Those living with the Electric Mini

Yes, you'll read (and hear) mostly glowing reviews. We took delivery of a Sig+ on New Year's Eve 2021 and qualified for the full federal tax credit as well as a state incentive. The SE, in essence, replaced two vehicles – a 2012 Honda Fit and 1999 Mazda Miata. While the MINI does not have the remarkable capacity of the Fit, it is versatile as a hatchback. As a Miata replacement, it is a blast to drive and fully usable throughout the winter. We didn't drive the Miata from December through March. We have a Honda Civic (40+ mpg highway) for longer drives. Most of the MINI miles are local with a few carefully planned longer trips. We remain frustrated by the lack of charging options in many areas but PlugShare has been most helpful.

 

I'm surprised you didn't take advantage of another $7,500 for 2022 since you took delivery of the MINI at the end of 2021. That was like a free PHEV upgrade for the Civic.

 

Lol I’m still trying to figure out the climate controls. I find it doesn’t fog up too much at below freezing temps if I’m alone, but with a passenger it takes just a minute or two and I have to switch on Max defog. Is there no regular defog/defrost setting (or mixed with the lower and dashboard outlets)? I R the FM (© @insightman ) and see that the “up arrow” on the vent control is indeed for the windows, and that Auto normally blows through the window outlets. I guess I’ll avoid Green mode when it’s this cold. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I have just over 6000 miles on my 2023 Iconic and I did have one issue. I was in a parking lot and I started the car, but it would not go into gear, reverse or drive. I restarted the car about 10 times hoping I could get it into gear and it would not do anything. I got an error stating to push the side button before shifting into gear, I was but it still did not go into gear. After about 20 attempts, it finally went into gear and I was able to drive home. I called the dealer on the way home and they said to bring it in immediately. They ran a diagnostic test and they said it was giving them a shifter fault. It took about 2 weeks to get the part and it has been fine since. Other than that one issue, the car is great, it is fun to drive and coming from a 2019 Mini Cooper S manual, I don't miss rowing my own gears as much as I thought I would.

My Mini has KW coilovers, 18" NM Engineering wheels, and other than a few other mods, it is one of the funnest daily driver cars I have ever owned. I'm sure I lost some range but my commute to work is short (25 miles round trip) and it has more than enough range for me to shuttle the kids around town without range anxiety. I also changed a few other things like removing the start up warnings, seat belt warnings, and removed the e-drive logo on the instrument display. The rear fog lights are functional with a European headlight switch and some programming.

Being extremely conservative, I estimate one mile for every percent of the battery. I do not baby the car or hyper-mile it, I drive it like any other car, if the traffic on the highway is flowing at 80mph, I am not holding anyone up or intentionally driving slower to preserve the range. If I have a long drive, I have another vehicle to use. I could probably still get the 114 miles the EPA rates the car at with the mods but 100 miles is way more than enough in day for me.

I typically charge the car every other day and the best part is not having to go to gas stations anymore. I used Bimmercode to have the car start up in green mode as the default, I think the car drives smoother in green and full power is still available if you need to punch it. On a cold day I will typically use 1 or 2 percent more power on my work commute. But I am in SoCal and cold here is in the 40's in the early morning.

I feel the SE is the only fun small 2-door EV around that can be optioned to be a nice car, at least in the US anyway. Plus, it has huge aftermarket support. When I learned the 2023 was going to be the last of the F56 Mini, I had to order it. I'm sure the 2024 version will have better range but because I like to modify my cars, it will be a while for companies to start making aftermarket parts for the new Chinese platform. Plus, I would rather have the Oxford car.

 

If you're not aware, there's a setting in the green mode configuration to reduce heating, you can turn that off to get the same heating as mid and sport modes.

 

I suppose I could have done that before heading out. I appreciate the savings when it’s not 20 below though.

 

We've had our used 2022 mini since July and have put just over 12,000 miles on it. We've had zero issues. Our range has always been less than seemingly everyone else on this forum I would not take it more than 40/45 miles one way without a charger at the other end and expect to make it back home. I drive in mid mode 99% of the time. We have a jeep that we use for anything further away. This is solely a local commute vehicle.
We also took delivery of a brand new 2023 mini in December. Zero issues with that one as well though it has only been a little over a month. The range seems incrementally better on that one, but it's hard to say as it's been cold and windy in Illinois.

 

Since I purchased my car, less than a month ago, I've put roughly 200 miles on it. I've been driving entirely in green+ mode, except when I needed fast defog.

Yesterday, at a busy intersection, I put it into sport mode so that I could accelerate into an empty spot. My God! My SE didn't just accelerate, it leapt out. I was stunned; it was almost scary.

 

One little trick I’ve learned when showing off that smooth EV torque to people who had yet to experience it is to engage the speed limiter at a fairly low speed (on an empty road, of course), say 20 mph, and cruise for a ways before hitting the button and mashing the pedal. Even BIL with a modded C6 Vette yelped, and neighbor who drives AMGs daily at work let out a surprised “whoa!”

 

We are in NZ. We had our 2021 SE (2022 in the US) for more than a year now. According to the GOM, our range has been averaging 160km for every 100% SOC. The SE is our only car, we use it for daily city driving and for long trips to remote hills.

The only issues we’ve had:
1. The AC blend door actuator became faulty which took out the cold air on the driver side

2. Now, I hear metal grinding noises when I turn the steering wheel

My peeves:
1. We ordered the HK, it never arrived, blame the chip shortage

2. The ACC gets blinded by the sun and will disengage

3. The short range battery, but I got to live with this; with planning & knowing where the chargers are, we enjoy the long drive in the SE. I always plan for 80% top up when I reach 20% SOC. I know I will still be fine at 5%, but 20% is my contingency for traffic and for the next chargers in case the current is faulty.

4. Too much software, the SE is telling me how to drive; but hey I love the CarPlay for the music and the hands free calling; and I really love the HUD

5. The small space, but hey the SE is a MINI, and it has its own rules

Totally love the SE, it has the pizzazz that we were looking and the quality is so good, and the performance is just amazing; I would love to see the faces of the drivers of the big cars and the SUVs when I overtake them on the state highway and they realise is that an electric MINI. One time on our expressway which had a gradient of 8% for 6km, I was raced by an ICE MINI, and we smiled at each other, but mine was more of a grin bec i was driving an SE.

 

I find the throttle a bit too touchy for my liking on sport. I like the steering heaviness, though. I'm a Sasquatch who grew up without power steering, so non sport steering is just too light for me. Ideally, I'd like mid throttle and sport steering, but my bimmercode-fu is lacking. I autocross in mid with minimal stability and traction control setting.

 

I've heard for a decade+ folks who actually race their MINIs voicing preference for the more linear feel of the 'mid' mode throttle response. So, you're not alone there. For me, 'sport' mode in an SE is only tolerable on low-regen; otherwise it's way too herky-jerky with aggressive throttle and aggressive regen.