Long-Term Road Tests

Daily updates on our fleet of cars and trucks

2009 Mini E: Redefining Driving

mini e edit.jpg
This weekend marked my first time behind the wheel of the Mini E. Fortunately, the only items on the to-do list were a few local errands, so the car's limited range wasn't an issue.

The E's aggressive regenerative braking took a lot of getting used to. As we've noted many times before, you rarely need to use the mechanical brakes with the E, since the car decelerates with a vengeance once your foot is off the throttle. It felt kinda like driving in quicksand, and I had to give a lot of thought to pedal modulation to avoid herky-jerky unpleasantness.

As the weekend wore on, though, the ride got smoother as I became more familiar with the car's unusual ways. Here's hoping that my enjoyment of the E grows as I climb the learning curve.

Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor

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1 Comment

firelicked says:

08:46 PM, 11/16/09

Can someone please do a video of this thing. I would like to hear what it sounds like while driving in the car and what it sounds like driving by. I am from northern Canada and there are no electric cars up here. So when I read about making them noiser so pedestrians can hear them, I would like to hear (or not hear) how quiet they are.

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