No news is good news: that's really the story of why I haven't posted in a long time. The Mini and I have been cruising along, doing our daily commute and small sojourns here and there. It is serving me well. But there have not been any major developments (or issues) with my Mini or …
Author: Miniwatt Auto
Houston Road Trip Redo
A few weekends ago the right opportunity finally presented itself to take the Mini to Houston again. Our itinerary took us straight to the west side of the city and back: no extra trips around town or to the suburbs that would add charging stops. Several new charging sites have opened since my last epic …
Mini NACS Adapter and Supercharger Access
12/6/24 - I, and many other Mini EV owners, got an official update in the mail yesterday about Supercharger access and NACS adapters for Minis. The only really substantive thing it says is that we will gain Tesla Supercharger access in 2025, via a Mini-certified NACS adapters and updates to the Mini App. It does …
Oh no! Not again!!
August 22, 2024 - 3 years, almost to the day, since I received the fateful notice for my Bolt, I just learned about a battery recall for my Mini. I have not yet been notified by Mini; a news article about the recall came up on my feed, so I looked up my VIN and, …
EV Experience in the Heat
This Central Texas summer has been much cooler than expected overall. But that does not mean that we haven't had some stretches of 100+ days. Most of the conversation about how ambient temperature affects EVs centers around the extreme cold. However, any temperature outside the 50-85 Fahrenheit that most batteries prefer is going to have …
Home Charging Using Only Level 1 (120v)
I've touched on this subject in a couple of other posts, but many people may be curious about this specific subject so I wanted to devote a quick post to it. I charge my EV at home using only the mobile charge cord (EVSE) that it came with and a regular 120v wall outlet. I …
The Opening of the Tesla Supercharger Network
February 29, 2024 represented a significant leap forward for CCS EV owners in the US. It was the day that the Tesla Supercharger network opened at-large to non-Tesla EVs. It is the beginning of what sounds like a very long roll-out, so in reality it does not change much for most EV drivers (myself included). …
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Road Trip! Taking the Mini Outside Its Comfort Zone
The Set Up We take a weekend trip to Houston averaging about once a month. I had that drive squarely in mind when purchasing the Bolt, but knew when I got the Mini it was mostly out of the question. At first I wasn't too bothered by that. On paper our Outback is great for …
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Review of the 2023 Mini Cooper SE Signature
Pros Driving Get behind the wheel of the SE and even mundane trips can be fun. More than the zippiness, which I expected, I am impressed by how planted it feels. The low center of gravity, relatively long wheelbase, and well-tuned suspension make it feel really solid on the road. I actually got the opportunity …
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Shopping Round 2: Mini Cooper SE – We Have a New Winner!
Pretty early on in my second round of shopping the Mini Cooper SE caught my eye. From the moment it entered my radar part of me wanted it to be the one. It seemed unique and fun, yet a surprisingly good value. The base model had an MSRP of $30k, which came out to $34k …
Continue reading Shopping Round 2: Mini Cooper SE – We Have a New Winner!
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