"Mini" has mastered the drive in series

10 July 2019

The electro hatchback costs Mini Cooper SE began to take orders

The first generation of the converted electric car Mini (R56 series) produced experimental-industrial batch of 600 cars in 2009. However, the electro hatchback costs with the electric motor 150 kW, transferred to specially selected company drivers for controlled operation in the series did not go for a number of reasons and primarily because of the imperfect and too expensive batteries.

Two-generation pure electric Mini, the first (R56) – 2009 (pictured right) in the series does not matter, and the second one (F56) – 2020 (left) can lift the English brand to new heights 

A decade later, the marketing situation in Europe has changed dramatically – not to have an electric car to its lineup, then losing your future today.

The second generation of the English electric Mini (respectively, on the basis of the second generation model – F56 ) in the form of a prototype Mini Electric Concept debuted in Frankfurt in the fall of 2017 

And now two years later it was the turn for the production version.

Serial electric SE Mini Cooper (F56) 2020 model year

Yesterday at a special event in Rotterdam was shown an electric Mini Cooper SE (in series F56) with 135-kilowatt electric motor from the electric BMW i3s.

The drive to Cooper SE took from the BMW i3

Indeed the electric vehicle designations Cooper SE no (it is mentioned only in official documents), which is replaced by yellow circles with a stylized letter "E" only complements the label "Cooper's".

The electric Cooper SE implying only a special badge with the letter "E"

This should point to high power electric vehicle comparable to a 192-horsepower gasoline hatchback.
However, acceleration to 100 km/h in the electric Mini is 7.3 s, and this was 0.6 with worse than a petrol hatchback with automatic transmission. The maximum speed of the electric force is limited to 150 km/h and the petrol car can accelerate to a maximum of 233 km/h. Mileage on a single charge, according to the technical specifications is Cooper SE from 235 up to 270 km T-shaped battery pack placed under the floor, has a capacity limited to 32.6 kWh, which is slightly less than the base model BMW i3 (33.2 per kWh) and especially in the top version of BMW i3s (42,2 kWh).

The trunk Cooper SE is not too different from the petrol version

It is expected that British and other residents of the United Kingdom will buy a Mini Cooper SE as solely urban vehicles, and for the country to have a traditional car (and wants to write a Land Rover – ed.). But the reduced battery in addition to some weight savings (which, however, for an electric vehicle is three times more important than for a vehicle with internal combustion engine – ed.) allowed to reduce the initial fee for joining the electroclub. Thus, taking into account government subsidies of £3500 initial version Cooper SE costs just £24 400 (~₽1.95 million). For example, for comparison, the base BMW i3 is on sale in the UK priced from £35 to 350, and quite a compact city electro hatchback costs e Honda (110 kW and 200 km) the Japanese is estimated at about £30 000. Thus for petrol Mini Cooper S asking for a little less than £21 000, and for the base Mini One, in General, £195 16.

And yet the Mini Cooper SE is more expensive not only because it is electric, but he is also better equipped

So already the basic package includes dual-zone climate control, navigation and optitron the instrument, not to mention a gray or silver body color with yellow accents.

Design with a Central display, built-in in the traditional round element, maintains continuity with other models of the brand Mini 

Additionally, the electric vehicle is equipped with a new high-speed dynamic stabilization system, a selector selecting one of four driving modes (pictured) and the switch changes to recovery mode

Of course the electric car is allocated from the General stream Mini such elements as a solid plug instead of the grille, exclusive "asymmetric" design of wheel rims, and a program of individualization.

Pre-orders for the Mini Cooper SE in the markets of some European countries began a couple of months ago. Full orders started being accepted in 9 July, but physically the supply of electric vehicles will not begin until March 2020, while the production at the main plant in Oxford will unfold only in the end of autumn.

Naturally, the release of the electric version of the Mini is scheduled for SP and BMW and Great Wall in China. However, electric vehicles for China are largely (about half) will be based on the components of local production, so that their characteristics are markedly different from the European, and to export Chinese Mini Cooper SE is not yet planned, but time will tell..