Used: Battery Degradation & Range

[voltron]

I am considering buying a used Mini Cooper SE, but am having second thoughts due to the already short range being materially reduced by battery degradation. I looked at a 2022 with 40K miles on it, and at an ambient temp of 55° F, charged at 50% (exactly), it showed a range of 45 miles. That means a 90 mile range fully charged, which would indicate ~20% battery degradation in slightly over 4 years in service.

Of course, it's not as simple as looking at the charge percentage and range, but it should be in the right ballpark, so the magnitude of this discrepancy raises serious questions.

My question: for those of you with Mini SEs, what range would you expect to see on your car in ambient temperatures of 55 - 60° F? How much battery degradation have you seen in your cars?

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Ignore the estimated range. It is meaningless in this context (and barely meaningful ever).

I spent a fair bit of time on forums such as this one. I have yet to see anyone report any detectable decrease in range, even after more than 100,000 miles and frequent DCFCing.

Anyway, to directly answer your questions:

1) about 150 (actual, not what the GOM reads - I basically never look at it); and

2) None. In fact, I am getting slightly better range now than the first two years I owned my SE, presumably because I changed the route I take to work, replacing 6 miles of interstate with 5 miles of 30-50 mph state highway.

 

[smiler]

I purchased an OBD2 bluetooth dongle and the "EVScanner" iPhone app to run battery diagnostices before I purchased a 2022 SE earlier this year. I was concerned about battery health and the app helped me to feel more confident making the purchase.

The onboard range estimate ("Guess-o-meter") seems to be very conservative. Our weather has started to turn colder with lows in the 30's. On a recent charge the car reported that it would be able to go 87 mles on a full charge. I ended up going 70 miles on 69% of that charge with all-weather tires and running the heater. I probably would have gotten 100 miles out of the full charge despite the 87 mile estimate. Warmer weather and summer tires would improve that range.

My understanding is that the SE battery is over-provisioned at the factory. (There is more capacity provided than reported.) That conservative design should help with the long-term health of the battery and minimize degredation.

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy your research and hopefully your new SE.

 

[MichaelC]

Echoing what the above comments that the SE's GOM is notoriously pessimistic and cannot be used to gauge actual battery health. Browse through the Anyone keeping track of the battery's soh thread for an extensive discussion with several real-world reports.
At 4 years of ownership and over 21k miles, my 2021 SE reported a 4% battery degradation via Bluetooth OBDII dongle with no detectable reduction in range. If I recall correctly, it hit 4% degradation by year 3 and basically stayed there. Mostly short commutes in town with a few long road trips.