Discussion
Are there many mini electric owners on here?
Took a 48 hour test drive of one of these recently, with a view to getting my wife a small EV as her first car when she (hopefully) passes her test in a few months time. This shouldn't really have been on the list as the range is dire and its impractical being 3 door only.
I nearly binned the test drive off but decided to take the car when it was offered and was really blown away by the sheer fun of it - a real surprise. Maybe that's just what driving 2.5 tons of blancmange routinely does for you.
I've actually ended up buying one but just wondered how other people are getting on with them and whether the fun factor dies off after a short time and the reality is annoying.
This would be for a new driver who wouldn't venture too far from home and will be a third car in a household with one other EV (e-tron 55) and ICE (F10 M5). The fact I also have a 17 year old who will be learning to drive in the next year was also a factor.
Took a 48 hour test drive of one of these recently, with a view to getting my wife a small EV as her first car when she (hopefully) passes her test in a few months time. This shouldn't really have been on the list as the range is dire and its impractical being 3 door only.
I nearly binned the test drive off but decided to take the car when it was offered and was really blown away by the sheer fun of it - a real surprise. Maybe that's just what driving 2.5 tons of blancmange routinely does for you.
I've actually ended up buying one but just wondered how other people are getting on with them and whether the fun factor dies off after a short time and the reality is annoying.
This would be for a new driver who wouldn't venture too far from home and will be a third car in a household with one other EV (e-tron 55) and ICE (F10 M5). The fact I also have a 17 year old who will be learning to drive in the next year was also a factor.
Isnt the Mini EV just the drivetrain of the i3s shoehorned into it? Pretty sure it is, just with a slightly smaller battery. I have no experience with the Mini (but a serial Mini buyer, just not EV) but I can draw a few conclusions between the two. The Mini is a fun little car and if you have driven them before, its not a painful experience. Yeah, they are compromised on space and the older ones aren't the best built with the best interiors. But fun to drive and great to throw around. With the i3s drivetrain? That has to be a good mix. Pretty quick, good handling and usable(ish) range? Yeah, thats going to be pretty good.
My only concern is the range, but if you are used to an EV, then it shouldnt be an issue. Top-up when you can at home and it should be a good car to own and run. The BMW i stuff is pretty solid too. Though you will no doubt lack some of the more advanced features that more modern EV's come with - for example limit charging speeds, times and % and they do lack some of the more advanced usage data. But hey, fits the use case well, small, easy to drive and use city car - dont need all of the super advanced stuff.
My only concern is the range, but if you are used to an EV, then it shouldnt be an issue. Top-up when you can at home and it should be a good car to own and run. The BMW i stuff is pretty solid too. Though you will no doubt lack some of the more advanced features that more modern EV's come with - for example limit charging speeds, times and % and they do lack some of the more advanced usage data. But hey, fits the use case well, small, easy to drive and use city car - dont need all of the super advanced stuff.
Hi,
My wife has had a Mini E level 2 for about 16 months.
We ordered it as a bit of 'leap of faith' at Christmas 2019, having only seen pre production photos, etc and not having a chance to actually drive one.
We had to wait about 9 months due to covid/factory shutdowns but got it September 2020.
Her indoors loves the car. We have a wallbox and outdoor sockets for charging. We have solar pv and do most of the charging using the 3 pin 'granny plug' during the day that in theory should reduce charging costs.
When the fuel shortages struck last year, the ability to 'refuel' at home was invaluable.
The car is quick off the mark, smooth, quiet, well screwed together and supports British workers in Cowley.
She also has an SL350 that is no longer used as she simply prefers the Mini.
I drove it tonight and it is still a pleasure to drive (though not as fast as the Taycan I was in yesterday).
It has been utterly faultless although the main dealer has asked us to take the car in for some sort of update/recall.
As a second car, it will do almost all of our needs and it has proper knobs and switches unlike some of the latest touch screen stuff that I do not like.
I think we will keep this car for many years to come unless something catastrophic happens.
I would certainly recommend and best of luck with yours.
My wife has had a Mini E level 2 for about 16 months.
