Mini Cooper SE (EV)

Casati

Ionised wrote: »

I don't get the EV forum obsession with range and/or efficiency. What happened to just liking style, driving dynamics, performance?
I'm not having a go at Boards in particular, it seems to be a common focus on most EV discussions.

You forgot charging speed, that seems to be the most important obsession for a lot of posters too

ethernet

Gael23 wrote: »

Just watched a video review of it. 160km real world range, don’t think so.

Agreed. Felt very uncomfortable when testing driving it. Sure, it was nippy and fun but my god, watching that GOM

Ionised

Casati wrote:

You forgot charging speed, that seems to be the most important obsession for a lot of posters too

Damn. Yeah I totally forgot all those arguments about charging speed. All I know is that the Mini takes 4 hours at home.

liamog

ethernet wrote: »

Agreed. Felt very uncomfortable when testing driving it. Sure, it was nippy and fun but my god, watching that GOM

I'd say it very much depends on why you are buying a car.
Mini's market is premium 2nd cars, and people who's primary usage is in built up areas, they aren't targeting motorway mile munching.

There are plenty of options on the market for cars can relatively easily do boring motorway miles, previously there was also options for people who wanted to spend a lot of money and have some fun. The Mini SE (and Honda e) are the first real entrants into the market for people who want to have fun driving and spend around €30,000, it's a sign that EV offerings are expanding.

Would I have preferred an extra 100km range on the Mini? Of course, but for my own case, a 100km range is enough, and I'd rather have a much nicer car than one where they've economised on the comforts to install a larger battery.

unkel

It is because of the small battery that the MINI is such good value for money imho. Most owners will rarely or never do more than 150km per day. And if you do, with the paying for charging these days, fast chargers don't have the queues they once had and there are more and more hubs (like Ionity) where you most likely don't have to wait at all

Casati

unkel wrote: »

It is because of the small battery that the MINI is such good value for money imho. Most owners will rarely or never do more than 150km per day. And if you do, with the paying for charging these days, fast chargers don't have the queues they once had and there are more and more hubs (like Ionity) where you most likely don't have to wait at all

I’m sure that a larger battery would have increased the weight to a point that it wouldn’t feel like a Mini to drive

At the price point I can see it appealing to a lot of traditional Mini owners, more choice the better

Thierry12

Casati wrote: »

I’m sure that a larger battery would have increased the weight to a point that it wouldn’t feel like a Mini to drive

At the price point I can see it appealing to a lot of traditional Mini owners, more choice the better

Don't really agree

i3 2020 has a 35% larger battery, weights less with 5 doors, longer and wider, similar price

Mini EV could have been lighter and taken a bigger battery for sure

liamog

In what world is 33% more expensive the same price?

Thierry12

liamog wrote: »

In what world is 33% more expensive the same price?

I said similar

Jump on me as usual, mods here tend to do that, guess your no different.

I"m sure another one will be jumping in soon to back you up and another after that

That would be your world btw

You paid similar to i3 money for your Mini, just saying not trying to offend or insult you,
Mini is probably a better spec and so on.

Original question before your attack, which you seemed to be strangely waiting for was could BMW have fitted a bigger battery without increasing weight

Yes they could

Gael23

If I was looking for a small EV I think I would go for the e208. This Mini is just too expensive

Cashel Mc

If any new owners would like a replacement set if standard rear lights as a swap for the union jack ones , I have a set from a 201 mini

unkel

Thierry12 wrote: »

I said similar

Jump on me as usual, mods here tend to do that, guess your no different.

Will you grow a pair. The i3 is €36.4k base, the MINI is €27.8k base. That's not similarly priced. <<snip>>
And back on topic, both are pretty good value for money EVs in my book, only a handful of new 2020 EVs make it there. MG ZS, Tesla Model 3 performance. Audi eTron 50. That's about it really but I might have forgotten one or two in this very quick assessment.

Thierry12

unkel wrote: »

Will you grow a pair. The i3 is €36.4k base, the MINI is €27.8k base. That's not similarly priced. A man would admit he got it wrong. A weasel would claim they were victimised.

On that

He picked out the one point that maybe wasn't right, the price, left the rest.

He knows the other car is bigger with 5 doors, carbon fibre, RWD, reason why its more expensive, not the battery

Never bothered to argue the point that BMW could have put a bigger battery in the Mini, saw the one flaw in my post and then out with his in what world!

<<snip>>

You would have slated BMW for putting a tiny battery from 2016 into the 2020 Mini like you did Honda and Mazda, you didn't here.

Liamog is your mate here and spent bones of €35,000 on one, so its a fantastic EV now, perfect battery size with that 160km range, don't need anymore with that 50kW charging which you slate Hyundai and Nissan for all the time, its irrelevant on the Mini though
<<snip>>

beauf

The mini is a compromised car for the majority of people. For some however it would be the perfect car.

Ionised

beauf wrote:

The mini is a compromised car for the majority of people. For some however it would be the perfect car.

It's not perfect for sure, but it makes me smile to drive so I can forgive the very few compromises.
No Android Auto is possibly my biggest issue with it, but there is an interesting workaround being developed.

liamog

Thierry12 wrote: »

I said similar

Jump on me as usual, mods here tend to do that, guess your no different.

I"m sure another one will be jumping in soon to back you up and another after that

That would be your world btw

You paid similar to i3 money for your Mini, just saying not trying to offend or insult you,
Mini is probably a better spec and so on.

