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Whenever a new car comes on the market, be it an electric car or a car that runs on fossil fuels, it is often bigger and heavier. Many are eased to know that this will not be the case with the new electric car MINI. The next-generation electric car will use a unique platform that offers all the benefits of a bespoke electric car. In other words, unlike the Cooper SE, which shares its platform with the ICE-powered vehicles, it will not be compromised from the start.
British journalists at Autocar have found directly from MINI that the upcoming electric car will be smaller. However, it will raise its wheelbase by 40 millimetres (almost 1.6 inches) to increase legroom. In addition, the luxury electric car will have larger tracks to optimise interior space. This is made possible by an all-electric platform with a much shorter front overhang.
Although the ICE and EV versions may look the same, they will be very different from their standard shells. Assembly of the zero-emission MINI will happen in China by a joint venture between the parent company BMW Group and Great Wall Motor. The two have teamed up to produce electric vehicles in the world’s most dense country. Although MINI is liable for all results, MINI will build the car using details given by Great Wall Motor.
In this way, the engineers can fit a larger battery than in the Cooper SE with its 32.6 kWh, of which only 28.9 kWh is usable. This will pay off in the form of a range that exceeds the current car’s WLTP range of 144 miles (235 kilometres). The EPA has given the sleek EV a range of 114 miles (183 kilometres) in the United States. That’s still better than the 100-mile range of the Mazda MX-30.
MINI will offer three- and five-door hatchbacks and a convertible in Oxford combustion models. They will all be based on the same improved FAAR architecture that powers the 2 Series Active Tourer. In addition, the next-generation Countryman and the BMW X1 will share the same platform.
MINI will only offer conventionally powered MINIs with petrol engines, possibly slightly hybridised. Diesel types such as plug-in hybrids have so far been excluded by the company.
