Mini Cooper SE (EV)

Had my first proper long journey yesterday.
Did my pretty regular trip to Banbridge and back home, journey was just above the speed limit ~122km/h with aircon at 21C. Conditions were showery and approx 12C.
Left the house with 100% charge, first stop Castlebellingham Northbound @50% battery, charged up to 87%.
Off to Banbridge, stopped at the chipper where I happened to get a rule #1 (MINI Owners Club - Always Park Next to Another MINI)



Then onto the family home, at this point I called my Dad because he was due to be up, turns out he'd hired a car for the weekend and by coincidence was the other MINI from the photo
From there we had a quick stop back in the Outlet Boulevard (AC chargers were occupied), before heading home. Stopped in Castlebellingham Southbound arrived with 15% charge. Charged up to 88% and then back home, arrived with 35%. The MINI app show's that I charged a total of 56kWh to get back to 100%. Total journey was 280km. Giving me a motorway efficiency of 20kWh/100km.

Using my Electrified App I can see the car will charge at up to 44kW, and starts to slow down when the dash displays 80%.

Overall, I'm glad the car handled this journey well, it's the most regular journey we do in the Ioniq and would always stop in Castlebellingham both ways to safely cover the journey. The Mini handled it, but definitely doesn't have the same margin of error that we'd get with the Ioniq.

I set up the BMW Connected skill on my Alexa account, I can now say "Computer, Ask BMW my range" this is what it shows back

They all have a 29kWh usable battery. Realistic range was around 180-210km. The guess-o-meter in them is very pessimistic so will often appear to have a much lower range, but ends up driving for ages at low state's of charge. The car was great to drive. Charging speed's are limited to 50kW but it does mean I very rarely had to charge for more than 30 mins.

The car has a heat pump and didn't lose much range during winter.

I wouldn't call the ~200km range cars a city car, but they're also not a car for doing very regular long distance trips. Not many people outside of taxi drivers would cover 200km in a city in a day.

What kind of journeys does your mother tend to make and will it be the only car she has access too. If you do have kids and she's taking them regularly you'd be better off with the updated e-Up!, similar kind of range but 4 doors. The Mini is a premium small car, it's lovely inside for a single person but get's awkward when you start regularly having to carry someone in the back.

The new version of the Mini hatch is coming next year, it's based on a similar platform to the Ora Good Cat. It's due to come with a 40kWh and 54kWh battery pack. I'd guess their targeting a 200 mile (320km) range with the bigger battery.

I was considering waiting for the Mini Aceman which is due towards the end of '24 but needed to get in to a bigger car this year and couldn't wait.