WOODCLIFF LAKE, NJ – BMW announced it is now taking applications to lease the BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicle in the test markets of Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco.

BMW is making 700 ActiveE vehicles available for lease as part of a field trial. Participants, dubbed “electronauts,” will make a down payment of $2,250 and a monthly lease payment of $499 for 24 months.

Vehicles are available on a first come, first served basis, BMW said. 

The overall field trial also includes ActiveE vehicles in Europe and China. More than 1,100 vehicles will be involved. The ActiveE model is manufactured in Leipzig, Germany.

Throughout the field trial, BMW will collect car- and driver-generated data and anecdotal feedback. This information will “provide direct insight into electric mobility in advance of series production of BMW's first purpose-built, mass-produced electric vehicles, the BMW i3 in 2013 and the i8 in 2014,” BMW said. Concepts of the i3 and i8, the first two vehicles from the new BMW i brand, made their North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2011.

For more information about the trial – and to track its progress, click here.