My First Mini SE Road Trip in SC, and Maybe my Last...for Now

I have my next charging road trip lined up for this Thursday! I am traveling 143 miles to get my windows tinted and to stay with one of my best friends at the same time. He has a Tesla model Y and a Tesla charger in his garage. I purchased an adapter (and tested it locally) which should allow me to charge at his house before I return home.

Based on interstate travel being around 60% of the trip, I'm anticipating a total range of 130 miles or so. Meaning I will stop in Columbia, SC, at the Electrify America station to charge up on the way there and back. The last time I stopped there (when I created this thread), 50% of the terminals were not working. But I only need one working for a short charge! Wish me luck. I'll post back with my results this weekend.

My friend thinks we should video a drag race against his Model Y, but I believe we already know what that result will be...could be fun, anyway.

 

My road trip is this afternoon. I added an additional station to my saved places in Columbia - a fast charge EVGO with one plug at a Spinx gas station. I created an EVGO account and downloaded the app. So I have the four dispensers at Electrify America, and one with EVGO. If I can't find a working dispenser among those FIVE, then I'll punt and look for level 2 chargers.

I'm looking forward to getting the windows tinted tomorrow - I'll be going with 30%.

 

Currently successfully charging at Electrify America! Planning to stop at 80%, which looks like it will take 21 minutes total to go from 32 to 80%.

87 mile trip and the GOM predicted 106 miles range. Actual result was 4.43 mi/kWh and 128 total range estimate.

It’s 93F in Columbia and I am very grateful to be able to run the A/C while I charge. 60 miles to go when I leave here.

 

I was driving 73 in a 70 for most of it. I set ACC when I hit the on ramp and only disabled it at my exit. A low traffic trip!

 

I’m happy to report that my windows are tinted (photos later), and my Tesla adapter worked great to charge up in my friend’s garage last night. It took 3 1/2 hours to charge from 31% to 100%.

 

This was according to the charging history on the Mini App.

 

So - my trip from Greenville to Sumter to get my windows tinted was very successful! I had two no-stress charge ups at the Electrify America station on Harbison Blvd in Columbia, SC, plus a charge in my friend's garage on his Tesla charger. Here are my summary stats:

• Miles driven: 290 miles
• Average calculated mi/kWh: 4.42
• Average calculated range: 128 miles (mostly interstate, green mode, A/C always on)
• Best calculated range segment: 138 miles (21% interstate)
• Average GOM predicted range: 93 miles (logged after each charge session)
• On average, my actual range exceeded GOM by 35 miles

I was the only vehicle at Electrify America on both of my visits, and all 4 dispensers appeared to be operational. I spent a total of $9.75 for two sessions.

Things I learned about my Mini on this trip:

• @insightman asking how fast I was driving got me thinking on my trip home. I seem to remember posts on this forum stating that the speedometer is 2 mph slow. So on my return trip I pulled up Waze since it has a speed estimate. The Waze speed consistently read 2 mph higher than my Mini speed.
• So I bumped up my set cruise speed by 2 mph and a little green 'mph' circle with a semi-circular down arrow displayed on my instrument cluster periodically when I would hit 5 mph over the posted speed limit. I assume that was a speed warning? I have not looked in the manual for it.
• I had my car key in my duffel, opened the hatch without unlocking the car, threw the duffel in, and closed the hatch. The car beeped at me and the hatch unlatched on its own. I guess it is smart enough to keep you from locking yourself out of the car!
• Forcing A/C to turn on is not as simple as it should be. I parked at Electrify America and opened my door before touching the screen to activate comfort climate. It was a slow motion "NOOOOOO" in my head as I opened the door and watched the "activate climate comfort" disappear from the screen. I started my charging session and got back in the car. I hit the start/stop button to activate radio-ready - but that only blows the fan and does not run A/C, even though the A/C buttons are lit up! I finally found the screen for activating comfort climate in the menus and cooled down before the Columbia heat could get me.
• The tint guy said "no rolling down the windows for 72 hours". Luckily, my friend had just had his Tesla Model Y tinted a few weeks back, so before taking me to pick up the Mini, he handed me painters tape and a marker. I picked up the newly tinted Mini, taped over my window buttons, and wrote the date/time I could start using the windows again.

 

Not sure - we should have an additional test source than just Waze to get a better feel for it. When I've passed school zone signs that measure your speed, they also register me going slower than the Mini indicates.