Photo: MINI
It’s called the Transfagarasan, and TV host Jeremy Clarkson claimed back in the day when he was still the star of Top Gear it is the “best road in the world.” This moniker came to him after Clarkson drove on the road behind the wheel of an Aston Martin DBS Volante. But how does one driving an electric MINI feel about it?
Earlier this year, MINI presented the SE, its first venture into the realm of production electric cars. Like all vehicles of its type, it has been thoroughly tested before its public release, but never in such an overt manner.
Sometime between the time the car was unveiled in July and its first public appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week, the MINI SE took a trip on the Transfagarasan, in an attempt to prove the 90 km of tight corners, the 1,400 meters height difference and the 8.6 maximum gradient of the road does not harm the car’s battery in any way. And it didn’t.
For the entire round trip that spanned for 180 km (111 miles), just short of the maximum range provided by the 32.6 kWh lithium-ion battery and the energy recuperation system (ideal on roads such as this), the MINI SE needed no recharging, despite the challenging course.
The electric MINI Cooper SE has enough punch to navigate through the ups and downs of roads such as these. It is powered by an electric motor mounted on the front axle that develops 184 hp and 270 Nm of torque.
The motor can accelerate the SE to 100 kph (62 mph) in 7.3 seconds, on its way to the electronically limited speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).
As the market launch for the EV approaches, we expect more challenges such as this to be made public, as MINI needs all the exposure it can get to get the car off to a rolling start.
Sometime between the time the car was unveiled in July and its first public appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week, the MINI SE took a trip on the Transfagarasan, in an attempt to prove the 90 km of tight corners, the 1,400 meters height difference and the 8.6 maximum gradient of the road does not harm the car’s battery in any way. And it didn’t.
For the entire round trip that spanned for 180 km (111 miles), just short of the maximum range provided by the 32.6 kWh lithium-ion battery and the energy recuperation system (ideal on roads such as this), the MINI SE needed no recharging, despite the challenging course.
The electric MINI Cooper SE has enough punch to navigate through the ups and downs of roads such as these. It is powered by an electric motor mounted on the front axle that develops 184 hp and 270 Nm of torque.
The motor can accelerate the SE to 100 kph (62 mph) in 7.3 seconds, on its way to the electronically limited speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).
As the market launch for the EV approaches, we expect more challenges such as this to be made public, as MINI needs all the exposure it can get to get the car off to a rolling start.
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