Range Efficiency Under Various Conditions & Cargo

I bought the wheels directly from Neuspeed, who also provided tire mounting and ceramic coating options. They only offered 225 width tires and I didn't have the time/energy to buy the wheels then haul them to a local tire shop.

205 width tires will work on these 7.5" wide wheels, but will look a bit "stretched". As I understand it, that should actually improve EV efficiency. However, the visual difference between 205 & 225 on 7.5" wheels is stunning. A friend with 205s on these wheels brought his MINI over to my house to compare.

• His car looked like WHEEL and tire.
• My car looked like WHEEL AND TIRE.

And, yes, they're quite fun!

 

I bet they look great! I am starting to research my next set of tires. The Pilot Sports would require the 17" wheel, whereas I went for the 16" for better efficiency. That setup still might be a good option for me, especially if you think it is quieter.

 

If I had to guess your losses are probably 70% rolling resistance, 25% drag due to wider wheels/tires, 5% from the wheels themselves.

 

Tire rack used to include rolling resistance in their tire tests but have not as of late. I’ve used the Mich Pilot Sport A/S 3+ on my 3 series and can confirm a drop in mpg. It makes sense that they are sticky given that aggressive tread pattern they need to make up for to give them decent winter traction. Probably safe to assume for the new A/S 4 as well.



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I have some new data to add to my previous range tests. This time, I have tested:

• Stock 17"x7" Roulette Spoke wheels with 12.5mm spacers, shod with 205/45R17 Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires.
• Stock 16"x6.5" Electric Revolite spoke wheels with OEM 195/55R16 Hankook Ventus Prime 3 tires.

Method
I used the same range testing route as prior tests, which is 62 miles long per Google Maps and verified by a GPS app. Of those 62 miles:

• 6.4 miles are on city streets and on/off ramps.
• 3 miles are at 65mph.
• 52.6 miles are at 70mph. (The speed limit is actually 75mph for 32 miles, but I maintained 70mph as that's the speed limit on any road trip route I'm likely to take.)

For all highway driving, I used the cruise control set to the speed limit according to GPS speed, rather than the car's speedometer. Likewise, average speed was per GPS. This eliminates speedometer error (due to manufacturer offset and/or different overall tire diameter).

Battery State of Charge was sniffed off the OBDII port via bluetooth adapter and mobile app.

The wheel weights shown in the chart are per documentation on the internet. Wheel + tire weight was measured with my own digital scale.

Tires were set to factory-recommended pressures:

• 17" = 38psi front, 35psi rear.
• 16" = 35psi front, 32psi rear.

Commentary
Performance of the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires in the stock size is on-par with what I experienced using the larger size on the NM Engineering RSe05 wheels. Tire noise is significantly lower than the stock Hankooks. They still thrum, but at a lower tone and much lower volume--barely noticeable. Likewise, dry traction is excellent though ultimate cornering grip is slightly reduced compared to the much wider 225 Michelins on the RSe05 wheels. The higher rolling resistance is also apparent, at a cost of 0.53 mi/kWh or ~15 miles when driving at interstate speeds. Dang.

As expected, the lighter weight and more aerodynamic Electric Revolite wheels with low rolling resistance Hankooks have shown the best consumption values to date. (On one particularly efficient trip using slower city streets, I managed to get 5.9 mi/kWh!). I was pleasantly surprised by the handling capability of these Hankooks with taller sidewalls. The additional sidewall flex reduces turning response just a bit, but not enough to actually put a damper on the SE's handling prowess. European labels show the 195/55R16 Hankook Ventus Prime 3 tires are 1dB quieter than the 205/45R17 Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3, and that's noteworthy because the decibel scale is logarithmic. These tires thrum at the same tone as their 17" cousins, but the volume of that sound is much lower to my ears so not nearly as noticeable.

