We discuss the different ways to charge the MINI Cooper SE, including the three different levels of charging, the connectors used, and how long it takes to charge on the different levels. We also explain how you can use a Tesla charging station to charge the MINI Cooper SE.
This video is powered by Qmerit, North America’s leading provider of installation services for EV charging, home energy storage, and other electrification technologies.
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Tesla to J1772 adapters I recommend:
TeslaTap 50 Tesla to J1772: www.umc-j1772.com/index.php?r...
TeslaTap 80 Tesla to J1772: www.umc-j1772.com/index.php?r...
TeslaTap MINI 40 Tesla to J1772: www.umc-j1772.com/index.php?r...
Lectron 40-amp Tesla to J1772: amzn.to/3xiEICa
0:00 Intro
1:49 Information specific to North American market
2:27 The standard charging equipment & the different levels of charging
6:30 Level 2 charging
9:15 Charging from a Tesla charging station
11:40 Public charging
15:48 DC fast charging
18:40 Connectors used for DC fast charging
21:29 Scheduling and preconditioning features
12:08 Charging time recap
28:51 Outro
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I have a Tesla MY and a Mini SE for around town. Love, Love, Love my Mini SE. You cannot beat this on a windy road. Get a good L2 charger and plug it in every 2-3 days.
Why so infrequently? With a 16 mile electric-only range, I need to plug mine in daily because I drive it daily. Am I missing something?
Finally, the Best Explanation of the Differences in Charging Systems, the Plugs used and expected results. Thank You
OMG… you’ve done it again!! Your EV expertise never ceases to amaze!
Tom, great video!!! You touched on everything a Cooper SE owner needs to know about charging in general and charging specific to the Cooper SE. I think maybe the only thing left would have been to mention how the charge cord locks when the car is locked and the charge indicator LED located at the plug will cease to flash. Other than that very complete discussion and presented very well! We love the Cooper and don't mind the lower range (price of car is also lower) as it takes care of all our local driving. Anything more would be overkill for us as I only charge at home and if going on a long trip I would not take an EV anyway as I don't want to be bothered with jerking around with charging stations. We had a Bolt EV and never used the range to the full extent for our local driving. Instead, we took the advantage of not being cold in the winter and used the heat the way we wanted it.
I literally just cried I love you in the opening. This is everything I need to know. Thank you SO MUCH 😭
Our North America 2023 Mini SE delivered in March came with the BMW Flexible Fast Charger :) Specs are Level 1 = Max 10A / 1.44KW Level 2 = Max 40A / 9.6KW It also has the Nema 14-50 cable. Just had an outlet installed by an electrician yesterday and voila ! Level 2 unlocked.
Level 2 30 miles per hour in real life?
@@SriSri-fo2je I’m getting 32A with the flexible charger. Just a few hours to charge at home. I ended not installing a wall charger. All good!
Great video, I’ve been watching EV and Tesla videos for months but finally an explanation of the different connectors and how they relate to different chargers. You explained details that are not obvious, such as being able to use Tesla destination chargers but not SuperChargers for non-Teslas. Thank you!
Thanks Tom for all the links. Great information regardless of the vehicle that you can glean from this review. Awesome job‼️
You provide great content! I’m Not interested in cooper se but support the channel!
They include a dual voltage charger now. 120v and it has a 14-50 240v adapter
Thank you for this great review. Very clear and comprehensive! Great job!
Very informative and well-presented. Thank you!
Tom. Great video. When my 2007 Mini gets older, I will get the Electric Mini. Even if it can only make 110 miles, that is much better than my 2011 Leaf, which is down to 48% battery life (6 bars, and 45 miles on the guess-o-meter) The Leaf has served me well, with only a flat tire, and needing a new 12 volt battery after 65,000 miles.
Thank you very much! Just bought a Cooper SE, and this was really helpful.
One of your best videos ever. More info graphics is always better. Great job. Very shareable video even if someone has range anxiety with 114 miles of range.
Thanks, Cesar!
Such a useful video. I'm getting my first electric car (Mini SE) next week and this is giving me great peace of mind
OMG, I am new to the Mini Cooper SE and starting from ground -0-. This was soo good.
