SE convertible

I totally would have gone for a convertible SE instead of my (still beloved) hardtop SE if they had made a ragtop version available at that time — and I sure hope they do come out with this at some point, preferably sooner rather than later. I love it!

I actually came to post this video of it when I saw your thread:

 

I also would have gone for the convertible if available. It’s about the only thing I’d give up my SE for at this point!


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I’m wondering if it’s only a concept because there may be bracing underneath that is not on the hardtop which gets in the way of the battery?

 

Chassis bracing is not the biggest problem. I doubt there will be any EV convertibles without some kind of a roll bar. The MINI Convertible's A-pillar wouldn't be strong enough to protect the occupants in a roll-over accident due to the additional concentrated weight of the battery. It will be interesting to see how Porsche's electric Boxster addresses this safety issue.

 

Maybe convertible BEVs could adopt the racing Halo device, one for each seat.

 

The roll bar will be a subscription item.

 

As my Porsche 911 turbo convertible have no any protective bars with mini SE under power car and batteries weighting this car to a ground is unnecessary to put any protection those cars not flip over or you an idiot driving to a ditch and HV batteries are integrated to car body structure make SE convertible stronger than AC cars but SE convertible will be here in 2025

 

As a Porsche cars the they don’t need to sell EVs bc the Porsches 911 i selling them still for $130000 to $300000 and you wait 2 years for you order but 718 Cayman and Boxter will be electric after 2025 not 911 as a best selling car in Porsche history .

 

Regardless, the cars will have to pass NHTSA crash testing (and many accidents are the fault of other drivers pushing you into that ditch).

 

I don’t understand why some people think a roll bar is a show stopper here. Other convertibles have had them, nothing stops Mini from doing the same if they need to. The only valid point I see is that is a redesign and will therefore wait until 2025. I can see it being prohibitive to add a roll bar the the current design just for a low-volume halo car.


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The original mini convertible weighed 3000 pounds. There are many heavy convertibles
The only change would most likely be in the mounting rather than the bar itself
This is not an issue.

 

I guess I was wrong and, like VW (RIP, ID.Buggy), MINI just decided no one would buy an electric convertible.

 

They’ve got to reduce motor noise a little more for the convertible. I tend to always drive with windows up because of it. It should be solved with next-gen inverter tech though.

 

Interesting. I always drive with the windows down whenever I can (summer is short up here!). The inverter whine is noticeable but it doesn’t bother me. In fact I kind of like having a spaceship like sound from the car. Wind noise often drowns it out, I imagine it would drown out even more on a convertible.

Unless you are thinking about the low speed noise. Below 20MPH or so you aren’t hearing the inverter. You are hearing an artificial noise added to alert pedestrians to your presence.


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There is the pedestrian noisemaker (I disabled this via Bimmercode), the whirring up and down of the inverter/motor, and a higher static tone. The static tone bothers me and I made a thread about it a while back. Gotta have dog ears to hear it. Really my only meaningful complaint about the car, and it's certainly not unique to the Mini. The tone is much reduced from my old i3.

 

Has anyone, anywhere, ever said that about an ICE convertible?

 

Perhaps not, but what I infer from the comments — and I’m ready to be corrected — is that it’s a specific frequency or chord from the SE’s drivetrain that @polyphonic finds objectionable. I used to be unable to visit jewelry stores in malls because of their “ultrasonic” alarms. Some aircraft APUs drive me nuts with a similar effect, which sucks, because I’m around aircraft 8+ hours a day, five or six days a week.

 

Ah, this is why I don’t hear it. It’s a known fact that high frequency hearing declines as you age, and I am at an age where it is noticeable compared to my teens.



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