SolarQuotes reviews ninja Ned’s test drive of the Mini Electric Cooper SE tempts him to cross over to the dark side and earns a rebuke from Finn. Find out what happened.
— Transcript begins
Finn: And now it’s time for “Where’s Ned?” – the segment where we try and track down our wandering curator of reviews here at SolarQuotes., Ned, where could you possibly be this time, mate?
Ned: Well Finn, today, I’m in front of your lovely home in front of your lovely cars with your lovely wife, the official SolarQuotes accountant, Chantel. Chantel, how are you going?
Chantel: I’m good thank you Ned – how are you?
Ned: I’m very good. Now, normally I review a solar installation, but since the theme is electric vehicles today, I thought I would test your Mini Cooper. Will you entrust me with your keys?
Chantel: Ned, of course, I would entrust you with my dog.
Ned: Thank you so much.
Ned: Very cool. I feel like I’m in the Millennium Falcon. Now, I’m not much of a car guy per se. So this might be more of a casual review. The only thing I really care about is if the front door works, which in my current car does not.
Immediately I can tell just from driving my old gas car, this car is very, very responsive, sensitive, and quick – which I’m not used to, but I’m enjoying it quite a lot. I’m also amazed at how quiet the engine is. I feel like I can hear my heartbeat. And again, I’m very nervous because I don’t to get fired by smashing this car into somebody else.
I’d say the only thing that holds people back like myself is the price. I can’t see any other reason in my mind why you wouldn’t go with an electric vehicle.
Electric Mini Acceleration A Religious Experience For Ned
Here we go. We’re putting this to max power sports mode. Let’s see how quickly this baby takes off.
Oh my god!
Hopefully I didn’t get a speeding fine like my colleague, Mr. Brakels.
I’ve been driving around Adelaide in this Mini Cooper for about half an hour. It only took me that long to get quite confident and comfortable with it. Everything is just really intuitive and easy to use. And I think most importantly to me, it’s just a really fun experience. If I didn’t have the money hurdle, I’d get on it straight away.
If this was a solar installation review, like I normally do, that’s easy – five out of five, or if you know, Mini Cooper wan to sponsor my segment (wink) it’s a six out of five. So thanks for that guys. And hopefully I’ll be seeing you in my brand new EV next month. See you then.
— Transcript ends
Not included in this version of the segment was some follow-up commentary from Finn:
“So, if you see Ned in a new electric set of wheels, let me know. There’s no car-for-comments at SolarQuotes!”
About the Mini Electric’s acceleration – apparently it’s 0 – 100km/h in 7.3 seconds. As for price; from AUD $61,353 drive-away compared to from $42,564 for the Mini Cooper and $50,484 for the Mini Cooper S (both internal combustion engine models).
Ned isn’t the only member of the SolarQuotes team to have reviewed this electric car. Check out Ronald’s in-depth Mini Electric review here.
This segment was from Episode 10 of SolarQuotes TV: The Ultimate Guide To Electric Vehicles. For more SQTV episodes and videos on everything solar energy-related in Australia, visit and subscribe to the SolarQuotes Youtube channel.
Related: The SolarQuotes Home Owner’s Guide To Solar And Electric Cars.
About Michael Bloch
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Ned hit the nail right on the head for me:
Why would I pay $60,000 for an electric Mini?
Now I know all the reasons they are expensive, and all the for’s and against’s,
but I can’t help thinking we are at the begining of a new development cycle (well, we are!) and that means prices will plummet as technology and manufacturing techniques improve – they always do, and in the consumer electronics field, they especially do.
An EV is (or will be soon) just another appliance. About as complicated as your mixmaster.
The battery elephant will be sorted.
The electronics will be integrated into modular integrated chips just as computers, phones etc have.
All we need to do is achieve “critical mass”.
So, someone has to pay full price for EV’s so the price can come down so I can buy one!