CAR magazine: Oxford to build new Mini Electric from 2023

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SameGuy said:
Honestly none of those sound compelling in the North American context. That could actually hurt the brand here. The Evoque 3-door and drophead barely sold here.
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They barely sold anywhere. At one point the premium SUV at rental car at LHR was the 3dr Evoque
 
The same reason (by and large) why Tesla and Volvo owners are such sihtty drivers: they think/feel/believe they're in a safe car, so they don't need to know how to actually drive.
 
MrSnrub said:
But people like to sit high off the ground and need storage space! For what I don’t know
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Contrary to popular belief, the storage space is reduced for many 2-box compact crossover SUVs when compared to a 3-box mid-sized sedan.

With the rear seats down and tonneau cover removed, the MINI SE can fit quite a bit!
 
The reason people buy big trucks, big SUVs, big Caddys, big Lincolns, and big boats, (and to some extent Corvettes) is because they feel inadequate, and need to compensate. "My (fill in the blank) is bigger than yours".
 
teslarati97 said:
Contrary to popular belief, the storage space is reduced for many 2-box compact crossover SUVs when compared to a 3-box mid-sized sedan.
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This. We used to drive a minivan (for the dogs) and I always silently shook my head at my friends who went all-in on SUVs for the "space". My experience showed SUVs are a horrible combination of bad fuel efficiency and terrible interior space.

By the way, my dogs love our MINIs a lot more, especially the Clubman, because they have plenty of space and can see out the windows while lying down, unlike the minivan.
 
Puppethead said:
This. We used to drive a minivan (for the dogs) and I always silently shook my head at my friends who went all-in on SUVs for the "space". My experience showed SUVs are a horrible combination of bad fuel efficiency and terrible interior space.

By the way, my dogs love our MINIs a lot more, especially the Clubman, because they have plenty of space and can see out the windows while lying down, unlike the minivan.
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I can understand why Europeans are so fond of estate cars. Plus a roofbox is so much more usable (see video below).
 
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Every time I get a notification from YouTube of a new post from 11foot8 I get giddy with excitement. I’m not sure you can call it schadenfreude, but…
 
teslarati97 said:
Contrary to popular belief, the storage space is reduced for many 2-box compact crossover SUVs when compared to a 3-box mid-sized sedan.

With the rear seats down and tonneau cover removed, the MINI SE can fit quite a bit!
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My first experience of an SUV was an uncle's classic range Rover. Particularly striking was that I couldn't sit upright. Unlike in my classic Mini. Since then, I always think SUVs are big cars for little people.
 
For a lot of "men," overcompensating with a bigger, bulkier vehicle isn't enough; they want more power. But in my experience, the truly dangerous drivers around here are the soccer/yoga mommies tearing through my quiet sfh neighborhood, barely lifting as they blow stop sign after stop sign, running to pick up their spawn at the nearby elementary school. I wear an OSHA safety vest any time I'm out walking my dog.

Remember when the C4 Corvette was unleashed, it had all of 205 bhp and 285 lbf⋅ft of torque from its 5.7 litre L83 V8, and it was considered the fastest and most powerful new mass production car since the oil embargo/crisis. Now, a run-of-the-mill suburban family hauler has 300+ bhp. Unnecessary.
 
pictsidhe said:
My first experience of an SUV was an uncle's classic range Rover. Particularly striking was that I couldn't sit upright. Unlike in my classic Mini. Since then, I always think SUVs are big cars for little people.
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I rode shotgun in a neighbor's Toyota FJ once ... you know, the SUV that looks like a big Tonka truck. There's this horizontal bar on the dash just above the glove box that dug into my knees the whole time. So cramped; felt like an airline seat.
 
SameGuy said:
For a lot of "men," overcompensating with a bigger, bulkier vehicle isn't enough; they want more power. But in my experience, the truly dangerous drivers around here are the soccer/yoga mommies tearing through my quiet sfh neighborhood, barely lifting as they blow stop sign after stop sign, running to pick up their spawn at the nearby elementary school. I wear an OSHA safety vest any time I'm out walking my dog.

Remember when the C4 Corvette was unleashed, it had all of 205 bhp and 285 lbf⋅ft of torque from its 5.7 litre L83 V8, and it was considered the fastest and most powerful new mass production car since the oil embargo/crisis. Now, a run-of-the-mill suburban family hauler has 300+ bhp. Unnecessary.
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When I was at primary school, there was ONE kid who came by car. He lived 7 miles away, so we gave him a pass. There was a minibus for outlying villages 3 and 5 miles away. Every single other kid in the village walked. It was less than a mile for everyone. About 150 in the school.
Now, it's utter bedlam at kiddie hour. The road is clogged solid.
I know a lady in England who still walks her kids to school. She is 600 yards away from the school and no roads need crossing. Her neighbour drives her kids in an SUV. The neighbour leaves 20 minutes earlier in the morning...
 
pictsidhe said:
When I was at primary school, there was ONE kid who came by car. He lived 7 miles away, so we gave him a pass. There was a minibus for outlying villages 3 and 5 miles away. Every single other kid in the village walked. It was less than a mile for everyone. About 150 in the school.
Now, it's utter bedlam at kiddie hour. The road is clogged solid.
I know a lady in England who still walks her kids to school. She is 600 yards away from the school and no roads need crossing. Her neighbour drives her kids in an SUV. The neighbour leaves 20 minutes earlier in the morning...
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Very similar here. When I was a kid in the 70s, any student less than a mile away was expected to walk, and we all did. Those more than a mile away had a school bus service. Nowadays, the streets around primary (elementary) schools here are chockablock full of SUVs, often even double-parked, because kids don't walk. Parents say it's too unsafe for their kids to walk, because there are too many crazy, speeding SUVs on the residential streets... That's like complaining about being stuck in traffic while refusing to admit to being the traffic in which one is stuck!
 
When I was in grade school in the 50s, there were no SUVs. One of my fellow students occasionally arrived in an Isetta. It was like a space ship to me and I became enamored of small cars. Back in those days I even walked the mile home for lunch. By myself!
 
For me, I took the yellow school bus during grade school (1.8 miles) and walked home in the afternoon because my stop was last on the route.
 
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