MINI SE Electric revealed

[Domenick]

The MINI SE has been officially revealed.

Main points:
Battery: 32.6 kWh
Range: Estimated EPA 114 miles (PR says 235 to 270 kilometers (146 to 168 miles) based on the new WLTP test cycle, adapted to NEDC for comparison)
0 to 62 mph (100 km/h): 7.3 seconds
DC max charging speed: 50 kW CCS Combo plug
AC Max charging speed: 11 kW

 

[Domenick]

Check out this video on the factory where the MINI SE is produced. I took a screenshot of the underside which gives away the shape and placement of the battery.

 

[T.C.]

I hope the Mini lives up to the release details.
UK Mini electric is available in three trim level specification versions. Ranging from about 25k to 33k.
That places it about £8k cheaper in price than a similar spec i3.
I pulled the pin and placed a deposit an hour ago.
Deliveries are scheduled for pre-order models in March in the UK.
Specs are similar to i3 with which it shares its technology 94kwh battery and just over 7 seconds to 60mph.
The range is claimed as 144 miles.

That should be 94ah battery. BMW's preferred measurement criteria.

 

[insightman]

The smooth EV operation of our Honda Clarity PHEV has whetted my desire for an urban BEV. My letters to Honda demanding they bring the Honda e to North America have gone unheeded. That leaves the Mini Cooper SE as the only sub-compact sporty BEV slated to appear in a local showroom. I wish the electric Mini had retained its more descriptive European moniker, "Mini Electric."

Many critics bemoan the SE's expected 114-mile EPA range estimate, but the small battery enables the car to be lighter and more sporty. The small battery also makes for an uncompromised interior, unlike the 2009 Mini-E, which didn't have a back seat or a usable trunk. We exceeded our Clarity's 47-mile EPA range so seldom that we burned less than 30 gallons of gasoline in 2018. So 114 miles is sufficient for my requirements. I wish the electric Mini was quicker than the heavier Chevy Bolt, but with 0-62 coming in 7.3 seconds, this will be the quickest of the 30-odd cars I've owned in my life.

The big question right now is what this car will cost in the US, where there is no value-added tax. It will be tough to justify a price equal that of a much more powerful, long-legged Tesla, but I don't want a Tesla.

My pet peeve about the Mini Cooper SE is the fake (well, blocked off) hood scoop. I'm sure it was included to make the Mini Cooper SE look like its Mini Cooper S sibling, but the Mini looks better without a hood scoop. Here are photos of the 2009 Mini-E and the more recent Mini Electric concept. Neither of them have hood scoops. The designers of these Minis understand the form-follows-function mantra.



One reason the Honda e looks so good (to me, anyway) is that it doesn't have any of the fake scoops and vents so prevalent on all other Hondas. The Mini Cooper SE doesn't need a hood scoop--especially not a blocked-off hood scoop. I'm sure the scoop makes the car less aerodynamic and steals a few miles from its fully-charged range. I hope BMW allows it as a delete option--even if it costs extra to make it go away (something Porsche likes to do).

The Mini Cooper SE will see me through until Honda sees the light (or acquires enough batteries) to bring the Honda e to North America. It will serve as a fitting replacement for my aging gen-1 Insight, which now seems to me like a 70-mpg gas-guzzler.

 

[Domenick]

The smooth EV operation of our Honda Clarity PHEV has whetted my desire for an urban BEV. My letters to Honda demanding they bring the Honda e to North America have gone unheeded. That leaves the Mini Cooper SE as the only sub-compact sporty BEV slated to appear in a local showroom. I wish the electric Mini had retained its more descriptive European moniker, "Mini Electric."

Many critics bemoan the SE's expected 114-mile EPA range estimate, but the small battery enables the car to be lighter and more sporty. The small battery also makes for an uncompromised interior, unlike the 2009 Mini-E, which didn't have a back seat or a usable trunk. We exceeded our Clarity's 47-mile EPA range so seldom that we burned less than 30 gallons of gasoline in 2018. So 114 miles is sufficient for my requirements. I wish the electric Mini was quicker than the heavier Chevy Bolt, but with 0-62 coming in 7.3 seconds, this will be the quickest of the 30-odd cars I've owned in my life.

The big question right now is what this car will cost in the US, where there is no value-added tax. It will be tough to justify a price equal that of a much more powerful, long-legged Tesla, but I don't want a Tesla.

