After numerous leaks and official information that trickled online in the past six months, the all-new electric Mini Cooper has finally been fully revealed by the BMW-owned British brand.
Set to make its public debut at IAA 2023 in Munich on September 5, the zero-emissions three-door hatch will officially bear the name Mini Cooper and will be available in two versions: Mini Cooper E and Mini Cooper SE.
The base version features a front-mounted electric motor that develops 181 horsepower (135 kilowatts) and 213 pound-feet (290 Newton-meters) of torque, enabling the battery-powered hatch to sprint from 0 to 62 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds.
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The Cooper SE ups the power and torque figures to 214 hp (160 kW) and 243 lb-ft (330 Nm) respectively, while the acceleration to 62 mph gets cut to 6.7 seconds.
A floor-mounted 40.7-kilowatt-hour battery provides enough juice for a WLTP-rated range of 189 miles (305 kilometers) in the Mini Cooper E, which can DC fast charge at up to 75 kW, while the more powerful Cooper SE gets a slightly larger, 54.2-kWh pack that increases the calculated range to 249 miles (402 km), with a DC fast charging rate of 95 kW. Both models can charge on AC power at up to 11 kW.
Design-wise, the latest-gen Mini features the brand’s well-known circular headlights, this time with LED technology, both for the daytime running lights and main beam, while the new octagonal grille completes the look of the front end.
Speaking of the headlights, integrated horizontal light graphics are included as standard and customers can optionally spec the daytime running lights with three-mode adjustable light signatures.
At the back, the all-new Mini Cooper comes with flush tail lights, while the vertical light clusters can be switched to different modes in the same way as the front lights.
With a drag coefficient of 0.28 cd, the EV features black sills that make the car look like it’s closer to the road, while the old circumferential Black Band has been retired.
Inside, designers went for a minimalist approach, reducing everything to the essentials and removing as many components as they could. As a result, the dashboard now features a round 9.44-inch (240 millimeters) central display that runs the Mini Operating System 9, which was developed in-house by the BMW Group and is based on an Android Open Source Project (AOSP) software stack.
“The new Mini Operating System 9 is characterized by simple, emotional touch operation that is specific to Mini. Together with the new cloud-based Mini Navigation for particularly precise and fast route calculation, high-speed connectivity, and optional 5G capability, the new Mini Cooper takes a giant leap into the digital world, thereby underlining the brand’s charismatic heritage,” said Stefanie Wurst, Head of Mini.
Below the screen that’s the sole source of information for both the driver and front passenger sits a redesigned toggle bar that integrates switches for the parking brake, gear selector, start/stop key, experience mode, and volume control.
At the back, the boot provides 200 liters of storage with the rear seat in its normal position, but it can be expanded to 800 liters by folding down the 60:40 split rear seat.
Four trims will be available: Essential, Classic, Favoured, and JCW, each with different personalization options. For instance, the Essential Trim comes with black sports seats, the Classic Trim features 2D knitted textile surfaces, Favoured brings a two-tone houndstooth pattern on the knitted-textile instrument panel, while the JCW Trim offers John Cooper Works seats covered with a combination of multi-colored knitted textile and black synthetic leather with red stitching.
The new electric Mini Cooper is based on the Spotlight EV platform co-developed by the BMW Group and Great Wall Motor. Production is set to begin in China later this year, with the upcoming Mini Countryman and Mini Aceman joining the Cooper in Mini’s revamped lineup.
