Minis SE: Test Drive + Impressions

- One of my first stops in the car was a very crowded underground carpark. Maneuvering through this tight, crowded space wasn’t a problem and the car’s sensors helped with the getting around various obstacles.



- When you’re driving a Mini you become very conscious of other Minis on the road. Spotting other Minis became a game for my wife and I over the last couple of days.

- Before I drove this car I didn’t think I’d find the HUD that useful but I was pleasantly surprised. I was using the HUD at least as much as the digital instrument cluster to check my speed and I appreciated the additional information that also displays on the HUD such as the navigational directions and the speed limit. The collision warning that flashes up on your HUD is also a thoughtful safety feature if you happen to be glancing at the HUD when another car stops in front of you.



- My wife described the seats as “hugging” you and I thought that was a good way of putting it. They're very comfortable while holding you in place, ensuring you don't shift around while driving.



- Visibility when driving is excellent and greatly improves the driving experience while also making head checks when changing lanes stress free. One criticism I do have on this point is that I felt that the position of the rearview mirror was too low and was obstructing vision through the windscreen. This is possibly done so that the mirror doesn’t make contact with the roof switches or due to the unusual angle of the Mini windscreen? I don’t know. I just wish the designers could tinker with the position of the mirror so that I didn’t feel it was impeding my view out of the windscreen.



Charging

- As this was my first time driving an EV, it was also the first time I’ve charged an EV. On the first day, I went to a Superfast charging station to get a top up and (drum roll) it failed. It seems that this particular station wasn’t communicating with the network so I couldn’t activate charging. ☹ All plugged in and nowhere to go. Not a promising start!

 

- I went to another charging station and voila! Free charging too! This was easy and quick although when my car arrives I’ll be trying to avoid superfast charging to preserve battery life.











- On the second day I borrowed a relative’s garage to try some slow home charging. This only added a couple of % and was more of an experiment. All good.





Interior and Features

- Two days with the car in the Australian sun has further convinced me of the need for window tinting when my car finally arrives.

- I initially couldn’t get the wireless phone charger to work and thought there might be a malfunction. It turns out that I had to remove the phone from its thin, protective case. This isn’t very practical for me so I think I’ll be sticking to USB charging when I’m driving.



- As you can see, storage, while not spacious, is enough for a small load of goods after visiting the hardware store. Let’s be honest, if you want more storage space, you shouldn’t buy a Mini.



- The navigation system was easy to use and provided accurate traffic information and directions. For those that were discussing this in another thread, in Australia we also get the UK voice on our navigation system.



- I didn’t get a chance to try out the parking assistant, unfortunately, although I don’t have any problem with parallel parking and the size of this car makes it easy.

- I was slightly underwhelmed by the HK sound system. To be fair, I was primarily using the radio rather than Bluetooth which isn’t a good way to test sound quality. I’ll also readily admit that my expectations were pretty high and I had assumed that the relatively quiet cabin of an EV would make for an exceptional aural experience. Tinkering with the balance settings improved sound quality somewhat but it wasn’t the powerful listening experience for which I had hoped.

- I like how the driving mode screen shows your body colour / wheel choice accurately. Why couldn’t they show the mirror colours accurately too? A minor peeve, I know.



- I don’t speak IKEA so someone will have to translate this for me



- The automatic anti-dazzle mirror function was great for night driving and is a nice feature.

- Mini logo projector is fun but not a terribly practical addition.



A couple of questions:

- Does anyone know how to switch from FM to AM radio? I wanted to do this but couldn’t be bothered pulling over in order to figure it out.

- If I had more time, I’d like to play around with the internal lighting colours. Does anyone know how to switch the lighting colours for the little LEDs located behind the interior door handles?

 

Concluding Thoughts

When I was looking for a new car, I had a few requirements:

(1) I wanted to make the transition from ICE to EV.

(2) I wasn’t looking for a budget car, but the car needed to fit within my budget.

(3) It needed to be a quality car and provide many years of reliable driving.

(4) It needed to be fun to drive.

Points 1-2 were never in question with the Mini SE. You can't really determine point 3 beforehand and only after years of ownership will you have a definitive answer. Regarding the fourth point, I can’t emphasise how important this was for me. I’ve previously driven a series of uninspiring hatches and small cars and was thoroughly bored by these experiences. I needed a change and something that would make me smile. After two days with the Mini, I’ve got no doubt that this is going to be a very fun car to own and drive. It’s perfect for zipping around the city and a pleasure to drive. The last couple of days have been a blast and the only negative I can think of is that, now that I’ve driven one, it’s going to make it much harder to endure the next few months before my car arrives.

