Mini Cooper EV | Better With A Battery 

Fun fact: the wheels were originally called Corona but of course they quickly changed the name after the whole virus thing

I like how EV cars almost always get silly with the wheels... these "crucifix" wheels are great. Love the long takes you do, not all chopped up editing, especially the driving sequences!

I appreciate the perspective coming from you. At the end of the day a lot of us TOUGH CAR GUYS that are lucky enough to have multiple cars in the driveway will need something to put commuter miles on, and a small 2 door electric hatchback fits the bill so well. If VW could remake the beetle into a rear drive electric car with enough range for a day trip and enough go to giggle over, then I could be the tree hugging hippie I knew I was meant to be.

You forgot to tell people to subscribe! I think it works, I saw the subs from 380k to 401k quickly after you tell people to sub.

Good callout on the point of consumables. It's often repeated by pro-ev people that EV's "don't need maintenance" which is a generally false statement. However, they do need significantly less maintenance; the best benefit being no engine oil changes, no belts, no spark plugs, and no exhaust issues. In checking the service schedule for most EV's, you still have to flush and swap the transmission fluid and battery coolant around every 100,000 miles or so. Brake wear and tear is slower, but they do still have to be serviced eventually.

Holy shit dude, are you an oldschool gamer at heart? Phantasy Star battle theme in a Mini Cooper EV review..?? Your music transitions sometimes are really oldschool games... always catches me off guard. Just another small part of what makes this my favorite automotive channel.

Great video .. lookin forward to the EV series!

I cannot wait to see your Tesla videos. I know you tend to have a more traditional enthusiast's view on cars, but your attention to detail and the technical side of things is unmatched on RU-vid! Hope we can learn a lot from those videos!

RE: brake rotor rust in the Midwest. I’ve been driving a Ford Focus Electric for the past four years in Ohio. I’ve never had an issue with the brakes because this and other EVs use the friction brakes for the last few mph before stopping. It is much smoother and prevents rolling back. This means they get used every single time you drive (even with max regeneration) and don’t have issues with sticky calipers and such that you suggested in the shop. Great review overall.

"Green"? That is PNEUMONIA VOMIT YELLOW!

Congrats on 400k subs Mark! You got here by formulating informative and humorous reviews that capture the attention of someone whether they are interested in that particular vehicle or not. I’m glad to see more EV reviews from you as both range and cost are approaching mainstream ownership so potential buyers can watch a critical review instead of a fanboy presentation.

Great review! I especially enjoyed the longer driving impressions section.

I swear I just thought about you not doing a cooper this whole time yesterday and the Geese have answered! Great vid 👌

If Volkswagen had any brains they’d make a RWD EV Beetle.

I've just watched a RU-vid video where the owner managed 170 miles out of this very model. This was in the rural back-lane's of Norfolk, England. He set regen' braking to minimum for a smoother drivetrain. The wheels are styled to echo that of a 230 volt U.K. wall-plug.

I appreciate that you were able to review this vehicle! I am considering picking one up when I have the "infrastructure" to charge and house this, and as a current Mini Coupe S owner it is nice to hear that it keeps most of its relative fun that the Minis have had.

Thanks man! Bought this car due to your video. It's been amazing!

that was terrific, more Mini reviews, please and thank you

Great review as usual Mark!

I love the Medusa theme for this, Well done as always!

Love the under the car part of this. I haven't seen that in any other youtube vids about the car. Great vid!

Nice to finally see a Mini review on the channel! This review is a lot more positive than I expected. Comments on the video: Minis are usually 2nd cars anyhow, so nothing new there. It would have been cool if you could have taken this thing into Chicago to blast through traffic. That's where these tiny cars really come to life- in the tight corners and blasting and in and out through heavy traffic.

