Details of the next generation of Mini’s electric cars are here, with new names, better range figures, and a renewed focus on fun driving at the core of the brand’s shift to electrification.
Three cars, all with a focus on upping the brand’s electric car game, are due to be revealed fully over the next year or so. The new Mini Cooper, the larger Aceman crossover, and the Countryman small SUV will help the brand reach its target of 50 per cent electric sales by 2025.
Global head of the Mini brand Stefanie Wurst told publication Autocar at a UK preview that the incoming trio of cars is the “beginning of a new era”.
“Mini’s 100 per cent electric range has to start somewhere – this is a bridge for us to go fully electric,” Wurst said.
The Cooper, regaining its classic name and ditching ‘Hatch’ to go “back to its roots”, will have an option of two battery packs, which Wurst told Autocar will provide “double what is offered with the same battery sizes now”, a 40kWh battery with a range up to 386km, or a larger 54kWh battery pack.
Both variants, dubbed Cooper S and Cooper SE respectively, will be front-wheel-drive, with the former packing the same 135kW the current car does, but the SE boasting 160kW for more fun.
A hotted-up JCW version will come later, about mid-decade, with about 185kW using the same 54kWh battery pack as the SE.
In terms of dynamics, the Cooper will be about the same size as the current Hatch, but have a longer wheelbase and wider track for more stability in hard driving without sacrificing the small-car go-kart feel Mini aims for.
Mini will still continue to produce petrol-powered versions of the Cooper, built in the UK in Oxford, though details are still sparse for now.
Next up in size, a small crossover called the Aceman, based on the concept of the same name and due to launch in 2025 and be effectively the spiritual successor to the small wagon Clubman.
Wurst expects this to be the best-seller as it provides a mid-point between the smaller Cooper and the Countryman SUV, and it “ticks all the boxes”.
It’ll have the same drivetrain options as the Cooper, with a slightly lower range due to its larger size and higher weight, but it will have the added convenience of five doors and more space for cargo.
In terms of size, it’s 1590mm high, 4050mm long and is 1990mm wide, and it has a design language quite removed from the standard Mini has developed over the years – larger ring headlights are an obvious one.
Finally, due to be launched early next year is the electric Countryman SUV, which will become bigger than the current generation.
Mini is upping the size so it doesn’t lose customers who need something bigger than a crossover SUV, which means it’ll start with the bigger of the two battery packs for its S variant, and offer a larger 64kWh battery in the SE grade. They’ll have 140kW and 200kW respectively.
Petrol variants of the Countryman will also still continue, as well as a JCW performance version with more power down the line. The Countryman will be the only Mini with all-wheel drive.
In Australia, electric Minis have been picking up popularity, with the brand having sold 644 electric cars in 2022, almost 50 per cent more than the previous year. It doesn’t sound like much, but Mini sold 3002 cars in 2022, making just over one in five sold last year an EV.
Keyword: More driving range, more power! 2024 Mini Cooper, Countryman and Aceman electric cars to make up new-era trio - report