Here's our first real look at the new Mini Electric now many EV's are designed radically to stand out from the crowd and to make a statement, however mini think differently and have literally electrified a Cooper S.
The car uses all the Intel and know how from the BMW i3 it is also built on the same platform as the One series and the clever thing about the i3 and what BMW learnt from that is that they know how to fit enough batteries to give you a decent commuting range without eating up any the space inside the car and that includes a the boot which remains at 231 litres.
Even get a mini electric on the road but just under £25,000 that is a Mini one, you can also get a 2 and 3 that retails for just under £31,000, all these prices include UK government grant of £3500.
There are a few changes on the vehicle including the grille is no longer vented because it doesn't need to cool and it sticks out a bit further and looks very EV, the model we have is the 2 in British racing Green and comes with 17 in alloy wheels.
It pulls 0 to 60 in 7.3 seconds and 0 to 30 in 3.9 seconds and has a top speed of about 93 miles an hour.
The Electric is 145 kg heavier than a Cooper S with an automatic gearbox, it is also priced cleverly as well, now BMW and Mini could have given the car a bigger range, more power and lots more of everything but looked at the owners of Mini and realised most only commuted around 26 miles a day therefore 145 miles was perfect this also reduced the price.
The car is very well planted and feels agile though it is a touch higher than the Cooper, it doesn't feel quite as stiff as a Cooper but it seems to have a weight that you can throw around it feels like it has of flex which is perfect that's what you want in a Mini, you want to be able to chuck it about.
Interior is well trimmed with a combination of leatherette and cloth some of the things you will notice are it no longer has an old school handbrake this been replaced with an electronic one and there is now a full digital cluster.
The switchgear feels as good as it ever did and start the engine stop in the centre and to the left you can choose your regenerative braking level low or high and the right-hand side are your driving modes - Sport, Mid, Green and Green plus, dependent on which mode your in the characteristics of the motor change, you can also see the range in each mode.
When you start the vehicle it will automatically have the highest level of regen set as for efficiency , it genrates zero emissions locally and costs around 4.1p per mile.
The Electric Mini is well trimmed, comfortable and handles and it has an 8 year warranty on the batteries or a 100,000 mile.
The Mini Electric or the Mini Cooper SE dependant on where you are, is shaping up to be a fantastic car perfect for commuting and enough range to go adventuring too.
In 36 minutes to you'll end up with 80% from a 50 kW rapid charger or you could just charge it overnight which takes about 12 hours with a three pin plug also the satnav routes you through the charging network meaning you always know where you are.
We've got this ev for another six days tune into our YouTube to find out more and thank you. https://youtube.com/c/planetautouk
