We shared on our social media channels the excitement around the unveiling of the MINI Electric a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty exciting to think that this potentially ground breaking little electric car has been developed at the MINI plant just a few miles down the road from OVL’s HQ in Oxford.
You won’t see any MINI Electrics on the roads in 2019, deliveries will begin in March 2020 but here’s some useful information we’ve been able to gather on the MINI Electric.
- The MINI Electric hatchback will have a pure EV range of 124 miles.
- MINI will be putting Cooper S badges on the tailgate – a hint to the comparable level of performance.
- The MINI electric is powered by a 181bhp electric motor from the BMW i3S.
- It will get from 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds
- It will have a top speed of 93mph.
- The motor is powered by 32.5kWh battery pack. It’s positioned horizontally down the middle of the car. This means space isn’t compromised - rear seats and the boot are the same size as conventional petrol and diesel MINIs.
- When charging on a 50kW rapid DC charger an 80 per cent top-up takes 35 minutes. AC 11kW charging takes 2.5 hours for 80 per cent or 3.5 hours for a full charge.
- A charging cable suitable for a three-pin domestic socket is only supplied as standard.
Exterior changes include:
- It sits 15mm higher off the road than normal hatch
- There’s a new rear bumper with a smoother design
- At the front there’s another new bumper – this one’s 19mm longer than the petrol car’s as it incorporates more pedestrian crash safety tech.
- The Cooper S’s bonnet grill remains - cosmetic only!
- More aerodynamic door mirrors
- A yellow ‘S’ badge on the boot lid and yellow ‘E’ badges on the scuttles.
On the inside
There’s a yellow trim and buttons including the Start/Stop toggle switch, and on the centre console there’s a new infotainment scroll wheel and an electric handbrake. The ‘typical MINI’ analogue clock for the speedo and rev counter have been replaced with an elliptical screen with speed, power and electric range data.
There will be three trim levels - more info to be released but we know that basic equipment will include cloth seats, a 6.5-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and sat-nav (which also includes charging station info), cruise control and automatic air conditioning.
Paint choices are limited to silver or grey.
Mid-spec cars will get cloth and leatherette seats, keyless entry, heated seats, a parking camera and MINI logo puddle lamps. Black, green and red are available for mid-spec as are larger alloy wheels.
The top spec will get ‘Lounge’ leather upholstery, an 8.8-inch touchscreen, wireless charging and even more colour and wheel choices.
Excited about the new MINI – we’ll be certain to let you know when this exciting little car is available to order as a leased vehicle. If you'd like to be the first to know why not sign up to our mailing list by clicking here.