Original question before your attack, which you seemed to be strangely waiting for was could BMW have fitted a bigger battery without increasing weight

Yes they could

You'll find I have a track record with calling out anybody who attempts to compare cars based on price of the max spec of cheap model versus bottom spec of the expensive one. I've done it many times on the ID.3 thread where people will claim the ID.3 @ starting at 33k is the same price as the Model 3 starting at 49k.

What an owner then chooses to add to the car in terms of options and specs is then a personal decision, Mini are kind of known for having decent base prices, followed up with the ability to make them very expensive when going through the options list.

I'm also on record as preferring manufactures to operate this way, instead of the Hyundai approach of giving us a standard spec car without the option change it based on our own preferences.

eagerv

I presume the Mini, like the Ioniq, is very limited with the physical size of the battery. The I3 and others like the ID.3 are using a high platform design which will allow for a larger pack.

The range of the Mini looks to be similar, or a little better, to an Ioniq, which IMO is suitable for many.

liamog

eagerv wrote: »

I presume the Mini, like the Ioniq, is very limited with the physical size of the battery. The I3 and others like the ID.3 are using a high platform design which will allow for a larger pack.

The range of the Mini looks to be similar, or a little better, to an Ioniq, which IMO is suitable for many.

It has the same 94Ah cells as the I3 from 2017 and 2018. The I3 was able to increase the cells to 120Ah in the same battery pack, it's not entirely clear why the engineers didn't use these in the Mini.

Based on my experience so far, I'd put the Mini range at about 15% lower than the Ioniq. But I did go for nice wheels rather than the aero ones.

eagerv

liamog wrote: »

It has the same 94Ah cells as the I3 from 2017 and 2018. The I3 was able to increase the cells to 120Ah in the same battery pack, it's not entirely clear why the engineers didn't use these in the Mini.

Based on my experience so far, I'd put the Mini range at about 15% lower than the Ioniq. But I did go for nice wheels rather than the aero ones.

Is the battery pack totally under floor or do they use under seats etc?

liamog

It's T shaped, runs up the transmission tunnel and under the back bench of the car.

eagerv

liamog wrote: »

It's T shaped, runs up the transmission tunnel and under the back bench of the car.

Ok, tks. Never really thought much about the Mini, but would consider one as a second car when the missus gets bored with her Ioniq. (Which I doubt )

Hence my interest in this thread.

Gael23

Would the Mini be up to motorway driving? Not sure the range is enough

unkel

Gael23 wrote: »

Would the Mini be up to motorway driving? Not sure the range is enough

Of course it would be. What makes you think otherwise?

You will lose range quickly though, as is the case for all EVs. Motorway range at 120km/h probably around 150km or so (less in winter)

liamog

Gael23 wrote: »

Would the Mini be up to motorway driving? Not sure the range is enough

It really depends on what you mean by motorway driving, if your thinking of doing daily runs between Cork and Dublin, then I'd say definitely go for a different car. If your thinking of buying a new car and will occasionally need to go on longer trips then you'll manage ok. There is enough range for you to have multiple charging choices on most routes in Ireland.#

It's basically a more aerodynamic version of the I3 94Ah, so anyone with one of those should be able to chip with experience of motorway range.

Gael23

unkel wrote: »

Of course it would be. What makes you think otherwise?

You will lose range quickly though, as is the case for all EVs. Motorway range at 120km/h probably around 150km or so (less in winter)

The ability to do longer journeys and being at the mercy of a fast charger being available along the route

liamog

Gael23 wrote: »

The ability to do longer journeys and being at the mercy of a fast charger being available along the route

What are your actual requirements and then maybe we can explore your needs and suitable vehicles with you?

I think you mentioned the e208 in another post as a better option because it was cheaper. The e208 starts at €26,809 versus the Mini's €27,764. One thing to be aware of if that is the choice you are facing, when Bjorn Nyland did motorway tests during summer on each car, he found the e208 had a range of 187km versus 162km for the Mini. The Mini has heat pump based heating, the e208 does not. So it's very likely that in wintery conditions both cars have the same motorway range.

Gael23

liamog wrote: »

What are your actual requirements and then maybe we can explore your needs and suitable vehicles with you?

I think you mentioned the e208 in another post as a better option because it was cheaper. The e208 starts at €26,809 versus the Mini's €27,764. One thing to be aware of if that is the choice you are facing, when Bjorn Nyland did motorway tests during summer on each car, he found the e208 had a range of 187km versus 162km for the Mini. The Mini has heat pump based heating, the e208 does not. So it's very likely that in wintery conditions both cars have the same motorway range.

It’s a 180km trip from where I am to where my parents live which I do about twice a month so would be good to have range for that.
Doesn’t need to be a big car which is why I was looking at the Mini and e208

liamog

If you were willing to travel at 100km/h (so called Leafspeed) then I think you would manage that distance in either car, during the same tests at 90km/h Bjorn got ranges of 236km (Mini) and 292km (e208)
At Motorway speed even the e208 would be a bit close for my comfort based on his summer testing.

To reliably cover 180km in winter at full speed, you'd probably need something like a Zoe 50, or Kona. They are about the smallest currently available cars that I think would ensure zero mid route charging requirements.

liamog

The replacement part for the key arrived today, much better looking.

unkel

I take it the one on the left is the original? That's pretty bad alright