It's amazing to think that the Mini automotive company has been around for 60 years now. Ever since the first Mini rolled off a production line over half a century ago, the car has been a well-known symbol of the automotive industry. Even the comparatively huge car that BMW makes today retains the instantly recognizable status the car is known for.
Whether or not you actually enjoy the Mini family of vehicles is entirely up to you. However, it is an indisputable fact that Mini is constantly evolving. From a small car meant to save fuel, to several SUVs and even some rally championship cars, Mini is always looking for new ways to push forward in the automotive world. And now, as recently as July 2019, BMW has announced that Mini will be making the push forward into the electric market.
In July, after years of concept cars and months of speculation, BMW confirmed that there would be an electric Mini and, in the months since then, the general public has been receiving more and more information about the car.
The car has been making the rounds at several motoring shows and conventions since it was first announced, even getting a mention on Top Gear's web special where they talked about their top 5 favorite electric vehicles at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany on September 12.
However, as with any new automotive advancements, people are skeptical as to if BMW can actually deliver on all their promises. The main point of contention is price. Let's face it, electric cars aren't cheap. Take the 2019 Nisan Leaf for example, widely known for being one of more affordable electric cars on the market. That base model Leaf costs around $30,000. However, BMW has given the base model electric Mini an estimated price of $25,000 here in the US.
So let's take a look at exactly you'll get for your $25,000, starting with the car's specs.
First off, let's talk about the car's basic performance. According to BMW, the specs of the new electric Mini Cooper SE will be pretty close to the specs of the gas-powered Mini Cooper S, albeit with the usual limitations of a small electric vehicle. This means the car will go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just over seven seconds and will max out at just over 90 miles per hour thanks to the limiter that has been put in place.
But let's face it, when you're looking at a small, family-style, electric vehicle, you aren't really looking for acceleration or top speed, you're looking for range. One of the major reasons so many people stay clear of the electric car market is range anxiety. Simply put, the fear of running out of charge and not being able to find a place to charge up.
When it comes to range, the Mini really doesn't do all that badly, ending up with the ability to drive up to 175 miles on a full charge. Now that might not seem like a lot compared to something like the 264 mile charge you can get on a mid-range 2019 Tesla Model 3, but that is because the mid-range Model 3 has a base price of $42,900. Essentially, the Mini gives you way more bang for your buck and provides you with the perfect city-going electric compact, ideal for going back and forth to the office as well as around town.
Another added benefit of such a small range is how quickly the car can be charged. With the launch of the electric Mini, BMW has implemented a new fast-charging system in their car, a modified version of the one found in the 2019 i3, that allows the car to charge from flat to 80% in just 35 minutes when connected to a level 3/fast charger. This means that, if you stop somewhere for lunch and plug you car in, you'll most likely be good to go by the time yo're done and, unless you forget to plug it in overnight, you'll never wake up in the morning to find that the range on your car says "12 miles."
Under the hood of the Mini, you'll find a single electric motor that has been adapted for use from the 2019 BMW i3 Plug-in hybrid. This motor, along with a 32.6-kWh battery pack, gives the car a total of 181 horsepower, a statistic that puts it almost level with it's gasoline-powered brother, the Cooper S.
Stylistically, the car looks the same as any other 2019 Mini Cooper. It is a box that also happens to have wheels, except for a few small details.
For instance, when you buy the electric Mini, you get the choice of a paint job that is exclusive to that car, oddly hideous accent coloring. If you so choose, you can have a pale yellow stripe painted in the middle of the car's fake grill, as well as on the wing mirrors. While I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with this idea, I just wish they could have picked a color that doesn't remind me of undercooked mac and cheese.
However, BMW made the brilliant decision to add a fake grill where the real one would be. Even though, as an electric car, it clearly doesn't need one, it helps to make the car look a lot more normal. Compare this to Tesla, who just let their design team go crazy with the eraser and, as a result, have ended up with a very odd-looking front in more recent years.
The very empty and odd looking front of a 2019 Tesla model 3 shown above.
The interior of the vehicle has also gotten quite a bit of a face-lift as well, the most prominent part being the dashboard. Now, behind the steering wheel, a fully digital array of gages has replaced the physical ones found in some of the more recent Minis. The new set up will be able to properly handle the intricacies and changes that come with an electric vehicle, all without sacrificing the basic layout.
The center console, previously just a small screen in the middle of the center console, has been updated to a much larger rectangleular touch screen from which the driver or front-seat passenger can control all the functions we expect from a modern-day car.
The pale yellow stripe that was part of the optional colors for the vehicle also makes an appearance here, splashed across the edge of the dashboard on the passenger side. Unlike its presence on the grill I and mirrors, I actually quite enjoy it here as it contrasts nicely with the dark interior of the vehicle. Luckily, BMW has said that you can have the interior stripe without having the color present on the car's exterior.
Many of these features, such as the larger touchscreen and the digital dial cluster will be making their way over to the normal Cooper S within the next few years, however they are starting out exclusive to the Cooper SE.
Overall, the new electric Mini Cooper SE is a significant first step in a bold new direction for both Mini and BMW as a whole and I for one am incredibly excited to see where they go from here
