Comedian

W

WhatDoYouGuysWannaDo

New Member
There seem to be a fair amount of MINI Cooper SEs available near me, for decent prices used, plus they have the 3.99% APR and $7,500 lease rebate for new ones. It's supposed to expire on October 2nd, but I've been watching since July and they already extended it twice.

There's a red and black used 2022 for $23,995 with 28k miles, and another red and white 2023 for $26,960 with 6k miles.

The thing is, it just seems like a really dumb thing for me to do, because I'm a stand-up comedian, and I do a lot of driving at night to shows. Most of the shows are less than 114 miles away, but I feel like I'd want to charge every 70 - 80 miles just to be safe. But it's like, is it safe? Am I gonna be late to my show even if I leave an hour earlier than I normally would because I couldn't find a charger that works? Am I going to get robbed when I'm at the charger late at night and no one else is there? Will I get sick when I have to charge late on a cold, rainy night?

Seems like a Bolt would be a way better choice, but those are getting hard to find for good deals right now, and having test driven both, I'd much rather have the MINI if I can make it work for me.
 
ABC. Always Be Charging. When at home, just plug it in. I would feel pretty good about round trips of under 100 miles but would look for another car if more than that.
 
I personally drive about 85 miles per day in my SE, and I never have to charge during travel in the summer. In fact I arrive home with at least 40% SoC left. In the winter, when temperatures get below 0º F, I do have to add about 10 kWh charge, which is usually about 30-45 minutes of level 2 charging which I do at public areas like grocery stores. As for bad weather, once you get the charge started you can sit in the comfort of your car running the heat/ac and listening to the radio while you wait.

Check PlugShare to get a feel for the chargers in the area(s) you'll be operating in. If need be, drive by a few of them to get a sense of how dodgy the neighborhoods are. Some places, like some Targets, have large charging areas with lots of Tesla superchargers and a few ChargePoint, and when I go to these locations even at night there's always a lot of Teslas using the chargers. As for smaller install locations, many of them are in out-of-the-way areas and I think criminals have more lucrative places to do crime than wait around hoping some hapless EV driver stops by.
 
JonR said:
ABC. Always Be Charging. When at home, just plug it in. I would feel pretty good about round trips of under 100 miles but would look for another car if more than that.
Click to expand...

A few times a month I’ll do a 180+ mile round trip. I figured I would just charge three times on those trips. Once halfway there, again there, and again halfway back. Hopefully then I wouldn’t have to charge for long, maybe 15 minutes at a time.
 
I really do like the Bolt, so I think it's a fine choice if you go that way. I think if the car's range is regularly an issue – say more than a few times a month – combined with some likely sketchier situations involving late-night charging top-ups, I'd lean towards "more range" as the decider. Let us know either way.
 
SameGuy said:
I really do like the Bolt, so I think it's a fine choice if you go that way. I think if the car's range is regularly an issue – say more than a few times a month – combined with some likely sketchier situations involving late-night charging top-ups, I'd lean towards "more range" as the decider. Let us know either way.
Click to expand...
Since the MINI is easily available now, I was almost just thinking get one, and then if it’s a pain, trade for a Bolt when they’re more attainable later.
 
Well, my GTI may have already ruined me, honestly. I could just keep it another three or four years until the J01 and the ID.all/electric Golf and GTI come out. It’s just then I’m still emitting C02 until then
 
San Francisco does have a lot of charging stations so maybe it won't be so bad.

Do you drive around town a lot and then go to San Francisco only on the weekends? I'm a huge fan of owning two cars. You could get a cheap older Honda for driving to San Francisco which would be nice because you wouldn't care about door dings or your bumper being bumped while in the city. Keep the nice car for around town driving. Hondas are super reliable and you could use that for any other road trips.
 
If I’m gonna have two cars I might as well just keep my GTI. It’s been very reliable and comfortable on the long drives. The thing is, driving to the bay and back twice a month is roughly 5,000 miles a year as it is, and if I’m only driving a total of 8-9,000 a year, that’s over half my driving. I don’t really see the point in paying all that extra money to have both cars, when it doesn’t even cut my gasoline use in half.
 
WhatDoYouGuysWannaDo said:
If I’m gonna have two cars I might as well just keep my GTI.
Click to expand...

My family has 3 VWs (Tiguan, Jetta, and Golf) and my Mini. If I had to drive further than I do, I would definitely have the GTI on my list of cars to replace the Mini. The Corolla GR would be the other one but way overpriced. VW has the GTI 380 special edition coming out which is pretty cool and you could of course get a Mini Cooper JCW.
 
I live in Sacto and we purchased our 2023 Mini Cooper SE from Mini of Marin. Google maps shows the distance from Mini of Marin to home to be 93 miles. I was able to make it home without charging and had approximately 27% battery life remaining when I pulled into the garage. I know SF is a little farther than Corte Madera, CA, but hopefully this can give you an idea of what you might expect. There are several DC fast charge locations in and around SF and Marin.

I think if you plan ahead and know the locations of the DC fast chargers you should be okay. I've been driving EVs since 2012 and found that planning your route and charger destinations in advance can help with range anxiety...

I've never had a GTI, but did have a VW MKV R32 that I really miss.
 
WhatDoYouGuysWannaDo said:
Well, my GTI may have already ruined me, honestly. I could just keep it another three or four years until the J01 and the ID.all/electric Golf and GTI come out. It’s just then I’m still emitting C02 until then
Click to expand...
I was disappointed when I tried driving my friend's eGolf. However, I assume VW will learn from their early ID mistakes and make the ID.eGolf better. VW should buy a few MINI Cooper SEs for comparison drives and try to surpass our favorite's fun-factor.
 
I had a TDI and an egolf before my SE. The egolf was my favorite car before my SE. The range was a bit better after 2017, and the size is bigger, but in regards to driving, there's no comparing the two.
 
ghost said:
I had a TDI and an egolf before my SE. The egolf was my favorite car before my SE. The range was a bit better after 2017, and the size is bigger, but in regards to driving, there's no comparing the two.
Click to expand...
Yeah but throw on coils, sways, poly bushings, lightweight wheels with summer tires and the Neuro tune, and then which one is best to drive?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top