I don't have a 250-volt charging station at my house, so it's a good old-fashioned 110v outlet for the Mini E this week.
If I drained the Mini E's battery to zero, it would take 24-30 hours to fully recharge at home. If I were to have a Mini E as my own car and if I owned my house, I would install the quicker charger. But as a renter, my landlord isn't likely to let me do any such thing. And this is only a week-long experiment.
For home use, you have to adjust the charging current using the Mini's turn indicator lever before you can use the charging cable. You do this by pressing the button on the signal stalk on the left side of the steering wheel. Keep pressing until you get the right screen on the display. Change the setting to 12A and hold the button until you see the word "home." The Mini E will remember this setting until the next time you need to adjust it. When I get to the office on Monday, I'll have to change it back to 40A before I can plug in.
After driving 20 miles on Friday night with the air conditioner and radio on, I plugged the Mini E into the outlet in my overcrowded and hot garage. The Mini's fan remained on to cool the car. I went out to check on it about 45 minutes later. I felt the charger to see if it stays cool during the process. It gets slightly warm, not enough to bother me, much less so than my laptop computer. But I was just curious.
The Mini's fan was still on. It's pretty loud, louder than my washer/dryer, which are also in the garage. In the morning, it was quiet. I kept it plugged in until I went out later that afternoon, about 3:00 PM. It was fully charged with an estimated range of 84 miles.
I drove to a party at a friend's house about 21 miles away. It was a very hot day and I had the air conditioner on the whole time. When I got home, I had used up more than half of the Mini's battery charge. It said I still had 38 miles worth of driving. I plugged in around midnight and left it overnight. Sunday morning it was still charging and its fan was running. So, I left it there and chose to walk to the supermarket. I would normally drive. But since it was such a beautiful day and I didn't need more than I could carry, I walked.
When I got back, I left the garage door open for a while to let in some cool air. And I cleared away some of the boxes that were stacked next to it to give it some breathing room and make it easier to back in. I checked on the Mini again around 4:00 PM. It was fully charged.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
adavis2493 says:
04:18 PM, 08/24/09
Plug it into a Banana and see how much charge you get out of it....
carguy622 says:
04:21 PM, 08/24/09
Sounds like an easy process, and no tripped circuits this time!
texases says:
07:11 PM, 08/24/09
Sounds like it's a 'I'll use it if it's charged' test - what's the point? I thought you were going to see if nightly charging can keep up with your needs.
soareyes says:
07:52 PM, 08/24/09
Donna, if you aren't already doing this, leave one window down a bit when you are charging the car. The Mini E's battery fan sucks air in through those vents behind the seat. You'll get more air flow with a window down than if the air has to come in through the Mini's heater/ac vents. Try sitting in the car while it is charging with the windows up vs. down and you'll feel and hear a difference in airflow.
soareyes says:
07:53 PM, 08/24/09
Donna, if you aren't already doing this, leave one window down a bit when you are charging the car. The Mini E's battery fan sucks air in through those vents behind the seat. You'll get more air flow with a window down than if the air has to come in through the Mini's heater/ac vents. Try sitting in the car while it is charging with the windows up vs. down and you'll feel and hear a difference in airflow.
hybris says:
08:04 PM, 08/24/09
You left your garage door open with a limited beta car inside? Seriously is California like this?
I wonder what sort of fire hazard the Mini E is in confined spaces?
brn says:
11:11 PM, 08/24/09
"I wonder what sort of fire hazard the Mini E is in confined spaces?"
It should be fine, as long as you don't surround it with flammable cardboard (Bekins) boxes.
ahightower says:
05:55 AM, 08/25/09
So the limited range is actually a "green" feature. You'll end up walking more when your battery is drained. Of course, more physical exertion requires you to emit more CO2... oh dear...
opfreakx says:
06:31 AM, 08/25/09
I think more of a threat to the mini is all those boxes.
seriously after a while its time to throw stuff out.
If you haven't used it in a year, it might be time for it to go.
dougtheeng says:
06:45 AM, 08/25/09
MINI fans love running well after the car is off. I've experienced this on the gas version.