Mini range - is it really this bad?
Discussion
Harleyboy said:
I don’t know how you folks are getting well over 100 miles ... I used it for an 80 mile trip the other day and on the way back (after a charge) if indicated 115 miles but that was driving at 68 in green mode with no A/C.
Maybe people who are driving at 50 or 55mph rather than nearly 70. I think I see about 3 miles / kWh at 70, but 4 at 50, which in a Mini would make the difference to hitting the century.Yeah, I get that speed makes a difference and this is where I struggle a little with EV’s. Having to adjust driving style and suffer some occasional discomfort takes some getting used to. Colleagues are forever moaning that they have to drive slower than they would in an ICE car and often with no air con just to make it to destination. However,
They are enjoying 2% BIK so I don’t feel too sorry for them.
The MINI isn’t built for distance and the new one looks like it has far more sensible range. It’s efficient (ours is 4.1m/kw over the 5000 miles we’ve had it) but the battery isn’t much bigger than the one in my Volvo PHEV
They are enjoying 2% BIK so I don’t feel too sorry for them.
The MINI isn’t built for distance and the new one looks like it has far more sensible range. It’s efficient (ours is 4.1m/kw over the 5000 miles we’ve had it) but the battery isn’t much bigger than the one in my Volvo PHEV
samoht said:
Harleyboy said:
I don’t know how you folks are getting well over 100 miles ... I used it for an 80 mile trip the other day and on the way back (after a charge) if indicated 115 miles but that was driving at 68 in green mode with no A/C.
Maybe people who are driving at 50 or 55mph rather than nearly 70. I think I see about 3 miles / kWh at 70, but 4 at 50, which in a Mini would make the difference to hitting the century.Rattle down the motorway at 86mph then you'll see the range drop a lot, more like 3 to 3.5 miles/kW. But keeping to the speed limits will see decent numbers. This is after nearly 2 years in one.
Ankh87 said:
The thing is that when you use extra things and drive at higher speeds, then all EVs ranges go down. You are best looking at one that has a longer range. The Mini is a city car, not a mile muncher. So unless you are doing city driving and few miles it isn't the car for you.
Yes it is stupid that the range can drop so much due to speed and use of equipment. Same sort of applies with ICE but not as drastic. So keep hold of your money and just wait for prices to drop with other EVs if you really want one.
Not all EVs are equal at higher speeds. Some are far more efficient at 70mph than others. It's not just about quoted range but about the actual efficiency at motorway speeds that counts, for many. Yes it is stupid that the range can drop so much due to speed and use of equipment. Same sort of applies with ICE but not as drastic. So keep hold of your money and just wait for prices to drop with other EVs if you really want one.
Harleyboy said:
The MINI isn’t built for distance and the new one looks like it has far more sensible range. It’s efficient (ours is 4.1m/kw over the 5000 miles we’ve had it) but the battery isn’t much bigger than the one in my Volvo PHEV
If you get 4.1 m/kWh, then if you drive it from fully charged to flat, that's 28.9 kWh useable in the battery, multiplied by 4.1 gives 118 miles, so there's your 100+ mile range surely? Or am I missing something?Shabaza said:
Left field here
But a Hyundai kona is narrower and only 15cm longer.
It's cheaper and can do 250+ mile range
Yeah, I had a Kona and was very happy with it. The 64kWh model has more than enough range (300 miles summer, 250 winter) for most journeys. Also Kia eNiro which has a 7 year warranty.But a Hyundai kona is narrower and only 15cm longer.
It's cheaper and can do 250+ mile range
My wife has been driving one since last summer when she passed her test. It's been an ideal first car for her. It's covered 21k since then so is used fairly intensively for daily running-around, not necessarily short journeys but predictable.
I've learned you can trust the guess-ometer as I've had it down to the last 1 mile before and never ran it out.
Our daily driving requirements are quite mad with kids in schools 15 miles away in opposite directions, plus a teenager who goes to work 15 miles away in another direction, we are regularly doing 90-130 miles per day and the mini is used for the bulk of it.
On some days we pop it back on charge during the day, even just for an hour (11kW) to boost it. Obviously we do the bulk of the charging at night when it's cheap.
