SEAT joins EV race with launch of its first electric model

Premiering in Oslo, Norway, today, the Mii Electric has a range of up to 260km on a single charge and is expected to enter the market by the end of the year, with pre-sales starting in September, the company confirmed yesterday.

The firm said the car would be one of the most affordable EVs available, with an upfront cost similar to equivalent fossil fuel cars on the market but with “significantly lower total cost of ownership”, due to the lower fuel and maintenance costs associated with battery cars.

The Mii electric will replace the combustion engine Mii, the production of which will end in July, the company said.

“The market is changing, and electrification is expanding at an unprecedented rate,” said SEAT president Luca de Meo. “In Europe, the electric vehicle market grew by 46 per cent in the first four months of the year, moving foward we expect electrified vehicles to play an important role within our range. the Mii electric is the start of that journey, and at the same time bring to the market an affordable electric car.”

It will also be the first SEAT model to incorporate SEAT Connect, a service which provides remote digital access and management capability to review driving data, parking position, and air conditioning via a smartphone app, the firm said.

The company also plans to add further EVs and plug-in hybrid models to its roster in the coming years, including the all-electric SEAT el-Born, and plug-in-hybrid versions of its Tarraco, Leon, CUPRA Formentor and CUPRA Leon models.

SEAT is a subsidiary of Volkswagen, which has been ramping up its development of e-mobility in the years since its involvement in the ‘dieselgate’ emissions cheating scandal in 2015. By 2025 the firm aims to sell more than one million EVs worldwide, and earlier this year invested $800m in expanding its electric car production in the US.

The Mii Electric comes off the back of SEAT’s micromobility strategy, through which it is developing urban mobility solutions such as the Minimo concept vehicle – a cross between a car and a motorcycle – as well as its eXS electric KickScooter.

SEAT claims to have the youngest customer base among car companies in Europe, with an average age that is 10 years younger than the rest of the industry, helping to make it one of the fastest growing volume car firms in Europe.

The news comes amid reports of EV shortages and long waiting times in the UK, as manufacturers struggle to keep pace with growing demand from fleet owners.

British Gas’ plans to replace 200 of its 12,000 strong fleet with EVs this year have had to be delayed as the firm could not “physically get any stock”, The Times reported yesterday.

Source: businessgreen