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Perhaps the coolest electric car in Norway. But this is what happened when we tested the range.
There is basically only one reason to buy a Mini, and that is that you are way above average when it comes to looks and driving pleasure.
You buy a Mini because it looks different. Partially very different.
In the S and JCW editions they are amazing driving pleasure.
And now you can also get it as an electric car.
A BMW i3S with a smaller battery
That the Mini is a brand owned by BMW is not something that is hidden, and the Mini has now gone electric simply because they have been able to take a trip to the BMW warehouse to retrieve the finished technology.
Mini Cooper SE
They basically went straight to BMW’s most agile electric car, the i3S, and chose the motor, electronics, and battery.
This means that this is an electric car that provides 184 horsepower and 270 Nm of torque, only 8 horsepower less than a Mini Cooper S.
The battery uses the same chemistry as in the latest i3 variant called 120 Ah, but this is not the same battery found in BMW’s electric car. The i3 is built like an electric car from the ground up and therefore has the battery placed all over the ground. The Mini Cooper is a traditional car that has been electrified, and the battery is here as a T under the rear seat and the tunnel ahead.
BMW had room for 32.6 kWh with a battery under the floor, 10 kWh less than in the i3.
If one is to believe the rumors, BMW could have opted for a bigger package, but the batteries take up space and weigh a lot. This means a higher price, that space must be taken from a place and, above all, that it increases the weight. Increased weight means less driving pleasure in such a car.
In the electric variant, the Mini Cooper weighs 1365 kg, only 150 kg more than in the gasoline version, and around 100 kg less than a Peugeot e-208.
Mini Cooper SE
In terms of design, the car is quite similar to a regular Cooper, but the Mini has tried to get a little more out of everything. The yellow Es are placed everywhere, the grille is the same yellow color and is now tight, the test car with yellow mirrors, and the car is equipped with the strangest tires we can remember seeing. The irony is that they are called “Corona Spoke”.
He has kept many of the driving rules.
When you get behind the wheel of the Cooper SE, there is very little indication that it is an electric car. The exception is a rather odd instrument panel consisting of three separate digital displays.
Mini Cooper SE
When you start driving, the car feels almost like any other electric car, although it is significantly stiffer than the average car. It’s basically not a sensational experience.
But if you start adjusting the driving mode selector, the car will change noticeably. In sport mode, the car is more marked on the chop and the throttle response is almost aggressive. Accelerate like a wild fly within normal legal speed.
Mini Cooper SE doesn’t mind winding roads or sudden obstacles that appear on the road.
Combined with the stiff design and the fact that this is a short car with wheels set as far into the corners as possible, it makes the whole thing incredibly attractive.
The steering is very choppy, which makes it fun to dash corner after corner. So it may be that the amount of feedback you get through the steering wheel never comes close to the level we had when it was hydraulic, rather than electronic, that transferred the information between the steering wheel and the wheels.
Frustration
That the car is rigid is both a joy and a curse. It gives the car good cornering capabilities, but on small telehiv-infested Norwegian roads it gets a bit tiring in the long run.
As long as the trail is nice, the stiffness is great too. But when the telephone hives appear, he gets tired.
It must also be allowed to object that 184 horsepower in an electric car is not surprisingly much. The Mini has never been known to be a muscle car, but there is undoubtedly less power and more weight than in a normal Cooper S. This is the result of using it in the market.
There are relatively many electric cars, even small ones, that have more than 200 horsepower. VW ID.3, Kia e-Soul and Nissan Leaf are all models that a sports Mini should be able to turn on the inside.
Range is a problem
The Cooper SE is a small car, but it also has a small battery. Total capacity is 32.6 kWh, but only 28.9 kWh is available for normal use. So even if a small car uses little power, there is a limit to how far it can go.
On paper, the car should travel 234 km, while the car itself declared its autonomy of 180 and 200 km with a fully charged battery.
Fully loaded and an estimated range of 180 kilometers. It is much shorter than the 234 kilometers it is said to be able to travel on a single charge.
We thought about trying a test trip from Oslo to Trysilfjellet for a total of 214 kilometers, with an altitude difference of close to 900 meters. But as we passed Dokka it was obvious that this was too risky with the very steep path leading up to the top, and we decided to stop to recharge quickly.
The car only supports fast charging up to 50 kW.
Mini Cooper SE has a normal fast charger up to 11 kW, but the fast charge is only 50 kW.
However, the journey down from the mountain was completely painless, with 20 percent left on battery upon arrival, despite brutal rain for much of the journey.
On this somewhat amiable trip, the car itself declared an almost unheard-of average consumption of 12.8 kWh / 100 km. On a slightly more active test drive, the consumption was still below 15 kWh / 100 km.
This again means we get confirmation that the official range figures appear to be a slightly conservative figure under ideal conditions in the summer if you drive well.
Mini means mini
When it comes to space, the Mini is basically exactly what it claims to be – it’s small.
On paper, there are seats for four, and in three of these seats you will find IsoFix mounts for child seats.
Mini Cooper SE
It sounds terribly family-friendly, but for all practical purposes, this is a car designed for two people, and the rear seats can look like extended luggage space. People in the front seats have to give up a relatively large amount of room for the rear legroom to be acceptable.
The boot has 211 liters, the same as a normal Mini Cooper, and about 50 liters less than in a Peugeot e-208.
Mini Cooper SE
The space you have available is largely a priority for the front seats, and it’s nice to sit there, too. The seats have a surprising number of trim options for a small car, and the interior is premium. The infotainment solution is taken directly from BMW.
A real Mini, only electric
Mini’s electrification of the Mini Cooper is generally perceived as a great success. The car undoubtedly looks different, and most of the driving rules you expect from a Mini come with the load.
This makes it almost by definition the coolest electric car on the market.
Mini Cooper SE
Since this is a tax-free car, the price isn’t as bad as you might fear. We have driven the car with the medium equipment level called Experience, and it raises 300,000 crowns with a cry of anguish.
The test car has no additional equipment beyond the standard package, and contains, as far as we can understand, absolutely everything one could wish for. Includes pop-up disc HUD, Harman Kardon sound system, Connected Navi Plus, adaptive LED lights, and good leather seats.
In practice, this means that the price of the car is not very far from, among other things, the Opel Corsa-e, which is a slightly larger car with a noticeably longer range.
The good
- Prove that funny little cars are not history of electrification.
- Surprisingly low price, even with the desired equipment
- In sports mode, it is directly interesting to drive
- Well-appointed
- Interior that works well
- Good seats
- Use little power
- Design that stands out
- Electrification has not been at the expense of the trunk
- 11 kW fast normal charger
The bad
- More weight and less power than a normal Cooper S
- Supports fast charging of only 50 kW
- In practice, the rear seat is not usable for humans.
- Excessively stiff when the road is rough
The cruel
- Range is bordering on acceptable
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