Midnight Black was one of the colours I considered when ordering my car. I ultimately decided against it but I think it goes nicely with the energetic yellow accents. The powerspoke wheels, however, aren’t my thing. When I first saw photos of these wheels I wasn’t impressed but I was willing to keep an open mind until I could see them in person. Now that I have, my initial opinion hasn’t changed. The asymmetrical look just doesn’t do it for me and I’m glad the car I ordered has the 17” Tentacle Spoke wheels.
As owners of black cars can no doubt attest, while stunning when clean, black really shows dirt, even after only a couple of days of driving.
Note that this is my first time driving an EV and, indeed, my first time driving a Mini. I’ve organised my impressions using different sub-headings below:
Driving Feel and Experience:
- The car feels solidly built and has a high-quality, sturdy feel. Steering and suspension are also reassuringly firm. Others have described this as "sporty" and I agree with that.
- The most fun I had driving the SE? Switching to Sport Mode and hitting the pedal on highway on-ramps. Looking in the rearview mirror you see the cars behind you disappearing. Just make sure you use both hands! Torque steer is a thing. So much fun and I’m smiling just thinking about it.
- The SE corners like a demon. Another highlight of the test drive.
- Although I enjoyed using Sports Mode on the highway stretches, most of the time, Green Mode is more than adequate for city driving. Once my car arrives, I might think about using Bimmercode to see if Green Mode can be selected as default as I did most of my driving in that mode.
- It only takes a little while to become accustomed to regenerative braking and, once you do, one pedal driving in the city is a pleasure and reduces the stress of urban driving.
- I also really liked the anti-roll lock that engages when you come to a stop on a hill. Coupled with the regenerative braking, this gives you another reason to not use the regular brakes.
- I can’t really comment on efficiency as it took me a little while to figure out how to access the trip computer and I was more focused on exploring the car rather than providing an accurate test of battery and range. As such, I was frequently using the AC, the HK stereo system and other features without worrying about battery usage. To properly test efficiency and range I would have had to control driving conditions and that wasn’t how I wanted to spend my limited time with the car.
- The indicator lights (turn signal lights) have two modes: slight tap for lane change (set to 3 “clicks” in my car) and the regular indicator lights which continue until you turn or tap the indicator back to its starting position. At the end of two days driving I still hadn’t mastered the two different modes but liked the system.
- Auto LED headlights are great and very convenient. I also really liked the ring indicator lights / signal lights surrounding the headlights which flash when turning. I can't recall seeing this on any other car.
