Mini Electric

It’s the Mini Electric, if you’re buying one in Britain. If you’re hailing from anywhere else in the world then, confusingly, this is the Mini Cooper SE. And wherever you buy it, you still get a fluro green-tinted ‘Cooper S’ badge on the boot. What’s underneath, however, remains exactly the same.

First launched in 2020, the fully electric Mini is a big one for the company. So much so, in fact, that a completely new version with bigger battery options is just around the corner already. But how does the original (if we discount the 2009 Mini E trial) stack up?

A BIG MINI, YOU SAY?
Yes, because Minis are objectively desirable. BMW’s reborn city car consistently sells strongly, offers rock-solid residual values, and drives with a slightly cartoonish but ultimately endearing vim. It’s the sort of car owners give names to.

It’s cute and well put together enough that the premium prices have never been a barrier to its rampant success. And these days, there just happens to be one that you plug in instead of fill up.