Upcoming first long trip

S

Some Headhunter

New Member
Hi all,

We bought the Mini Cooper SE as a local run around and we love it however due to our ICE car going into the bodyshop for some work and a courtesy car not available I need to do a long trip...

It's 81 miles to the destination and then 8 miles to a Shell Recharge 150W charger.

Planning on getting an 80/85% charge then doing the remaining 73 miles back.

So questions...

- Am I pushing it charging at the 89 mile mark? I'm getting a 100 miles, sometime just over, range with the current weather.

- The journey is all 70mph A-road and Motorway. Do I drive as usual at 70 or should I be doing 60, or less, the whole way?

- Any other tips?

Thanks!
Nick
 
I predict, with your plan, you'll arrive home with 10 miles/10% SOC. If you find yourself dipping below your comfortable reserve number, dropping your speed to 60 will give you another five miles. Dropping to 45 will get you about 1.5 miles per percent of battery remaining. Have fun!
 
Thanks for posing that question, @Some Headhunter! I will be doing an occasional similar journey every now and then with my SE and was wondering the same thing. It's good to hear from @F14Scott who has first hand experience. Gives me confidence. :)

Actually, we will be doing such a test right after taking delivery and getting back home since our dealer is about 140 miles away from our home. Should be fun! :D
 
MiniSER said:
Thanks for posing that question, @Some Headhunter! I will be doing an occasional similar journey every now and then with my SE and was wondering the same thing. It's good to hear from @F14Scott who has first hand experience. Gives me confidence. :)

Actually, we will be doing such a test right after taking delivery and getting back home since our dealer is about 140 miles away from our home. Should be fun! :D
Click to expand...

Oh wow - required road charge out of the gate! Let us know how it goes.
 
I recommend cruise control. I haven't done my formal tests (still not ideal weather conditions), but I've found there is high efficiency when using the cruise control at freeway speeds. I get a recuperation rate over 60 mi/kWh with cruise control, which is double what I normally get.

I drive 80 miles a day commuting (mostly freeway) without recharge and will usually arrive home with at least 33% SoC left. Driving in mid mode. If you feel your SoC is getting low, use the navigation system and pick a green route to your destination. I've found that can actually add a significant number of miles to your range at the expense of time.
 
Some Headhunter said:
Hi all,

We bought the Mini Cooper SE as a local run around and we love it however due to our ICE car going into the bodyshop for some work and a courtesy car not available I need to do a long trip...

It's 81 miles to the destination and then 8 miles to a Shell Recharge 150W charger.

Planning on getting an 80/85% charge then doing the remaining 73 miles back.

So questions...

- Am I pushing it charging at the 89 mile mark? I'm getting a 100 miles, sometime just over, range with the current weather.

- The journey is all 70mph A-road and Motorway. Do I drive as usual at 70 or should I be doing 60, or less, the whole way?

- Any other tips?

Thanks!
Nick
Click to expand...
To gain confidence, watch this YouTube video to see someone drive a MINI Cooper SE 177.6 miles on a single charge. Note, however, this journey did not involve high speeds or mountain climbs.

upload_2021-4-13_18-16-45.webp
 
Very cool. Thanks for the video @insightman!

I wonder if anyone has opted for the "Active Cruise Control" and, if so, how their experience has been with it? I imagine it couldn't be any worse than the Adaptive Cruise Control on my current Hyundai Ioniq...
 
MiniSER said:
Very cool. Thanks for the video @insightman!

I wonder if anyone has opted for the "Active Cruise Control" and, if so, how their experience has been with it? I imagine it couldn't be any worse than the Adaptive Cruise Control on my current Hyundai Ioniq...
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I'm a pretty heavy cruise control user, so I will be giving the ACC a work out starting next week.
 
I have used ACC quite a bit the past five days. The weather has been sunny, and when driving around dusk, and the sun shining on our faces in the windshield, the ACC has lost tracking ability four times. It is stated in the manual that glare and bad weather can cause the tracking to get lost. So I can testify that direct sunlight is a problem. However, the work around is to long press one of the “follow distance” buttons to cancel camera tracking and enable regular cruise control.
 