Thank you for the detailed info
I have a level 2 charger and couldn’t figure out why my car was taking such few kw/hour and this video answered all my questions! Found the charging current menu and it was set to low and not maximum. Thanks for the fix!
You missed several very important issues: If you are charging from a Level 2, 220v-20a amp circuit with a nema 6-20 outlet and a 16amp 220 level 2 charger, do you leave the Mini settings to Max or Reduced? The Mini manual does not explain at all. Or does it automatically charge at only 16a or does it attempt to pull 32 and trip your breaker? If you are charging from a 15amp wall plug, with a 16amp charger through a nema 5-15 plug, what setting do you use on the Mini to make sure the car will not attempt to pull too much amperage? (using the Mini charger, it automatically sets it to 10amps, but for a 16amp charger, it is unclear). The 16amp capability is from a 20amp 120 outlet (like a kitchen), but most garages are 15amp. Not everyone wants to spend $5,000 and more to change their service entrance to support a 40 or 50amp 220, and since most driving is short distance, using what you have will work for most. Many garages already have 15amp wall outlets and a few have 220v 20a wall outlets. Time of use (TOU) electrical plans suck for the Mini with a Level 1 charger, for it will almost always go into your high cost time. With the mini charger, you can't even use a smart plug, for if the charge is interrupted, when the power is restored it goes into error mode and will not continue charging where left off. Mini failed horribly by not having a simple exclusion time period where it will never charge. Is BMW paid off from the power companies?!?
Great information. Thank you. Very clear. Better than the explanation in the manual.
Great video Tom! One note, PSE&G's Residential Load Management or “RLM” rate is from 9PM to 7AM here in Northern NJ.
I’m really thinking of getting one! I’ve used old Leaf with 70 mph range of 70 miles, but only charges at 45 kw for about 10 minutes. The flat 40 ish kw curve of Mini would work for me
Fantastic video. I went looking for the videos you said were linked to in the description (such as showing charging the mini cooper up to 100%) and didn’t see them.
Great charging info for newbies .
Hi Tom, this was a very informative video; thanks! Yesterday, I took delivery of my special order 2024 Mini Cooper SE. FYI, the 2024 model comes with a Flexible Fast Charger. So I have already scheduled an electrician to install a 240V outlet in my garage. The FFC is rated at 40A, but as you noted, the Mini will only accept 32A.
Informative presentation and very well presented. A+
My fiance does a 50/50 (total 100) mile commute daily in her mini SE, it has saved a ton of money on fuel and she plugs in every day to our level 2 charger. I only need to charge my model 3 once a week so it works perfectly for us. I find the mini SE more fun to drive than my tesla. We share our tesla wall charger because in Europe (UK) we have a standardized plug thank goodness.
This is good information and helps with the smaller range when we are equipped with knowledge reducing range anxiety. Missing an exit for a planned supercharger makes a huge difference. Luckily there are other dc fast charging stations in route. Just wished they turn on the stations on the mass pike on both sides. Evgo seems like they are the most expensive without the dedicated plan. Paid $9 to charge 5% to 75%. $5 plug in fee.
Tom, an excellent video. What Level 2 connector for MINI SE do you recommend? Thank you.
Great explanations. What about the GRIZZL-E charger you have on your back wall there. I have one installed in my garage. I think it is 10 kw. It would more than suffice to charge the Mini SE?
Thanks for the great video. Can I know the brand of the Tesla to J1772 adapter that you introduced? Thanks
Great video! The only nitpicking I can do is to mention (as you did) that DC charging is officially not called "Level 3". Also, the k in kW should be lower case. Capital K is Kelvins (degrees).
A great channel!
Tom, you mentioned the CP charger can give you 11.5 kw (48 amp) and that it is plugged in. Will it still give you that when plugged into a nema 14-50 or do you have your plugged into a 60 amp circuit somehow?
Thanks for all the info! Can you set up the car to charge up to say 85% and stop? Thanks!
Hey Tom, can you make a video of mobile products that are good on the go to charge that are level 2. I plan on purchasing a Mini Cooper SE but want a level 2 in the car. Which would you recommend?
