I took the SE on its first road trip! I'm really glad I did it and I learned a lot about the car.

- Green+ is what you want to use. In Green mode, the outside air seems to still go through the AC and heater cores. With 65 degree outside air, I could tell it was cooler air coming out of the system in Green+. If it is really hot or cold, you'll need to use Green so that you can have heat or air.
- Driving at 72-73 MPH does in fact yield about 110 miles of range.
- Driving slower does improve range and driving down big hills makes a huge difference in the range too.
- The speed-o is off by 2-3 MPH according to GPS. At 72 or 73 MPH, the car is actually going 70 MPH.
- Electrify America 150 KW and 350 KW chargers charge the SE at the same rate and much faster than pretty much anything else.
- Charging to 80% is super fast but then it charges slower to fully charge. I think it took about 20 minutes to get to 80%.
- Hotel chargers are rather slow. Estimate is 5 hours to charge from 15% to 100%.
- There are lots of free chargers out there. Hotels, dealerships, different cities, schools, etc all have free chargers but are slower.

My first part of the trip, I drove 100 miles and just before I got there, the 15 MPH range warning came on. I easily got to the first charger in a Walmart parking lot and plugged in. I walked a block to get lunch. I then walked into Walmart, used the bathroom, and my range was 99 miles. It took at least 45 minutes to charge this much.

The second part of the trip was about 100 miles but mostly downhill. I drove the same speed as before and got to the charger with 20 miles of range. I plugged in for about 15 minutes while I used the bathroom and got a drink. I then drove around town that day with no problems.

The next day, I went to my daughter's college graduation and plugged in on campus in a free lot. It was a slower charger but I got to 99% charge by the time I was done. We drove to lunch, around town, etc.

Before returning home, I stopped at the same rapid charger and filled up to 99%. It went from 80 to 99% in just a few minutes and I took off.

I stopped 100 miles away again at the same charger and charged up until just 85%. I was tired of waiting for the charge to complete. I think I waited about 30 minutes.

I made another stop 80 miles away which was just 20 miles from my house. I plugged in, used the bathroom, and then immediately left. I got home with about 25% battery.

The car drove great. I have ST coilovers and it felt great. I was a little concerned in some of the crappy roads but it was fine. For a small car, it does well on a road trip.

I didn't realize before on how a larger battery would have made this trip more enjoyable. It takes about 20 minutes to get to 80% charge and then it slows down. If the battery had a 200 mile range, I could have ended up with 160 mile range in just 20 minutes. That is comparable to a sports car like my old EVO X. With a 300 mile range battery, I could 240 miles with just 20 minutes of charge time. But then you have to factor in the weight...

But, for me, I like the SE with a smaller range. In a pinch, I can drive it on a road trip but 99% of the time, it stays in town and 110 miles of range is fine. I never drive more than 110 miles in a day. Plus, driving around town, I drive much slower than 70+ MPH so the range is actually better. My first range test was round town and I went over 140 miles.

Lastly, a gasoline car is still the best choice for anyone using it for road trips but the Mini Cooper SE is the perfect second car. This way, you can get a bigger car for the road trips and then just drive the Mini around town because it is so much more fun.

 

Great post, thanks for the write-up!

 

Sound like a great trip!

Lots of good info for non-electric owners like myself with no experience driving or charging availability with an electric car. AFAIK, the fast speedo is a normal thing due to European regulations. A manufacturer can face big fines if the speedometer reads slower than the actual speed. US and other countries cars also have a speedometer buffer on the cars sold in Europe. The odometers are supposedly accurate though, so the fast speedometer shouldn't be adding any extras miles regarding distance traveled.

 

I’ve owned a 2005 R50 MINI for 16 years and 180k miles, super fast Justa! Upgraded to a 2011 R56S N18 and love turbo power!

My wife bought a new Chevy Bolt and I’m really impressed! 259 mile range is incredible! Yes it drops some in the winter while using the heater(210 mile range). I continue to ruin her average range with my quick instant torque accelerations! Love the one pedal regenerating braking too! Did a 230 mile trip to my mother-in-laws, with the heater on.....we stopped at Electrify America for a 20 minute top off on the way home, even that was easy peasy! Quite a nice little car. It’s not a MINI, but nice in it’s own way! (Plus the incentives were hard to turn down $15k off list price!)