My pet peeve about the Mini Cooper SE is the fake (well, blocked off) hood scoop. I'm sure it was included to make the Mini Cooper SE look like its Mini Cooper S sibling, but the Mini looks better without a hood scoop. Here are photos of the 2009 Mini-E and the more recent Mini Electric concept. Neither of them have hood scoops. The designers of these Minis understand the form-follows-function mantra.

View attachment 5536

One reason the Honda e looks so good (to me, anyway) is that it doesn't have any of the fake scoops and vents so prevalent on all other Hondas. The Mini Cooper SE doesn't need a hood scoop--especially not a blocked-off hood scoop. I'm sure the scoop makes the car less aerodynamic and steals a few miles from its fully-charged range. I hope BMW allows it as a delete option--even if it costs extra to make it go away (something Porsche likes to do).

The Mini Cooper SE will see me through until Honda sees the light (or acquires enough batteries) to bring the Honda e to North America. It will serve as a fitting replacement for my aging gen-1 Insight, which now seems to me like a 70-mpg gas-guzzler.

Good point about the hood scoop. I have to admit I didn't even notice it. Hopefully, they can give you a different hood from the factory, but I suspect that's a mod you'd have to make afterward.

 

[insightman]

Good point about the hood scoop. I have to admit I didn't even notice it. Hopefully, they can give you a different hood from the factory, but I suspect that's a mod you'd have to make afterward.

If they're already building the Mini Cooper SE on the same production line as the ICE-powered Minis, I naively believe they could simply click a check-box on a computer screen to substitute a 3-cylinder Mini hood. I don't want to have to buy my own hood and hope a local body shop can successfully match the OEM paint. What will I do with the hood with the blocked-off scoop? Maybe I can find the owner of a 2019 3-cylinder Mini Hardtop who would want to trade to make his/her Mini look like a Cooper S.

 

[insightman]

Here's a nice intro video to the MINI Cooper SE (or the more logically named "MINI Electric" in Europe).

In the video, Oliver Heilmer, MINI Head of Design, says, "Therefore, we were able to focus on details like the grille so we do have still the hexagonal shape, but due to the fact that there is not a combustion engine behind, we need much less air. So a perfect design element for us. It’s almost closed and with just one horizontal bar as an air intake."

Later in the video, Heilmer says they put a lot of work into designing aerodynamic wheels for this car.

Now to continue my ranting about the bogus hood scoop (bonnet scoop?): If the head designer says they don't need any more air than the one bar in the closed grille provides, the blocked hood scoop makes even less sense. Not only does it reduce the car's aerodynamic efficiency, it degrades the car's appearance because it's superfluous. All of the car's other design elements are there for a purpose. The hood scoop is only there to make it clear that this is a version of the Mini Cooper S. Would the buyer of this car be unhappy if it didn't look like an S? This prospective buyer resents this electric car including a design element created only to increase the performance of an internal combustion engine.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

If the head designer says they don't need any more air than the one bar in the closed grille provides, the blocked hood scoop makes even less sense. Not only does it reduce the car's aerodynamic efficiency, it degrades the car's appearance because it's superfluous.

Be aware that huge grilles are very popular in China, and have been for some years. Given the large and growing segment of the EV market in China, it's not surprising that many auto makers will appeal to that with large faux grilles on their EVs.

​

 

[insightman]

Be aware that huge grilles are very popular in China, and have been for some years. Given the large and growing segment of the EV market in China, it's not surprising that many auto makers will appeal to that with large faux grilles on their EVs.

Then the Chinese MINI Cooper SE won't need a fake hood scoop, either.

 

[insightman]

Here's a Moonwalk Gray electric MINI that doesn't sport the yellow side mirrors or the two yellow stripes on the "grille" seen in all of MINI's press photos. This car also isn't wearing the yellow-edged asymmetrical rims seen in those press photos (and on the orange MINI below). That yellow paint on the rims is just begging to be transferred to the nearest concrete curb. I pasted an image of this gray car's symmetrical wheel up in the corner.

I found this electric Moonwalk Gray MINI in a YouTube video showing it traveling down the production line in Oxford, UK. Earlier, Domenick extracted an image of the underside showing the T-shaped battery configuration from the same video. Even though this British-bound right-hand drive edition will be called the "MINI Electric," it still says "Cooper S" on the hatch, just like the "MINI Cooper SE" coming to North America.

