What you did for your Mini SE Today?

If heat under the hood was a problem, wouldn't MINI have made the fake hood scoop functional?

 

The hood scoop on the ICE-powered MINI Cooper S is also fake.

 

I can guarantee that all of the electric components in the engine bay are IP rated, likely IP69K for high pressure spray. Otherwise there would be giant warnings everywhere about never going into a car wash.

 

The hood scoop on my 2003 Mini S was functional and fed cool air for the supercharger. (And what a wonderful sound that made!)

 

I believe only the first-generation (BMW) MINIs had functional scoops, which was model years 2000-2006. Second generation changed the engine layout:

The Cooper S retains the bonnet scoop in order to keep an association with the outgoing model – although the relocation of the intercooler to the front of the engine means that the scoop is now purely decorative.​

Not to mention driving in heavy rainstorms...

 

None of John Cooper's Minis had a bonnet scoop, but none of them had a supercharger, either.

 

Mini decided that the turbocharger was better. Not sure that I agree with that, I really liked the supercharger.

 

With a temp rise of 14° it seems like things would be ok until it's above 105F ambient...Interesting data to collect for sure!

 

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't understand the concern with under-hood temperature?

All of the critical components (battery, motor, inverter) are liquid cooled so air temperature doesn't matter.

Discreet components used in EVs almost always have internal temperature sensors that they are monitoring and can derate if necessary to protect themselves

From the i3 documentation, there are also two temperature sensors inside the electric motor, one in the inverter, one in the DC/DC converter, multiple in the battery pack, and at least one in the coolant itself.

 

Don't all companies selling vehicles in the US routinely test each model in Death Valley?

That said, my first new car, a Porsche 914 2.0, suffered vapor lock on really hot days. The engine would just quit and I would have to sit next to the road for 20 or 30 minutes waiting for it to cool down. The car's second owner had the fuel pump moved away from the exhaust manifold and that solved the problem. A Porsche! (Well, sort of a Porsche--it had their name on it.)

 

I'd imagine elevated internal temperatures could be a concern in the city, with high ambient temperatures. Not so much with active airflow on the open road. The compartment is far from air tight.

Critical electrical components should be actively cooled, but keep us informed as I'm curious myself.

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Unlike ICE, EVs generate less/no heat when they are idling or going slowly so a city would actually be the lowest temp driving. Higher power = more heat so the worst place would be on a track (see numerous examples of tracked EVs limiting power)