It’s not the last word on EV range but the all-electric MINI Cooper SE scores big on smiles per mile.
The electric car revolution was supposed to put the entire ICE car industry in its crosshairs but largely EVs have managed to mostly cannibalize each other. That’s because there’s actually quite a limited number of households that can support a move to pure electric mobility and an even more limited number of individuals willing to make that move.
Yes, there are perks – vehicles are tax free, so they represent a lot of value and EVs tend to have much better tech and power delivery. However, the trade off is that freedom and flexibility offered by ICE and hybrids is completely lost. So, is there a place for a car like the MINI Cooper SE with its less-than-stellar range, tiny boot and barely-usable rear seats?
Well, yes. We think so.
Anybody looking for a super-practical EV with long range and seating for 4-5 has a number of options from Tesla, BYD, GWM, Hyundai, Kia, MG, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo to name just a few in the mainstream. However there’s really nothing out there with 2 doors. MG showed the Cyberster in Malaysia but there isn’t a solid launch date. Mazda launched the MX-30 with miniature suicide doors but that barely gets 199km and isn’t all that fast. Like it or not, if you want something electric with fewer than 4 doors, the Mini Cooper SE is your only real choice.
The Fewer Doors Formula
A car with fewer than 4 doors might just sound like an impracticality in your mind, but think about what that signals – this is not a car that was designed for utility. This is a car designed for fun. It’s for people who already have at least one other vehicle in the stable for the family. And isn’t part of the appeal of a premium car the image it projects, or in other words, what the car signals to the public? I think for that reason alone, the Mini Cooper SE essentially negates most value comparisons to any price rival – to any EV in general really. There are no EVs that signal the double impracticality of limited range and limited seat space while still giving you just enough practicality for it to be used as a daily commuter.
Return To Simplicity
When BMW Group first presented a modernised MINI in 2000, the consensus was that the design perfectly captured the essence of MINI. 2 decades later, the BMW MINI formula had become a little iterative and maybe even dull. This new generation finally pushes the design language forward while combining retro-inspired elements with the fun, youthful and upmarket personality that the brand has cultivated under German stewardship.
Best of all, they’ve managed to keep all the elements clean without being too reductive in design. It’s not the same hardcore minimalist aesthetic that drives many brands today. The radii of the car’s curve are perfectly from the ‘MINI’ playbook, and all the exciting modern details are found wherever there are staight lines and angles. The rim design, the grille outline, door handles, wing mirrors and roof antenna are all good examples of this.
The only thing we found a little strange was the overuse of the “MINI” brand name in the design. The proportions of the car are iconic enough to be instantly recognised as “MINI”. Peppering the car with at least half a dozen of these wordmarks seems a little insecure.
It’s almost as if they knew they’re trying to counteract any attention to the fact that this generation of MINIs are made by GWM in China for the global market – a deal that was agreed upon back in 2018 but one that may have backfired.
Is it Fun?
Yes it is. MINI has put work into making this new generation of products more tech-focused and more fun-focused than ever before. On the tech front, you have a mind-blowing circular OLED display, the likes of which I’ve never seen before on any production vehicle.
This is the ultimate digital representation of the central dial that is so synonymous with classic MINI design. Animations are delightful and fast with a pop of flair that’s rare to find in the car world.
We also like that they paired this to a coloured heads-up display so the driver has two sources of drive information.
We only wish they had integrated the turn signal blinkers to this heads-up display, as we had an instance where the left blinker was on and we didn’t notice over the excellent Harman/Kardon sound system as it was out of our direct forward view.
MINI has also designed a bunch of “Experiences” around this display and the rest of the vehicle. To me, these are a little gimmicky and show some of the shortcomings of the circular display.
MINI designers went out of their way to create custom dials, fonts, colours, menus, sounds and fonts for each experience but none of them really work with Apple CarPlay being projected.