I haven't been able to find any European labels for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 tires, so can't compare any rated rolling resistance values for them. However, European labels rate the rolling resistance for both the 195/55R16 Hankook Ventus Prime 3 and 205/45R17 Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 as 'A', the most efficient. Browsing other makes and models of tires shows that the performance characteristics--including rolling resistance--for these Hankooks make them uniquely qualified for the SE (in the summer). I see why MINI selected them.

 

I need a second set of wheels for snow tires but I'm having such a hard time deciding on what direction to go... I had planned to use my 16" victory spokes for winter and upgrade the summer set to something a bit more aggressive but can't find any good options and am torn between maintaining efficiency and something that improves handling.

I had almost convinced myself to just go 17"x7.5 (OZ Superturismo LM) but that's a pretty significant difference between even the stock 16 and stock 17... I'd love to stay with 16" but all the wheel options seem to be 17"+ and 7.5" or 8" wide.

I really want something like the wheels from the Porsche Mission R concept or the OZ Superturismo AERO but can't find anything under 18".

 

I understand your frustration, @Carsten Haase, as I am also trying to find a different set of wheels for summer that are the right size, with an appropriate offset, lightweight, aerodynamically reasonable, and aesthetically pleasing to me.

 

@MichaelC which app are you using? I've tried to get Torque to work but it refuses to connect to the MINIs ECU. I also tried the $40 BimmerLink (same dev as BimmerCode) but it doesn't support reading sensors on EVs.

The only one I've found for Android is an early access app called electrified designed for the i3 but it doesn't support any data logging, just display.

 

@Carsten Haase I have an iPhone, so use an app called "mi3". It is also display-only, so I just take screen shots as needed (then record a voice memo to give me context later).

 

It's unfortunate that EVs don't have to comply with OBD requirements but at least some people smarter than me are working on these apps!

 

@MichaelC, what kind of OBD do you use?


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I use a Veepeak OBDCheck BLE OBD2 Bluetooth Scanner: https://www.veepeak.com/product/obdcheck-ble/ (Also available on Amazon.)

 

Thanks, @MichaelC


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Another app for iOS and Android has data-logging and csv export: Car Scanner ELM OBD2.
There's even gps logging and trip visualisation on Google maps.

Mini Cooper SE profile should be manually selected at setup.

 

It's funny, I expected to be scrutinizing the range/efficiency every day I drove this car. I have a short commute each day (20 miles round trip), charge every 3-4 days and haven't given it a second thought. I coded to be in Sport as default, and couldn't imagine staying under 50% power for ANY drive... I'm going to my first NorCalMINI fun run in May, I may actually put it in Green to get there, though I'm still well within my projected range for the trip. I'm very curious how this compares to BMW CCA fun runs, which are *VERY* spirited. Regardless, looking forward to the new community!

 

Certainly weather makes significant difference… I was glad to see improved efficiency on a 62F day…

 

If you ignore the giant drop when I ditched the OEM tires, my efficiency tracks almost perfectly to the temperature. There's some delay/averaging since these data points are from charging sessions and I don't charge every day but still a pretty clear trend

 

FINALLY drove Uncle Larry more than 30 miles in one trip yesterday. Started at 100%, went from San Ramon over to Hayward, picked up 3 regular-sized friends, then to South San Jose to see Hasan Minaj. Then back the same route. I put it in Green (for the first time since I bought it) on the way down, then left it in Sport all the way back. Round trip of 99 miles, got back home with 28% SOC. AC was on the whole time, and otherwise ideal driving conditions, about 75% highway though plenty of traffic to keep me <60mph. I couldn't resist getting over 50% power many times, but not as much as usual. So that appears to put my range at 137mi, totally happy with that.

Charged overnight to 100%, then today went on a NorCal MINI fun run through the Oakland hills (moderately spirited) AC going the whole time, total RT from home was 62mi, returned home with 54% SOC. So, about 135mi range. I will probably never use Green again!!! No doubt having 4 full-size adults vs. 1.5 adults (bribed my teenager to come on the fun run) makes a difference, but not worried about that.

Good to FINALLY see other SE's on the road (2 guys from here), hope to see more again someday. It may have to wait until another local fun run?