MINI Cooper SE / Electric: Why It’s Actually an AMAZING WINTER EV 

Biggest range loss comes from lower battery voltage and increased internal resistance due to being cold (=slower chemical processes), mostly not heat pump unless you set it to 28 deg C. Don't torture yourself. Green mode also helps.

Thanks, that checks out, a garage to keep the mass of the battery warmer would probably do some good on the frigid morning drive. Im assuming green mode would simply keep the heat pump in its lowest mode? And, a question in case you happen to know, is there an unconditioned air setting (other than opening a window)? It seems like it must always be conditioning either warmer or cooler and i like a little fresh air but dont want to always use the heat pump.. just curious

@@Arrlidge no problem. You can also precondition the car. Mini Connected app should also be able to control that remotely (app not available where I live so I’m not sure). You can also preset that from My Mini menu. I think best use is preconditioning with your car plugged-in in your garage. For unconditioned air you can either use Green+ mode or alternatively, especially if you don’t like slow responding pedal in that mode you can set lowest possible temp 16C. If outside air is above that system will disable heating function. Is heating function of front seats available in your car? They say it’s much more efficient than air-conditioning. They’re very effective

I am afraid this is about as "cold" as it gets in England, so can't do a colder test. 😶

I bought 9" x 11" magnetic sheet material to stick over the charging port overnight when its freezing rain or similar. After i broke the latch prying it open :)

Interesting. Some manufacturers (like Tesla) started equipping their EVs with heated charge ports now to get around the problem!

It drives like a regular MINI - firm and sporty but not unbearable in my opinion. If you don’t like the ride of your petrol one, I don’t think this would be much different. (More videos on it coming soon.) Maybe consider the BMW i3?

@@MartinKarel Thanks for getting back to me. I look forward to your upcoming videos. I have subscribed to you aswell 👍Not really a fan of the i3. My neighbours have one. They are happy with it, but the narrow tyres don't do it for me. When the next version of the mini comes out, the current one will probably come down in price a bit more. We will see. Some other reviews have mentioned the ride height is higher on the electric mini, to protect the battery pack. Its disguised by extending the plastic wheel arches. Keep up the good work 👏

Thanks. Yes! It's clear they are all very new to the EV stuff but glad to see they went into it with an open mind and love the i3s.

The range definitely limits who the MINI Electric is suitable for, but I have to rely exclusively on public chargers as well and so far it has actually been much less problematic than initially expected. (I do very low mileage though.)

@@MartinKarel yeah, I wish I had waited a while buying it, since today we have the generation 2 of the Mini Cooper with 54kWh battery (mine was the 32kWh), so I think that one had worked much better. The new one has also a stronger motor. Not sure about battery preheater, but I think it has.

It's an app called the mi3 - originally designed for the BMW i3 but because the MINI basically shares the same comms / sub-systems, it works without any hiccups. The temperature also depends on battery chemistry. But Tesla is the one brand I would trust with batteries. Yes, they push them right to the limit, but that's because they have so much experience that they know where the limit actually is.

@@MartinKarel Mi3 app not available in Canada...do you know if it's provided under a different name on the App Store in other countries?

Wait, are you Estonian ?

Thanks! I am Slovak, so a very close guess with the Czech.

This was as close to it as possible. The Fastned chargers are the closest / most convenient rapid chargers I have to my flat.

Their owners hadn’t preconditioned the battery before charging.

@@CastleKnight7 Many of them simply ran out of charge waiting for the charger. It's a problem for Apt dwellers living in a city with no option to charge overnight and having to park outside. My Chevy Bolt definitely does better parked in our heated garage than sitting outside in 10F.

That's the Gen 1 Cooper SE.

This is the "previous generation" 2021 vehicle - codenamed F56. The 2024 model year car is built on a completely different bespoke EV platform in China and carries the J01 designation.

Yes, but don’t quite understand the question. Like in a car with a combustion engine, those controls only affect the cabin heating / cooling. The battery thermal management is completely independent and works automatically in the background, regardless of the cabin preferences.

Assuming the controls are the same here as the i3 [the screen UI is the same function for the aux heating] then the 'round knobs' or in fact the climate buttons only fire up the fans if the car has been turned off and plugged in. You have to drill down a couple of layers to turn on the heating - the trick is to catch the 'goodbye screen' where you can activate the heating with a twist and OK but you have to be quick about it.

Ehm. Exactly. But starting at 3 ºC and reaching a peak charge rating of ~ 1.4 C in a matter of minutes without any battery pre-heating is impressive (especially considering that the MINI uses technology at least one or two generations behind the latest and greatest). You can look at Teslas with LFP packs to see the opposite end of the spectrum.

@@MartinKarel yeh but the thing is that's not ideal thermal management, other EVs coldgate when under roughly 14°c because they want to prolong the life of the battery. Cramming electrons in at 1.4c at low temperatures causes unnecessary battery degradation. Not a feature - a design flaw.

@@SustainableGal The Mini SE has a CATL battery compared to the older Samsung product on the i3. I'd guess CATL as a leading battery manufacturer knows how to program their BMS to optimal performance, they don't want to screw their customers (BMW) and more importantly, their potential customers worldwide.

@@pqvid fair point, is the BMS made & programmed by CATL thou? Be interesting to know, coz usually its the electrical drive system designers that decide how it would be programmed. Great to know it's CATL cells thou, at least they'll put up with any abuse (if the BMS was programmed by BMW which I'm guessing it was)

What do you mean? Your electricity prices are among the lowest in Europe, currently I see 0.32-0.35€ for DC quick charging at superchargers. The chargers are plentiful and well-maintaned. I always show NL as an example of how it should be done. At the same time, gas is around 2.00€ - so to match this Mini SE costs (16kWh/100km, at 0.35€) you would need to be at around 2.8L/100km. I guess you would consistently run twice, if not 3 times, the cost of the electric Mini in a gas equivalent.

@@pqvid If you think the Netherlands is best/cheapest for EV, the rest of the world has to be an absolute hell for EV driving.

😐

@@MartinKarel i think my comment deserves a heart ❤️

​@@nikschaI think we deserve an explanation... 🫤

@@martinallenuk it's an insider joke 😉

"Ever" - more than anything you seem to be very open minded. 🙃

Try one and you will not go back to an ice !

Its ok to not want an ev, dont let the internet shame you. The throttle response is surprisingly super fun but definitely doesnt have the horsepower of a boosted ice