Mini Electric

The Mini Electric offers environmentally friendly driving in typical Mini fashion

Mini Electric Review

Although the Mini Electric was born in 2020, the Mini brand itself – now owned by BMW – has a fantastic heritage going back decades. The first Mini was built in Cowley, Oxford, way back in 1959.

This shiny new electric Mini builds on the brand’s history. It’s a go-kart-like, compact, front wheel drive, modern electric car that puts a smile on your face every time you get in.

Visually, from the outside, it looks pretty much like a ‘normal’ petrol Mini. But the instant torque of its 135 kW electric motor gives you Cooper S performance in a wonderfully peaceful, stylish interior.

Read our Mini Electric review below for a quick overview of its price, trim levels, range in miles on a single charge, charging characteristics, efficiency in miles per kWh, boost space, and more.

Mini Electric Price UK, Trims & Variants

The price of the Mini Electric starts at £30,000 for the E Classic trim, and goes up to £38,000 for the top spec SE Sport trim. Here are all the variants:

Range & Batteries

How far can you drive on a full charge of the battery in the Mini? In ideal conditions, you should be able to achieve the official ‘WLTP’ range in miles. However in winter, for example, electric car batteries don’t perform as well, and actual range will be lower.

This table shows both the more optimistic WLTP range, and a rough, more likely ‘average’ range for the various versions of the Mini Electric:

Efficiency

We are all used to ‘miles per gallon’ of petrol or diesel when thinking about efficiency in traditional cars. With EVs, you need to replace ‘gallon’ with ‘kWh’. 1 kWh = 1 unit of electricity. So the ‘miles per kWh’ measure tells you how many miles you can go on 1 kWh of electricity – the higher the number the better.

Here’s data for the Mini, together with an equivalent in miles per gallon (yes, electric cars really are that efficient!):

Charging Times & Costs

If you have off-street parking, the best and cheapest place to charge your electric Mini is at home. Depending on your home energy tariff, you’ll either charge at a standard flat rate or at a lower off-peak rate. The 0-100% charge times below are a ‘worst case’ scenario – typically you will charge 1-2 hours a day, or maybe go for a longer charge on just a couple of days a week.

Charging at Home on an Off-peak rate of 10p per kWh

Charging at Home on a Peak rate of 34p per kWh

When you’re on a trip, you can get a quick boost at a rapid charger. These vary in terms of charging speed and you are also limited by the Mini’s maximum charging rate. Take the 10-80% charging times with a pinch of salt – the charging rate will gradually decrease and times are often longer.

Charging in Public at a 50 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 50p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 150 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 60p per kWh

Charging in Public at a 350 kW Rapid Charger at a rate of 70p per kWh

Performance

The Mini Electric, like all pure electric cars, has its wheels turned by one or more electric motors. The motors themselves are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Battery + electric motor is a great combination, giving you instant torque with no gears to change.

You’ll find the Mini eerily quiet after an internal combustion engine. Here are the performance stats:

Mini Electric Boot Space & Dimensions

The Mini Electric is a hatchback, and its boot space can be further increased by folding the rear seats down. Here are all the boot and dimensions measurements:

Boot Space & Cargo Volume

Dimensions

Next Steps

If the electric Mini has piqued your interest, next steps are:

1. Narrow down your EV search in a systematic way using our Car Selector tool
2. Read more about the the electric Mini at Mini’s UK website
3. If you’re ready to go, consider leasing the Mini Electric from a low-cost broker