Hi Exonian.
Thanks for asking - I was only thinking yesterday I should add an update on my experiences for anyone here considering an EV in general, or the Mini specifically.
The short answer is: loving it! As in, really, really loving it. As we all know, after a few months of new car ownership a niggle or two usually raises its head, but in this case, nothing. No issues. Nothing unforseen has surprised or annoyed me.
The driving experience is fantastic - really enjoyable. Whilst I've become accustomed to the general EV driving experience, I still get a kick out of the silent but solid shove in the back and the smooth, effortless acceleration. And much to my surprise, I don't miss the noise one bit. And the lack of vibration is lovely. I'm still finding the Mini more enjoyable to drive than my MK7.5 GTI (No offence to 7.5 owners here). As I've said in a previous post, it really does remind me of the MK5 GTI, only with the response and enjoyment amplified a bit. It has that same solid, connected and responsive feel to drive.
I tend to use Green mode a bit more now, especially with a passenger on board, as it allows smoother on-off throttle modulation. This largely cures the above mentioned issue maintaining constant speed.
I must admit I'm quite a convert to EVs, despite being a lifelong petrol head. To the extent where I'm thinking about replacing our family car (2021 Mazda 3 Astina) with a longer range EV in a few years. I do love the BMW i4, although that is out of our price range. I note that Lexus will have an EV IS replacement, which IMO looks utterly sensational. If the drive is good, and the pricing within reach, That may well be on our horizon.
https://www.drive.com.au/news/electric-lexus-is-successor-rumoured-for-2025-australian-arm-keen/ Other possibilites are the Polestar 2 and the Kia EV6.
But back to the Mini. The short range has been a complete non-event for us. I tend to use the car once or twice a day and when finished, plug it in to charge. Which over Summer has been 90+% solar, so mostly free. In Winter when our panels are less productive I plan to charge the car overnight, making use of the off-peak tariff. But so far, the Mini has only twice been down to 50% charge, but mostly gets down to ~80% at worst (ie. one day's use) before topping back up to 100%. That usually takes between 1 to 3 hours using our 7KW Zappi home wall box. Although solar charges at around 3kw.
Having said that, the Mini's use is entirely as a city runabout. I would still have anxiety issues on longer trips, hence the petrol Mazda for such uses. Until a 400km+ range EV which I fancy and can afford appears.
The price of petrol here has skyrocketed these last few months and it is such a lovely (and smug!) feeling each time I drive past the petrol station billboards showing 98RON at $2.08/litre (was generally somewhere around $1.50 when I had the GTI).
So in summary, if you do less than 100kms a day, have access to overnight off-street charging and still want something that is a blast to drive whilst saving you money, I would highly recommend the Mini Cooper SE.