[Parky14]

The Mini is showing a piss poor range at the moment due to the cold weather. I know that if I actually use the car it will do better than the shown figure, but it’s worse than I thought it would be. Still it’s more than I need.

 

[pilotwoo]

Thanks for sharing. It is important that these things are quantified for other users and potential buyers.

I hope it doesn't go too much lower for you. We haven't got to proper winter yet . Negative temperatures, increased rolling resistance from wet roads and more use of heating all take their toll. You hear of tales of EV drivers driving around with minimal heating on and steamed up windows, which can't be safe.

The good thing is, as you say, it still meets your requirements. I hope to book a full day test drive soon.

 

[Parky14]

The issue is made worse by the fact that all my recent outings have been very short, less than 2 miles so not really got the batteries warm. The car bases the estimated range on previous use, so little short journeys with heating, demisting, heated seats, lights, etc will have an impact. Plus as soon as I get in the car and set off the range will go up a bit from the figure shown. I expect I will get over 100 miles, if not 110 easy on a cold day. I don’t turn off the heating, no point having a car if it is not pleasant to be in.

 

[jeremybingham]

Ours was the same last week when it was 1-2degrees, fulyy charged yesterday it showed 96miles so nearly 10better it's saying just because it is 7-8degrees I assume because our journeys have been similar.

 

[Red Mini]

As long as it's doing what you need it to do that's good! The shortest day is a week tomorrow so we have to look on the bright side! Warmer weather is just around the corner 😀😀😀

 

[VolcanicF54]

Really appreciate such even-handed updates Parky14. They're far more credible than the more messianic EV reports I've read elsewhere.
Hope you're still enjoying your Min .

 

[Red Mini]

Parky are you not using the preconditioning then before you go out?

Geoff

 

[Parky14]

Parky are you not using the preconditioning then before you go out?

Geoff

Not sure it makes a difference to be honest. Sure it warms up the car but does it warm up the battery, I’m not convinced. When I used it I saw no difference in the range.

 

[Steve07]

M

The Mini is showing a piss poor range at the moment due to the cold weather. I know that if I actually use the car it will do better than the shown figure, but it’s worse than I thought it would be. Still it’s more than I need.

View attachment 71366

My wife has an F56 Cooper S at the moment and is being bombarded by our two local dealerships to change her car.
She really fancied the electric MINI but has turned down both dealership deals because of the awful range currently quoted.
She will probably wait til next gen model offers something approaching sensible range, say around 250 miles+
At the moment the electric MINI is too compromised and the other annoyance is having to buy them in either 1, 2 or 3 predetermined trim levels.

 

[Snufkin]

Having just taken an electric Mini for a test drive it was really impressive, as long as you ignore the sound which is reminiscent of a milk float although I expect that could become addictive in its own way. I loved the one pedal operation/regenerative braking and it really is a lovely car as long as you don’t need to do long distances but the range wouldn’t work for me. I tend to use mine for longer journeys with a sprinkling of shorter jaunts. The test car had 80% charge and showed 65 miles as the range. A brisk four miles of dual carriageway sent it down to 59 miles. If you could get a reliable 150-200 miles I could just see it working for me but at the moment I will stick with the petrol offering.

 

[Red Mini]

The Mini Electric will not suit everyone that's a fact. As a stand alone one size fits all kind of car it will not make the grade on range and space at the very least! However if it fits into your lifestyle and you can charge it at night the hot hatch levels of performance, build quality and sheer joy to drive will make it all worthwhile. That's without saying how cheap and easy it is going to be to own and run on a daily basis. I'm not saying this as an owner but someone who has only had a 24 hour test drive but can't wait to get his hands on one!

 

[jeremybingham]

Red Mini you're exactly right and why we swapped our clubby jcw for ours. It'll be the car of choice for most journeys ie work, 1mile if I don't cycle, or for swmbo 15, shopping 11each way to any where with shops, and the parents, 11and 7respectively. Swmbo has to travel further regularly for work so summer will be the r59 s and winter our Navara. Perfect. Living where we do home charging is a bonus,as nearest petrol is now 11miles too!

 

[Parky14]

I really had to rethink the range issue when I was looking at going for an EV. I am retired so the long work journeys I used to to every week perhaps clouded my thoughts initially. I also used to drive to Southampton once a year to go on a cruise, but I got a dog when I retired and decided no more cruises would be preferable. Also COVID-19 has really put me off cruising. So when I looked at my travel I worked out that 90% of my trips were all less than 25 miles round trip, with the rest being longer for days out. The 90% are easy to deal with in the Mini especially as I have a home charger that costs me 1.1p a mile. The 10% of longer trips just need a bit of planning, either to charge when I reach the destination, or plan a stop to charge on route. There is always the issue of ‘will the charger be working and available’, but if you look at other options and plan to charge when you still have say 20% range it should be OK. It is just a mindset change, be prepared and relaxed about it. I have not had range anxiety yet, even on my 106 mile round trip to Blackpool with no charges on route, I had 36 miles range left when I got home (I used Green mode). The winter range I am seeing now would make that trip impossible without a charge at the destination, but that is not an issue as there are chargers available, and I spent a few hours there so could have filled it back up. The question in the back of my mind is always “do I feel restricted by the range” and the answer is Yes and No. Yes if I think the only mode of transport is my car and No if I’m willing to be open minded. I have driven to London a few times a year for theatre visits, there and back in a day, can I do that in the Mini, yes, will I do it in the Mini, no, I will do the sensible thing, drive to Manchester and use the train. Yes I’m in the hands of other people to get me there, but I would be in the road as well, traffic jams are not in my control, or breakdowns or accidents. I can afford to use other transportation especially with the money I save on fuel, and I like the train, it is far less stressful that a 500 mile round trip drive 😀

