Costs & verdict
Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is
On top of costing less to buy outright than the Honda e the Mini Electric is predicted to fend off depreciation slightly better. That makes it a relatively sound investment in the long term.
If you’re a company car driver, the Mini Electric makes even more sense because benefit-in-kind tax is so cheap on electric cars (and is set to stay that way until at least April 2025). You’ll be saving thousands in company car tax compared with equivalent petrol, diesel or even hybrid car alternatives.
In typical Mini style, there are plenty of customisation options. You can choose from a range of wheel styles, exterior paint colours, roof colours, mirror caps and upholstery finishes within the price of each trim level.
So, is the Mini Electric reliable? Well, the model itself wasn’t included in our 2022 What Car? Reliability Survey but Mini as a brand did rather well, claiming joint third place with Mitsubishi out of the 32 brands rated.
The news isn’t quite as good when you look at safety. The electric version hasn’t been specifically tested by Euro NCAP but the Mini Cooper it’s based on was last appraised in 2014 – so long ago that its four star (out of five) rating has now expired. At least you get a reasonable amount of safety equipment with every trim, including automatic emergency braking (AEB).
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