CravenSpeed, of Portland, OR, USA, has built, and will be offering instructions and parts to turn, the 2002-2006 hatchback Mini into a fully electric car. Nevada-based Hybrid Technologies has begun manufacturing their electric-powered, lithium-electric all-electric model of the BMW Mini Cooper. Its 2023 Mini Cooper SE will come in a 2-door coupe, hatchback, and convertible. To date, the 2023 Mini is the only fully electric Mini, but Mini says that it really plans on making many more EV cars by 2030.
Powered by an 181-hp motor located under the bonnet, the front-wheel-drive Mini Cooper SE will offer the kind of go-kart-like driving Mini promises with its other models, BMW says. With an 135-kW electric motor delivering 184 horsepower and up to a range of up to 234km, the Mini Cooper SE is well-suited for city driving conditions, and it is likely to be enough for most people looking for a vehicle they can drive in. The expansion of the 2023 Mini Cooper SE will enable engineers to install a larger battery, which will give it a range of between 114-120 miles, which might sound short on first impressions, but this is a car designed to get around town or on the daily commute.
BMWs Mini brands decision to switch to an all-electric model likely will attract its clientele in urban areas, where internal combustion cars are under fire for restrictions or are banned altogether. Its subsidiary brands plan for an all-electric vehicle gives German carmaker BMW an opportunity to test the waters on how the electrification of its engines would attract customers. BMWs owned-brand unveiled the design concept last year for a new model, the Mini Electric, which would be the companys first all-battery-electric vehicle. People with knowledge of the situation said BMWs Mini brand would produce battery-electric vehicles exclusively starting in 2030.
Mini is owned by BMW, and although cars would be built at Minis factory in Oxford, England, electric motors would be imported from Germany. BMW had also said that they could also build an electric Mini in China, but has now said that the car will only be made in England. After years of experimentation with models and concept cars, BMW has unveiled the all-electric Mini Cooper, which you can actually buy.
The new Mini Electric is also going to be a big change in the way the BMW-owned company designs its cars, reports AutoCar, the Campaigns sister magazine. While the Mini Electric, also known as Cooper SE, is its sister brands sole EV at present, sources revealed an all-electric Countryman version would reportedly go into production by 2023. That is what Autocar has learned following a first drive in its new-generation EV hardtop, fully 18 months ahead of when that model is set to go on sale.
Interestingly, although a petrol-powered MINI Hardtop would look like an electric, under the skin it would look entirely different, riding on the updated FAAR architecture that is also used in BMWs new 2-series Active Tourer. While the new EV architecture will enable its next-generation EV Hardtop to offer even tighter exterior dimensions, the interior will have plenty of space thanks to the longer 40mm-wide (1.6-inch) wheelbase and wider track.
The MINI USA Untold Edition will be available in MINI Clubman, including 301-hp JCW Performance models. The 2023 model year MINI John Cooper Works convertible, exclusively featuring a standard 8-speed Steptronic Sport Automatic transmission. These new hardtop and convertible models will begin production in March 2022, and include MINI Hardtop 2 Door (Cooper, Cooper S, MINI Cooper SE, and JCW), MINI Hardtop 4 Door (Cooper and Cooper S), and MINI Convertible variants (Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works).
For the 2023 Model Year, MINI USA increased prices of just the Cooper variant by $500, while keeping prices the same for the remaining model variants, further increasing affordability and value for MINI USA customers. Mini said about 80 percent of the buyers of 2022s Mini Cooper SE were new to the brand, but returning customers will find the cabin of the SE a very familiar place, featuring the same circular themes and funky designs that have defined Minis since 2000.
While you can push the Mini SEs price significantly by checking the options boxes (the iconic trim, with its fancy interior, adaptive cruise control, and other luxurious features, bumps up the price by $7000), it is still a bargain compared with regular Minis. It is narrow, responsive steering responds to every input from the driver, and a lower-profile battery pack might help the 2022 Mini Cooper SE to feel a bit more planted, but it handles just as well as the regular S. Like the rest of the contemporary Minis, the SE suffers from a lack of girth and dimensions when compared with the original 1959 model and pre-2000 Hot Hatch, but is light and agile compared with pre-2000 Hot Hatch. It trades a gas-powered motor for a BMW i3s electric motor and its own T-shaped, 32.6-kWh battery. The 2022 Mini Cooper SE is the first electric Mini you can buy, but its evolution dates all the way back to 2009s Mini-E. At that point, that car had only 100 miles of range, and its massive battery pack eliminated the rear seats altogether.