Great review! Feels like we are at the beginning of a cool era with EVs

I’ve been waiting for you to review a MINI! :D

Very professional review. Loved the way you focused on the "feel" of the car to get a sense of what it is like to own one and use daily. The tech part was just right too.

stopped netflixing and tune in to my fav car review channel as soon as i received the notification!

Great video, as always! I recently moved to the UK, and actually visited the Mini plant over in Oxford, in February, just before everything went tits up. It was interesting because that was THE very first day they started rolling off the EV’s to send out as press cars. The folks in the shop were pretty excited.

Congrats for passing 400k Subs!

Another stellar vid from the goose. Production is always top notch. Lesser you-tubers could learn a thing or two from you. 👍 Nice work.

Seeing the NJ plates, I realized that it was you we buzzed outside Hinsdale, trying to get a good look at the paint and UK plug wheels. We were in a Fiat 500e which has quickly become my favorite car ever, outside my 78 Scirocco.

I own three Mini Coopers a 2012 Cooper S, 2013 Paceman S All4 and a 2015 Cooper convertible. When people say why my simple answer is there fun, they dont look like every CRV/Rav4 get good gas mileage yep some thing are just plain stupid but that's the character of a Mini. Will always have one in my garage, they just make you smile unlike 90% of all other vehicles. i came from an Ram 1500 and Ford F150...

Such a levelheaded perspective. 👏🏻

" to make it feel, again, more special then it is. " - Perfect. :)

Chevy Bolt driver here, the brakes are a non-issue as mentioned before, neither are fluid changes. The only scheduled maintenance from the factory is a battery heating - cooling fluid change at 120k miles, other than that its virtually maintenance-free. That said a mini cooper on the bolt platform would totally rock, biggest complaint on the Bolt are the seats, and the top speed limited to 92mph.

Looking forward to the future of improved battery technology, battery density, and revised/new car architecture for the mini! Love the car, but the range is just hard to get over especially when you get so much more in other vehicles, for similar price. Can't wait to see what the future has in store for Mini, BMW, and everyone else!

Great review and insights as always.

Crucifix Wheels - really tell ur neighbors you are holier than tho for driving an EV.

i was waiting for this. Hope it's good.

Wow man - thorough review with chill music AND you put it on a lift!? Well done. Subscribed. Put a deposit down on one couple days ago. Fingeres crossed it’s here in a few weeks.

I really hope this reflects a direction that the EV market can go. I understand the larger the car, the larger the battery, and therefore the longer the range. However, when the world becomes 100% electrified I hope to be able to drive a small, nimble EV with minimal tech, instead of a bloated beast like all the electric SUV's and trucks that manufacturers are creating these days.

Drove one last weekend at a BMW event at FedEx Field. I was there to drive the BMW 4 Series. They have the Mini SE for test drives. It was. fun freaking go kart! Great reviews as always!

For the hell of it, I want to call it mustard green. Thanks for the video and stay safe 🙏

Great review thanks

Great review as always. I wanted to buy Mini SE as I have less than 10 mile commute. Had an electrician ready to installer a home charger too. But the dealer experience was terrible. Very disappointed. So I got a Mazda MX5 instead. It is also a fun car.

Why the hell are you not at the top of car reviewers? You always have an unbiased eye to describe a car, you're videos about cars I don't care about are still good to watch. The sarcasm is subtle and funny. You don't beg people to subscribe, like and comment 28 times in every video. I'll compare to Doug: his viewers are more after the wow factor and the baseless complaining. I laugh so hard when someone argues with me about a car, and proceeds to tell me: ''Yeah I saw that on Doug's channel''. I'm not saying Doug does a bad job, frankly I like to watch him from time to time, but his viewers and the type of content he has to produce is not as polished as your content. Keep pushing Mr. Geese, people will subscribe eventually!

Those are horrendous wheels, do they assume EV buyers have lousy taste?

Amazing review as always. One quick point, the EV range in the winter is severely compromised. Up here in the north, from November to March, the range takes a hit of almost 40%. That a 44 mile hit.