The CarPlay projection creates a rather unsightly squarish cutout in the centre of the display leaving large bezels around the side. The default maps do a much better job of using the screen’s dimensions and shape, but how many are willing to un-tether themselves from the smartphone experience? We should also note a couple of strange glitches we experienced with Apple CarPlay but nothing was too terrible. Just a few menu buttons glitching in and out rapidly for a few minutes before settling down.
We liked the light-play at work with this new MINI. The keyfob’s nice and large but you can keep it in your pocket the whole time. The taillights and daytime running lights to a little light dance for your on your approach and when you walk away.
Right Kind Of Fast
More often than not, electric vehicles that are front-wheel drive are rapid but not particularly fast. Not the case with the new MINI Cooper SE. With 218PS and 330Nm of instant torque available, the MINI Cooper SE feels especially quick off the line, faster than its 6.7 second acceleration time suggests. Unlike many of its peers, this electric MINI is actually not too heavy at 1600kg. Yes, it’s heavy by small car standards but even amongst small electric vehicles this is a very reasonable weight.
The MINI Cooper SE has what I would consider to be the perfect amount of power for an everyday driver. You don’t need excessive top speed on the highway, so I can’t even knock marks off for its 170km/h speed cap. It is a front-wheel drive vehicle, but that is the defining feature of the brand and they’ve managed to really make the most of it here. Torque steer is managed well and some programming or rubber formulation magic puts power to the road with minimal slip. The ride was a little firm but handling was top notch for a vehicle of this size and class.
Cabin Details
This may be a small car, but it feels like every square inch of the cabin got some attention from the designers. A recurring motif for the interior are the perpendicular diagonal lines. You’ll find them as ribs on the cargo cover, on the inside of the hatch, the centre cargo tray (which extends all the way to a rear cupholder and includes to leg-guards with the same motif) and on the pedals too.
Another recurring motif is the pill shape with a recurring radius. You’ll find these hidden throughout the vehicle for more functional parts such as door handles, speaker cutouts, light housings, seat controls, cupholders, air vent controls and more.
In terms of materials, your eyes will certainly be drawn to the extensive use of light grey tweed. It looks inviting and homely, but there are some downsides to the material. For one, it’s pretty rough against the skin, so we would have preferred synthetic leather on the door cards where the elbows rest. And secondly, it’s a very light colour, so any accidental spills may result in some hard-to-treat stains. From a pure visual standpoint, it works. There are some strange decisions, like the little belt strip that comes out of the dashboard, but there’s nothing wrong with showing a bit of character.
The rest of the upholstery is very high-grade synthetic leather and we also find some typical MINI-grade plastics on the dashboard. They look and feel presentable now, but go touch and feel the interior of a ten year old MINI to set your expectations right for how these will age.
Two other “unique” design decisions in this cabin are the passenger-oriented storage box and the driver’s side armrest. The storage box is opened with a tug of a decorative tweed pull. It honestly felt a little unnecessary and poorly thought out to have it open toward the passenger but then I looked at the European left hand drive model and realised it was a lazy conversion issue. This is a real sign that MINI has lost its British roots – it’s clearly designed from the outset for the left hand drive market.
Minor niggles aside, product-wise the new electric MINI Cooper SE is a pretty compelling product. Range, power, equipment and tech have all increased considerably despite a small price drop over the previous generation mode. Objectively-speaking it’s a pretty good buy, especially considering the 3-door lifestyle-oriented EV is a niche-within-a-niche. The only real hang-up one might have is the fact that its charging speed is still relatively mediocre at 11kW for AC and 95kW for DC charging, but on the balance of all things, it’s not a bad package at all for someone looking for a fun and stylish weekend toy.
2024 MINI Cooper SE Specifications
Motor: Permanent Magnet Synchronous Electric Motor, FWD
Battery Capacity: 54.2kWh
Range: 402km
Max Power: 215 hp
Max Torque: 330 Nm
Top Speed: 170km/h
0-100km/h: 6.7s
Price: RM193,888
