WEBVTT 00:00:12.710 --> 00:00:17.600 - [Alexander Clark] Interesting week to be doing an EV review. It was what like 43 degrees here this week, 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:22.140 living in BC, set Canada's temperature record three days in a row and then burned to the ground. 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:26.080 Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty over the temperatures, which is why we need good Ev's, 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.740 And man, we've got one here today. I'm kind of shocked to say it. Honestly. 00:00:30.740 --> 00:00:34.300 It's the mini EV and I really like it. Let's have a look. 00:00:34.300 --> 00:00:39.630 This is more of an old stock EV. It wasn't built from the ground up with electrification in mind. 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:45.263 We don't get a frunk. Instead we get a big 'ole battery management system. 00:00:46.490 --> 00:00:50.470 Oh, it just comes up. It's this right here. If we pulled off the, you know, 00:00:50.470 --> 00:00:55.100 pedestrian protector, it looks basically like an engine, but instead of fuel rails, 00:00:55.100 --> 00:01:00.360 it's these high electricity lines. Pretty cool, but also like it has its problems. 00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:04.620 They claim 180 kilometers of range. It's more like 150. 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:08.290 I thought it would be a deal breaker, but in practice, it's not as bad-- more on that later though. 00:01:08.290 --> 00:01:10.640 One second. This is really hard to get back on. 00:01:12.730 --> 00:01:16.670 The look overall is, well, it's a mini. You either love them or hate them. 00:01:16.670 --> 00:01:22.070 It's got this nice little bubbly headlights, kinda looks like a fish, maybe a carp or something up here. 00:01:22.070 --> 00:01:27.100 It's cute. I like it. Is it $40,000 nice looking? Maybe not. 00:01:27.100 --> 00:01:30.810 But I guess that is what you get when it's an electric car. Around, you've got like, you know, 00:01:30.810 --> 00:01:35.710 these nice little mirrors and over here, come on, Andy. Pretty much everything also looks standard, 00:01:35.710 --> 00:01:40.710 except here you have a plug instead of a normal gas cap. Here, you have support for up to 50 kilowatt, 00:01:40.710 --> 00:01:46.670 fast charging, which given the size of the battery in this thing is really fast. 00:01:46.670 --> 00:01:51.340 And around back, you have those nice union Jack tail lights and that's about it. 00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:53.093 Oh yes. And EV plug logo. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:59.620 It is called a mini and it's certainly lives up to that name with the amount of space you have in the trunk. 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:03.700 So you can fit what, maybe two, two fours in here. 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:07.923 If you're going into the cabin with your buddies, not that you can make it to your cabin with the range on this thing, but you know, 00:02:07.923 --> 00:02:12.650 then you lift this up and you have a nice little charging table, 00:02:12.650 --> 00:02:16.560 and quite a bit of space below that. I almost regret that at this point in the review, 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.790 I normally get in the back seat 'cause that's going to be, you don't want to use the back seats in this thing. 00:02:20.790 --> 00:02:23.263 That is for, do I even try Andy? 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:31.860 If I'm honest, this isn't as bad as I expected. 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:37.520 The seats feel nice. There's not a lot of room, if you're over about 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:43.250 four and a half feet tall, you're gonna really struggle sitting back here. 00:02:43.250 --> 00:02:46.370 But that's fine. I wouldn't expect you to be in there more than like, 00:02:46.370 --> 00:02:48.983 well, never, if you own this thing. 00:02:50.670 --> 00:02:54.830 Getting in the driver's seat though, it's, it's a bit of a mixed bag. 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:57.900 The seats, I really like, even though they are cloth, 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:01.950 they're not all leather. And there's no like electronic adjustments. 00:03:01.950 --> 00:03:08.050 I don't really care. They're comfortable seats. In here, there's some hard plastics, but overall, 00:03:08.050 --> 00:03:12.950 the bits that you actually touch are very nice. Like the center console is squishy, right over here 00:03:12.950 --> 00:03:17.600 it's squishy and goes all the way back. So your elbow, no matter where it is, is comfy. 