If anything I would have expected the Clubman to be more expensive with the barn doors for the hatch.

My best guess is that the Countryman sells better so they charge more for it, plain and simple. Doesn't look like this pricing discrepancy is new for 2020 however.

Bleh, reading that article makes me salty about how difficult MINIs are to spec now. They used to be very customizeable. Now, you pay for the Automatic upcharge and sunroof upcharge even if you opt out of them and you can only spec certain interiors materials and paints with specific trims. What's the point of ordering a new car if BMW is just going to tell me what I like anyway?

 

Looks like it could be a good seller.

https://insideevs.com/news/364823/45...mini-electric/

 

Hmmm, is that only pre-orders in Europe or NA as well?

 

The Mini.com website lists Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK, but not the US or Canada.

 

I haven’t been on here in awhile, as I’ve been busy buying a new Jeep Grand Cherokee Altitude in all black...the thing has 265/50/20 tires! ;-)

It also has an 8 speed automatic transmission. No paddles as Jeep dropped that feature due to complaints I guess...they were activated all the time and if you accidentally touched a paddle while driving it could get crazy! Duh, what’s wrong with Jeep engineers anyway! lol!

But the 8 speed is very quick but at low speeds or when coming to a stop it is constantly downshifting and it’s nowhere near “smooth”...I’ll get used to it. But I am wondering how the auto trans in the MINI GP3 will function? My guess is it will not be smooth as butter either! We’ll see....but it will be fast! 👍

 

Interesting Motoring File discussion about the SE. The think that it is a worthwhile buy:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2019/07/...r-buy-of-2020/

 

Lol bummer... I was hoping all the negative press would help us get one at a nice price!

I agree with a lot that's being said in that discussion, primarily; "I'll believe the $30,000 price when I see it!"

@O2fanatic : I honestly stopped paying attention to the GP3 after the announcement of two pedal only. =/ Why own a racecar that drives itself? I'm sure it will be blazingly quick and make lots of BMW/MINI fans very happy despite us curmudgeons living in the past. Congrats on the Altitude, not personally a truck guy, but those are undeniably cool.

 

Here’s to the Curmudgeon Crowd...

I like being able to skip shift with the MT when driving slow. An AT that is noticeably downshifting when just driving around seems to be a bit overboard on the “race car” effect. The AT in my friend’s reasonably new Cherokee is smooth up and down.

Like the MINI SE, I see a place for the Jeeps. My Wrangler does deep snow duty. With the 2.4L Low Output engine, it does slow really well; perfect for snow, but won’t win a drag race with the SE...

 

Yeah, I wish I could get into trucks enough to have a snow slave.

Our JCW Paceman All4 is a complete beast with winter tires.... until the pretty JCW aero bumper becomes a snow plow... which is a paltry 6" or so. I keep thinking a bagged Paceman would be amazing. ~9" for winter clearance and drop it 1.5" lower that stock for the summer. *drool* <3

Maybe I'll make the investment when MINI only offers us $6k on trade and no sane person wants to buy a 2-door SUV. XD

*Sorry, way off topic there... It's August... I'm already planning winter*

 

I think Tesla definitely changed the perception and potential of electric vehicles (they are still a bit too expensive for me though). If there was a 2019 SE, I would have considered it, depending on the price. But I needed a car and I couldn't wait a year. Overall, I'm not against EVs, but I would miss the manual gearbox (which is dying anyway).

I am interested in seeing how the landscape will look 5-10 years out.

 

I think the landscape is already changing:

https://www.greencarreports.com/news...ar-of-the-year

I have see one of these up close and they are really sharp; Ferrari-ish in looks. I like the looks better than Tesla. Not a “true” electric, but close being a plug-in hybrid...

 

The Karma was pretty advanced.... for 2011. I hear Fiskar is still alive and kicking, but not sure for how long... didn't a Chinese company snap them up when they were cheap? Certainly a handsome car to be sure.

For certain Tesla has had a huge impact. Destroying cars that cost twice as much on the strip and reaction videos galore. I haven't had the privilege of hooning anyone's $60,000+ Tesla yet but I can imagine it would pull like the i3 cranked to 14. I actually really like the styling of the Models S and 3 (the X can burn in minivan hell) which is good because even in MN they are becoming more common than Corollas. For that reason I could never own one. I simply can't stand driving the same car as everyone else.

I just wanna know when we are going to get an honest to goodness affordable performance hybrid. Like, what would the i8 look like as a MINI with only 10% as much carbon fiber? I always loved the CRZ but it didn't live up to the driving experience of the CRX and certainly didn't usher in a new era of hybrid performance. I like that it exists and it was cool that it had a push to pass electric boost feature. That was straight out of a video game. Honda can get crazy sometimes. Rumors of both the Focus RS and Golf R going hybrid kick around commonly, but would they still drive well once they are pushing 4500lbs or just be wicked fast?

I fear that now that EVs are becoming normalized it will be difficult to justify a hybrid sports car for the masses. Heck, the rumor mill is even talking about Tesla trying to de-throne the Miata (good luck with that...)

Heh, it took a surprisingly long amount of time for Tesla to get mentioned in an EV thread. =P

 

I have done an autocross where a woman brought CRZ and she romped in that thing. I was blown way by how fast she and it were. There is no reason that a car for the masses can’t be fun to drive also. It would be interesting to have Tesla try to dethrone the Miata. It is one lofty target to go after and because of that, if they are only half successful at doing that, it will still be a fantastic car as the Miata is so far up there. Like climbing Mt Everest, getting half way up is still one heck of a climb.

