New Mini volts around the city
Mini has gone electric. There is only one question – is it still fun to drive? Nile Bijoux finds out.
Mini has made the jump to electric power, and it has startedwith the iconic threedoor Cooper S.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
Instead of creating an all-new electric vehicle, Mini has taken the bones of the Cooper S and added a T-shaped battery beneath the floor with a capacity of 32.6kwh. This connects to an electric motor and single-speed transmission pulled from thebmwi3 generating 135kw/270nm. It might not be much on paper but it doesn’t need to be the last word in performance. What this car needs to be is fun.
Where did you drive it?
With Covid-induced lockdowns in place, the launch took place in Auckland and consisted of Mini throwing me the keys and saying ‘‘sod off, just bring the car back in one piece’’. So I did.
From the Mini base in Newmarket I drove west, avoiding the damaged Harbour Bridge. The first thing I noticed was the range, reading somewhere around the 180kmmark after a few minutes of driving. Mini says that its ‘‘internal studies’’ have shown Mini owners only drive around 37.5km a day on average, meaning the Cooper Electric doesn’t particularly need a huge range. It’s a city car, with the long-haul trips typically reserved for a larger combustion-powered vehicle.
The low range did put a damper on any frivolous driving I had in mind, as I didn’twant to be the one requiring a flatbed back to HQ.
After a small loop of Waitakere backroads, I can confirm that despite the humble output figures, the Mini Electric is still amini in terms of driving.
The power isn’t enough to totally overwhelm the front tyres but it’ll haul the car out of corners with surprising verve.
Part of that is due to the weight. Despite adding heavy lithium-ion batteries, the Cooper SE (E for electric, by the way), the car only weighs 1365kg. That’s about 150kg more than the Cooper S but it doesn’t really feel it. Mini’s engineers have done a bang-up job of retaining the ‘‘go-kart’’ handling Coopers are known for.
Around town, the electric Mini feels about the same to drive as a normal Mini, aside from the regeneration happening off-throttle. By default, the regen is set to high, which requires a sensitive right foot as, instead of taking your foot off the accelerator and braking like a normal car, it’s smoother to modulate the throttle to slow down and only use the brake when you need to hold the car at a stop.
It can be a bit lurchy at first and you might find yourself stopping at a set of lights with about two car lengths between you and the car in front but you get used to it.
The system is similar in execution to Nissan’s e-pedal, found in the new Leaf. You can turn it down via a toggle next to the starter though.
Storage is about the same as a Cooper S – 211 litres with the rear seats up.
One thing to note is the Cooper SE has a distinct lack of driver assistance tech. There’s cruise control but it’s not the smart sort. Lane keep assist and lane departure warning are similarly absent.
What stands out the most?
The powertrain, though I might cheat and also say the chassis. It’s more than enough for urban driving and it offers good thrills on the open road too, if you dare risk the range. It’s still amini at the end of the day, making this a genuinely fun-to-drive EV that doesn’t break into $100k-plus territory.
Why would I buy it?
It’s an electric Mini! It looks great, goes hard and runs on volts over dino juice. If you want something stylish to cruise around the city in without worrying about the environment, this is it.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
You need to drive more than 200km regularly. Of course there are fastcharging stations popping up all over the country, more than 200 at the time of writing, but the range is still something to consider, especially when competitors Leaf and Ioniq offer more kilometres (270km and 311km respectively, under the WLTP cycle). Remember though, these figures are best-case scenarios.