We ordered it as a bit of 'leap of faith' at Christmas 2019, having only seen pre production photos, etc and not having a chance to actually drive one.
We had to wait about 9 months due to covid/factory shutdowns but got it September 2020.
Her indoors loves the car. We have a wallbox and outdoor sockets for charging. We have solar pv and do most of the charging using the 3 pin 'granny plug' during the day that in theory should reduce charging costs.
When the fuel shortages struck last year, the ability to 'refuel' at home was invaluable.
The car is quick off the mark, smooth, quiet, well screwed together and supports British workers in Cowley.
She also has an SL350 that is no longer used as she simply prefers the Mini.
I drove it tonight and it is still a pleasure to drive (though not as fast as the Taycan I was in yesterday).
It has been utterly faultless although the main dealer has asked us to take the car in for some sort of update/recall.
As a second car, it will do almost all of our needs and it has proper knobs and switches unlike some of the latest touch screen stuff that I do not like.
I think we will keep this car for many years to come unless something catastrophic happens.
I would certainly recommend and best of luck with yours.
We’ve got one, a Level 3, it’s actually coming up to 18 months now we’ve owned it, we love it - it has cost £0 to run so far, Zero faults or issues, great fun to chuck around. (Should say obviously charging it costs something!)
We have a simple 7kw charger installed at home so it wakes up every day fully charged
We only get a range of around 100 miles range which is fine but not suitable for long trips around the county, that’s my only criticism- a real world range that’s fine for local travel but that’s it.
It’s that good I bought a Taycan for myself off the back of having the mini. We do have ICE backups though for the longer trips.
I think the mini is a great 2nd household car for shorter trips!
Enjoy it…
We have a simple 7kw charger installed at home so it wakes up every day fully charged
We only get a range of around 100 miles range which is fine but not suitable for long trips around the county, that’s my only criticism- a real world range that’s fine for local travel but that’s it.
It’s that good I bought a Taycan for myself off the back of having the mini. We do have ICE backups though for the longer trips.
I think the mini is a great 2nd household car for shorter trips!
Enjoy it…
We finally picked up our level 3 last week. It’s great as a second car in the household but the limited range would be annoying if you were reliant on public charging.
As the poster above, use it in the day for short trips and plug it in overnight at home. Just as much fun to drive (if not more) than the other ICE engined MINIs we have owned.
Chris
As the poster above, use it in the day for short trips and plug it in overnight at home. Just as much fun to drive (if not more) than the other ICE engined MINIs we have owned.
Chris
We have a level 3 on order , currently 2 months late ...
We've run EV's since 2014 - 2xi3 and a current Etron so range won't be an issue ( local trip for the wife ) - the first i3 was down to 55 miles in the winter . She's also had a Cooper s and an S convertible ( would be great if they did an EV convertible Mini )
The test drive was good fun , so she's really looking forward to it and also having something half the size of the etron
We've run EV's since 2014 - 2xi3 and a current Etron so range won't be an issue ( local trip for the wife ) - the first i3 was down to 55 miles in the winter . She's also had a Cooper s and an S convertible ( would be great if they did an EV convertible Mini )
The test drive was good fun , so she's really looking forward to it and also having something half the size of the etron
ds666 said:
We have a level 3 on order , currently 2 months late ...
We've run EV's since 2014 - 2xi3 and a current Etron so range won't be an issue ( local trip for the wife ) - the first i3 was down to 55 miles in the winter . She's also had a Cooper s and an S convertible ( would be great if they did an EV convertible Mini )
The test drive was good fun , so she's really looking forward to it and also having something half the size of the etron
Yep. Often comment how much easier daily life was with the i3 in comparison to the eTron. Park anywhere, no issues on narrow country lanes, tiny turning circle etc. We've run EV's since 2014 - 2xi3 and a current Etron so range won't be an issue ( local trip for the wife ) - the first i3 was down to 55 miles in the winter . She's also had a Cooper s and an S convertible ( would be great if they did an EV convertible Mini )
The test drive was good fun , so she's really looking forward to it and also having something half the size of the etron
SWoll said:
Yep. Often comment how much easier daily life was with the i3 in comparison to the eTron. Park anywhere, no issues on narrow country lanes, tiny turning circle etc.
