The Mini Electric is not to be confused with the Mini E. The Mini Electric was previewed with the Concept Car, Mini Electric Concept, at IAA 2017 in Frankfurt. Mini has been playing around with electrification since 2009, with a limited production run of the Mini E, a programme designed to test in the field the feasibility and appeal of a fully electric Cooper. Mini has also recently teased the possibility of an all-electric convertible, with a one-off Cooper SE Convertible.
However, the conversion of the Mini Cooper SE to an EV, as well as its disappointing range, makes it a tough sell, especially in an age when sports-oriented BEVs with adequate battery life are not nearly as uncommon as even just a few years ago. The Mini Cooper SE is the fully-electric, 2-door version of the Mini Cooper It. The two-door Mini Cooper SE is the rare outlier, one of only three affordable EVs.
That makes the base model an excellent value, offering a host of standard features such as automatic dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, fake leather upholstery, LED headlights, hands-free passive entry, and rain-sensing wipers. While the 2022 Mini Cooper Electric is one of the cheapest electric cars currently available, it still has plenty of popular standard features. While the 2022 Mini Cooper Electric has shorter-than-average range, it makes up for this deficiency by being both more affordable and more fun to drive than many other smaller electric cars.
The 2022 Mini Cooper Electric has a driving range estimated at 110 miles when fully charged, significantly less than that covered by alternatives like the Chevy Bolt EV and the Nissan Leaf. We cannot confirm the governments 2022 Mini Cooper Electric estimate until we are able to test its actual range on our 75-mph freeway course, which is part of our extensive testing regimen. The brand claims 144 miles, but realistically, depending on how and where you drive a Mini Electric, you are likely to hit somewhere in the range of 100-120 miles. The 144 miles are on a vehicle with a fairly small boot, and a back seat that is difficult to access, and little use to anyone except young children anyway.
When it comes to fuel economy, the Mini Hardtop is a total rockstar, with averaging 108 MPGe. The Mini Electric Hardtop has a smaller battery, meaning that it has much less range than the average, but you can get it to full strength very quickly. The Electric Hardtop is not quite as robust as a newer Battery-powered Mini Cooper, itas still a compact vehicle that can be relied upon. With 181 horsepower and a super-athletic chassis, the Mini Electric Hardtop is a convenient compact thatas fun to drive.
The only other EV that starts at less than the Minias starting price is the Nissan Leaf, and itas not as zippy as the Mini. Still, as the most accessible flavor of drivers EV, the Mini Electric is among the best. Performance is noticeably stronger than a lot of cars you could compare it to on this list, and handling is grippy, darting, and nimble, in the brands longstanding tradition of dynamics. Not only is it the first fully electric crossover model from Minis sister brand, but it is the first Mini built on dedicated EV architecture.
This new electric architecture, and the car itself, will be built, not in Germany or Britain, but in China, by the company Great Wall Motor, for the sister company, Mini, which is yet another first for the brand. The core portfolio of electric cars going forward will comprise the MINI 3-door hatchback, as well as crossover models, in both the small car and premium compact segments. MINI to introduce the first models from new generation electric cars A new generation of electric cars In 2023, MINI will introduce the first models of the new generation of pure electrically driven vehicles. MINI is anticipating EVs to be 50% of the overall worldwide sales for MINIs by 2027.
In terms of the future of electric car development, we do have some sense of what MINI has in mind, and we do know that parent company BMW plans on making the Mini completely electric by 2030. Mini has hinted that Mini would move entirely into EVs by the early 2030s, and just last week, Mini teased an insight into the brands design direction, as well as the upcoming fully electric crossover – the Concept Aceman.
That makes it completely different from 2020s Mini Electric (called the Cooper SE in the U.S.), which is built around a modified form of an ICE model. Compared with the Mini E, the limited-production battery-electric car that Mini loaned out to several hundred customers in the U.S. in 2008, acceleration, power, and range are virtually identical, but the batteries in the new Mini Electric occupy a smaller amount of passenger space; batteries in the Mini E took up all the space behind the back seats and the cargo area. You will hear arguments that people typically will not go more than a hundred miles per day anyway, and this is true, but even with the reliable in-home charging solution, worries about getting stranded reduces enjoyment in the Mini Cooper SE.