Very pretty blue pre-production EV sighted in Los Angeles with a camera crew in tow
The next-generation MINI Cooper SE electric hatch has been spotted completely devoid of any camouflage in busy downtown Los Angeles more than 12 months out from its global launch.
Tracked through the city by a blacked-out Porsche Cayenne camera car, the new EV isn’t due to be revealed until the closing stages of this year ahead of its global launch in May 2024.
According to top MINI executives, the electric Cooper will be launched two months ahead of the petrol versions, with several iterations of both powertrain technologies set to be on offer.
The model you see here is a Cooper SE – the EV equivalent of a Cooper S – as evidenced by the bold ‘S’ logo on the largely solid front bumper, ‘Cooper S’ lettering across the tailgate and the elaborate black aero alloy wheels.
In terms of the overall design there’s not much new to dissect, given the abundance of spy, teaser and leaked images we’ve seen over the past few months.
The only real revelation is the removal of the busy yellow camo and fitment of what are more than likely production-spec alloy wheels.
Still, it’s clear the new MINI Cooper SE will take on a more curvaceous persona with a stout rear-end, gentler contours and much cleaner and more simple overall design, as part of MINI’s plan to take its staple hatch back towards its humble roots – albeit with a zero-emission twist.
We expect the new MINI Cooper EV will be powered by a single 160kW electric motor and 54kWh lithium-ion battery, which should yield warm-hatch performance (think 0-100km/h acceleration in about 7.0sec) and a longer driving range of about 350km.
It will be quite some time before we see the new MINI Cooper in local showrooms, given BMW Group products typically arrive here around six months after their global reveal.
In this case that equates to an Australian release in the final quarter of 2024, for both the petrol and electric variants.
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Keyword: New MINI Cooper SE spotted filming in LA