Great review Sir.

I love the interior of this car, the volume and temperature color around the big classic circle is really cool.

The tunnel with the big T shaped piece is a battery too. I really don't get the hate on the range. It is a perfect second car.

Great review Mark

Great video Mr. Geese!

I really dig the wheels on this. Totally fits the character of this car imo

This car is SO cute! A lot like most minis. The range on this isn’t great but I’m sure for some folks it works best for there everyday needs. I know the future will show us improvements. I was happy to see you test drive a mini 🥰 Do you not like mini coopers and that’s why this was your first video in one? Just curious 🙂 Keep up your amazing honest reviews. 👏🏻🤍

Not going to lie, after this review I am more impressed by this little car than I thought I would be. I saw one of these in a local dealership and if you can live with the short range then this would probably be an ideal commuter car.

Those front seats look amazing!

Finally an EV, slowly but surely the transition is being made! 😁

I test drove this car a few weeks back. Very impressed with the overall design, once the real-world range can get above 150 miles I will be buying this car. I am crossing my fingers that BMW will be upgrading the batteries in the coming years. As an 8 year EV driver, this car really intrigues me all that's missing is a better range capability.

In The Straight Pipes review of the 5k Civic they had these awesome animations reminding people to subscribe that weren’t intrusive/awkward like the digital flip phone popping out of nowhere and taking up like 1/3 of the screen that would detract from listening to you. Designing a better subscribe animation + taking 10 seconds to remind people to subscribe within 1 minute of the video would be huge! Once you create the animation once you’ll be good for all your videos. I want to see this channel grow to it’s true potential b/c it’s hands down better than all those fluffy and fruity channels like Doug and even TSP to an extent.

Love the color of your video. Do you mind sharing what video camera you use? Happy Holidays

Great video !

Ordered. Mine arrives early summer.

Those wheels are in the shape of a U.K. wall socket

Great points on drivability and actual maintenance. Did I miss a mention of DC fast charging? That is something we sorely miss in our 500e in Illinois.

its super exciting seeing all these electric cars coming to market. once battery technology improves enough to where we can buy a 250 mile range ev for $25k i can easily see them becoming much more mainstream. even now, the range of this mini is perfectly fine for city and suburb use, as the vast majority of people do not drive more than 100 miles per day.

To me, the best thing about this very interesting car is that it's essentially a Mini Cooper S that happens to be electric. It doesn't have some weird or just fugly "because we could" shape, the instrumentation is a sensible blend of EV needs and traditional driver expectations, and it's a small, two-door vehicle. I've been telling my EV evangelist friends that I'd be more than happy to drive an EV if it was the type of car I wanted independent of the type of engine it had. This is getting much closer; the second gen of this should be very nice. I hope other companies do similar things with sporty-ish cars. For now, though, I'll keep my Type R. At least that's one 4 banger that I can't find much fault with.

You make everyone's 4k monitor purchase worth it. Thanks for the content as always. That Aston video was pure porn.

nice, another great video!! so... if i drive to you in my 2020 MINI JCW Countryman. would you do a video? i love my Clyde!

I like Mini and as an around town little electric car, I like it more. I hope this developed further and further. Especially as a global platform. (:

I think all the charms you find in this E Mini that make it fun to drive are present in the gas powered versions. Silent motor torque is cool but at least the regular gas minis make some of the best noises for small turbo engines. Would love to see a back to back review of the Cooper S with its 4 cylinder 2.0 versus the regular Cooper with its 3 cylinder. Both have 0.5 liters per cylinder which seems to be the sweet spot. After driving both extensively I could honestly live with either one. The 3 cylinder is very impressive and makes unique but satisfying noises. The 4 has some piped in noise but it is actually very good and realistic. As a non-Mini guy I can honestly say they are about the funnest cars to just jump in and go somewhere. Again, now that you have broken the ice with this E Mini, would love to see you check out the gas versions. I found the clubman and countryman very cool, but their extra heft is apparent. But still a hoot.

