I'm on the fence regarding ordering given my 75 mile round trip commute.

I have never owned an EV before, but I've read in several places to maximize battery life I will want to avoid needing to charge beyond 80% nor discharge beyond 20%. Sounds like with my commute I will likely be exceeding those recommendations when the weather is cold.

I should mention I typically go in the office only an average of 3 times weekly.

Comments/suggestions/thoughts?

 

Trying to answer this question ourselves. My wife's commute is 70 miles. 4 day weeks.

We were under the assumption that the car would be charged to 90%+ SOC at the beginning of the commute and will be pre-conditioned for any extreme weather.

Planning on relying on the battery warranty because like you said, this is going to be a worst case scenario for longevity.
8 Year / 80,000 miles: Battery warrantied against failure and required to retain 70% of maximum nominal capacity.

 

That would be about the extreme I'd feel comfortable driving. I would still have a bit of range anxiety if I had to do that for my job.

Most manufacturers will list mileages w/ a 100% charge. I know of no manufacturer recommending you routinely charge your battery to 100%. 80% seems to be the recommend charge to maintain max battery life. Following that advice, the Mini should get approx 88 miles of range under ideal conditions w/ a 80% charge. That leaves you with approx 13 miles left after a round trip. If you encounter an accident or a detour that adds more miles or discharges the batteries more than normal, you could find yourself on the side of the road.

I'd hold off buying the Mini E and see if they increase mileage in the next year or two. Battery tech is improving and hopefully Mini/BMW will use those advancements to provide better mileage with their cars. I'd like to own a Mini E, but if I had to purchase now, I'd be looking at the Kia Kona as a more practical choice if I had to drive anything but short in town errands..

 

The "T" pack in the Cooper SE seems like it would be very easy to access for future upgrades.

I have this optimistic dream that BMW will make retrofit battery packs for the SE. So sometime around 2025 we could take our 2020 SE into the shop, drop less than $5000 and drive away with a more comfortable 180mi range or something. (Sadly I don't think there is a business case for this.)

This is a very interesting issue. I've always been a proponent of keeping ranges as low as possible to keep the weight as light as possible and waste as low as possible. But in the end it could be more wasteful to be beating on a 110mi battery than lightly using a 160mi pack.

I really wish ranges would be stated as real world. I can't think of a single gas powered car that I couldn't beat the EPA mpg number. How cool would it be if you could get 120mi out of a 100mi rated car with a bit of careful driving. Unfortunately it's the opposite right now so buyers need to do mental math and have range anxiety until they try it themselves. No manufacturer is going to willingly provide a realistic number but if a regulatory body made a universal test that reflected real world use it could be a huge benefit for EV adoption. Otherwise people will continue buying cars with range in excess of what they actually need.

 

FWIW, here's some info on BMW's new i4 expected to hit showroom in 2021.

https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/i4

This is an EV I can live with. I'm still a fan of Tesla (specifically the Model 3 perf or long range variant) as they will have an edge in battery tech and production, however, this i4 has some real potential if the mileage claims are accurate.

Now if BMW can put that range into the Mini as a "long range option" at an up-charge of even $10K ($29K to $39K), I'd be in a Mini the day it hits showrooms)..

 

The i4 seems excessive performance wise, I'm not a huge fan of gigantic screens as interior design, the new grille design is hideous, and I don't like sedans. Other than that. It seems like a great package!

Obviously I'm not their target market. If they make it to market with everything promised in that article at a comparable price to a model 3/Y longrange I think it's going to be a smash hit. Though, they better already have a CUV version in the works.

 

They do and it's supposed to follow the i4 in early 2022. Not much is disclosed at this time, but if it is built upon the X1 or X2 chassis, it could be a game changer if they can maintain the 350+ miles of the i4. If I had to guess, I wager it being an X3 sibling (as that seems to be most popular size.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/bmw/20...-ar184923.html

I much prefer the screen layout and other controls (locks, media/nav selectors) of the i4 compared to the Tesla's Model 3's single screen that controls everything.. Not a sedan guy either, however that seems to be the trend in the early going. I do think the profile looks quite nice. It is rather large for me personally, but I could adapt.

They say 85% of what you see on the concept vehicle will make it to production. I think the new grille design will BMW's EV trademark (like it or not). I'd prefer an i8 grille, but I would take the concept car as designed (color choices inside and out too) w/o hesitation.

Rumored to be a $50K US price ranged car (similar to my M240i) and deducting the $7500 rebate makes the pricing quite appealing. Still a couple of unanswered questions persist......Warranty coverage, Battery longevity, fronk and boot storage.

Come on BMW, increase the Mini E range................................ .

 

Agreed, even just the iDrive controller adds a ton of practicality over Tesla's interface. The US seems to look down on hatchbacks, as if only the poors buy a hatchback because they couldn't afford to buy a sedan and SUV. Just my impression. It's also possible that the slightly better aerodynamics of a sedan shape make them ideal for maximizing range on new EVs.

I would like to see a long range MINI SE with ~180-200 mi range, but they should absolutely keep the one that they have now. That range works fine for a lot of folks and it keeps the cost and weight to a good level.

(Then again if they have good lease rates on SEs I would no longer care about using 100% of the battery capacity on a daily basis.)

 

Manufacturers who believe it is beneficial to charge to only 80% would not only say so in the Owners Manual, but they would include a programmable option to halt charging at 80%. There is something called battery balancing that can only occur when a BEV is fully charged. It helps ensure your BEV gets the best possible range.

Tesla cars may be a special case because they don't maintain much "headroom" and charge to nearly their batteries' theoretical maximum to achieve great range. Therefore, it may make sense to charge a Tesla to only 80%. I believe other BEV manufacturers set up their cars' charging systems to have more headroom than Tesla, sacrificing the absolute maximum possible range in favor of extending battery longevity. These companies don't want to be replacing expensive batteries under warranty.

I offer two arguments for fully charging your BEV: to achieve the car's designated range and, if you believe fully charging causes harm, to force your battery to fail before the warranty expires. Then, if you can live with the reduced range of 80% charging, you can baby your warranty-replacement battery.

 

To the OP that originally asked the question, Yeah you'd be fine. Real world range now that he car has been out a few months, is 110-130. I would recommend you precondition it on cold mornings to maximize your range on really cold days, but this would work.