Upcoming Chinese-built Electric MINI Cooper SUVs

After reading all of these posts about planning for snow and summer tires, I'm glad I live in SC. Only one set needed year round!

 

Yes, getting them there can be hard. Maybe I'll see if I could sweet talk family into helping.
Not rushing this year to look because it could be spring before I get the car.

I'm a bit jealous. I don't like winters.

 

I just had some put on my Clubman by the dealer, cost $35. It is the same as a tire rotation when they're mounted on separate wheels.

 

Oh, snap:
MINI Prepping All Electric JCW GP For Release

 

Damnit.

 

Great questions--and exactly what I would like to learn more about.

 

Wouldn't you think something like this will be priced closer to a Tesla Model 3? If so, it's out of my price range...

 

Which level of Model 3? The base model and the Iconic Mini are neck and neck as it is. The jump from an ICE S to JCW is $6k roughly. I think we'd need a higher jump depending on battery size. I would jump from the SE to the E JCW if the price was right.

 

GPs already don't have back seats, I just saw three (!) at my dealer. There's some speculation maybe a GPE will have a second motor in the back. Seems wild, but the GPE is a pretty wild concept.

 

Is the base Tesla Model 3 roughly the same price as the Mini SE Iconic in the US? The base Model 3 in Australia is $20k more expensive than the Mini SE Iconic (ie. $80k vs. $60k).

 

Yes. The Iconic here is $37,750 USD with delivery. The Model 3 is showing $37,990 USD on Tesla's site today, not including FSD add on for $10k USD.

Only negative for Tesla is that it doesn't include the $7500 tax credit that Mini qualifies for.

 

That's exceptional value for the Tesla. It would seem that there is a substantial "Australia tax" being applied to Teslas in the Oz market.

My prices quoted above are in $AUD, not $USD, by the way.

 

I figured they were AUD and not USD dollars. I work in a business where we get Aussie clients and am rather used to the exchange rate. We get many clients from Australia because what we sell also is massively marked up comparatively there vs the United States. Even with import taxes buying from us is cheaper.

An odd thing though. Our Tesla transportation fee is $1200 (the site didn't include that when I looked and got too lazy to find it yesterday - so total price is $39,100 USD vs Mini $37,750 so still very close). Mini transportation fee is $850. I always wondered why Tesla is so high here built in the USA.

 

That tax credit is the reason I am on this forum and not over on the Tesla side. Makes a huge difference to the wallet.

 

I admit, I'm not a Tesla fan. Too many issues I've seen and the attitude and pushy sales tactics were a massive turn off. Saying first name Tesla to me like it's your name is silly. Leaving me 2 messages on my phone and 2 emails in less than 24 hours is tooooooo much. Even Nissan was less pushy and obnoxious than Tesla. I dislike the interior of Tesla too. Fun cars are not just 0-60. It's more. My current Mini is a blast to drive. Maybe I'll do a test drive again for Tesla since it's been a while (they are super popular here and we have a showroom at a mall I frequent so I run into pushy sales people 9ften from them). The Teslerati fanboi stuff gets so old so quick. My boss just ordered one and I jokingly threatened to quit if he went all nutty fanboi on me. Not to mention the cars are pretty big.

Mini owners feel quirky and we poke fun at some things on our cars. Long standing Mini drivers joke and say the way to deal with rattles (provided they aren't really an issue) is to turn up the radio.

So Tesla wasn't much of an option for me due to how they are. I was looking into a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt more. Huyndai and Kia are not found here. Looked at the BMW i3 too. I nearly bought a new 2019 Leaf that was left over for $23k because with trade in and tax credit I would have come out ahead. The Minis are just so darn fun to drive.

 

The Tesla was the first model I researched starting last year, and I had my sights on it. But the budget just did not work out, and, needing another vehicle in 2021, I was googling for EVs that still get the tax credit and hit on the Mini. I'm sooo glad I found out about it! After doing all the research, and getting a test drive, I actually like its styling and interior more than Tesla at this point. Two Tesla advantages being range and charging network (at least in my state), but my budget overrides those advantages. So I'm a Mini convert.

 

We have a lot more Charge Point stations nearby. Whole Foods and a bank have stations for free which made network not as important. Though I plan to install my EVSE this week (30% tax credit ends this year). Since I do 99.9% only city driving range was unimportant. I had been looking at the glorified golf cart types too but they are so expensive. The new to US Kandi was same price as the Mini base for the one that could actually do highway speeds. I kept going back to the Mini and saw it winning since the technology is tried and true.

My Mini obsession started with the Italian Job. When I saw the remake it started up so much more (they actually made a few electric Minis for the movie). When I decided to downsize I told myself that I would try a Mini to get it out of my system. That failed and no other car (including the WRX) was as fun. So I bought one. I was almost sad at giving up my Mini. Now I just see it as an upgrade.