More Electric MINI Cooper SE Reviews Are Here
While our own MINI Cooper SE Reviews were done a while back (written and video), a number of journalists are just now getting their hands on the all electric MINI. What they are finding sound very similar to what we found; a great combination of performance, efficiency and value (in some markets). Yes that last word might surprise, but that’s been one of its biggest selling points in our eyes (at least with tax incentives).
As a quick refresher, the front wheel drive electric motor generates 181hp and 199 lb.-ft. of torque enabling the new MINI Cooper SE to go from 0 – 60 mph in 6.9 seconds and achieve a top speed of 93 mph.
Range is one of the more controversial aspects of the electric MINI Cooper SE. MINI takes care to mention that this car is created for urban environments. Designed for cities is also another way of saying the range of this car isn’t Tesla like, but the 110 miles quoted by the EPA isn’t the whole story. In my time with the car, I drove equal parts city and highway, and came away with at least 125 miles of range (on a 60 degree day). And while we’ve seen major differences in the BMW i3 in cold temps, the engineers responsible for the MINI Cooper SE promised me that that large delta doesn’t exist on this car thanks to the newer generation batteries and the way the car manages them.
The MINI Cooper SE is now on sale in the US and most other world markets. While production has ceased due to COVID-19, there were a fair amount of vehicles produced before the shutdown and more set to be produced once the factory gets back underway.
BMW GROUP IMPROVED PLUG-IN EV CAR SALES IN Q1 2020 BY 13.9%
‘Good news doesn’t sell newspapers’, so the global media is having a heyday with all the gloom and doom surrounding the Covid-19 crisis. The BMW Group is not exempt with overall global sales down in Q1 2020. It’s refreshing, therefore, to read some positive headline news, courtesy of InsideEVs.
Furthermore, production of the MINI Cooper SE began in Plant Oxford in November H2 and lasted until March H2 when the Lockdown intervened. Nonetheless, Plant Oxford has a daily production capacity of 1,000 units split over two shifts a day of which, reportedly, 500 were Cooper SE models rolling off the production-line five days a week. On that basis, some 40,000 Cooper SE models will have been manufactured before the Lockdown on March 23.