Next-gen Mini Cooper SE caught undisguised

My understanding is the Apple API relies on the manufacturer's app to provide the EV data, so that leaves manufacturers the ability to maintain proprietary communications with the EV.

Assuming Apple Maps is using a sandbox-compliant inter-app communication scheme within the phone (instead of using the manufacturer's cloud API), how would the manufacturer's app on the phone get data from the car? From their cloud solution. Either way, that would require the car to regularly communicate status to the cloud while driving, which the SE does not.
 
I just had the privilege to see the new 2024 mini at a "closed room" event organized by Mini.
don't ask for photo as they put your phone in a locker and search you before letting you in the room...
It was the model we saw previously white roof and blue body.

- The hood seemed shorter than the current MINIs
- there won't be any openable sunroof. Just a transparent roof.
- Standard wheels were 18"
- no more rod on the roof, just a little bump
- no more chrome anywhere (logo, handles, etc.)
- Still no frunk. And boot is still the same size
- New driving aids like dead spot detector lights in the side mirrors, dynamic speed regulator
- Front and rear camera, with 360 view
- Smaller and not completely round steering wheel
- Electric seats with memory.
- Induction charger is now below the screen and large enough for larger phones.
- Amazing round OLED screen, very fluid, with a new OS, multitouch screen. Maps were very very fluid and much more nice than current ones
- No more screen behind the wheel, only HUD will remain. they don't know if it will be optional or available on all models.
- Not much physical buttons under the screen. just start stop, gear button (Drive, Park, Rear) no more gear lever, Warning blinkers and few stuff .
- Apple car key compatibility. Physical key knobs (remote) are awful I hope they were unfinished prototypes
- Possiblity to configure visual signature of front and rear lights. (3 styles)
- 7 driving modes totally configurable.
- larger battery model will be 54kWh / 410 km range / DC charging at 100kW top.
- max speed 180km/h with 218hp

Official prices and availability should be confirmed around September.
Can't wait.

Not sure if this has already been asked or if you mentioned this in another reply and I just missed it... but what did you think about the design in-person compared to the photos that were shared online?
 
how would the manufacturer's app on the phone get data from the car
There are many more ways to do it, since the iPhone is talking to the car directly via bluetooth and wifi. It's just a matter of MINI having the will to implement the necessary changes. Heck, I'm tempted to write my own using an ODB II bluetooth interface...
 
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The Zhangjiagang SE has some very big shoes to fill. Great Wall Motor's Ora Good Cat weighs more than 3,300 lbs--I'll be surprised if MINI can build a 200-mile SE that weighs much less than the Cat.
They really aren’t the same cars. Some of the running gear will be the same but that’s where it ends. I had a good look around a Funky Cat and it’s okay. Feels cheap and the wind could dent it but all the infotainment stuff is very Chinese and Google translated for the European market. MG 4 would be my pick
 
One benefit to a fixed glass roof: us tall folks won't have that sunroof motor bulge bonking us in the head.
It's the rails at the side that are the problem.
A glass roof is a dealbreaker for me.

1. Loses headroom
2. I live in NC. Glass roofed cars make excellent solar ovens.
 
You lose headroom with a sliding sunroof, you gain headroom with a fixed glass roof.
The ones I've seen have extra reinforcement at the join. I find the side sunflap annoying on my steel roof SE when I have a helmet on...
Incidentally, what is the trick to getting the plastic covers off the sunflap screws without trashing them?
 
I live in TX. Glass roofed cars are excellent hail magnets. Today's forecast from the National Weather Service was for giant sized hail. (Eg, greater than 4.5".)
The cost of replacement after a hailstorm was my first consideration when InsideEVs described the 2025 VW ID.7's polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panoramic sunroof that will electrically switch between opaque or transparent.
 
The ones I've seen have extra reinforcement at the join. I find the side sunflap annoying on my steel roof SE when I have a helmet on...
Incidentally, what is the trick to getting the plastic covers off the sunflap screws without trashing them?
I added a passenger side flap to mine a while back (posted a pic in one of these threads). I think I used a plastic pry tool and popped off the caps. There are 2 bolts underneath.
 
Keep a hail protector in your trunk and use the 12V socket to power the fan.
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Great idea. My first question was how big is the box you have to cart around? It took a long time to find a photo of the box in one of the videos on the hailprotector.com website. It's a lot bigger than a folded thick car cover, and a thick car cover is quicker to put on and doesn't require power. The price of $429 is cheaper than repairing hail damage, but it would work only at home for me because of the size of the box.

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Great idea. My first question was how big is the box you have to cart around? It took a long time to find a photo of the box in one of the videos on the hailprotector.com website. It's a lot bigger than a folded thick car cover, and a thick car cover is quicker to put on and doesn't require power. The price of $429 is cheaper than repairing hail damage, but it would work only at home for me because of the size of the box.

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If you pack it in, it's probably the size of a down filled sleeping bag (this one is the medium SUV size from a screen capture).
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Alternatively you could just get a Car Dok for your home.

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I'd think today's roof glass is more hail-resistant than metal which can be fairly easily dented. Of course giant hail is going to destroy everything.
 
So, the US is not receiving the updated MINI SE until MY25. I have my name in for a Countryman SE which will be available about the same time.
 
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