ZE, which has been postponed time after time since 2014.
Thanks to its compact dimensions, the Mii electric offers great agility while driving in the city and while parking. The Mii electric has been designed to meet the demands of modern driving, whether you are traversing the bustling streets of the inner city or navigating through suburbia, taking up the mantle from the combustion engine Mii when production of that vehicle ends in July 2019.
The move to an exclusively all-electric powertrain, opens the doors to a driving experience that fits more naturally with the city car’s environment.
This is the kind of news that I like to read, the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) variants will no longer be produced. The VW triplets will only be available as electrics.
SEAT Mii electric
When the Mii electric enters its key markets – Germany, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Austria, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden – it will be one of the most affordable electric vehicle. Costing the same as an equivalent combustion engine vehicle in the segment, but with significantly lower total cost of ownership – battery electric vehicles require less maintanence – the city EV will revolutionise customer perceptions of the alternative powertrain technology. In order to make customer’s life easier, SEAT will also offer charging options such as the installation of a SEAT Wallbox.
SEAT Mii electric production will begin in Bratislava (Slovakia) in Q4 2019, with a market introduction starting from the very end of the year. The reveal of the car took place today in Oslo, during the brand’s SEAT On Tour event.
Pre-sales of the SEAT Mii electric for the customers will start in September.
SEAT Mii electric
I’m very pleased that VW finally confirmed that the triplets will only be available as all-electric cars. In 2018 Volkswagen sold 97.366 units of the Up, SKODA sold 36.450 units of the Citigo and SEAT sold 13.031 units of the Mii. In total, 146.847 units of the VW ICE triplets were sold last year, I’m curious to see how many electric triplets will VW manage to sell in 2020.
While SKODA said its CITIGOe iV will cost “well below under 20.000 euros”, SEAT says that the Mii electric will cost “the same as an equivalent combustion engine vehicle in the segment”. Considering that the VW ICE triplets cost around 10.000 euros, how much do you think the electric variants will cost?
Moreover, starting 2020/2021, VW and other automakers have to sell a lot more electric cars or give money to competitors like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is doing with Tesla in order to avoid paying huge emissions fines to the EU. It’s reasonable for VW to sell these small electric cars with little profit and not only avoid fines, but also recover some lost reputation from the emission scandal.
For these reasons, I’ll be disappointed if the VW electric triplets cost a lot more than 15.000 euros.
