Apologies for the downpour selfie! It was raining buckets when I recharged the MINI Electric near our suburban New Jersey test center.
I just loved this car. True, for the "modern" EV customer, the range is probably a dealbreaker. Tesla can give you more than twice the MINI Electric's range. So can numerous other offerings in the markets.
But for me, the MINI Electric is in many ways an ideal package for my lifestyle in the 'burbs. It's fun to drive, it can be recharged overnight, it has enough cargo space to deal with everyday life, and the price is appealing. Plus, this MINI is eligible for a full, $7,500 federal EV tax credit. That would knock my purchase price for my tester down to about $30,000.
I know from experience that pushing my luck with 110-miles of range would be a bad idea. so I'd want to keep the MINI Electric fully juiced, even if all I had planned were a jaunt to New York City, which is about 20 miles away.
So if you were basically a commuter, in need of a weekend/errand-mobile, the MINI Electric is perfect, and a blast to drive. Not kidding! I scrupulously adhere to speed limits, but the MINI Electric is so quick at speed that I had a tough time driving 55. I just wanted to punch it endlessly and dart around like a heat-seeking missile.
EVs often have that go-kart quality, but the MINI Electric has it with a MINI platform underneath — meaning that this is among the most solidly tossable EVs on the market. It's better than the Tesla Model 3 in some ways, and a big move up from the Chevy Bolt or the Nissan Leaf.
Look, you expect a MINI to deliver when it comes to aggressive motoring. That's more important, for some, than the brand's cheerful, anglophile style — it is for me.
And that's where the MINI Electric decisively overcomes its limitations. It's the MINI of EVs. and although you can't really take in on a road trip, you can chase thrills doing just about anything else.