Just a couple of weeks ago, BMW has unveiled their first electric car, coming from their Mini brand, E. A couple of weeks ago, we announced that 490 of these cars will be leased to selected customers in California and 10 will be used as show cars, including the media test drive day at the L.A Auto Show.

According to Trudy Hardy, Mini USA’s manager of marketing communications, 9,500 people already showed interest in having a MINI E. If you remember, Mini has setup a page where everyone could sign up for test drives.

Start in November, around the L.A Auto Show time, Mini will take formal applications for the MINI E and car will be leased for one full year, but it will cost more than $500 according to a BMW spokeswoman. The lease will include all maintenance and replacement of parts.

Now, will the Mini E be available for all of us, the “regular” folks, or BMW/Mini will  stick to their celebrities, athletes and politicians list only.