Are you going to be doing a review of that Lectron soon? I'm not looking for a smart charger, but being able to track KWh usage from an affordable dumb charger would be nice. Need to know if it's any good or just get a Grizzle-e
One of the great features of this small battery is that it can DCFC all day long for highway travel, thanks to good thermal management. My e-Golf and Leaf will overheat (in the summer, at least) and charge rate will drop significantly.
Tom, have you or has anyone else that you know of, done any testing (for safety) while trying to charge in a heavy rain?
Hey Tom I have a different angle on the Rivian thing, is there a small chance they wanted to empower all of those reservation holders by giving them a jolt and then giving it back to them and making them feel like they’re getting something special so they keep the reservations?
thanks very interesting Cheers
Great video thanks. Didn’t know about the Tesla adapter so might get one to greatly increase DC charge options. I notice several comments about limiting charge to 80% to save battery life. I recall my owners manual addresses this and says to charge the Mini to 100% all the time. I believe the fact that there’s only 29Kwh made available to the user vs the full 32 may explain why “100” %charging is ok. It’s not really 100… Finally - very much agree with you on the driving experience of the SE - it’s incredibly entertaining. Great BMW handling, feels very quick by most ICE standards and it looks great. The small size gave us pause initially as a daily driver but the interior is a nice surprise. The upright cabin pushes the windshield and A pillars forward away from your head as well as results in good headroom for a car of its size. The back seat, while surprising comfortable is not fun to enter or exit however. As semi-empty nesters we have the rear seats down most of the time anyway - makes for a pretty good and very fun commuter/grocery getter. And although we never planned to use it as a weekend escape machine for 2 it turned out to be way too much fun not to try. Charging stops do need careful planning due to the SE’s very short range, including in-range alternates as public chargers are still hit and miss. More than once we’ve rolled in to isolated stations on electron fumes knowing that if the charger was pooched we were screwed. Keeps life interesting tho!
Y'know those giant electric trucks that are advertised as powering a home in a pinch? I wonder if AAA will keep some on hand to help out folks who lose charge on the road.
What about level 2 greater than 9kw? Victronenergy makes one that if connected to 3ph, you can get 22kw. Unfortunately, U.S. residential can't get 3ph without some major fanagling with your power company. Can you create a video covering higher rate L2 chargers?
Due to your job Tom, you must be a heavier than usual ⚡user. Do you have your own solar + battery storage system to offset higher costs?
Like you say you more focusing on the American households. The standard MINI charger at our 220V outlets is 2.5 - 3kw. Specs on charger says 2.2kw but the draw on my inverter goes up to 3kw. So thats not bad to charge overnight or on solar during the day to not overload a standard 5kw inverter.
Great video, many thanks for sharing 👍 I'll get mine in about 2 months from now 😁 But why do you use a non-SE depicted on your thumbnail? With its 4 doors this is not a MINI SE... Cheers from Germany, Bernd 👋🙂
i'm not clear on which link is for the right adapter to go from the mini cooper se to plug into a level 3 DC public charging station. Can you clarify?
Tom, if OBC can take 7.4 kW, isn’t that 31 amps? (Your graphic shows 30 amps).
My 2017 e-Golf L1 cord is also 10 amps. My 2015 e-Golf had a 12 amp L1 EVSE and was noticeably better for my use case. The Germans are being risk averse due to people overloading 15 amp circuits with other devices pulling power when charging, I’m guessing.
Since there isn’t any way to stop the charge at certain level like 80%, I timed it using standard 110V charge. In 12 hours I’m able to go from 60% to about 85%. I’m not sure if this is necessary but since it’s standard practice for Teslas or high capacity EVs, I’m going to follow. Sadly not many of SE owners out there so it’s hard to get good data results.
Check the owners manual. My 2021 SE says that isn’t a concern. Charge up to full every time as it’s only making 29Kwh available.
Nothing on the Kia EV6 yet?
The 2024 Mini SE comes with a charger that can do both level 1 and level 2 charging.
Ac charging?25 miles per hour?
