BMW plans to mass produce electric cars by 2010

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest maker of luxury vehicles, plans to start mass producing an electric vehicle as early as 2010, with hundreds test-driving the Mini E starting next spring.

"Individual mobility continues to play a key role, particularly in America, while demand for greener technology becomes greater," Friedrich Eichiner, BMW's board member for corporate development, told journalists at a luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

BMW plans to sell first electric car between 2010 and 2015, Eichiner said. As a first step, the company will lease its new electric Mini Cooper, externally identical to its fuel-dependent cousin, to 500 customers in New York, New Jersey and California for one year starting in March to gather feedback on its performance.