00:03:17.600 --> 00:03:21.727 This one has the piano black package which is, 00:03:21.727 --> 00:03:27.070 $400 for whatever reason. Don't get it. It's terrible. It looks great for about a day, 00:03:27.070 --> 00:03:30.950 and then someone does... That. And you have a fingerprint 00:03:30.950 --> 00:03:35.530 for the next six years. It's terrible. Especially these buttons here for the 2021 one, 00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:40.573 they were like, yeah, we have these nice new piano black steering wheel buttons that are, 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:44.830 yeah, it looks terrible after you touch it once. 00:03:44.830 --> 00:03:48.320 Manufacturers, no piano black, please just, ugh. 00:03:48.320 --> 00:03:54.480 Now it is pretty clear that the last big generation leap for the mini was in 2014. 00:03:54.480 --> 00:04:00.100 They have had two facelifts since then, but this really does not feel like a car from 2021, 00:04:00.100 --> 00:04:05.300 but that's not necessarily a bad thing. You have these super tactile hilt buttons 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:10.130 for every single thing that you want to do. It's just so satisfying to use them like 00:04:10.130 --> 00:04:15.810 this switch for the sun visor. It's just, I would believe that cherry made this switch. 00:04:15.810 --> 00:04:20.970 It's just so great and like hard buttons for every single thing, you have this little knob down here 00:04:20.970 --> 00:04:24.860 that lets you go through all of the different screens on this. 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:29.460 So you have touchscreen and the knob, both of them kind of suck, 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:35.290 but together after using it for a couple of days, you sort of figure out where each one works kinda well 00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:38.540 and using this infotainment, it's shockingly good. 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:41.570 It looks terrible. It's just one of the most putrid looking 00:04:41.570 --> 00:04:44.800 satin apps that I've seen in quite a while, but it does the job. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:49.170 I would rather use this than what's in the Porsche. One thing that's kind of cool that Andy just told me is that 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:52.560 if you zoom out on the map, it shows you your range in the car. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.810 So apparently we can get to Whistler right now. 00:04:55.810 --> 00:04:59.180 I would not try that, but apparently you could. 00:04:59.180 --> 00:05:02.860 I quite enjoy that when you move the steering wheel, 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:06.150 the little display, it moves with the steering wheel. 00:05:06.150 --> 00:05:09.250 So no matter what you do, you don't have to worry about not being able to see it. 00:05:09.250 --> 00:05:15.140 That was a huge problem in the Taycan. Another fun little thing you have to sun visors, I guess? 00:05:15.140 --> 00:05:18.670 Can this one just not go? Oh. That one goes-- Sure. 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:20.763 Cool. Let's drive it. 00:05:25.510 --> 00:05:29.730 But not until after I tell you about our sponsor. 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I quite like the suspension. 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:09.730 Now it is slightly annoying that you can't tune the dampers and the steering 00:06:09.730 --> 00:06:13.520 and the throttle input differently. I do wish that there was individual setting, 00:06:13.520 --> 00:06:19.120 but for the most part, I just set it to mid mode or sport and call it a day. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:20.820 Actually, we've got a corner here. 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:26.610 This thing is hilarious. It is legitimately one of the 00:06:26.610 --> 00:06:31.670 most fun cars I've ever driven. So you have this fantastic steering, 00:06:31.670 --> 00:06:35.160 especially in sport mode where it just tightens everything up a bit. 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:39.803 And although it's not fast, it is exceptionally quick. Like just, 00:06:41.230 --> 00:06:44.940 it feels like you have little like two cylinder turbo 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:48.950 engine that's always making its maximum boost. It's great. 00:06:48.950 --> 00:06:54.490 It gives you this nice, fine control to just sort of tuck it into a corner. 00:06:54.490 --> 00:06:59.310 This is without a doubt the perfect, being a dick hole in traffic car, 00:06:59.310 --> 00:07:05.080 because you have that instant torque and also pretty excellent sight lines all around you 00:07:05.080 --> 00:07:10.330 and an incredibly small car, especially with the BMW turn signal that doesn't 00:07:10.330 --> 00:07:16.480 actually click all the way over. If there's 1.2 car lengths between the people in the lane 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:22.010 beside you, you can make it into that spot. You are such an asshole traffic in this thing, 00:07:22.010 --> 00:07:26.760 and it is fantastic. If you're just going nice and slow and then you hit it, 00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:31.970 you get like a tiny bit of torque steer. This thing's just fun to drive. 