The 10amp OEM charge plug is about as frustrating as the speedometer that's 2mph lower than actual. I never even opened my charger. Look for the 15-16 amp chargers on Amazon and save some time.
My electrician installed a 240/50amp socket in garage to handle the Level 2 charging. Why do some people pay more for a "station?" Am I missing something that the "stations" provide that my 240 plug won't? I'm thinking it's cheaper and does the job. What's not to love?
That's what I did. My electrician said "we can do it the cheap way or the expensive way......both do the job....what do you want?" I went cheap with just the plug. Works for me. I do need to figure out a way to keep the cord off the ground and the end of the charger is a hoster-type configuration. Right now it's resting on a two step ladder.
How do I set the charger to stop charging when 55% is reached?
Can you set charging to stop at 80 or 90%? Or does it matter with the buffer?
I don't believe so, at least I couldn't find it in the settings. But it has such a small battery, I think most people are going to really need to charge to 100% all of the time.
Should you try to use as much of that battery as posible before charging to extend the life of the battery? Is always charging from 60% - 100% bad for the life of the battery?
I have the same question 😅
8:22 We don’t have to worry about the EVSE having more power than the car can accept. Is this true for other EVs too, especially Ioniq (38 kWh, 170 miles EPA) ?
This is true of all EVs, as far as I know.
Sorry for my large finger clicking dislike by mistake several times. I certainly liked this video. Thanks, Tom. FYI, I have found preconditioning using L1 with a departure time does not work in the winter since heaters usually need at least 3 kW if not 5 kW- you may want to mention for future videos.
Just wondering, is there a way to limit the maximum charge to about 80% to limit battery degradation?
I believe that’s solved by making only 29Kwh of the battery available. A full charge isn’t necessarily taking the battery all the way up. My owners manual also says plug in and let charge all the time every time and battery life management is handled for you.
Not a problem for me: garage and plug in each night.
My daughter has the Mini EV. I have had so much trouble when plugging it into my 7.5kw home charger with it not appearing to be aware that its set to start charging at 00:30am (and, yes, departure time 07:00am is set up). Its not the 'enough time to charge' issue you mentioned, i can plug it in at for example 10:00am and it still starts charging straight away and wont stop and switch over to delayed charging. I often have to mess about with it, plugging it in and unplugging, for five to ten minutes before it will eventually go onto delayed charging. Even then it wont always display 'delayed charging' on my wallbox, sometimes it displays 'charge finished' but fortunately it does begin charging at 00:30am. I never have this problem with my Tesla or eNV200. Seems to me that software is not BMWs strong point.
I used it on my tester and it worked fine. Perhaps it's a problem specific to your car?
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Or possibly that it works with some charging boxes better than others?
Greetings from north-central New York! A very, very important bit of information I'd like to add: the Level 1 charger supplied with the car has a temperature cut-out that is supposed to actuate around 20 Fahrenheit. In the real world, mine cuts out at a few degrees above freezing, say 35 Fahrenheit. When this thermal cut-out activates, the transformer/power supply box "FAULT" light (red light) activates, and it won't charge the car at all. This wasn't much of an issue until November rolled around. Do not depend on this charger in cold weather. I have had it activate in the evening, then when the temperature dropped, the power supply faulted and it shut down. When using public Level 2 charging facilities, I have noticed a clear difference between 7.2 kW and 5.8 kW Level 2s, even differentstations on the same network. That's a 20% power difference. My 2022 Cooper SE will charge around 18% per hour on a 5.8 kW level 2, whereas you can get 25% per hour on the 7.2 kW stations. I am a bit partial to RFID cards; there is a binder clip with half a dozen of them in my glove box. Level 2: swipe the card, plug in, and you're in business. (Level 3: plug in first.) In Level 3 (DC Fast) Charging, my SE has topped out at around 48 kW. I am a fan of stations that will show you a graph of how fast you're charging. Right at 78% the bottom drops out of the charge rate. If you're on a Level 3 charger where you pay by the minute, it doesn't make sense to stick on a fast charger. Use the L3 to zip up to 80% and then find an L2 where you can leave it, or plug in overnight in the garage. In cold weather, I've noticed the station or the car will limit itself to roughly 26 kW, and it takes its time to ramp up to that value. I believe that is a combination of battery properties and the liquid coolant coming up to temperature. I also have the Lectron Tesla-J1772 adapter. Unfortunately, I have not found a Tesla Level 2 station to try it with. I have been notified on a few occasions when I have preconditioning selected that it will not run the preconditioning cycle if the battery state of charge is low. Sometimes there will be a disagreement between the car dashboard and the app as to what the estimated range is when fully charged. I believe the app is programmed to arrive at a nearly constant value, whereas the dashboard display changes in real time based on your recent driving habits and the temperature. These values are always conservative; I have made a number of 135+ mile charges in the summer. I'm trying to stay away from the single digits to prolong the batteries' service life, but I also cave in to curiosity from time to time. PlugShare is awesome.
