Mini Cooper Electric review

Introduction

The Mini Cooper Electric and Greggs' vegan sausage roll have more in common than you might imagine. Why? Well, they’re both guilt-free versions of a popular British classic.

However, while the recipe for the sausage roll has remained unchanged since it first appeared on the high street, the newest version of the electric Mini has been reinvented for a new generation. As well as a name change (from Mini Electric to Mini Cooper Electric) it gets all-new electric-car underpinnings.

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What Car? indicative Personal lease example (subject to status)

E 40.7kWh Monochrome Hatchback 3dr Electric Auto (184 ps)

Expected annual mileage	5000
Term months	48
Deposit months	12
Monthly payment	£302.06
Initial payment	£3,624.72

Step-by-step

Leasing works a bit like a long-term rental. You drive it, but you don’t own it.

• Choose your car, pick your terms and apply for lease credit online
• Pay monthly rental payments for your chosen term length
• Drive it, enjoy it, then give it back at the end

What you get

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• Full manufacturer’s warranty
• Road tax and roadside assistance included
• No admin fees
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£3,625 initial payment, 48 month contract, 5000 miles p/a. Subject to status and conditions.

• Lower total monthly cost than PCP/HP
• No balloon payments
• Road tax included

The original was essentially a petrol Mini with the engine ripped out and an electric motor shoved in its place. That meant it had some pretty big shortfalls.

Mini Cooper Electric video review

Confusingly, the latest petrol Mini hatchback looks very similar to this new Cooper Electric but is in fact a completely unrelated car, and is available with two or four doors. You can read about that in our Mini Cooper review.

But back to the Mini Cooper Electric we're reviewing here... how does it stack up against the best electric cars, including the equally retro Fiat 500e, the MG4, the Peugeot e-208 and our Car of the Year, the Renault 5? Read on to find out.

What’s new?
- October 2024: Mini Cooper JCW revealed at Paris Motor Show. Car has a 254bhp electric motor, and four exterior cameras providing a view all around the car
- December 2023: first details of new electrically powered Mini Cooper Sport, which features diffusers front and rear, leather seats with red stitching and a new Go-Kart driving mode
- September 2023: Mini reveals its all-new Mini Cooper Electric, which offers two power options: 182bhp or 216bhp, a 24cm circular central touchscreen, and a new Mini voice assistant

Overview

The Mini Cooper Electric is a great choice if you're looking for a small electric car that's fun to drive and packed with personality. Just be aware that there are cheaper and more practical alternatives with longer ranges. Our favourite version is the Cooper SE (rather than the cheaper Cooper E) for its better range and more generous standard kit list.

Our pick

SE 54.2kWh Exclusive Hatchback 3dr Electric Auto (218 ps) review

RRP £32,105

Pros

• Nippy acceleration
• Grippy handling
• Relatively slow predicted depreciation

Cons

• Range of Cooper E variant isn't great
• Not very practical
• So-so charging speeds

Our pick

SE 54.2kWh Exclusive Hatchback 3dr Electric Auto (218 ps) review

RRP £32,105

Trims available

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Exclusive

Exclusive trim gets you a good range of personalisation options, but we'd recommend paying a bit extra for the Cooper SE. You'll get a longer range and more standard kit.

Classic

Classic is the entry-level trim and offers relatively little in the way of personalisation options. We'd recommend adding the Level 1 equipment package.

Sport

Sport trim is worth considering if you want you Mini to look sporty, but we'd recommend paying extra for the Cooper SE. You'll get a significantly longer range and a more generous roster of standard kit.

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Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

The entry-level electric Mini Cooper E Electric has a 181bhp electric motor driving the front wheels, giving it surprisingly nippy acceleration (0-62mph in 7.3 seconds). That's enough to leave most rivals – including the MG4, Peugeot e-208 and Renault 5 – trailing way behind.

The Cooper SE Electric has an even more powerful 215bhp motor that slingshots it from 0-62mph in just 6.7 seconds.

But the hot hatchback in the range is the John Cooper Works (JCW) Electric, which has 255bhp if you use its boost mode and cuts the 0-62mph time to 5.9 seconds – faster than the Abarth 500e and any Alpine A290.

