MINI SE Electric PR & marketing

Discussion in 'Cooper SE' started by insightman, Sep 21, 2019.

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  1. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    MINI Cooper SE real-world range test (based on a story from the manufacturer and my hazy calculations): 146 miles per full charge.

    BMW made a big deal (press release) about their MINI E project manager, Elena Eder, driving the MINI Cooper SE from BMW's offices in Munich to the IAA car show in Frankfurt earlier this month. The MINI's GPS system agreed with Google Maps (does BMW use Google Maps?) that the length of the most advantageous route between the two cities is 400 km (248.6 miles). I guess it is sort of a big deal because I doubt any other car in the show was driven a long distance to get there.

    We can assume Ms. Eder's MINI's 32.6 kWh battery was fully charged as she set out from Munich. BMW claims the MINI Cooper SE can achieve 235 to 270 kilometres (146 to 167 miles) of EV range, based on some combination of manufacturer-friendly European testing methods. So Ms. Eder needed to stop along the the 248.6-mile route to charge her MINI Cooper SE.

    The press release says she charged her MINI to 80% of full charge, which was sufficient to ameliorate range anxiety: "When the car was charged on the way to the IAA, there wasn’t even time for dessert. Within just 35 minutes, the high-voltage battery – which had previously been almost fully depleted – was charged to 80 percent of its total capacity. This meant that there was more than enough power on board to tackle the second stage of the trip without any worries."

    I wonder how close to fully depleted "almost fully depleted" was? I'd be surprised if she wasn't accompanied by a BMW support vehicle that could provide charging (towing?) assistance if her battery (motor?) didn't make it all the way.

    The press release describes the end of the journey: "Finally, the MINI Cooper SE rolled into Hall 11 of the Frankfurt exhibition centre with sufficient residual range..." What is "sufficient residual range?" Was it the distance from the street through the loading dock to Hall 11?

    If Ms. Eder coasted powerless to the DCFC charging station, and then added 80% charge, she expended 180% of a full charge on her trip. Subtract, say, 10% for the sufficient residual range factor and we get 170% of a full charge used to go 248.6 miles. 248.6 miles/1.7 full charge = 146 miles for a full charge, which matches the low-end of the electric MINI's reported range range. (Now you must ask, did insightman write this entire post only so he could use the phrase "range range?")

    It would be nice if the press release revealed how much time Ms. Eder's trip required so we could calculate her average speed, which certainly would have had an effect on EV range. Back in the day, a group of people drove a gen-1 Honda Insight gas/electric hybrid at an average speed of 18 mph to go 2254.6 miles on a 10.6-gallon tankful of gasoline (for almost 213 mpg). I'm sure she drove faster than 18 mph, but how much faster?

    Here is a photo of Elena Eder charging her MINI Cooper SE on the road to Frankfurt (OK, so I Photoshopped out the hood scoop--arrest me!)

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  3. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    MINI's Pop-Up Race Track Appears in Milan, Italy, This Morning

    [I composed the following account based on a Google translation of the Italian BMW press release]

    Residents of Milan, Italy, awoke this morning to find that MINI had transformed one of their public squares, Piazza XXV Aprile, into a 210-meter long life-sized version of a toy electric-car race track. The BMW press release said the track would "give moments of pure and thrilling emotions to all those who spent their childhood challenging each other on most famous toy circuit in history. Consistent with the green spirit of the New MINI Full Electric, the track on which the cars run is made of recycled plastic."

    As part of Milan's Green Week celebrations, MINI set up this short track where they could demonstrate the capabilities of the upcoming all-electric MINI Cooper SE. After two days of silent MINI Cooper SEs zipping around the piazza, MINI will stage a grand finale party with Andrea and Michele of Radio Deejay and Albertino artistic director of Radio m2o who, with his DJ set. On September 27th, the track and the party will become another pleasant memory for Milan's Green Week attendees.

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  4. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

  5. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Here are 3 British video ads for the MINI Electric (as the MINI Cooper SE is called in Britain). It appears they're more focused on connecting viewers with the joys of the Mini lifestyle of 60 years ago than what might make the MINI Electric desirable.
     
  6. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    This MINI video reveals some new details, such as the side profile of the battery pack. I'm confused about the high-point being so far forward. I thought the bulk of the T-shaped battery was beneath the rear seats, as with most non-slab BEV battery packs. IMHO, it doesn't look big enough for a 32.6 kWh battery.

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    I'd expect the battery pack to look much larger, as shown in this Photoshopped speculation:

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  8. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    In my daily search for electric MINI tidbits, I found this press.bmwgroup.com/new-zealand item, titled "MINI Cooper SE - Electric driving fun on the North Sea coasts." There's no story, just this photo that seems to be missing one important item:

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    I zoomed in on the photo to see if that was a MINI parked just beyond the beach, to the right of the lighthouse. Nope, it's a house. Then I inspected the text on the sail to see if it said, "MINI" anywhere, but it doesn't. I must conclude the message is that people whose lifestyle includes this kind of fun would likely drive a MINI Cooper SE.

    The MINI Press Group is clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel, trying to find any old thing to post. I wish they'd release some technical info on the car. Hey, MINI, at what ambient temperature does the SE's heat pump give up and call in help from the resistance heater?
     
  9. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    A MINI Cooper SE (in Metallic White, as always) takes a California trip. This press release tells the story. The term "rangephobia" appears in the text, rather than the more familiar "range-anxiety" that Chevrolet coined in ads for their Volt PHEV (oh, excuse me, their Volt range-extended electric vehicle).

    The story uses the "184 hp" number, which should actually say "184 PS," where PS is the abbreviation for the German-only horsepower unit. The car's 135-Watt motor rating converts to 181 horsepower.

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    "The rather comfortable outside temperature of 22° Celsius fills the cabin as we enjoy the silent cruising mode of the 21st century."
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2019

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