The iconic Mini changes engine and is reborn as an electric car. Promising extraordinary performance: at the official presentation it towed a Boeing 777F.
It has come through the passing decades unscathed, traversing eras and trends. Yet remaining essentially the same. Now the iconic Mini Cooper is reinventing itself and adding a new model to the range, 100 per cent electric. It is due to arrive on the market in March 2020, following broadly the path already set out by the BMW Group in recent months: by 2023 there will be 25 electric vehicles on sale. An electric model that will recall the performance of the internal-combustion Mini Cooper. The so-called go-kart feeling — the sensation of sitting behind the wheel of a go-kart.
"Plug-in hybrid models — as well as fully electric vehicles — can make a real and positive contribution to reducing pollutant emissions," said Pieter Nota of the BMW Group at the presentation in Rotterdam. "They offer a way to rapidly improve air quality in urban areas."
In Italy the electric Mini Cooper will be available at a list price of €33,900. Based on the three-door version, it is fitted with an electric motor developing 135 kW/184 hp. It accelerates from 0 to 60 km/h in just 3.9", while it can reach a (limited) top speed of 150 km/h in just 60 metres. The declared range is between 235 and 270 kilometres, according to the new European driving cycle (NEDC) assessments.
The battery is also located in the vehicle's floor, so that the Mini Cooper retains the boot dimensions of the traditional three-door. In place of the fuel filler there is the charging port, which allows charging at a maximum capacity of 11 kW in two and a half hours to 80 per cent and in three and a half hours to 100 per cent. Using the Mini Electric Wallbox, it is possible to reach an 80 per cent charge in just 35 minutes.
Like other electric models, this one too features one-pedal feeling: the vehicle decelerates as soon as the driver lifts their foot off the accelerator. In this way the electric motor acts as a generator, converting kinetic energy into electrical energy, which is in turn fed back into the high-voltage battery. It is also possible to select the degree of recuperation efficiency.
The subject of numerous restylings, the historic 1960s model has passed through constantly changing eras and design lines, while still managing to retain its distinctive traits. Small, low centre of gravity, extremely sporty — not only on the road. It was then at the end of the 1990s and the turn of the millennium that BMW redesigned both the bodywork and the performance, adapting to the market. Production of the electric model could only begin in Oxford, so as not to forget the "British" soul of the model that made automotive history.