My Weekend with the Electric Mini Cooper (Mini-e) and my review, photos, and videos.
Let's start with the fun stuff. I shouldn't be surprised, I've read about the Tesla, but this thing moves. It isn't so much its 0-60 (officially 8.6 seconds) or its top speed (officially 95 mph), but that no matter how fast you're going on any hill, if you give it gas, it instantly accelerates.
I think another thing that makes it seem fast is that the engine sounds that you're used to hearing when you floor a car aren't there. My brain expects that typical straining sound of an internal combustion engine when I press the pedal to the floor, but you don't get that with the Mini-e... just speed. There is a little electric engine 'whine', but that certainly isn't the same thing.
And here's the first possible drawback... when you do floor it, it starts to feel like you could lose control. The slightest movement of the steering wheel at maximum acceleration feels like the car is going to veer wildly off course. But that's why this is a field test. BMW will be working out the kinks before this car comes to market.
The Mini-e's top speed of 95 mph is because of a governor (or, "electric cut-off"), but I didn't push it much past the speed limit on PCH anyway... that's where Ferraris get split in half! I'll ask my brother-in-law (who loves his motorcycle) about top speed later, after he's had a chance to let it loose. (Actually, he did compare the Mini-e's feeling of acceleration to that of his motorcycle.)
You can get a sense of the acceleration, among other things, in the videos later in this review.
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In Conclusion:
The Mini-e is a blast to drive.
There are a couple things to get used to: the immediate slow-down when you take your foot off the gas and rolling backwards on an incline. But they are no more difficult to get used to than switching from driving a car with automatic transmission to one with a standard transmission.
You aren't going on any road trips in this car. Actually, you're not going anywhere more than about 70 miles away.
With a ~150 mile range and a 20+ hour charge time on a regular 110 volt outlet it would make for a very slow trip across the country. The 2 person capacity and minimal storage area are notable limits as well, but it is a perfect second car to be used for your daily commute.
BMW/Mini will learn a lot more about this prototype by leasing it to 500 real families than they could on a test track. A very smart move. It will help them immensely in bringing the final version to market. And hopefully in that time battery capacity will increase and size will decrease.
BMW/Mini was also smart to put the electric motor and batteries in a standard Mini-Cooper S body. It is a popular and established look. I've heard several people comment on the ugliness of the Prius and that Toyota would have been smarter to put their first hybrid engine in an established model like the Corolla or Camry.
My 77 year-old dad was profoundly impressed with this car. After he got back from his first time driving the Mini-e he got out of it and said, "This is the car of the future."
Several friends and family drove Mini-e #150 during its first weekend in LA and each of them got out of the car with wide eyes and a big smile.
In short, I'm pretty damn jealous of my sister for having this car. I wish I lived in LA so I could drive it more often (or lease my own). I look forward to the day when the Mini-e is available for purchase everywhere.