The only thing that put us off a 3rd i3 is the stupid rear doors . I'm, sorry I mean the wife is really looking forward to the Mini
I don't know if there are different range options with the miniEV but there are a couple of people around here who bought them as shopping karts and have struggled with the range. The assumption was that the range was more than sufficient for daily use as nothing is more than 25 miles away but the reality has been that they misjudged just how often this was 25 miles in one direction from home and then 25 miles in the other direction so have run into problems with it.
I imaging that is more suburban settings the range is genuinely no issue as a Zone 5 daily chore machine.
They look nice but with low range EVs it definitely pays to do some proper data collection on one's genuinely daily usage rather than just guesstimating and getting caught out.
I imaging that is more suburban settings the range is genuinely no issue as a Zone 5 daily chore machine.
They look nice but with low range EVs it definitely pays to do some proper data collection on one's genuinely daily usage rather than just guesstimating and getting caught out.
ds666 said:
Quite
The mini will be fine for wifey .
If the range doesn’t work , don’t buy one . Do people suddenly realise they regularly do 25 mile trips each way ? Can’t be very bright .
You see, that's not what I said. One could also suggest that not reading things properly is also a sign that someone isn't very bright. The mini will be fine for wifey .
If the range doesn’t work , don’t buy one . Do people suddenly realise they regularly do 25 mile trips each way ? Can’t be very bright .
DonkeyApple said:
they misjudged just how often this was 25 miles in one direction from home and then 25 miles in the other direction so have run into problems with it.
Like I said , if people don't do their homework , they may end up with a range that doesn't work ... One didn't insult you , why did you chose to insult me ?
Edited by ds666 on Saturday 15th January 18:26
Great to hear positive feedback. I bought a very nearly new level 3 car from my local dealer. I was getting about 85-90 miles in the one I borrowed and that was pretty much worst case, cold weather, heating and seats on high and giving it some stick.
Thats absolutely fine for the use case - the wife won't want to drive long distances, if she does there will be larger cars available for the job. I'll soon be covering 50-60 miles a day just on school runs and kid ferrying, and its all on marvellous South Shropshire B-roads none if this home counties angry stuff.
Should be a good car for the job I reckon.
The other problem with the more powerful EVs eg Tesla is that they really aren't appropriate for a new driver. The mini is "still" 184bhp but putting even the most sensible new driver in a 400+ bhp car is asking for trouble.
Thats absolutely fine for the use case - the wife won't want to drive long distances, if she does there will be larger cars available for the job. I'll soon be covering 50-60 miles a day just on school runs and kid ferrying, and its all on marvellous South Shropshire B-roads none if this home counties angry stuff.
Should be a good car for the job I reckon.
The other problem with the more powerful EVs eg Tesla is that they really aren't appropriate for a new driver. The mini is "still" 184bhp but putting even the most sensible new driver in a 400+ bhp car is asking for trouble.
ds666 said:
I imagine the Mini will be great fun round those b-roads .
Just one thing - you mentioned a 17 year old learning . I think an EV probably counts as an automatic ?
Very much so. Brings up an interesting question, is it worth kids learning in a manual in 2022? With plenty of cheap automatic cars around nowadays and the continued move to EV is it a skill worth bothering with when it apparently takes considerably longer and is a lot more expensive?Just one thing - you mentioned a 17 year old learning . I think an EV probably counts as an automatic ?
My lad has just got his provisional and I'm leaning towards advising auto only..
theboss said:
The other problem with the more powerful EVs eg Tesla is that they really aren't appropriate for a new driver. The mini is "still" 184bhp but putting even the most sensible new driver in a 400+ bhp car is asking for trouble.
Funnily enough you can lock a Tesla in "Chill" mode for a certain driver profile which softens the power and throttle response considerably. 100% will be slower than the Mini.Edited by SWoll on Saturday 15th January 18:37
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