Good as ever I love seeing a fellow petrol head reviewing an EV. The only EV that's interesting me at the moment is the Honda e can you look at that next or is it not with you yet? Although the Range and the pace is a little bit short on the Mini it's so much cooler visually impact the car it actually gets people pulling out there camera phones in London.

I just picked one up and yes, the range is somewhat compromised at 110 miles but as a commuter car, the perfect answer for the ridiculous gas prices. Also at a 30k price point minus the 7500 tax credit, it's actually somewhat of a bargain all things considered. The interior is very roomy and comfortable as mentioned in the video.

That zero - sixty was awesome

Savage, one of the first videos I saw from you years ago had Phantasy Star III music. You have to do a video about your video game childhood!

0:57 Center display looks like it's gonna greet you with "Good morning, Dave." before beginning its daily routine of secretly trying to conquer the world. 1:28 I love those switches. ... Although the conventionally designed push buttons right above it kinda spoil the style consistency. 11:35 What's the point of offering modes that turn features off or cap their intensity when you can do that just by not using them or setting them to low? - Is there some kind of alternative mode that requires those caps in order to work properly?

Great content

This was a great technical review. I agree the range can be an issue but as an owner of a Tesla Model Y with 300+ range, not all cars in the “family fleet” need long range. Now I wouldn’t buy an EV SUV with range less than 300 but a town car has no need for the extra weight and charging time a higher range battery provides. I have a Mini ES on order because it is clean, a blast to drive and meets my around town need. What many reviewers fail to mention is that if you spec out the exact same car feature for feature of the ICE Mini S and the Mini ES (Level 2 trim), the ES is $2000 cheaper in the US BEFORE the $7500 Fed tax credit. At $9500 savings and no turbo lag, I’ll take the ES anytime. I can’t wait to get mine!

that thing looks so cool

The backs seats are pretty much useless. I took the back seats out of mine almost immediately to save some weight and space. I made a video on how to do it on the R56 for those who are interested. Great video as always. Longtime subscriber. 👍🏼

Really appreciated your thoughts in this one. Would love to hear them regarding the models since the 2020. Or are they still using the UKL1 platform?

People always dunk on the limited range of these compact EV's but they make perfect sense as dedicated commuter cars and grocery getters. I wouldn't be surprised if getting a smaller battery EV as second car will become more popular as it saves a lot of the costs of big-battery EV's like the Tesla's. I know a guy with a plug-in hybrid who almost exclusively daily drives it in EV mode and makes longer trips using the ICE, saving a lot of engine wear.

I know the BMW i3 is old news but would love to see a review of it (or their newer EV’s) if you can get your hands on one!

When you consider manufacturers inability to produce a problem free internal combustion engine after 100 yrs, maybe these aren't so bad

I had a 1990 Chevy Lumina with a V6 that had some of the first back disk brakes for Chevies. They rusted and froze, very expensive for new calipers. I learned to put the parking/emergency brake on hard every night to keep the back calipers moving more. Nowadays, using Fluid Film spray from a Lowes while not getting it on the disks and pads might help prevent corrosion.

I’d love to see you review an i3. They’re under $15k with a range extender which alleviates some of the issues with the Mini.

Our 2017 JCW Convertible is a beloved member of the family, the wife called it my midlife crisis car but being taken on drives is her favorite thing now. And my two kids (10 and 12) don't mind the inconvenience of squeezing past the front seats, preferring drives in this over our much larger Ascent. It's just too fun. I look forward to MINIs future, maybe one day we'll get a Gen 4 electric, with the nose sculpted back to classic Gen 1 & 2 dimensions, running on a way higher capacity battery. But, it's GOT to be a convertible again. Nothing like it.

I never regret owning a mini cooper s after 2 years now, I just regret not buying it earlier!

