Mini Cooper SE battery pack inside

  • Thread starter Thread starter M.Tray
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Would love to know, as our cars age a bit more, if we’ll see a surge of both MINI dealer and third party options for battery pack replacements (maybe within the next 5+ years?). As of my last research (I can’t recall where), I think the replacement cost was around $12,000 US. I would imagine that HAS to come down.


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MandB said:
Would love to know, as our cars age a bit more, if we’ll see a surge of both MINI dealer and third party options for battery pack replacements (maybe within the next 5+ years?). As of my last research (I can’t recall where), I think the replacement cost was around $12,000 US. I would imagine that HAS to come down.


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The problem is the small number of MINI Cooper SEs on the road compared to Teslas, Leafs, Bolts, etc. The SE's T-shaped battery pack isn't like most EVs' battery slab under the floor, so engineering a replacement would be more than simply adapting a common form factor for different slab-battery EVs.

By the time our batteries need replacement, how many SE owners will be willing to pay thousands (even $6 thousands?) to keep their 114-mile range EV (worth perhaps $10K with a new battery by then) on the road when modern EVs are all going 250-500 miles on a charge?

My dream: a third-party replacement-battery company, owned by a MINI Cooper SE fanatic, offers solid-state replacement batteries for the SE at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, most companies rightfully seek to maximize profits, and keeping a few MINI Cooper SEs on the road wouldn't be part of that plan.

I believe the best we can hope for is small hybrid/BEV battery-refurbishing companies such as Bumblebee Batteries in Gresham, OR, will recognize the MINI Cooper SE as an opportunity that fits their business model. I put a Bumblebee battery in my 2006 Honda Insight hybrid, but it weighed only 70 lbs, so I was able do it by myself, without needing a hydraulic lift to move it into place.
 
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What may well be possible, is loading up an empty Mini battery case with modules from another vehicle them making the BMS play ball. That may well help with the battery cooling, too.
I'd love to know the dimensions of those modules. I suspect about 4"x6"x12". A bit short compared to most modules.
 
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