00:07:31.970 --> 00:07:33.470 They really delivered on that. 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:39.800 Now the range, you only get like 150 kilometers. 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:44.250 They advertise 180, but then you have to use green mode, which makes the steering bad 00:07:44.250 --> 00:07:47.500 and the damping settings bad and the throttle response bad. 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:50.590 So it's not a fun car anymore. So just don't use it. 00:07:50.590 --> 00:07:56.210 Now even though like the Taycan had 300, 400 kilometers of range, and this only has 150, 00:07:56.210 --> 00:07:59.520 my range anxiety was a lot less than this because the 00:07:59.520 --> 00:08:03.340 battery is small and pretty efficient, so you're not using a whole lot of electricity, 00:08:03.340 --> 00:08:07.310 but you can just plug it in pretty much anywhere, not have to worry about how fast it is 00:08:07.310 --> 00:08:11.040 and not at all long after you have a good bit of charge. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:15.030 Cars like this will make a lot more sense for a lot more people as chargers 00:08:15.030 --> 00:08:18.210 just get installed everywhere. I would really not hate never having 00:08:18.210 --> 00:08:22.840 to go to a gas station again. But then we come to the most brutal part of this car 00:08:22.840 --> 00:08:28.980 and that is the price. So this one right here as spec'd is 46,000 Canadian dollars. 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:32.400 You are not getting $46,000 worth of car here. 00:08:32.400 --> 00:08:35.920 Like you saw the interior, you've seen the ride quality. 00:08:35.920 --> 00:08:39.440 It's not super fast. That's like A-class money. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.580 That's Golf R money. You can very easily tell that this is a $20,000 car, 00:08:44.580 --> 00:08:48.730 with $20,000 worth of battery and motors jammed into it. 00:08:48.730 --> 00:08:52.980 That said, in BC, you might be able to make a case for it. 00:08:52.980 --> 00:08:58.270 If I was to charge us at my house on my normal commute, it would cost me between five and $10 00:08:58.270 --> 00:09:03.460 a week to keep it charged. Given, I'm normally spending about $70 per week 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:07.160 to get to and from work. That's pretty freaking sick, especially given that, 00:09:07.160 --> 00:09:11.290 you know, all our power is done through Hydro. This is incredibly clean. 00:09:11.290 --> 00:09:14.440 So I guess how much it makes sense, kind of depends on where you live. 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:21.240 Like yeah, sure. It is a lot of fun, but I could have this car with $20,000 in my pocket, 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:24.790 if I just got the gas version. If you don't have a charger at your house 00:09:24.790 --> 00:09:28.990 and you don't have another car and you don't live somewhere where the government gives you good kickbacks, 00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.530 it's really hard to recommend this thing. 00:09:32.530 --> 00:09:35.970 Now, will we be getting EVs as fun as this in the future? 00:09:35.970 --> 00:09:39.080 I actually don't know. It's clear that it can be done, 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:42.200 but at the same time, this is a 1400 kilogram car. 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.910 And that definitely adds to the feeling of engagement where you're going around corners. 00:09:45.910 --> 00:09:50.320 In theory, you can have a lot of fun with an electric car that has 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:55.140 about the amount of horsepower a normal person could have. You know, this has 200 foot pounds of torque, 00:09:55.140 --> 00:09:59.090 200 horsepower. That's what you're going to get when EV's start becoming mass market. 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:04.604 You're not going to have 500 horsepower like a Taycan. I guess, mission complete. EVs can be fun. 00:10:04.604 --> 00:10:08.270 And I really hope that more fun ones come out in the future. 00:10:08.270 --> 00:10:12.900 Also massive shout out to Mini Langley and open road for giving this to us. 00:10:12.900 --> 00:10:17.300 I was able to drive it for a week which, was invaluable because, 00:10:17.300 --> 00:10:22.430 I really hated it for the first day. And then I got to actually use it and be like, okay, kinda fine, actually. 00:10:22.430 --> 00:10:26.590 So yeah, I hope that you guys liked this video. Hit like, get subscribed. 00:10:26.590 --> 00:10:30.740 Have a fantastic day. Let us know in the comments how we can make these better 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:34.480 in the future. So long. Oh wait, you guys probably thought that I was going without 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:37.670 a Crab Rave! No, it's not! Harman Kardon system in here. 00:10:37.670 --> 00:10:40.963 It's awesome. Here's some Crab Rave for ya. Have a good day.