While the SE surges forward impressively when you put your foot down, the experience in the JCW is best described as frantic, pushing you into your seat while you wrestle with the steering wheel to minimise torque steer (when the car pulls to one side under power). It certainly puts a smile on your face and feels decidedly old school hot hatch.

To make it feel sportier, every version of the Cooper Electric plays sound effects as you accelerate – you can switch them off if you're not in the mood.

The problem with the entry-level Cooper E is that it has a relatively small 36.6kWh (usable capacity) battery and a disappointing range.

It can officially manage up to 185 miles, which is similar to the entry-level Renault 5 (193 miles) but quite a bit less than the entry-level MG4 (218 miles), e-208 (225 miles) and Vauxhall Corsa Electric (246 miles). In real-world driving, we'd expect the Cooper E to manage 100-160 miles, depending on the weather and the type of roads you're on.

The Cooper SE and JCW are better, because they come with a larger 49.2kWh battery and an official range of 247 and 250 miles respectively. As a result, the Cooper SE is the one we’d go for. Yes, it pushes up the price and officially manages three miles less than the JCW, but it’s far more usable.

There's more good news when it comes to handling. While you can feel the extra weight of the Cooper Electric compared with the petrol Mini Cooper, it still feels agile and has plenty of grip, allowing you to corner more quickly than you would in an MG4 or Corsa Electric.

As you might expect, the sporty JCW is the best to drive on a twisting country road, but it’s not quite the go-kart Mini would like you to believe it is. True, it’s quite fun to hustle along a twisting country road, but the A290 is still better, because the Mini’s overly firm suspension makes it feel less controlled and react more to mid-corner bumps.

Regardless, the sharp, direct steering in every version gives you the confidence to attack corners and trust that the front wheels will go where you aim them. The steering works well around town too, making the Mini easy to manoeuvre in tight situations.

Every Cooper Electric has stiffer suspension than many other small electric cars. That’s good when it comes to body control over undulating roads but means that you’ll feel imperfections and potholes far more than in its rivals. Indeed, the Renault 5 is a more comfortable alternative.

With its sporty bias, the JCW is by far the firmest version and one to avoid if comfort is important to you. No matter your speed, the JCW will have you moving around in your seat even on roads that look perfectly smooth.

Assuming you've switched the sound effects off, the Cooper Electric is respectably hushed on the move, although on motorways you do hear a drone from the tyres as they slap away at the surface of the road.

The brakes impress too, making it easy to judge how much pressure you need to put on the pedal to slow down smoothly. That's not the case in a lot of rivals, including the e-208, which has a curiously spongy brake pedal.

"Ride comfort has never been a Mini strength, and the electric Cooper SE is still far from a luxury limo, but at a steady 70mph I found it noticeably calmer and more agreeable than its petrol counterpart." — Stuart Milne, Digital Editor

Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

If you're bored of bland car interiors with all the excitement and colour of a rainy day, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the Mini Cooper Electric.

There's knitted fabric across the dashboard and on the insides of the doors – available in a variety of colours depending on the trim level – and toggle switches for the gears and driving modes. Meanwhile, instead of a start button there's a plastic knob shaped like a key.

The design is modern but takes inspiration from the 1959 original, with a circular 9.4in display in the middle of the dashboard. In the original Mini that housed the speedo, but here it's a colour infotainment touchscreen.

If you buy the entry-level Cooper E and don't pay extra for at least the Level 1 package upgrade, you'll need to look across at the touchscreen to check your speed, just as you do in a Tesla Model 3 or Volvo EX30.

All other versions of the Cooper Electric have a head-up display on the dashboard behind the steering wheel. It's essentially a piece of clear plastic that rises out of the dash when you start the car, and puts key information – including your speed and navigation directions – right in front of you.

The arrangement works really well and is helped by the fact that the seat, steering wheel and pedals all line up neatly with one another. The driver's seat is comfortable and holds you in place during cornering. There's a reasonable amount of lumbar support, but it's only adjustable on cars with the expensive Level 3 pack.

The touchscreen has sharp graphics and is quick to respond when you press it, but the lay-out is a bit confusing and some of the icons are small and fiddly to hit. You get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring as standard, but they load as a fairly small rectangle on the large round display.

