Mini Cooper EV review: a magic revival of a motoring classic

There is something anachronistic about famous motoring entities suddenly becoming something they have never previously been or were almost certainly never intended to be when they were originally conceived.

We saw that in these columns last week when we saw the Mercedes performance arm AMG turning its hand to producing an electric sports saloon, the EQE AMG 43, and a fine thing it indeed is.

But the very words ‘electric sports saloon' will send a shudder of incomprehension across the shoulders of any petrolhead worth their salt. This week we look at another automotive sporting icon which has been electrified and undoubtedly it too will see much scratching of heads among the cognoscenti.

This week’s tester is the EV version of the Mini Cooper S which, in its EV guise, now comes in two guises, the Mini Cooper E and the Cooper SE, the latter of which we got to test.

Of course, when thinking of the Mini Cooper we envision pictures of the late Paddy Hopkirk and his navigator Henry Liddon traversing the Col du Turini in their lightly battered version of Alec Issigonis’ creation which had had John Cooper’s magic competition wand waved over it prior to a shock win in the Monte Carlo Rally.

Hopkirk and Liddon wrote themselves into motoring lore with that famous win and became life-long ambassadors for the Mini brand, even when it came under the auspices of BMW. And the Mini Cooper itself became a legendary symbol of the possibilities of automotive design and creativity.

Under the stewardship of the German marque, which had the intelligence to fully mine the public’s inherent love for and adoration of the Mini Cooper and bring its joys to a new generation of fans for whom the latter-day versions became emblemic of the joie de vivre of car ownership.

Sadly, the Munich/Longbridge outfit were never able to fully replicate the Mini’s rallying success, despite stabs at such as the World Rally Championship and even the Paris-Dakar, but they still nevertheless made the Mini Cooper into a modern legend.

Such offcuts as the Mini Cooper ‘Works’ versions further fuelled the public love affair with the car and the brand and burnished it with solid sales.

This car is actually the second generation Mini electric, but the first one was no great shakes and pretty terminally flawed by a tragic range which only rally made it suitable for urbanites. It was decent enough to drive, but shackled by its inability to go very far.

The new one has a 400+ kilometre range which boosts appeal no end, as does the transformation which has been applied to the look of the car which has been given a bumper to bumper redesign which genuinely sharpens up the whole package.

Visually the car looks even closer to the ground than the older version and while it has lost a few millimetres by comparison, it still looks a sturdy proposition. The whole front end has been redesigned and there’s a new grille look and the light fittings are new too, although there is still plenty of the trademark chrome on display.

The rear end too has been completely revamped and it looks fresher and more purposeful – something you might have thought impossible – than previously. The light clusters are no longer so overtly ‘Union Jack’ as they were, which will be welcomed in Crossmaglen.

On the inside the whole dashboard has been revised and the plastic and chrome trim have been replaced by fabrics on the top of the dash and the doors and on some models there is now a projector on the back of the circular touchscreen which shines light on the patterned fabric and makes for a ‘Northern Lights’ vibe at nighttime.

The circular touchscreen remains, albeit heavily reimagined; it is now 24 cm in diameter and controls everything from the instrumentation to the infotainment, but luckily the tester was also fitted with a heads-up display, so you don’t have to look away from the road to ascertain, say, your speed.

It is a very attractive package and one that easy to live with, although the pale fabrics might not be so pale after the kids get their mitts on it.

That said, it is very thoroughly specified (the Harmon Kardon sound system is a real wow) and there are some neat design touches such as the unique starter button which turns left to right to start and right to left to stop, just like a key.

The front seats are very embracing and comfy; the rears, less so, although not as compromised by the battery pack as used to be the case. Still, it’s tight back there for adults and the boot is pretty small too. You won’t be getting your golf clubs in there.

On the road the older car had a reputation for being a touch fidgety but a softer set up has been adopted here for a more consistent ride quality. The handling is as ‘karty’ as Minis have become renowned for and this one is no different.

Excellent body control and a decent damping set up make the car very pleasant to drive and even spend lengthy periods of time in. There can be a bit of crashiness on the worst paved roads, but you get that in much bigger cars too.

It’s swift too – the 0-100 km/h time is 6.7 seconds and top speed is 170 km/h. These are hardly surprising figures since there is a 215 bhp output and 300 Nm of torque. Battery capacity is 54.2-kWh and it will charge 10-80% in just 30 minutes. A full charge on an 11 kW charger will take five-and-a-quarter hours.

This car is much closer to the ideal of a hot hatch than the previous one and, by comparison with some of the hot electrics we’ve tested, it is a much better on-road experience than most. It might not quite be as quick as some, but the manner in which it drives, handles and corners gets it the vote from this quarter.

Sure it is small inside and the two doors don’t make it particularly practical, but as afficianadoes will know, that’s all part of the ‘Mini Cooper’ experience and you put up with that because it is just so. It’s just part and parcel of the gig.

As such, it is a very good car: smart looking and a smart driver too. It now also has a range level that’s a lot more acceptable than was the case before and you’d have to expect that will lead to more sales.

Of all of the manufacturers trying their hand at this EV business, BMW/Mini seem to have got a decent handle on both sides of the coin here – making a car that drives smartly, is sorted on the handling front and now offers a decent range. Not everyone is getting it right in all three departments.