If anyone is interested in watching electric MINIs race, the NXT Gen Cup had their inaugural races this weekend. The races can be watched on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@nxtgencup/streams
I watched the first race and that was way more interesting and exciting than I expected! Thanks for the link!
So who here is going to be the first to put a GP-style spoiler on their SE? Weird to see cars racing and not hear loud ICE sounds!
How do I use Bimmercode to get my SE to do the headlight trick these NXT Gen Cup race cars display (the link starts the video at the 46-second mark)?
From the NXT Gen Cup FAQ: What kind of car is it? The LRT NXT1 is based on the all-electric MINI Cooper SE road car, featuring 230hp and a 30kWh battery which is FIA certified. The total weight of the car is 1190kg. So apparently the same battery, but a different motor and considerably lighter...also undoubtedly suspension mods, etc. I know that you were being facetious w/ respect to Bimmercode, but I found this interesting. You'd have to do a lot of work to convert a factory SE into something similar.
Thanks for this.. super cool! I'm really fascinated by the charging.. so far there is not much info. On the FAQ page of the website, the link to more info about charging is broken. I watched the paddock walk / pre-season test video, where they used a dedicated direct grid connection to power a distribution unit which in turn powered charging wagons with 2 chargers each. 15 cars were being simultaneously charged at 20kw each, which they say will complete in about an hour when they run the cars down to 10%. On race weekends, there are many more activities and other race series at the tracks, so they said they will be using powerbanks to charge the cars. It seems sustainability is important to them, so hopefully fossil fuels are not involved (at least locally). Another cool thing is that the Hankook tires which are semi-slicks will be used in both wet and dry.
Seeing the battery is in a box where the passenger seat used to be, I wonder if it is the same battery that lives in the former exhaust tunnel and under the rear seat of the non-racing SE?
yeah, I was wondering about that when the series was announced it seems like they needed to get the battery box away from the ground and possible punctures.
I’m on a weak limb here, but I’m guessing this race car may be using the same motor as the SE, but it is simply turned up rather than being detuned for mass production. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
The stock SE overheats something in a lap and half according to a few videos I've watched. As the stock battery doesn't hang very low, I'd think that the NXT battery is completely different. A stock battery won't charge from 10 to 100% in an hour with 20kW. No idea on the motor. The stock one is a PM type, so a lot less prone to overheating than an induction motor. I'd love to know what the NXT motor is.