Autonomy challenge – Mini Cooper SE

In this new autonomy challenge from CircutorElectroChallenge we remember the afternoons we spent playing with the Scalextric, we drove an Electric Mini Cooper SE, up to the limit of its autonomy, using, as always, our best Efficient and calm Driving skills.

The Mini is in everyone's imagination, launched on the market in 1959, it is perhaps the oldest current model. Always young, always sporty, he has marked and continues to mark a personality that is difficult to describe. Relaunched in 2000 under the BMW umbrella, it is one of the first models in the migration towards electrification in the German group.

A cute interior design that maintains the exterior charm of the MINI style at its core. An urban vehicle, but with a Rallye soul to which the battery lowers the center of gravity and fixes it on the asphalt on curved roads, just like the magnet used in Scalextric cars.

The Mini surprises since it does not have a selection of different levels of retention, it always recovers to the maximum and, this fact, accompanied by the already classic hardness of the pedals that the combustion models already had, gives it a little discomfort while moving. around the city or just parking.

Consumption gives it away, the Mini has grown, it is no longer a car of such small dimensions, but its 3.8 meters and the weight of the batteries give it very different inertia from its combustion predecessors. We will do our preferred route for urban cars and, in addition, we will do it at an unusual time, at night. Lights, Action!

At the start, the internal computer promises us 156 km, but we know that if we do things right we will be able to reach the tourist route of the El Garraf coast and the Penedès wine lands that we have already enjoyed with other opportunities. We will need to extend the autonomy around 200 km, ....

We set out determined, it is already night, the traffic on the C58 is dense at the entrance to Barcelona, ​​at the Trinitat junction, but it does not force us to stop, we touch the Barceloneta beach and head towards Castelldefels. Until now, the descent predominated and the average energy expenditure has reached the lowest figures of the route, 9 kWh/ 100 km. At this rate we could do 300 km but something tells us that... it will change soon.

As we like the slopes of El Garraf, these curves, with this youth behind the wheel, are the most fun, no other machine behaves like this on the esses of this track.

In the fishing village of Sitges, the cost already exceeds the mark of 10 kWh/ 100 km, we have covered 80 km and we have consumed a quarter of our energy reserve. We are making progress! and we know that now the golden coast is sweet and flat.

We are at the furthest distance of our route, El Vendrell and we have covered 109 km from the start with 10.8 kWh / 100 km. Optimism!

The national 340 takes its toll, long straight lines that adapt to the undulations of the Penedès region, surrounded by vineyards and farmhouses, upon reaching Vilafranca. We head towards Sant Sadurní to enter L'Anoia, cava and bubbles. We have already consumed more than half of our battery and the indicated autonomy is 74 km.

The route becomes very fun again, because the climb to Gelida and the descent to Martorell are twisty and, at this time, without traffic and confidence, we take a little license learned in the EcoRallyeCV since this would be a worthy time trial. the Valencian test.

It's getting late and we're hungry, so take the A7 and head home, with the stars as a guide, once the proposed route is finished and with enough energy to play a bit when you get back at dawn and leave your battery low at colleagues from the company who will do the compatibility tests and recharge management in the laboratory.

Autonomy Challenge Results - Mini Cooper SE

We have achieved a consumption and autonomy very close to the homologation and, it must be taken into account, that on our route we have not circulated through any important urban center and therefore it has been, mainly, an interurban consumption.

Conclution:

This new Mini Cooper, now only in electric version, is destined to be a best seller, not only among young people, but also among families who live in scattered areas, where mobility to connect with the center of the region or with transfers to public transport systems being a daily necessity.

Thanks:

Clarifications:

The Solidarity Tour is a 20 km route starting and finishing at the Circutor headquarters in Viladecavalls, which runs along very twisty secondary roads with slopes of up to 250 m.

The EcoBest tour is a 60 km mixed route that includes approximately 50% motorway, 25% city and the rest on interurban roads, very similar to the distribution of the WLTP cycle.

All our challenges are based on achieving maximum autonomy, in real traffic conditions, using efficient driving techniques and moderate speeds, always above the minimum marked on each road.