Having owned a very hot manual 2013 Mini JCW, I was not very interested in this particular Mini EV. After seeing your tear drive, I'm interested enough I might make the 1.5 hour drive to the dealer to check it out. I really agree with your assessment of current 4 cylinder turbo cars, they couldn't be more dual and less connected feeling to drive.

I'm genuinely interested in seeing what Mini can accomplish with a dedicated EV platform for their cars. Even with its deficiencies, this car shows they have the potential to make something very interesting even if it doesn't mesh with American tastes or priorities.

intersting vid as always

Another good video Mr. Goose. I like the consistency of production from video to video. Without the constraints of a platform designed for a transverse engine it seems BMW could easily make their Mini EV into a RWD car. With such a short wheelbase a RWD electric Mini would be an absolute hoot, though I'm not expecting BMW will do it. Maybe there will be an electric Mini GP in RWD. That would be quite something to behold.

Even though electric cars are not an option for me now, I've driven various models with car sharing - and have to say: the driving-experience is really, really good. So, when the charging-problem is solved (among the many other issues) and interesting vehicles are available at a lower price, this really is the - or at least one - way of the future.

Hoping to have mine in a few weeks.

I’ve been waiting for you to do a mini review forever and you do the electric?? WTF

Great, a Mini SE review where it was driven more than 3 miles! Yes, it sucks on paper. OMG, how can anyone use a 114mile range? Ive done 11,000 happy miles and seven very fun autocross events in the last 10 months in mine. Mostly charged at home. But the more you drive one, the more you like it. Being pennies to run instead of dollars is a nice bonus.

This is the first EV review I could find on your channel. In case I missed it, have you or do you intend to get into reviewing Teslas?

Loved your review. Living near milwaukee the huge issue is HVAC use... when its 90 and humid I want tons of freezing cold ac.. when its 20 below zero with ice and snow I want tons of heat and defrost mode and rear window defroster... since batteries dont do great in the cold.. and they use power to keep from freezing when its super cold the 100 mile range might be 40 or 50. That is not good when driving around at 10 mph is new snow either. IF ... you could easily pull the rear seats and install two more 300 pound batteries this car could be a great car for all but vacations and out of state driving. I have friends in chicago.. and going from milwaukee to chicago with no recharge. And maybe creeping along an extra hour in slow construction traffic plus enough spare power when I get home so that I am not panicked is the absolute bottom amount of battery power I could deal with in a car. Dropping a friend from occonomowoc to the chicago airport is a typical chore for me. I want to drive at 75 to 80 mph as well.. that 250 mile range plus reserve and driving fully loaded at 75 mph. I dont even have to think about range in any of my cars now. I can drive from milwaukee to Minneapolis and back with maybe one quick fuel stop now with a gas car. So great review. I have found mini has a ton of expensive maintainance needed on gas cars.. they are fairly awful in reliability. So i hope the electric car is more so.

I'm hopeful to see how they can improve on this model.

The colour is Energetic Yellow, not green. It is an LED display not LCD. The wheel design is from the UK 3 pin plug, not a crucifix. 181hp not nearly 200hp. 75 miles range? It is 145 range in UK, and I get nearly that on mine. Why use a slow wall charger, it can charge in 3.5 hours from a home charger, or in 35 mins on rapid charger. It is not an experiment, it is designed to be economical to make by going down the exact same production line as the ICE cars. The range is fine for most people, if you need more range then don’t buy the Mini, it is NOT designed to be for everyone. Don’t lift the pedal off fully and you will coast. I love my Mini Electric, it is great and so cheap to run. It is not compromised, just rapid charge on your journey, you usually stop for a coffee or pee. The battery size is important because... it keeps the cost down, it keeps the weight down, it charges quickly to full.

Aggressive regen acting as full-on brakes has been around for 6 years now. BMW pioneered it with their first EV. I have it for the leaf 2.0 and it is perfect for rush hour traffic. One pedal driving is a must for EVs going forward.