It's certainly compromised but if you can work around its range it's a great little car. 100 miles a day for about £2 is hard to argue with.
Ours now needs replacing not because of its range but because we've just had a baby. The car has been used for a toddler all this time but a rear-facing baby seat is absolutely not going to work so we'll get something bigger (I have an iX but it's a big jump in size for a relatively new driver)
I'm going to keep hold of the Mini because my stepdaughter has just got her provisional and it would serve her very well.
With this thread in mind I made observations on my last few trips in it (this week) and on the 26 mile drive to drop my daughter at work, it did 3.9 miles per kWh which was mostly NSL A-road with one or two overtakes, at between 5.5-6.5C with the climate set to 20C and the drivers seat heated on the minimal setting. That trip involved an elevation drop of 250M which was then climbed again on the return i.e. round trip with no net elevation change, but I wasn't exactly driving across the Fens either.
I've learned you can trust the guess-ometer as I've had it down to the last 1 mile before and never ran it out.
Our daily driving requirements are quite mad with kids in schools 15 miles away in opposite directions, plus a teenager who goes to work 15 miles away in another direction, we are regularly doing 90-130 miles per day and the mini is used for the bulk of it.
On some days we pop it back on charge during the day, even just for an hour (11kW) to boost it. Obviously we do the bulk of the charging at night when it's cheap.
It's certainly compromised but if you can work around its range it's a great little car. 100 miles a day for about £2 is hard to argue with.
Ours now needs replacing not because of its range but because we've just had a baby. The car has been used for a toddler all this time but a rear-facing baby seat is absolutely not going to work so we'll get something bigger (I have an iX but it's a big jump in size for a relatively new driver)
I'm going to keep hold of the Mini because my stepdaughter has just got her provisional and it would serve her very well.
With this thread in mind I made observations on my last few trips in it (this week) and on the 26 mile drive to drop my daughter at work, it did 3.9 miles per kWh which was mostly NSL A-road with one or two overtakes, at between 5.5-6.5C with the climate set to 20C and the drivers seat heated on the minimal setting. That trip involved an elevation drop of 250M which was then climbed again on the return i.e. round trip with no net elevation change, but I wasn't exactly driving across the Fens either.
Edited by theboss on Thursday 23 November 10:03
samoht said:
If you get 4.1 m/kWh, then if you drive it from fully charged to flat, that's 28.9 kWh useable in the battery, multiplied by 4.1 gives 118 miles, so there's your 100+ mile range surely? Or am I missing something?
No, you’re not. The car has shown us a range of over 100 miles once or twice. So, either the efficiency isn’t correct or the range. I’m not losing any sleep over it though and we do enjoy the car and luckily we have other cars that can be used (although getting into my daughters Polo requires an up to date tetanus jab)Harleyboy said:
samoht said:
If you get 4.1 m/kWh, then if you drive it from fully charged to flat, that's 28.9 kWh useable in the battery, multiplied by 4.1 gives 118 miles, so there's your 100+ mile range surely? Or am I missing something?
No, you’re not. The car has shown us a range of over 100 miles once or twice. So, either the efficiency isn’t correct or the range. I’m not losing any sleep over it though and we do enjoy the car and luckily we have other cars that can be used (although getting into my daughters Polo requires an up to date tetanus jab)
My missus had a Honda E before her current car. Like the mini it had really quite poor range.
Except for a couple of journeys a year it didn't matter a jot. Charge it up every night, and most journeys were round town/county where 100 miles was plenty. The odd trip of 180 miles was done in a car with longer range, mine.
As has been said, if you can easily park on your drive/in your garage and plug in, then there's no hassle or problem doing that. But the 100 miles a day is the bit only you can answer.
Except for a couple of journeys a year it didn't matter a jot. Charge it up every night, and most journeys were round town/county where 100 miles was plenty. The odd trip of 180 miles was done in a car with longer range, mine.
As has been said, if you can easily park on your drive/in your garage and plug in, then there's no hassle or problem doing that. But the 100 miles a day is the bit only you can answer.
