Is the MINI Cooper SE still the perfect “city EV” in 2026?

[insightman]

On a side note, if solid state batteries, which should have a much higher charge density ever hit the market, would anyone make a retrofit pack for our SEs? Something giving us say 45-50kW. Would you retrofit one if the price was reasonable and what would you consider reasonable?

I'd be willing to pay $4,000 for a 32.6 kWh, solid-state battery if it would make my SE 400 pounds lighter, but I wouldn't pay much to lose just 100 pounds. How much would you be willing to pay for the installation of a 50 kWh battery that extends your SE's range to 160 miles per charge, but doesn't save any weight?

Imagine you were starting a company to make solid-state replacement batteries. Which EV would you choose to first showcase your company's products? These would be some of the factors to consider:
1. Can the owners of the chosen EV afford your expensive solid-state replacement battery?
2. Would your solid-state battery make a big enough difference that the owners of the EV would consider the price reasonable?
3. Are there enough of those enthusiastic owners to justify the hardware and software R&D costs?
4. Would the customers be testamonial fanatics, raving about the benefits of your solid-state battery?

I'd say F56 MINI Cooper SE owners could satisfy #2 and #4, but perhaps not #1 and #3. When the batteries get smaller, it's more likely there will be complete EV motor+battery retrofits for the large numbers of Miatas, Porsches, and Corvettes on the road.

 

[PoweredUp]

It would be nice to have the option, but I suspect "they" would like to sell you a new car instead. If such a change were ever to be offered, I suspect it would be from the after-market.

 

[MacMini34]

I'd consider a solid state upgrade to 50kW if the weight didn't increase, it was no more than $6000, and it would be nice to see L3 charging get to 100kW.
MINI sold a decent number of SEs from '20 to '24

 

[CuriousGeorge]

I'd consider a solid state upgrade to 50kW if the weight didn't increase, it was no more than $6000, and it would be nice to see L3 charging get to 100kW.
MINI sold a decent number of SEs from '20 to '24

That brings up an interesting question - actually a couple of them:

1) is the onboard charger built into the battery pack?

and/or

2) would other hardware/software need to be changed to handle faster charging?

If the charger can't be upgraded then a larger battery pack alone (regardless of the weight) wouldn't be all that helpful in terms of turning the F56 SE into a long-distance traveler.

For example, the Chevy Bolt has a battery pack more than twice the size of our cars, but in a race across the country that would only help during the first leg. After that, average speed of both the Bolt and the SE are going to be essentially the same, limited by how quickly you can recharge.