I commute into work a couple of times per week and my journey each way is 43 miles, so I have to admit I was a little apprehensive when agreeing to take the MINI. Was I going to be ok with the range, and how often did I need to charge up?
The charging and range are common concerns from customers, and I thought i'd share my experience. It isn't like a petrol car where you fill up when you need to, with the MINI Electric, you charge at every opportunity. I learnt this when I got home. I took the wall charger with me and plugged it in via the plug every night when I could to my external power source, and every day I drove it, woke up the next morning with a full charge. This made it super easy, as you always have 100% battery when you start the day, and I don't often drive more than 100-120 miles per day.
This change of thought took me a couple of days to master, but I did feel a lot more comfortable with the car then, as before any commute or longer journey, I had the car fully charged and ready to go.
I didn't realise this will my last couple of days, but the car is smarter than you think. It uses the navigation to plan out the route and make the most efficient use of the range as possible. I was half way on my commute and I was losing range quicker than I'd hoped, so I plugged in the Satnav postcode and the remaining 20 miles took only 9 miles of range, as the the car was working out where I needed to get to.
This is one tip I would say to everyone, make sure you use the navigation, even if you know the route, as the car will help you get more range. Secondly, I had the car in Winter, and the early mornings can be cold. Using the MINI App you can pre-condition the car whilst it is still on charge to warm the car up, so you dont waste the battery whilst you're driving. I did find this useful on the 6am starts and early mornings!
