Favorite SE reviews

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polyphonic

polyphonic

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Three of mine:

(Savagegeese) Mini Cooper EV | Better With A Battery

(Late Brake Show) Mini E: ultimate electric hot hatch? Full road test // Jonny Smith

(Harry’s Garage) 2020 MINI Electric real-world review; flawed but fun..

Least favorite:

(Car and Driver) 2023 Mini Cooper Electric
6/10 is overly harsh to give solely for the range. Other impractical cars (i.e. Porsche sports cars) are routinely 10/10. My wife will only sit through about 20-30 miles in a Boxster or Cayman so we get more mileage out of the SE ;)
 
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Did I misunderstand? He quoted the range as 140 miles. I thought the UK and US miles are the same. My car is rated at 114 miles.
 
polyphonic said:
Three of mine:

(Savagegeese) Mini Cooper EV | Better With A Battery

(Late Brake Show) Mini E: ultimate electric hot hatch? Full road test // Jonny Smith

(Harry’s Garage) 2020 MINI Electric real-world review; flawed but fun..

Least favorite:

(Car and Driver) 2023 Mini Cooper Electric
6/10 is overly harsh to give solely for the range. Other impractical cars (i.e. Porsche sports cars) are routinely 10/10. My wife will only sit through about 20-30 miles in a Boxster or Cayman so we get more mileage out of the SE ;)
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I enjoyed the Harry's Garage video and watched it many times before my SE arrived. Harry does something I wish all reviewers would do: he weighs the car he's reviewing (at the 5-minute mark). Harry even shows how much each corner of the SE weighs, illustrating the SE's favorable 56.1/43.9% F/R weight balance.

At 1,349kg (2,974 lbs), Harry's British SE was lighter than the 3,143 lbs MINI specifies for a 2023 US SE. In 2020 I took my 2021 Iconic SE to the scales at a local truck stop and was disappointed to discover they round up to the nearest 100 pounds. My SE registered 3,100 lbs, meaning it weighs between 3,000 and 3,100 lbs.

If weighing at a truck-stop was free, I'd carry 100 lbs of barbell weights with me and keep adding weights until I exceeded 3,100 lbs. Then I could subtract the total of the weights to arrive at my SE's actual weight.

upload_2022-8-30_18-19-2.webp
 
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moofpup said:
Did I misunderstand? He quoted the range as 140 miles. I thought the UK and US miles are the same. My car is rated at 114 miles.
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Likely the WLTP rating that they use in Europe and other places. It is "best conditions" but it's more consistent than our EPA rating. So if you multiply it by .7 you will likely get a dependable number for highway speed.

insightman said:
I enjoyed the Harry's Garage video and watched it many times before my SE arrived. Harry does something I wish all reviewers would do: he weighs the car he's reviewing (at the 5-minute mark). Harry even shows how much each corner of the SE weighs, illustrating the SE's favorable 56.1/43.9% F/R weight balance.

At 1,349kg (2,974 lbs), Harry's British SE was lighter than the 3,143 lbs MINI specifies for a 2023 US SE. In 2020 took my 2021 Iconic SE to the scales at a local truck stop and was disappointed to discover they round up to the nearest 100 pounds. My SE registered 3,100 lbs, meaning it weighs between 3,000 and 3,100 lbs.

If weighing at a truck-stop was free, I'd carry 100 lbs of barbell weights with me and keep adding weights until I exceeded 3,100 lbs. Then I could subtract the total of the weights to arrive at my SE's actual weight.
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Interesting! Anything in the car that could have brought it past the 3,000 lb mark?

Also wanted to reference your thread MINI Cooper SE Road Tests which was started before most of us had driven the car.
 
Maybe the trim?
Bigger, heavier wheels, glass roof with motor, extra speakers and amplifiers etc?
Or maybe US vs UK cars have a different standard? Dry vs wet etc?
 
2nd visor delete saves you 100lbs?

The wheels look like cosmos (22.2lbs) and even non-RFT could save you maybe 3lbs per wheel. Other than a 1% measurement error I am not sure what else there is in that Level 3 trim.
 
moofpup said:
Did I misunderstand? He quoted the range as 140 miles. I thought the UK and US miles are the same. My car is rated at 114 miles.
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There is a big difference between the quoted (and I am guessing US EPA) range and the actual *achievable* range. Edmunds tested the SE from full to zero at 150miles. I get that daily here, so 140 is easily achievable (in a warm climate). My contribution to reviews is: - Carwow drove the MINI 154 miles *on the motorway* till it stopped. So 114miles is woefully wrong, and only an indication in the worst possible conditions.
 
Not a review, but this fun 11.5-minute video shows how BMW's machines make electric motors for the i3 (and, I assume, the SE). The center shaft is supercooled before inserting it into the rotor--its subsequent expansion must create a very solid bond or it wouldn't be able to handle 199 lb-ft of torque.
 
I like this guy’s simple POV reviews. He gets to drive some pretty sweet cars.




Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
I forgot about CarGurus UK - "it's only 5.5 inches (digital dial) but it does a very good job conveying key information."

 
I liked this one on the range of the SE (he was using the 2022) and how to calculate how much range you have left more accurately than the underestimate that the car gives you. He also wrote an app for iPhone that does this. Would anyone please make one for Android? I've made myself a version in Excel, but I don't know how to make apps for smart phones.



And yes, the range in mild weather is definitely more than the official 114 miles. I haven't had mine in the winter yet, though. We'll see.
 
GreenDragon said:
I liked this one on the range of the SE (he was using the 2022) and how to calculate how much range you have left more accurately than the underestimate that the car gives you. He also wrote an app for iPhone that does this. Would anyone please make one for Android? I've made myself a version in Excel, but I don't know how to make apps for smart phones.[/MEDIA]

And yes, the range in mild weather is definitely more than the official 114 miles. I haven't had mine in the winter yet, though. We'll see.
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Of course, that video is by one of our most accomplished fellow forum members, @GvilleGuy! Search "In Focus" and enter GvilleGuy in the member-name field and you can find all his great In Focus videos.

Android doesn't have anything like the iPhone's user-programmability AFAIK.
 
I'm glad to help, which is the primary reason I create them (plus it's fun). It's certainly not for the money. If anyone is curious about YouTube monetization - it took me over a year to reach the 1,000 subs and 4,000 watch hours (in a 12 month period), which are required to start earning money. Since monetizing the videos, I'm earning about $25 per month on 6,000 monthly views. So a modest free meal out with my wife!
 
Here's a video I've posted many times (I guess that makes it a favorite). It shows a guy driving a MINI Cooper SE 177 miles on a single charge. Still, after watching it why am I planning a 275-mile trip with charging stops every 50 miles? Because I'm not confident every charging station along my route will be working--or there will be a 3-hour line-up of people waiting to charge their EVs.



Maybe I've become more range-anxious because I'm watching the Apple TV series, Long Way Up, where Ewan McGregor and his buddy are trying to ride their borrowed prototype Harley-Davidson Livewire electric motorcycles from the southern tip of South America to LA. The problems they experience charging those bikes--and their 2 borrowed prototype Rivian support trucks--are, to put it mildly, significant. It's a good thing it's possible to charge a Rivian by towing it.
 
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