Postscript

After reluctantly returning my test model to the dealership, I got a couple of shots of the SE with its brothers and sisters.





After a couple of enjoyable days driving an EV, what could be more appropriate than using Melbourne’s most popular form of EV to get home? An icon of the city, its also the largest urban tram network in the world:



Thanks for reading!

 

Thanks! I'm currently driving a hand-me-down beater (2007 GM Holden Barina). This is a two-door hatch that is cheap to run and appalling to drive. I'm driving this car as I've only recently moved back to Australia from overseas and this was available until I could find something more permanent. Prior to that I was driving a Toyota Corolla which was similarly reliable, economical and boring as hell.

Not including a sunroof on the Australian version is indeed a very strange choice. We get a lot of sunshine and our winters are very mild.

I did do a little research prior to my purchase about Mini reliability but I figured that it was difficult to compare ICE to electric. Certainly the electric motor from the SE has proven itself. I have a few concerns with battery health over many years of usage and charging but only time will tell.

Ahhh. Thank you! Of course it was going to be something as simple as hitting a button. I was fumbling through the touchscreen display trying to find this. There are plenty of buttons and switches to play with, as you're no doubt aware. Thanks also for the tip about changing interior lighting. When my car eventually arrives I want to match up my interior lighting with my exterior colour.

I'm glad you enjoyed the review. My wife and I were lucky enough to do a road trip up the coast of the Carolinas in late 2019, only months before the pandemic hit. That trip included a couple of days in Beaufort and about four days in Charleston, which we loved. We mainly stuck to the coast so I didn't get to see Greenville although I heard good things about it. We only ventured inland once we hit NC. It's a very beautiful part of the world where you are. I hope you get a chance to visit Australia after international travel resumes.

As to window tinting, yes, I was primarily doing this to minimise cabin heat and also protect the interior from UV rays.

Glad you enjoyed it. I understand the anxiety of putting down a deposit without having done a test drive but I don't think you'll be disappointed, particularly if you've already tried the ICE version.

I wasn't really monitoring the charging closely but I believe it had about 50% charge at that point and it was showing 12 hours to fully charged so approx. 24 hours from 0-100%? I'm not sure. The Aust. spec. sheet for the car lists this information:

AC charging capability. Max. Power (grid side): 7.4 kW (1-phase 230 V, 16 A), charging duration: approx. 3.12 hours to 80%, charging plug type 2

I would have loved to take the car for a road trip outside of the city but travel outside of the Melbourne metro area is still restricted due to our recent lockdown and is due to be lifted in the next few days. We're basically at the tail end of about 3.5 months of intense lockdown that has been pretty tough to get through. In many ways, the Mini SE is a gift to myself for making it through 2020.

 

1) Good information to know.
2) That's a fun guide. I'll have to get used to waving at other Mini drivers.
3) I hope you are right on this point but I still have my doubts. Have you yourself been using super fast chargers? I currently live in an apartment and will only be able to charge at work with the occasional use of a fast charger to top up when necessary.
4) Another good piece of information. I'll hunt around and see if I can find a case that fits that description. My current one does indeed have a magnet in it.
5) No idea! That's just what came up when I turned the system on. Sorry I can't be of more help there.
6) I was just joking with this one but that's basically what I thought it meant too.
7) I grew up as a boy catching the tram to school each day. Usually this was on one of the historic W class trams which were still running at that point:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W-class_Melbourne_tram

Loved Beaufort (and even remembered how to pronounce it correctly compared to its northern cousin!) Quaint, historic town with some beautiful scenery. Incidentally, I also had the best meatloaf of my life at this place: http://www.wrenbeaufort.com/ I wish I could have spent more time in the Carolinas but, as is usually the way with these things, even on a longer trip you leave feeling like you've only just got a taste.

Holden was an Australian car company that went out of business a couple of years ago and was owned by GM. The Barina was nothing special but served a purpose as an economical, small city car. Students loved them because they were/are so cheap to run but I won't miss mine.

Will definitely be doing the Mini-loha.

 

My experience fast charging was the same. Up to 80% or so it is lightning quick. I'm just a little worried that dumping so much power into the batteries at that speed will lead to degradation. I don't understand battery tech. so this fear isn't based on anything rational. I do, however, remember reading a report on battery degradation where super fast charging, alongside thermal management, was one of the contributing factors although this research was conducted on another EV, not the Mini.

Interesting. This seems to contradict what MichaelC was saying above, ie. you can switch to AM simply by hitting "band". Does this not work for you?