SWoll said:
theboss said:
I'm going to keep hold of the Mini because my stepdaughter has just got her provisional and it would serve her very well.
Assuming she's 17 good luck insuring it once she passes her test. We’ll see… the daughter is 19 so it will still be very much loaded on age.
Edited by theboss on Thursday 23 November 22:51
We've had our SE for nearly 2 years now and as written by others before it has only been charged at home, usually twice a week when my OH sees it's below 50% charge.
I would not recommend it if you're driving above 70 / 80 miles daily, but otherwise it's perfectly fine and is really nice to drive.
I would not recommend it if you're driving above 70 / 80 miles daily, but otherwise it's perfectly fine and is really nice to drive.
I have a L3 mini SE and love it. It’s not designed for long range, the smallish battery is by design to keep the car light and nimble like to petrol versions. Having said that the guess o meter always reads low, 100 miles is doable easily. The heater is efficient too so you don’t need to freeze either.
TheGinger1 said:
It seems in this thread that people are not considering that the range is greater than the simple maths by not considering the additional range caused by regeneration?
Regeneration doesn't add any range, the most efficient way to drive any car (Ev or not) is to not waste energy braking or accelerating once up to speed. The biggest impact on efficiency is wind resistance caused by speed, a constant 40mph is usually the most efficient speed for any EV.I have been 'tasked' with getting my mother-in-laws 2022 Mini EV from Cardiff to Leicester, its 160 miles, a none stop trip in the Tesla but looking at the numbers for the Mini, I think I would be pushing my luck to get it to Hoopwood (100 miles).
Am currently considering if I did the old follow a lorry at 55mph might get me to Hoopwood. I really dont want to stop twice given the max charge rate is only 50KW.
What's amazing is this is the 'technique' of lorry stalking is what I had to use back in 2015 with our old 24kWh Leaf to do the same trip, nearly a decade on, I'm still having to consider a similar approach in a 'premium' EV. I'm not sure if this reflects just how little progess there had been in 10 years interms of EV battery technology, or just how awful the Mini is as an EV.
gangzoom said:
Regeneration doesn't add any range, the most efficient way to drive any car (Ev or not) is to not waste energy braking or accelerating once up to speed. The biggest impact on efficiency is wind resistance caused by speed, a constant 40mph is usually the most efficient speed for any EV.
I have been 'tasked' with getting my mother-in-laws 2022 Mini EV from Cardiff to Leicester, its 160 miles, a none stop trip in the Tesla but looking at the numbers for the Mini, I think I would be pushing my luck to get it to Hoopwood (100 miles).
Am currently considering if I did the old follow a lorry at 55mph might get me to Hoopwood. I really dont want to stop twice given the max charge rate is only 50KW.
What's amazing is this is the 'technique' of lorry stalking is what I had to use back in 2015 with our old 24kWh Leaf to do the same trip, nearly a decade on, I'm still having to consider a similar approach in a 'premium' EV. I'm not sure if this reflects just how little progess there had been in 10 years interms of EV battery technology, or just how awful the Mini is as an EV.
It's not what people buy EV minis for.I have been 'tasked' with getting my mother-in-laws 2022 Mini EV from Cardiff to Leicester, its 160 miles, a none stop trip in the Tesla but looking at the numbers for the Mini, I think I would be pushing my luck to get it to Hoopwood (100 miles).
Am currently considering if I did the old follow a lorry at 55mph might get me to Hoopwood. I really dont want to stop twice given the max charge rate is only 50KW.
What's amazing is this is the 'technique' of lorry stalking is what I had to use back in 2015 with our old 24kWh Leaf to do the same trip, nearly a decade on, I'm still having to consider a similar approach in a 'premium' EV. I'm not sure if this reflects just how little progess there had been in 10 years interms of EV battery technology, or just how awful the Mini is as an EV.
160 miles is probably 3 or so hours driving and an hour charging?
That would get tedious if you had to do it every week, but as a one-off, I would look for a couple of more pleasant places to charge and crack on with it. There must be some interesting places you can stop without adding more than 10 miles to the journey?
The worst thing about it would be ending up in Leicester.
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