😮
Plug it in. Done.
Can the SE charge at faster speeds on level 1 like 12 or 16 amps with a better level 1 charger?
Did you find out?
@@djsvetljo i never did and sold my SE a few months ago, sorry
Excellent review. You have to love Minicooper to buy one of these. I dislike the range and feeble charger. Why can’t they do 12 amps like everyone else? That’s a 20% difference! I much prefer EV6, iD4, and Tesla. Tom, thank you for astutely mentioning the lower power of 208 commercial voltage. I had to charge at an apartment for a year using 208V on a malfunctioning ChargePoint charger delivering a paltry 194 volts. Despite frequent reports on malfunction to ChargePoint, they had no interest in fixing it.
Sadly my new EV6 GT did not come with any charging equipment. Only the FE customers got equipment. Pretty weird. We did V2L adapter.
for that much money its kinda a chintzy move.
It's the first EV that hasn't come with at least a L1 portable charging cord.
Yeah I had to re view all your videos to pick a L1/L2 out for emergencies travel and then I went and got a Wallbox also for the house.
There is a downside with having small batteries in an EV. By definition having a smaller battery means many more charging cycles over a few year period. Being that Lithium Ion does degrade over time when charging to 100% and taking it down, the aging of the smaller Lithium-Ion battery is greatly accelerated. Thus, the battery will likely have a much shorter life span versus a larger battery or a LFP battery that doesn't suffer as much when charged to 100% over time.
Excellent point. I had read this in a Nissan leaf forum but couldn't connect the dots. Thank you 👍
4:27 10 amps better if wiring is iffy.
Sure, but other equipment allows you to set the amperage at either 8 amps, 10 amps or 12 amps, whatever your supply can support.
You should become a school teacher.
Still waiting on teslas ccs to Tesla adapter. Haha.
Hey Tom, I'm a big fan of inside EV's and your State of Charge channel! I am strongly considering buying an Ioniq 5 SE RWD in the next couple of weeks. I'm from the Boston area, but might have to buy it on Long Island. Would you have any interest in doing one of your 70mph range tests on the same day I buy it before I bring it back to Boston? Let me know! (check your email for my email to get back to me, or just reply here!) Thanks, Ryan Hoffman
I purchased an Ioniq 5 SE RWD about 2 months ago and I love driving it. It’s so cool 😎
ABC …. Same as it ever was.
It's unfortunate it's a nice looking car but the range is horrible
tom these are too long. its too much for layppl to slog through!
Click the gear icon at the bottom right side of the screen. Then playback speed, then 1.5.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney for you, 2X! I'd much rather your channel have a dedicated nuts and bolts videos such as the different charger connectors, different evses, amperage, etc and then specific videos like this where you're just going through hey this comes with a 10 amp charger, it can only take 50 KW etc
Length is fine. With bookmarks one can jump to section they are interested in.
I see what the TL:DW crowd is saying. I’d argue keeping the content you have, Tom. Why? Because as the general public starts buying more and more EVs, which is already happening, I think they’re going to need the basics. If you start doing “shorthand” content, it’s going to go right over the general public’s head. It’ll sound like just so much gibberish. Your content is so vital - especially to those buying their first ever EV. I’ve had my Model 3 SR+ for a year, and still come by here (and watch you on E for Electric) to check up on the latest. Keep up the great work here!