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.

 

[CooperCooperCooper]

I'd definitely take an upgrade of charging capacity over a larger (heavier) battery. I drive my SE for longer trips every other month, and in my view the frequency of stops is less of an issue than the time it takes at each charge.

 

[Puppethead]

Since there's nothing on the (US) market that compares to the SE, I'd gladly pay $10,000 for a new battery pack if it gave me 100 more miles range and didn't increase the weight. Much cheaper than a new car, which wouldn't have the same handling performance. I would even be happy to stick with the 50 kW max DC charge rate.

 

[CooperCooperCooper]

Since there's nothing on the (US) market that compares to the SE, I'd gladly pay $10,000 for a new battery pack if it gave me 100 more miles range and didn't increase the weight. Much cheaper than a new car, which wouldn't have the same handling performance. I would even be happy to stick with the 50 kW max DC charge

Or if it could an be done at even lower weight - bringing us down to the weight of a non-ev cooper would be a fun upgrade!

 

[Zim]

22 SE with 65k miles on 16 inch wheels:

We have two sets of 16s: Summer OE Hankooks and recently added Continental DWS+ for our Pacific Northwest winters. The Hankooks consistently return 130 to 140 miles per charge with temperatures above 70F, mostly city and back country roads. The Continental set takes a hit at around 100 miles, in the rain, with mild winter temperatures. The DWS set is a fresh addition, so I suspect efficiency to improve with tire wear.

The SE purchase was intentional, even with longer range EVs on the market. While we do have a VW Id4 with longer range, we frequently take the SE on 140 -150 day trips and the more frequent 80 mile errand runs.

Haven't noticed any battery degradation with daily use, but the ABRP route planning app is reporting 6% to 7% through the OBD vehicle dongle, FWIW.