Hey All--

I need to get my SE halfway across the country, and I'd like to put it on a tow dolly. That's usually the way you tow front wheel drive cars. But the SE manual says it can only be put on a flatbed, not a dolly. Anyone know why? Is it something like the parking brake switches on automatically if the car isn't on or moving or something?

 

I would assume it has something to do with the regenerative braking.
You would be putting unnecessary load on the tow vehicle.
I bet you will also notice the brake lights on all the time!!

 

My understanding of regenerative braking is that it has nothing to do with the actual brakes. It is the electric motor spinning when you slow down or go downhill that generates electricity for the battery. So that shouldn't have anything to do with the rear wheels. I'm going to jack the rear wheels off the ground to experiment a bit and see if I can figure things out.

 

I didn't say brakes, I said regenerative "braking"

You also have it backwards, its not a motor, its a generator.
A motor generates force from electricity (driving), a generator generates electricity from force.
During acceleration, the wheel generators a decoupled. Let off on the throttle, the generators are coupled to slow you down.

The "generators" on the wheels create resistance They will generate while rolling, causing resistance.

 

If you spin an electric motor by force, it becomes a generator. There are no generators on or in the wheels of electric cars. The regenerative braking is caused by the drive motor spinning from the force of the vehicle slowing, which generates electricity. In other words, if you were to put an electric car in neutral so that the motor is not connected to the drivetrain, no regenerative braking would occur. Here's a link that may explain it better:

https://electrek.co/2018/04/24/regen...-how-it-works/

 

I don't have an answer for you, but I'll chime in that TVPostSound is indeed wrong about regen braking on the rear wheels--there isn't any, as that axle isn't connected to the motor.

It does seem like you could tow it on a dolly, and I haven't seen anything that would explain why you can't, but I also wouldn't risk it.

 

Yeah I don't want to ruin my new car! But it would be so much more convenient for me to be able to put it on a dolly.

 

Perhaps the prohibition against towing with the front wheels lifted off the ground is just standard boilerplate text MINI has been using since the first report of a towed MINI scraping its exhaust pipes on driveways and other inclines. Fortunately, although MINI included a fake hood scoop on the SE, they didn't include fake exhaust pipes. I can't think of another reason why towing with only the rear wheels on the ground would be a problem.

 

Mine likes to put its parking brake on if I'm not rolling. It's electric, there is a good chance that it can be defeated,somewhere, somehow...
​​​​​​It may work to put it in neutral?

 

The MINI Cooper SE Owners Manual explains how neutral can be used to get through an automated car wash (who would do that with their SE?). The longest it will stay in Neutral is approximately 15 minutes.

Engaging selector lever position N
1. Switch on drive-ready state while pressing on the brake pedal.
2. If necessary, release the parking brake.
3. Depress the brake pedal.
4. Engage selector lever position N.
5. Switch off drive-ready state.

In this way, standby state remains switched on, and a Check Control message is displayed. The vehicle can roll.

NOTICE
Selector lever position P is automatically engaged when standby state is switched off. There is a risk of damage to property.
Do not switch standby state off in vehicle washes.
Irrespective of standby state, the selector lever position P is automatically engaged after approx. 15 minutes.