 

[sootyvrs]

Shame that BMW/Mini decided to not give the option of a range extender like they did on the BMW i3 originally as this was a good backup option to give you that extra range if you couldn't find a charge point

 

[Red Mini]

Red Mini you're exactly right and why we swapped our clubby jcw for ours. It'll be the car of choice for most journeys ie work, 1mile if I don't cycle, or for swmbo 15, shopping 11each way to any where with shops, and the parents, 11and 7respectively. Swmbo has to travel further regularly for work so summer will be the r59 s and winter our Navara. Perfect. Living where we do home charging is a bonus,as nearest petrol is now 11miles too!

Morning Jeremy, like you we are fortunate in having a large 4 wheel drive 7 seat SAV so space and range are not a problem for us at the moment if we need it. So the Mini will fit in brilliantly with what we need it to do and will probably get the most use for the next few months.
It will be much easier to park at the shops and get some free charging too while we're at it! My problem is going to be getting a look in as SWTSMBO will be nipping out in it at every opportunity!

 

[Red Mini]

I really had to rethink the range issue when I was looking at going for an EV. I am retired so the long work journeys I used to to every week perhaps clouded my thoughts initially. I also used to drive to Southampton once a year to go on a cruise, but I got a dog when I retired and decided no more cruises would be preferable. Also COVID-19 has really put me off cruising. So when I looked at my travel I worked out that 90% of my trips were all less than 25 miles round trip, with the rest being longer for days out. The 90% are easy to deal with in the Mini especially as I have a home charger that costs me 1.1p a mile. The 10% of longer trips just need a bit of planning, either to charge when I reach the destination, or plan a stop to charge on route. There is always the issue of ‘will the charger be working and available’, but if you look at other options and plan to charge when you still have say 20% range it should be OK. It is just a mindset change, be prepared and relaxed about it. I have not had range anxiety yet, even on my 106 mile round trip to Blackpool with no charges on route, I had 36 miles range left when I got home (I used Green mode). The winter range I am seeing now would make that trip impossible without a charge at the destination, but that is not an issue as there are chargers available, and I spent a few hours there so could have filled it back up. The question in the back of my mind is always “do I feel restricted by the range” and the answer is Yes and No. Yes if I think the only mode of transport is my car and No if I’m willing to be open minded. I have driven to London a few times a year for theatre visits, there and back in a day, can I do that in the Mini, yes, will I do it in the Mini, no, I will do the sensible thing, drive to Manchester and use the train. Yes I’m in the hands of other people to get me there, but I would be in the road as well, traffic jams are not in my control, or breakdowns or accidents. I can afford to use other transportation especially with the money I save on fuel, and I like the train, it is far less stressful that a 500 mile round trip drive 😀

Morning Parky, I had exactly the same thoughts as you. I too am retired and have been thinking for some time that I would like to get a toe in the water with an electric car. I considered a plug in hybrid but decided that trying to run it on the battery as much as possible and having 300 kgs or so of engine to lug around was not ideal. The Nissan Leaf and Zoe didn't float my boat either!
When I started hearing about the Mini last March the more I read about it the more I liked it. (We always fancied having a Mini but it never quite happened). All the reports I read were harping on about range but the more I thought about it the more I realised for 90% of the time it would be quite enough. I plan to try doing some long trips in the summer just for fun. Planning routes and chargers and some overnight stops is going to be interesting and I hope quite enjoyable! I may leave my sister's in Aberdeen for a wee while though!
As you say Covid 19 has stopped lots of holidays and cruising so home grown holidays are going to be more the norm. We have been doing a few train trips this year too and really enjoying them. I can see in the future that our other car will not be getting used much and SWTSMBO will be saying why do we need it!

 

[Red Mini]

Just been passing the time and having a scan of Autotrader. One Mini Electric was showing 100% charge and 115miles range with an outside temperature of +3 degrees C. I think some range/temperature checks are required
Over to you guys!

 

[ventmore]

Isn't it going to depend on how it was driven on the last journey?

 

[Red Mini]

Shame that BMW/Mini decided to not give the option of a range extender like they did on the BMW i3 originally as this was a good backup option to give you that extra range if you couldn't find a charge point

There's hardly enough room for the batteries let alone a REX!

 

[Red Mini]

Isn't it going to depend on how it was driven on the last journey?

Are you trying to say Parky is a hooligan!