There are few silver linings to the COVID-19 pandemic, but free-flowing traffic is certainly one of them!
For the essential workers who still must commute each day, driving to work has suddenly become much easier. The same applies to the trucks delivering our surging e-commerce orders. Removing so many cars from the roads has even led to cleaner air, clearer views, and more room for outdoor recreation, even in major cities.
And for the rest of us? Well, maybe it's time to go car shopping again as there’s definitely no better to enjoy the highways surrounding your suburb than now! And the following are some of the top picks from the myriad of automotive releases in our neck of the woods for you to consider.
This article was first featured in The Peak Malaysia's 2/2021 Issue
MINI Cooper SE
BMW’s reborn city car consistently sells strongly, offers rock-solid residual values, and drives with slightly cartoonish but ultimately endearing vim! It’s the sort of car owners give names to, really… And now, there’s one that you plug in instead of fill up. Driving the front wheels, there’s a single electric motor, dishing out 182bhp – the same power as a 2.0-litre petrol-powered Cooper S. The Cooper SE is heavier, however: 145kg heavier than a MINI Cooper S with the automatic gearbox. Being a city car, the Cooper SE is tuned specifically to provide peak acceleration at up to 60 km/h. As such, the 0-60 km/h sprint is done in 3.9 seconds, but the century sprint is achieved in 7.3 seconds. Under the floor rests a new, specially-developed T-shaped 32.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. MINI says this is good for a driving range of up to 234 km (WLTP cycle; 270 km on NEDC cycle).
