BATTERY POWER CONVERSION RESULTS IN A GREAT CITY EV

Ten years ago, Mini experimented with an all-electric car which it called the Mini E. We tested it, even though it never went on general sale, because instead it went to companies and selected members of the public who undertook real-world trials of the car.

Now Mini is producing a proper full production EV.

It’s called the Mini Electric and uses the three-door body style.

You can bet that the other models will soon be electrified too. The key news is that the battery pack is fitted into the Mini without robbing the car of any legroom or luggage space. This is a relief because the three-door hatchback isn’t the most spacious of small cars as it is.

Driving the front wheels is a 182bhp electric motor which ironically is the same horsepower as the 2.0-litre petrol engine in the Cooper S – but electrification has added 145kg of weight.

Mini claims a range of between 124 and 144 miles. On our test drive in Oxfordshire in cold and windy weather, we got nearer 100 miles. But data gleaned from current Mini owners revealed that, on average, they drive no more than 25 miles a day so this range will be entirely adequate.

The Mini Electric is supplied

Mini Electric Level 2 three-door hatchback Price: £26,900 (After PiCG) Engine: Single electric motor, 182bhp

0-62mph: 7.3 sec

Range: 144 miles

with a three-pin domestic charging cable. But most owners will want to buy a wallbox for home and a 11kW cable.

The standard cable will charge up the Mini overnight but the wallbox will allow you to go from empty to 80% in two and a half hours, or in 35 minutes from a fast charger station.

Before we go any further let’s talk money. Three specifications are available named blissfully simply ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’. Level 1 costs