I know it was said before, but i will say it again... Here’s to hoping the MINI SE retains the spirit of MINI; the charm, the handling and the just plan fun factor MINI cultivated originally.

 

Absolutely! This is the entire ethos of the original Mini. Practical and fun.

Personally I'm a bit worried that EVs will become the next automatic transmission. At this point driving the manual version of a car is agreeing to be slower than everyone who spec'd the auto, with the upside of having more control, and potentially having more fun. This is lunacy to a lot of folks. ICE vs EV is already shaping up to be the same way. Why buy a stupid gas burner when you can be faster, and more efficient, and better?

Soul

Right now EVs feel soulless. True they will never scratch the same itch as a high performance ICE car and all that comes with that, but I have high hopes that the MINI SE is a step in the right direction in giving an EV some personality.

 

Just put the sound track of this into an EV audio system (a couple of 12” subs would help):

 

I not so secretly love the idea of being able to pick a famous racecar soundtrack to play through your speakers in an EV.

Mazda 787B would hands down be my go-to. It's even high enough pitch that it might make sense meshing with electric motor whine.

Bonus points if it plays the sounds outside the car too (because of required pedestrian warning sounds). They could even have an area on the rear that says "My other car is a <insert source of imitated engine sounds here>," so you can still identify petrolheads.

 

Sounds like the IMSA number 911 and 912 Porsches.

Oh, but I love the shifts on the Mazda. Much better than the DT up and down shifts in modern race cars

 

Don't they have brakes ?

 

Hmmmm????

 

If Alec Issigonis were alive today, and saw the evolution of the automobile, he would know that the only way forward for MINI is to go fully electric. I am all for the MINI-e, and what BMW can do to bring some of that pizazz into an electric car. Don't get me wrong, I love rowing gears in my R53, and LOVE the supercharger whine, but it's old tech, and new tech will eventually overtake the old. At least we'll still be able to drive our ICE cars for the time being. Just don't expect me to get rid of Egan. I love him too much to part ways.

Interestingly though, we are becoming more and more the embodiment of the quote, "Automatics you steer, Manuals you Drive." In the future, the idea of a "manual" car will simply be a car that you can drive yourself, rather than it driving for you. The thought of future generations hearing about people used to drive cars themselves, plus had to deal with something called an accelerator, and brake pedal, plus moving a long shaft in order to change gears so you could go faster while also timing the motion with your feet between two pedals, they'll think you could do eye surgery. And then wait until you show them your skills with rev-matching, double-clutching, and heel-and-toe.

Just don't tell them how to drive a Ford Model T, or they'll have a brain aneurysm.

 

Well, sorry for the departure from the thread, I wasn’t getting notifications that people were responding.

If if you haven’t yet, feel free to join us for the ride at the the MINI-e Enthusiasts page on Facebook
www.facebook.com/groups/MINIelectric

 

My SE is what is called “Classic” in the Canadian market. It’s the base model for North America. I will do anything to avoid a sunroof, and it was the only way for me to get one without. We ran some numbers. A similarly equipped Premium + S ICE would be $4800 less than the Classic SE base model. With the $5000 Canadian Federal rebate, the SE will then come in under the price of the S. Total Cost of Ownership will then continue as the SE will not need Petrol, brakes or oil.


The first 100 delivered to Canada are being called “First Edition” and have a “1 of 100” badging - though not unique numbering.


Around 300lbs heavier than the S, the SE is actually an engineering marvel. Being able to shove so much without entering the passenger compartment is impressive. It won’t however, be that amazing overall. It could be an AutoX dream, we’ll have to see.

 

Well, if you are happy with the choice, Great!
As you do not have it yet, there is really nothing to ask until you get it.
We are happy for you and hope you like it!

 

You need the highest level of SE in North America (Called the Premier + in Canada or the Iconic in the USA) to get their Plug style wheel option.

Probably one of the most impressive things MINI did with the SE was to put performance non-runflat rubber on the SE. The Goodyear Eagle F1 Star Spec 205/45/R17’s mark a conscious decision by corporate to give up efficiency and range for increased performance.

The standard side scuttles can have the electric yellow accent colour


Under the bonnet, the mounting frame, coolant lines and HV cabling. The SE comes with a Heat Pump hopefully allowing for more efficient winter driving.

Here I am with a production spec SE At the North American reveal In October 2019 in Toronto, Ontario.

 

At the time of writing, there are about 6 SE’s left to buy in the Canadian First Edition. USA Corporate did a different thing and ordered a variety of trims and options for their first order of 200. American Buyers so far have been able to get the SE that they have wanted. However, I suspect that there will be a LOT of SE’s sitting at dealerships for quite some time.

As I understand it, the 2020 model year will be a short production run; perhaps November 2019 to March 2020. If you are in the USA, and want a custom build, your SE will need to be built on/after April 2020.

if anyone is interested, I’ve created an excel sheet to calculate the cost comparison to run an SE vs the ICE S. Using some current Canadian pricing, a 180km trip would be $3.27 CAD in the SE, and $20.83 CAD in the S. Obviously, efficient driving on either vehicle, and the price of both petrol and electricity will effect the numbers. But it is safe to say that the SE will be 15% the cost to drive vs the S.