I downloaded the Technical Data PDF file from the UK MINI site @T.C. was kind enough to link. I was confused by the AC charging info. When I read months ago that the MINI Cooper SE could handle 11kW AC charging, I switched my 9.6kW EVSE for an 11.5kW EVSE. Now I see this chart from the Technical Data sheet that says AC home charging "with wallbox" maxes out at 7.4kW, but 11kW is possible "with AC public charging." I don't know why the MINI couldn't be designed to make full use of a single-phase 11kW EVSE, but it appears the SE's 11kW charging requires a 3-phase EVSE. My old Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid can handle more than 7.6kW; a newer, all-electric car should be able to better that. Darn it, the 7.4kW limitation means that if I coast into my garage with no charge it will take me an extra 42 minutes to fill 'er up. MINI should check their horsepower conversion factors. A 135kW motor equates to 181.038 hp, not 184 hp. Will we have to wait until March for the more realistic, official EPA range numbers to be revealed?
MINI and that table are using the outdated Pferdestärke number, which should be identified as "PS", not "HP." PS or Pferdestärke ("horse strength" in German) was replaced by kW as the EU's "legal" measurement of engine power in 1992. One PS is about 98.6% of the brake horsepower that most people assume in an apples-to-apples comparison. HP = kW/0.745699872 = 135/0.745699872 = 181.037981993914 PS = kW/0.73549875 = 135/0.73549875 = 183.5489183360271
My wife has had nothing but a MINI since 2005 or so. Asked if she would trade in her current MINI for a MINI electric, she is ambivalent. She travels about 20 miles to work each day each way, (no charger at work) so she would need to charge every day or possibly every other day at home. You have to remember that cars are usually charged to only 80%, so the effective range may be about 80-100 miles and sometimes there may be no room for error. If one day she runs some errands in addition, she would have to charge the car that day, even if she charged it the day before. Again not something that cannot be done, but it would have to become a regular habit to check charge every day and charge at home. If the range was even say 150 miles, it gives a bigger comfort factor. To her it is the range, she is sold on everything else MINI. Sample size of 1, yes but I do not think she is alone. My wife however wants to check it out when she comes and may change her mind but hard to tell right now without actually looking at it.
Yes, people have said an EV car battery may last longer if you refrain from charging to 100%, the car companies actually prevent the batteries from being charged to 100%. I read somewhere that only 28.9 kWh of the MINI's 32.6 kWh battery is available. To stretch the batteries' lifetimes, the car won't let the Li-Ion batteries be fully discharged or fully charged. BMW has years of experience with the i3 and I'm sure they don't want to be replacing battery packs before the 8-year warranties expire. So I'm going to trust that charging to 100% will be OK and do it every time. I trust Honda, too, and I always charge my Clarity PHEV to 100%.
Amazon and MINI are conducting a sweepstakes for a new MINI Cooper SE. They're claiming the MINI up for grabs is worth $40K, so it must be the full-boat Iconic trim version. The entry deadline is December 14, 2019 and the winner (me) will be notified by email on December 20th. You must have an Amazon account to register, but registering is not only free, but very easy--you just visit one or two specific Amazon web pages. One of Amazon pages you can visit to register has a well-written review of the MINI Cooper SE by an "expert." The expert explained something I didn't know: the floorpan of the MINI Cooper SE is the same as all the other MINI Hardtops coming down the Oxford assembly line. The expert writes: ...the SE’s “T-shaped” 32.6 kWh battery fits entirely within spaces already stamped into the Cooper’s bellypan for gas-powered components like the exhaust plumbing and fuel tank.
The MINI Cooper SE may have incandescent back-up lights!?! After reading for months that the MINI Cooper SE has LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED foglights, and LED taillights, I was surprised to read on the MINI Cooper SE web page that the back-up lights may be incandescent. Why does MINI say "may?" This car is already in production, MINI must know what components they're using, right? Or does the "may" indicate that not all trim-levels get the coveted LED back-up lights? Is it only the Iconic trim-level that gets the battery-saving LEDs?
