Tax-free MINIs are on the way

Hot on the heels of the low-emission Vauxhall Corsa, the British-built line-up is set to benefit from a range of economy-boosting clean exhaust technologies, which will make some models tax exempt.

Sources at MINI have revealed that the firm will get BMW's stop-start and brake regeneration systems as early as next year. The fuel-saving features are already available on the 1-Series, where they have cut fuel consumption on the petrol line-up by as much as a fifth and up to 15 per cent on diesels.

The devices also help to reduce CO2 emissions, and could put the 1.4 and entry-level 1.6-litre petrol MINIs under the 120g/km barrier. Currently, the cars put out 138g/km and 139g/km respect-ively, but the move would make the variants exempt from vehicle excise duty, and also bring about a reduction in company car tax costs.

The clever start-stop function automatically kills the engine on manual models when the driver selects neutral and lifts the clutch. It starts again when the clutch is depressed in order to select a gear. Meanwhile, brake regeneration uses the energy created during slowing to charge the battery, so the alternator - which puts added load on the engine under normal driving - is required less often.

Another economy-boosting feature fitted to the 1-Series that could also be adopted by MINI is a gearchange indicator light. It uses up and down arrows on the dashboard to tell the driver when to change gear in order to optimise fuel economy.