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A new iPhone application has been released to promote openness among MINI Convertible owners.

The cleverly named Openness application can be downloaded from the iTunes app store for free and in the words MINI

encourages users to explore the unexplored and take themselves into the unknown.

In terms of direct MINI marketing there is an option to view a spinning yellow MINI convertible, which offers limited joy. If however you’re feeling a little more adventurous the application will point you in the direction of some unusual past times available to sample in your local area that you may not have given much time to before. How does attending a risqué cabaret show, a bit of bird watching, or a trip to your local adult store grab you? If there’s nothing specific to your region available, then the Openness app will kindly suggest some activities that don’t require a specialists club or shop, such as a full body wax or donating blood.

The MINI Cooper S scooped top prize in the What Car? Green Car Awards 2009 in the Green Sports Car category. This is the second year in a row the MINI Cooper S has claimed this particular honour and BMW rightly claim this has much to owe to MINIMALISM, MINIs own branch BMWs EfficientDynamics programme.

Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief at What Car?, is quoted in a MINI press release as saying:

The MINI Cooper S is a home-grown hot hatch that’s big on performance and style, yet treads far lighter than rivals because of its smaller carbon footprint.

While we’re talking green motoring, the MINI E was seen on British roads for the first time as it took part in the Brighton to London Revolve Eco-Rally earlier this week, finishing at City Hall with an encounter with charismatic London Mayor Boris Johnson. But as we previously reported, while the MINI E trials are going ahead in the USA and Germany there is still no official confirmation of even an anticipated limited UK trial.

Of the MINI E UK trial situation and attendance at the Revolve Eco-Rally BMW Group UK Managing Director, Tim Abbot, said:

We believe the MINI E is an excellent vehicle for trialing this alternative form of sustainable mobility. And what better time to do this than in the year we celebrate the 50th birthday of MINI. We look forward to extending our German and American trials to the UK and I am delighted to see it running so impressively on British roads for the first time.

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has been reported as confirming the car maker has no plans for forming a partnership with other manufacturers on battery powered EVs, favouring instead to carry out their own plans to produce ‘megacity’ e-vehicles by the year 2015.

Apparently the powers that be at BMW will decide “by the end of the year” if a new subsidiary brand will be required for their “megacity” range of vehicles in addition to BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce. Former MINI man Ulrich Kranz, now fronting BMWs Project i is reported in German publication Auto Motor Sport Magazine as saying

Electric engines are a key part of our technology which we want to develop ourselves

Away from the apparently cool area of alternative fuel vehicles and into the cool by its very nature world of The Cool Hunter, who appear to have something big up their sleeve in terms of special edition MINIs. They’ve just unveiled a “Vectorfunk” MINI Cooper by artist Matt W Moore which is part of a forthcoming project which, if the artist’s blog is to be taken literally will involve 99 more specially commissioned MINI Coopers customised by members of the art world. Cool.

Tags: awards, bmw, EVs, green car awards, iphone, iphone app, megacity, mini convertible, mini cooper s, mini e, openness, the cool hunter, what car?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.