We continue with the 2017 Jinan EV Show; this is the brand new Today Sunshine Mine M1 LSEV, looking very stealthy in matte gray. It looks very much like a shrunken Mini Countryman with 3-doors instead of five, but it doesn’t look like a Paceman.
You can get it with kinda English flags stickers.
Today Sunshine is the English brand name. The Chinese brand name is Jinri Yangguan, and that means today sunshine. The brand is owned by Zhejiang Sunshine New Energy Vehicle Industry Corporation (web), based in the great city of Taizhou in Zhejiang Province.
The car is called the Mine (pronounced as Mi-ne) M1, and that absolutely refers to Mini. Mine = 咪呢 and Mini = 迷你 (Mi-ni). They make a lot of their European-ness. The website proudly states, in English: “Rich in European origin of the electric car vehicle atmosphere, luxury, stable, with a sense of the lines of the muscle, smart sense of movement.” Take that, Mini!
They also had a police version on the booth which looked ultra cool.
Some specs: 2830/1500/1565, and wheelbase is 1815. The Mine M1 only seats two. In the back is enough space for a crate of beer or a criminal. The M1 is available in various versions, the cheapest ones go with lead-acid and the more expensive ones with lithium-ion. I saw that a lot this year, two years ago it was all lead-acid only. There are different motors too, ranging from 4 horsepower to 15. Price ranges from about 22.000 yuan to 35.000 yuan. Speed for lead is 40 km/h, speed for lithium is 60.
They said they are working on an even more powerful 80 km/h version that they want to sell as a ‘real’ EV, as opposed to an LSEV.
The interior was absolutely impressive for the segment, with an infotainment system that looked like it had escaped from a Volkswagen. It has an LCD instrument panel, large air vents, a single cup holder, and a shiny drive selector.
Are those rear lights or side lights?
The had a show going on with ballet babes dancing in and with a ball. Ballet =European.
One in yellow, looking very Mini.
