In the summer, my GOM often displays 110-112 miles even with my spirited driving style. I have 20 years of hypermiling experience with my two gen-1 Honda Insights (achieved 85 mpg on one tankful), but my right ankle has had enough of that and cannot refrain from frequent flexing when I'm driving our SE. At this time of year, 100 miles of GOM is more typical.
However, it makes more sense to focus on the battery-charge percentage than the GOM. The GOM is inaccurate on purpose as it tries to protect you from running out of juice rather than make you feel good with a bigger--perhaps more accurate--number. Have you set your instrument panel to display the battery charge percentage (in tiny numbers)? I hate the ultra-low resolution 8-segment battery-charge display--it should have 10 segments at a minimum--20 would be better.
e. The MINI Cooper SE is an electric car?
Evidently, the 7 miles the fun-loving crew of the carrier ship drove your SE around on the deck were hard miles.
My GOM showed 130 miles when I picked it up, but I didn’t photograph it.
I had a very disappointing run in the Mini today. We went to Murrayfield in Edinburgh as we go to all of the home Scotland rugby games, so I wanted to see if the Mini could get us there and back on a single charge. I didn’t see too much of a problem since the entire trip is just over 78 miles.
I charged the car ready for my planned departure time (set in the car as my app still won’t allow me access to the charge and climate timer) and preconditioned the cabin, so we left home with 100% SOC. It was raining steadily and was quite blustery, but it was reasonably mild at 9 degrees C (nearly 50F). I drove in green mode from the off, and consciously never accelerated above 50% power. As the vast majority of the trip is motorway, I set cruise control at 70mph and never strayed above it. The AC was on and set to 20C in the cabin. We didn’t use the seat or steering wheel heater. I used exactly the same route in both directions, so the only real variable was the wind. I was able to get to Murrayfield and back; only just. I arrived home with 4% SOC left, and warning messages telling me I had less than 2 miles range. My entire trip was 78.4 miles. The trip computer said I had consumed 2.8 miles/kWh. That is appalling given the way I was driving. If I’d been hooning it, drag racing from every standstill and cruising at 80 then I could understand it but it was the dullest drive possible and I still only just made it. The analysis tool with the fish bowl gave me 5 stars for acceleration and anticipation, so I don’t know what else I could have done. I arrived at the stadium with 58% left, so I used 42% on the way there and 54% on the way home. I didn’t feel any tailwind on the outward leg, but I did feel gusts of wind on the return leg. Nothing strong enough to significantly bend trees, but it was definitely noticeable. I am now wondering if there’s something wrong with the car. I’ve ignored the pessimistic GOM knowing that most people on this forum say they can get 100 miles range in winter and I was OK with that, but it’s not even particularly cold and I couldn’t even get 80 miles in the car despite driving it like it was made of glass.
Does the range improve after a few charging cycles? I have only done 170 miles in the car with two charges, so maybe it’ll improve? Failing that I’m stumped at how so many say they can get 110 - 120 miles driving around in sport mode. For info I don’t have roof rails, the only external add-ons are the genuine mud flaps front and rear and they’re so small I can’t believe they create enough drag to drop the range that much. I have the standard fit Hankook tyres on the car too, all set to the correct pressure. I’m feeling quite disappointed tonight.
Rain, in addition to wind, warming the cabin, and lower ambient temperatures, reduces range, too. The most disappointing aspect of your trip was that you kept the fish happy. When the fish is happy the driver's not having any fun.It was raining steadily
Does the range improve after a few charging cycles?
I’m curious about this too. I saw some folks in the Toyota Rav 4 Prime section say that if you drive conservatively, the EV range will slowly increase over time. Never heard that on the MINI forum section though
The most disappointing aspect of your trip was that you kept the fish happy. When the fish is happy the driver's not having any fun.
Mine reads only 80-100 miles at 100%.
It does not seem to reflect reality in any consistent manner, so I ignore it completely. The battery % (via the button on the turn signal stock) is all I pay attention to.
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That’s true because I had no fun at all yesterday. Damn that fish!
That’s exactly what I did. I wasn’t complaining about what the GOM forecast, I’m disappointed that after 78 miles driving like a very conservative nun I had 4% battery remaining.
I have no intention of driving the car for economy, but I do want it to be able to do a trip of 78 miles from time to time without having to stop and charge or bore myself to death on the road. I ride sports motorbikes and drive like a sportbike riding motorcyclist which was one of the attractions of the Mini as it allowed me to dart into gaps, go into bends at speed without worrying about ending up in a hedge, but it absolutely should be capable of doing it according to pretty much everyone on this and other forums, mine just doesn’t seem to at the moment. I’ll keep at it and will try another trip. I do love the car, it was just a disappointing first “long” trip. Hopefully there will be better days in the car ahead.
That’s very helpful info — encouraging, too, especially how efficiency for the first leg of Speedy’s trip really wasn’t bad considering the conditions.I've also had one trip so far with a horrible efficiency of 2.7 mi/kWh (78mi range) and it was pretty similar conditions to what you experienced (cold, windy, and a bit rainy).
The wind is the real efficiency killer, even if it's just gusty. I've had plenty of trips that were just cold and rainy that ended with much better efficiency.
On the way there you got 3.2 mi/kWh which is close to normal for 70mph in the rain. That would be a range of 92mi.
Because EVs are so efficient, the small losses that would be negligible in an ICE car become significant. A fact that really puts that into context is the amount of gas equivalent to the SEs battery. At 100% charge, you are really only driving around with 0.87gal of gas in your "tank"!
Did anyone take a picture of their instrument panel when their SE was brand new, after their dealer charged it to 100%, but before driving off the dealer’s lot and putting any miles on it? Or maybe a brand-new owner could try to remember to take such a shot upon delivery, ideally cycling through the different driving modes to see what they say?