It’s also a shame that you need to use the touchscreen to adjust the air-conditioning. There are small icons near the edge of the screen, which you have to tap just to raise or lower the temperature. It would be much better if there were proper physical controls.

"I like the knitted fabric on the dashboard and insides of the doors, plus there’s a range of colour schemes, depending on the trim you choose. It all feels fun." — Oliver Young, Reviewer

Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

Practicality is not traditionally a Mini strength and the Cooper Electric is no exception. If you often need to carry more than one tall passenger, you're better off looking at the MG4 and Volvo EX30 – or even a Peugeot e-208.

Unlike all of the above – and most other rivals – the Cooper Electric doesn't have rear doors. That makes getting into the back a bit of a challenge, because you need to move the front seat forwards and clamber through a tight gap.

Once you're sitting in the rear, you'll find a reasonable amount of head room (far more than in the previous Mini Electric) but leg room is very tight and there are only two rear seats. Most rivals can squeeze three people in the back.

More positively, the Cooper Electric has an impressive amount of leg room in the front, mainly because the front seats slide a long way back on their runners. There’s also plenty of head room in the front.

The Cooper Electric's boot space – 210 litres below the parcel shelf – is one of the smallest in the electric car class. For comparison, the MG4 can hold 363 litres of luggage, the e-208 311 litres and the Renault 5 326 litres.

The rear seatback can be folded down in a 60/40 split, which is a feature most rivals also offer. When folded down, the height-adjustable boot floor (with some storage underneath for the charging cable) means there's no big step in the floor of the extended load bay.

"Space is limited in the back, and I wouldn't recommend carrying any six-footers back there for any length of time." — Darren Moss, Deputy Digital Editor

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

The Mini Cooper Electric is more expensive to buy outright than an MG4, Renault 5 or Vauxhall Corsa Electric but not by an outrageous amount. In fact, prices are broadly in line with the Peugeot e-208 – a rival that's likely to depreciate much more quickly.

That should help keep monthly payments respectable for those signing up to a PCP finance agreement and, like all electric cars, the Cooper Electric is a seriously cheap option for company car drivers paying BIK tax.

The Cooper SE and JCW have a maximum charging speed of 95kW from a CCS charging point. That means a 10-80% top-up will take around half an hour in ideal conditions. The MG4, e-208 and Corsa Electric can charge slightly faster but not by enough to shave a significant amount of time off your pitstops.

You'll be waiting a similar amount of time for a 10-80% charge in the Cooper E – but remember it has a smaller battery, so you'll be adding fewer miles during that time due to its maximum charging rate of 70kW. That's another reason to stump up extra for the SE.

Either way, there are three basic trim levels to choose from: Classic, Exclusive and Sport. Classic is the entry-level trim and offers relatively little in the way of personalisation options. Going for Exclusive or Sport changes that, giving you a wider paint colour palette, bigger wheels and some more eye-catching interior trim. Sport trim also changes the exterior styling to match the more aggressive JCW (which gets Sport as standard).

After that, you need to decide how much kit you want. All versions of the Cooper Electric come with LED headlights, a heated steering wheel, cruise control and automatic climate control.

However, if you're buying the Cooper E, we'd recommend upgrading to the Level 1 package. Level 1 – which comes as standard on the Cooper SE and JCW – brings customisable front and rear light signatures, keyless entry, power-folding door mirrors, wireless phone-charging, heated front seats and the head-up display.

If that's not enough, there are Level 2 and Level 3 packs too. They add more creature comforts but push the Mini's price well into the territory of the Volvo EX30 – a bigger electric car with a longer range.

Mini did very well in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, sitting right at the top of the 31 strong field of manufacturers. The Cooper Electric as a model was too new to be included in the survey.

Mini gives you a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty with the Cooper Electric. That’s better than the three-year, 60,000-mile cover offered by Volvo, but doesn’t match MG’s eight-year warranty.

When tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP in 2025, the Cooper Electric scored the full five stars. Better still, all versions come with lane-keeping assistance and blind-spot monitoring as standard. Disappointingly, adaptive cruise control is available only as part of the Level 3 equipment package, which pushes up the price significantly.

“I don’t really like that Sport trim adds the exact same styling as the JCW, including JCW badges, to any version. The fact that you can get an entry-level Cooper Electric that looks like the hot hatch makes the JCW feel less special.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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