Midnight Black and Solaris Orange electric MINIs have also shown up on the web, but the final color palette has yet to be disclosed. The orange one must be an pre-production prototype because it has older headlights, yellow side scuttles, and it's missing the fake hood scoop. I like the black one a lot--especially if it can be ordered without a hood scoop (you knew I'd get that in).

 

[interestedinEV]

My wife has only driven Minis for the last 12 years and we bought one recently. Would have loved to have bought this but it was not available and range may is little low.

 

[insightman]

At the Frankfurt auto show this week, MINI is showing a new color (Lapisluxury Blue?) and different (17" MINI 502 Roulette Spoke) wheels on one of the two MINI Cooper SE cars they brought. Of course, the other one was painted in the usual white they've been showing since July 9th. Note that this blue SE has the toned-down appearance package for the Cooper SE; it doesn't include the Energetic Yellow accent stripes on the grille filler or the Energetic Yellow side mirrors.



Supposedly, there is a yet-to-be-seen 16" wheel unique to the Cooper SE that will look different from the optional Energetic Yellow-accented, unique-to-Cooper-SE 17" asymmetrical Corona wheel always seen on the white Cooper SEs.

 

[insightman]

Journalists writing about the MINI Cooper SE frequently mention the car's low-mounted, "T-shaped battery" that occupies the space between the front seats and the space under the rear seats. Despite hundreds of photos of this car--many from this week's auto show in Frankfurt, Germany--I couldn't find one that showed if tunnel enclosing the "T-shaped battery" extends all the way to the rear seats. None of the video or still photographers bothered to venture into the boring area behind the front seats.

Lots of photos of the Cooper SE's front grille-filler. Lots of photos of the Cooper SE's unique instrumentation and switch-gear. Lots of photos of the Cooper SE's asymmetrical, yellow-accented 17" wheels. Many close-ups of this MINI's electric badging (OK, insightman, how long is this list going to be?). Where were the photos of the rear seat area? Some small people may sit there someday, after all.

Finally, in an online French article comparing the MINI Cooper SE and the Honda e, the photographer directed his lens to the Cooper SE's rear seat area. I flunked French in high-school and I usually avoid French-language websites, but I overcame my self-inflicted Francophobia to discover this photo. It shows that a single cup-holder mounted on the floor occupies the space between the battery separating the front seats and the battery under the rear seats. So the battery is not actually T-shaped if you consider all 3 dimensions!



More questions arise: Does the battery always warm the rear seats and what's inside that bump between them? How many more Watts could have been stuffed into the tunnel if it had been extended all the way to the rear seats? And, as always, who can I pay off to deep-six the blocked-off hood scoop on this electric car? (Despite what this post may lead you to believe, I do actually have a life.)

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

How many more Watts could have been stuffed into the tunnel if it had been extended all the way to the rear seats?

At the risk of being pedantic, I think you meant "Watt-hours", not "Watts".

And, as always, who can I pay off to deep-six the blocked-off hood scoop on this electric car?

No doubt you can find any number of customizing shops which would be happy to part you from your money to perform that modification to the hood.

 

[T.C.]

More questions arise: Does the battery always warm the rear seats and what's inside that bump between them? How many more Watts could have been stuffed into the tunnel if it had been extended all the way to the rear seats? [/QUOTE]

The under chassis photo on post number 18 of this thread demonstrates a T shaped battery extending beneath the rear seating.

 

[insightman]

At the risk of being pedantic, I think you meant "Watt-hours", not "Watts".

No doubt you can find any number of customizing shops which would be happy to part you from your money to perform that modification to the hood.

Of course, you're correct. I was trying to be cute. I should have written Watt-hours.

As for the hood, it would be so easy for MINI to install a base MINI hood as one of the many customization options they offer. I wrote to many people at MINI--including the head of MINI--saying that I'd happily pay extra for the less-expensive hood. All the MINIs go down the same production line (one every 67 seconds they claim), so it's not as if they would have to bring a base MINI hood to a separate building where they assemble the Cooper SE.

I emailed the local body shop our MINI dealer uses to see how much it would cost to replace the hood and how much value the un-driven Cooper S hood might have, but they haven't responded (just another kook email, they correctly assumed). My wife doesn't mind the hood scoop, so I'd have to get it done before we take delivery and never tell her what it cost. I really like the look of the plain MINI hood more than I'm disturbed that an electric car would share the ICE-powered Cooper S's fake, blocked-off hood scoop.