Written by DriveLife online
2020 MINI COOPER SE ELECTRIC City EV with a dose of Fun
The MINI Electric might seem like a new model, where some time will be spent making it better, ironing out bugs. But that’s not the case; using the electric drive system from the BMW i3, the MINI Electric should be pretty well sorted out of the box. However, it does have a smaller capacity battery than the i3, at 32.6kWh (the i3 is 42kWh), and there’s no Range Extender option either. Does this mean the MINI Electric shouldn’t be on your list, if you are considering moving to an EV that is designed for city use? MINI sent us a stock standard model for three weeks over Christmas to see if it could roll with the big boys.
THE RANGE The UK-built MINI Electric comes in just the one flavour: the $59,990 Cooper SE. Actually, the MINI Electric is built at the birthplace and heart of MINI production, in Oxford, England. It’s front-wheel-drive only, with the electric engine up there of course There is the Countryman available as well, but since that’s a plug-in hybrid, we’re ignoring it for this review. The electric engine manages 135kW of power, and 270Nm of torque – good figures for a 1,365Kg car. 1 6 CAPRICORN IGNITION APRIL 2021
The MINI Electric is closest in specs to the Cooper S, but does add some extra equipment, like a digital TFT LCD instrument cluster, a 12-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system and a heads-up display. From the Cooper S, it takes heated front seats, adaptive LED headlights, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, leather seating, 17” alloy wheels, SatNav with Real Time Traffic Information, MINI Connected Services, Comfort Access, adaptive LED headlights, heads-up display, front and rear parking sensors including Parking Assistant, Qi wireless phone charging, electric park brake, keyless entry and start, City Crash Mitigation with pedestrian detection, reversing camera with dynamic guidelines, cruise control, speed limiter, front LED fog lights, rear fog light, auto high beams, auto wipers, LED interior light pack, heated exterior mirrors and washer jets, ambient lighting, MINI logo projection from the doors, dual zone climate AC, and wireless Apple CarPlay. Our test car did come with a double sunroof, which isn’t actually available on New Zealand-spec models.
The MINI Electric is $6,000 more than the equivalent petrol-powered MINI Cooper S. Compared to say a Hyundai Kona EV which is double the cost of the petrol equivalent, the MINI Electric is good value. There’s four colour combinations available, which includes different wheel options as well, namle 17-inch MINI Electric Power Spoke wheels paired to White Silver and Midnight Black, or 17-inch MINI Tentacle Spoke wheels paired to Chili Red and British Racing Green. The changes in wheels also goes to the mirror caps and front blade. You can read more about the MINI Electric on MINI New Zealand’s website.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS "However it happens, our task will be to make a MINI recognisable as a MINI,” says Oliver Heilmer, Head of Design for MINI. Well, they’ve achieved that and also managed to not make the car look too weird and scare off potential buyers.
