Mini E: ultimate electric hot hatch? Full road test // Jonny Smith CarPervert

Published 2nd March 2020. The Mini E - or Mini Cooper se to be precise - is Mini's first mass produced electric car. They did make a batch of experimental Mini One EVs in 2009, and whilst they had excellent performance the batteries took up the whole back seat area. 10 years later the latest UK-built British icon has been gifted the electric powertrain of its BMW i3 cousin and a few minor trim tweaks to provide a quicker 0-62 than its Honda e arch rival, as well the Peugeot e208, revised VW e-Up! and Renault Zoe. With a WLTP range of 145 miles, however, is it enough to be a convincing purchase against the other electric hatches in this sub £30,000 supermini class? Testing the new leccy Mini in the real world is vital, so I drove it on a suitably Mini adventure from Oxfordshire to Swindon to meet up with a classic Austin Rover Mini that can be ordered with fully electric conversion. The Swind-E is the product of Swindon Powertrain, a company who balance hyper e-bike manufacture with BTCC touring car engine building, and soon an off-shelf e-axle electric motor conversion kit to purchase. I will be driving the Swind-E in detail on another episode of CarPervert, as well as a full factory tour of Swindon Powertrain, who in their 50 year lifespan have been involved in F1, WRC and even the forthcoming Lotus Evija EV hypercar project. Thank you for watching. If you haven't already, click the bell icon to alert you when the next CarPervert video lands. Filmed by Mark Taylor-Hankins and Nick Poole. Edited by Mark Taylor-Hankins @inksharkman

Accreditation Link: https://youtu.be/dyswzcDCjxE

Browse Videos (314)

New 2021 Bentley Bentayga vs Range Rover video review: two luxurious SUVs tested
  • Published on 8th April 2021. Who makes the is the best luxurious 4x4? The just-revised 2021 Bentley Bentayga will think it's in with a shout. It received more than 1000 changes late last year and, equipped with a 4.0-litre V8 engine, has all the trappings of the ultimate luxury SUV. It costs £146,700, has lashings of leather and luxury equipment and makes 542bhp, giving it 4.4sec 0-62mph performance and a 180mph top speed. The Range Rover, meanwhile, is the original blend of luxury and off-roader, and hasn't stopped excelling at both since its inception. This latest version, a D300 in Westminster trim as tested here, costs rather less than the Bentley but that doesn't make the comparison invalid. At £86,920 it's still an expensive car. Sure, it makes 296bhp so has a top speed of only 130mph and wants 7.4sec to go from 0-62mph. But maybe that's enough for an SUV? Let's find out. Matt Prior takes to the roads of England's home counties to find out which of these two cars suits them best. New videos are uploaded to Autocar each week. Don't miss a single one. Subscribe now: http://smarturl.it/autocar
View Video
New Aston Martin V12 Vantage review - baby Aston gets 690bhp for one final supercar-hunting mission
  • Published 12th May 2022. Aston Martin's smallest model, the Vantage sports car, has just been treated to a serious powertrain makeover, and we've already tested the results on track. This, the fourth-generation V12 Vantage, has a 690bhp turbocharged V12 sourced from the DB11 and DBS Superleggera. It's now rated for a top speed of 200mph; it's faster-accelerating than any other Vantage; and it has a whacking 20 per more power to weight than any of its Vantage siblings. This is also the last time that Aston Martin will ever squeeze a V12 engine under the low bonnet of a Vantage super sports car, it says, as electrification rises amongst its commercial priorities, and it adopts more engines from Mercedes-AMG rather than those built at its old owner Ford's engine plant in Cologne, Germany. It's very rare for any car maker to announce the imminent end of life of any of its models; so, in this case, does ultimate also mean best? Matt Saunders took to Aston Martin's Stowe Circuit, at Silverstone, to find out. New videos are uploaded to Autocar each week. Don't miss a single one. Subscribe now: http://smarturl.it/autocar
View Video
New Bentley Bentayga SUV review
  • The Bentayga is an incredible new SUV for a whole host of different reasons. For starters it’s every bit as good to drive as it is merely to sit in. We need to wait until we drive it on more familiar UK roads before passing a final judgement on its ultimate capabilities, preferably alongside its key rivals from Germany and the United Kingdom. But for the time being, be in no doubt; Bentley has moved the SUV game to a different part of the pitch with the Bentayga. Is it the best in the business? For the time being it’s a very strong maybe. Steve Sutcliffe drives what Bentley claims is the "fastest, most luxurious and most exclusive SUV in the world."
View Video
New Honda Civic Advert: "Up"
  • Uploaded on 23 Feb 2017 Long ago, Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda, uttered simple but extremely powerful words; “Instead of being afraid of the challenge and failure, be afraid of avoiding the challenge and doing nothing”. The 2017 Honda Civic continues this belief. Through brave and daring design the new Civic is more than a mere iteration, it is truly distinctive from it's predecessors, inside and out. Learn more about the exciting new Honda Civic here: http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/new/civic...
View Video
Page 35 of 53 12...313233343536373839...5253