The Mini range looks in 2023… almost exactly as it did in 2018, for example. It has been a while since we were able to get to know a really new model, and the current generation of the Mini hatchback is celebrating this year, for example. his tenth birthday. However, that will soon change, because among the whole series of other innovations, the German British are also planning a brand new generation of their hatchback. And it is that model that the CEO is now talking about.
Elektrische hothatch?
In a conversation with the ever-vigilant Autocar, Stefanie Wurst, brand new Mini boss, has dropped that Mini’s hatchback from its next generation will simply be called ‘Mini Cooper’. To be clear, that was not the case until now: the Cooper name was always reserved for stronger variants, while the bases were still known as ‘Mini One’ and the collective name was in theory ‘Mini Hatch’. Furthermore, Mini would stick to the known recipe, whereby the wheelbase of the new city car grows somewhat, but the outer dimensions remain the same with a length of 3.8 meters. At least that applies to the three-door hatchback, while the model is also available again as a convertible and as a five-door.
The latter body shapes would remain reserved for the Mini Coopers with combustion engines, while the electric variant would always have three doors. Wurst is already showing her cards about that EV, because she speaks of at least two powers. For example, the standard Cooper Electric gets the same 184 horsepower as today, while a warmer version under the name ‘SE’ is on the horizon with 218 horsepower on the front wheels. Even a jerked John Cooper Works version on power is not excluded, although the CEO remains fairly vague about this for the time being.
Unrecognizable Mini range
The battery capacity of the electric Minis will also differ depending on the version chosen, with a 40 kWh battery in the basic model or a 54 kWh battery for the more powerful variants. The smallest model should be good for more than 380 kilometers of driving range, while the Mini boss says that the large battery must get twice what the current Mini Cooper SE gets from its 32.6 kWh battery. For reference, it has a theoretical driving range of 234 kilometers, so count on more than 450 electric kilometers for Mini Coopers with a 54 kWh battery. In addition, the new hatchback also comes back with combustion engines, although we have to wait a little longer: while the electric Cooper is scheduled for May 2024, the combustion engines will follow in July.
Before we get to know the new Mini Cooper, it is first the turn of the brand new generation of the Countryman. It would appear as early as February 2024 with also a choice of combustion engines and purely electric powertrains, based on the BMW (i)X1. At the beginning of 2025, both models will be joined by the Aceman, a compact SUV that should make up for the lack of a five-door Cooper on power. In other words, the Mini range will look completely unrecognizable within a year and a half.
