Mini Cooper SE review – It's Electrifying! | First Drive | Autocar India

Its always been all about its attitude, its zippy nature and its drivers appeal, but today, its about a little bit more its about being socially conscious, because this is the first ever all electric mini while visibly it may look pretty similar to the internal combustion version. The key difference is that theres, just an electric motor under the bonnet, that is significantly lighter, the motor, is powered by a 32.6 kilowatt hour battery and puts out 184 hp and 270 nm theres a single electric motor that powers the front axles of the mini. Apart from this key difference, which is under the skin, visibly the car gets just a few highlights that make it look marginally different, theres, an embossed mini electric logo. The turn indicator inserts tailgate and the grille get yellow versions of this insignia too. But while the grill area remains similar its closed because the electric motor doesnt really require much cooling, the side view mirrors are also in yellow on this version. The rear has been redesigned to reduce, drag and since theres no exhaust the undercarriage and rear have special air ducting. The optional 17 inch alloys also have what bmw like to call power spoke. Two tone, aero, styling charge. Connection fort is exactly where the fuel filler was in the regular version on the interior, its all the same with high quality bits and funky designs and shapes the digital readout for the speedo and the level of charge. Reading are very straightforward and even the information imparted on the infotainment screen is limited, so it leaves geeky owners longing for more eb.

Related data now lets take a look at the feature list: Music, Music. Well, it is a small car. It is a mini remember, and it is one that people will use predominantly in the city, especially in its electric, after with a claimed range being 235 kilometers to about 270 kilometers. So we had to find out for ourselves and we decided to have a normal working day to find out what the reality was Music. So i started off from home and as per usual, there is always an errand to run before going to work and thats. What i did first now the thing is: i live in an area which has got really steep slopes, which generally kills battery power. So it was interesting to see what happened first, starting out of the gate, the mini just darted off the block. Small pedal inputs get big responses with a instant torque and it feels quite thrilling. Music Applause well running. That errand gave me time to check out the boot which actually has remained similar, because the t shaped batteries now are stored. Deep in the floorboard and theyre placed between the front two seats and under the rear seat, the only real difference is that the rear seat cushioning has gone up by a small teeny tiny margin, and i did check out that rear seat too. Take a look for someone my size, one can still fit in there pretty easily. As you can see, the rear seat is cramped, but with the dual sunroof it doesnt.

Let you feel hemmed in at all. Music lets get back to what else happened through the day. Well, that small amount of slope, no matter how steep it was just didnt, do much damage to the battery range. I think it was just too small an area and, of course, the way back was all downhill too. So it really didnt matter, but when you are consistently going uphill, it will kill your battery range, a lot faster and thats. Something you need to remember, however, going downhill threw up a revelation for me here: Music thats, when i realized the brake, regen is aggressive and you cannot really coast downhill. There are two levels: low and high, and in both modes it is really single pedal driving and you dont need to use the brake. In fact, as i discovered through the rest of my drive, even in the low mode on a flat road, it does bring the mini to a halt so coasting. If you want to do it, when you realize youre running out of battery to extend your battery range is really not possible in the mini cooper sc. As i discovered on my way to my first meeting in bandra, but traffic was really chaotic on mumbai streets. The joy of having a mini is the size that makes it so easy to get in and out of any space and squeezing in and out of traffic gaps is also a breeze. Add in the fact that theres, no multi, speed, gearbox or turbo lag just instant torque to propel you at a really rapid pace, and it makes it very entertaining to drive Music bmws patented synchronous motor ensures that the rotor can be lighter and spin faster, producing better Power density than most motors well slow, moving, stop start.

Traffic is really where evs do their best and it doesnt deplete too much of the range id done about 23 kilometers. By the time i reached bandra and id used up only 15 percent of the battery, although at bkc i did use some of the empty stretches and open corners to really enjoy the mini a bit more, oh its every bit of mini as far as the handling Is concerned, its still got that go kart like direct direct, feel and with that instant talk, darting out of corners is just that much quicker and that much more fun Music, in fact, making it more dynamic, is the fact that the center of gravity is 30 millimeters. Lower than the cooper s thanks to the batteries in the floor and the nose is lighter with no icy engine, adding drama on occasion is a bit of torque steer when you dump your foot down, which is something weve never experienced in an ev before Music. Now, after enjoying the mini a bit and a quick meeting in bkc, we headed off for the shoot to our favorite location, which was around 20 kilometers. From where i was, and i had about 72 of the battery left and 90 kilometers of rain showing which meant it was doable going there and back to our office and as we reached our location and some open road, i could actually push the mini a bit More so initial acceleration in this car really does get you to go.

It is exciting, but as you extend your legs and get going a lot faster, it does taper off and thats when the fun began. You know more open roads place to really stretch your legs and test the full potential of the mini electric yeah. When you go quicker boom. Your range comes down so much faster as we discovered on our usual testing and shooting stretch, but it was hard to resist because this thing really pushes you and eggs you on to go quick Music. There is a small motor and the car is about 145 kilograms. More than the icy version as well still, it is electric, quite literally, the mini gets up to 60 kilometers an hour in just 3.9 seconds, and the 100 comes up in 7.3 seconds. Driving around all day gave me a chance to also realize that, while the way the car handles is fun, the steering is a little heavy and as far as the ride goes, it is firm theres, a lot that filters into the passenger and thats something you have To be prepared, for it does also feel fidgety over uneven roads, especially when you get up to speed. However, with the ride height raised about 18 millimeters, you dont have to ever worry about going over speed breakers. It never scraped its belly and for added protection. The batteries are covered with a solid base plate its been quite an interesting day and weve actually managed to finish our shoot relatively early.

The mini cooper eevee has been doing well so far, weve finished about 80 kilometers and uh. We still have about well 49 to be exact, so roughly at this point i could estimate the real world range to be about 160 kilometers, but on the way back, im going to use the modes put it into green and ill talk about that, while im driving Back and tell you how much more i can get out of this car, there is a green plus mode also to enhance the range. However, it turns off climate control, and so it isnt a setting owners are likely to dial the sport mode, makes the throttle a tad sharper compared to the mid and green modes, which feel reasonably quick. The absence of a growling intake and a booming exhaust doesnt captivate your oral senses like the internal combustion version, but the cooper ses ability to whizz past traffic in complete silence is a very unique experience. Lending the childlike mini a mature, serene approach. Now, with the searing heat on that particular day, i dialed it back to mid mode to ensure full function of the ac. Pretty soon using a three pin home charger, the mini will juice up its battery in around 15 hours. Its option – 11 kilowatt wall box unit will replenish 80 of charge in just two and a half hours with the remaining 20 taking an armor. It also supports 50 kilowatt dc fast charging, which takes around 36 minutes to charge the battery from zero to eighty percent.

Well made it back to the office and did everything we had to do today. Weve done 114 kilometers. We still have 33 battery left so, like i said, real world would really be about 160 kilometers in the mini cooper. Sc thats, not bad for city runs. Of course, if you take it out onto more open roads and hilly climbs, youll probably get a little less. However, for your everyday grind in the city, this car really does. Well, i mean it is bucket loads of fun to drive that instant talk really puts a big grin on your face, especially you know at that zero to 60 kilometers an hour, which is something you use a lot of in the city you get away from the Traffic lights easily, you can nip in and out of gaps and of course it still has that very fun. And may i say, electric mini handling. Well, its been a fun day for us now at 47.