Ok, good to know. Thanks for replying back to me on this thread, but, thanks to @insightman, I did read through your original reports about your initial ACC experience on the other thread. Very helpful. Thanks for sharing!


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I’ve been playing with the ACC and to me it’s a little over reactive even on the setting that supposedly allows you to get closer to the car in front. The old fashioned part of the CC works well, maintaining the set speed up and down hills. But the ACC is a bit too sensitive...more like that in our Toyota Sequoia as opposed to that in either our BMW 3 or our F-150.


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mikeg0305 said:
I’ve been playing with the ACC and to me it’s a little over reactive even on the setting that supposedly allows you to get closer to the car in front. The old fashioned part of the CC works well, maintaining the set speed up and down hills. But the ACC is a bit too sensitive...more like that in our Toyota Sequoia as opposed to that in either our BMW 3 or our F-150.
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Does your BMW 3 or F-150 have radar ACC? The only time our Clarity's radar ACC has a problem is when the large "H" logo that hides the radar transceiver behind the grille gets gooped up with slush in the winter.
 
What's the verdict on the 2022 SE's vibrating steering wheel warning that you're wandering out of your lane?
 
mikeg0305 said:
I’ve been playing with the ACC and to me it’s a little over reactive even on the setting that supposedly allows you to get closer to the car in front. The old fashioned part of the CC works well, maintaining the set speed up and down hills. But the ACC is a bit too sensitive...more like that in our Toyota Sequoia as opposed to that in either our BMW 3 or our F-150.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...

So, when you say it’s too sensitive, do you mean like it jerks or breaks suddenly when you don’t expect it to?


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
insightman said:
What's the verdict on the 2022 SE's vibrating steering wheel warning that you're wandering out of your lane?
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I think the steering wheel vibration is well done. It’s a subtle feeling in the steering, but noticeable (a very rapid, but slight, shimmy). The Honda CR-V is our only comparison, and the Mini’s vibration is less “YOU ARE DOING THIS WRONG!” compared to the Honda method. I prefer Mini’s implementation.

Another ACC ‘event’ from yesterday afternoon: And if memory serves, this is also mentioned in one of the long warning paragraphs in the manual (but I could be wrong). I was on the interstate and a pickup truck with a trailer slowly merged into my lane from an on-ramp. The ACC did not pick it up as my car approached from behind. I even let the Mini get closer than I normally would to see if the camera would wake up and see it. It never did. I had to cancel and set it again.

Compared to the CR-V ACC, the Honda system appears to be more reliable, overall. I am not likely to let the Mini ACC do as much stop-and-go traffic driving for me unless lighting conditions and weather are favorable. In the Honda, we let it do stop-and-go all the time with confidence. I think the camera system is smarter.

Having said that, I also find the high regenerative brake setting on the Mini to be a GREAT stop-and-go drive companion, anyway! One-pedal trafficking. So it’s not a huge problem, by any means. I will simply use ACC more on the highway than local roads when in the Mini.
 
Thanks for the evaluation of your lane-keeping warning. I'm glad you have a Honda for comparison because our Clarity Plug-In Hybrid uses the same system. At what speed does the 2022 SE's lane-keeping warning start operating?

Your CR-V has radar plus camera, not just more smarts, so the ACC has much more data (and more reliable data) to work with.

I wonder, are there any SE drivers who always use the lower regen braking setting? It took a while for my wife to be comfortable with the default high-level regen braking setting, but now she complains about the low level of regen braking our Clarity Plug-In Hybrid provides.
 
insightman said:
Your CR-V has radar plus camera, not just more smarts, so the ACC has much more data (and more reliable data) to work with.

I wonder, are there any SE drivers who always use the lower regen braking setting? It took a while for my wife to be comfortable with the default high-level regen braking setting, but now she complains about the low level of regen braking our Clarity Plug-In Hybrid provides.
Click to expand...

I haven't even turned off high regen to see how the low regen feels!
 
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