NEW MINI Electric review - as FLAWED as the old one? | What Car? 

If we all refused to buy cars that insist on burying commonly needed functions in menus on a screen then they would be forced to rethink. I have no idea why it isn’t illegal to take your eyes off the road to mess about with a car screen, just as it is illegal to look at a phone (and rightly so)

So the most popular mini electric will be £35k+ when most manufacturers albeit “non-premium” are dropping to around £25k-£30k. Front end looks too long and out of proportion and lack of chrome doesn’t help it look upmarket. I understand this in part is down to reduce emissions producing chrome! Inside tech looks good but material quality looks awful. How long before people work out it is no longer “made” in Oxford and start seeing that this is no longer a premium quality product?

The fact you can even fit in the back while the front seat is in your usual driving position at just over 6 ft doesn't sound like a bad thing to me! I'm just over 6 ft too and in my 2007 mini nobody would fit behind me unless I have the seat positioned with my knees around my ears 😂

It doesn't look like a mini, older model looked much better. This looks like a suzuki swift

They’ve managed to mess the looks……why? It now looks like a Chinese copy of a Mini.

Doesn't look as classy inside as the previous generation & who thought the ridiculously artificial " engine " sounds we're a good idea😮, great review as usual 👍

Really appreciate how well this video was presented! Sorry it was raining so much at the time of shooting, still a great video, nice new electric mini too!

Mini should make a smaller "Mini Micro" & have that be a bit smaller than the 2001 Mini hatch

With that range, a lot of money for what is, primarily, a city car - and I had hoped manufacturers had realised most of us detest stupidly un-ergonomic controls only through a central screen.

I like how they want to pretend they are cool on the inside, but in fact they are just cheap. That central console armrest stuff looks like it cam straight out of a Dacia Sandero which costs half the price

It looks like a Chinese copy of a Mini, which I suppose is what it is

7:38 I don't think bmw/mini are moving the game forward at all. Very poor. Good review btw

BMW sold the i3 for £30000 in 2018, and now the Mini Cooper E will start at the same price in 2024 with a smaller battery?

I'm most excited about a Renault 5 and a MINI Cooper E comparison in the near future. It's good that the stupid acceleration noise can be switched off. Promising but the e-208 feels a better EV.

Chinese car at BMW price. Sounds amazing.

Looks ok, but a bit boring imo. The price is ridiculous for a small two door hatchback. I prefer the previous generation by far.

I drove the new electric Mini S last Saturday in right-hand drive form - I can confirm that the steering wheel and driving position were fine - nothing seemed out of line. The model I drove was in JCW Sport trim - grey with a red roof. I loved it - it seemed very well built and didn't disappoint on the performance front. It pulled very well and the Go-Kart sounds made it seem very sporty. Yes, the boot is small and the rear seat is only suitable for kids or adults on a short trip but I'm guessing you already know that and if that was a problem you'd be looking at the Countryman or someother brand.

Can’t understand why they got rid of the black wheel arch trims. The front ‘cheeks’ of the car look so bloated and chubby without it there

It looks worse inside and outside and it is also less luxurious. It feels like a step back.

I like the clean cut exterior design. It seems interior quality has taken a step back but I guess the F56 was exceptionally good. The SE range should be standard. The E range is very disappointing given the steep price, €41k in Ireland for the Classic trim (base) with the Level 1 pack. It’s a €4.5k premium over the equivalent 1.5 ICE model.

Great and honest review, the F56 was a high point for the interior quality of the MINI, as you say in your review this is a cost cutting exercise……made in China……for more money…….i mean……come on! Maybe your average car buyer will be wowed by the circular OLED screen and naff sounds? Having owned every generation of “new” mini this is the first one I’ve skipped and just took delivery of a new 500e, in my opinion a much better reinterpretation of its original design and made in Italy where it should be made!

I think Mini are going to be loosing buyers, why have they got rid of the soft plastics, I think that dash board is going to be really shiny on sunny days. I do think personally they have destroyed their line up. The clubman was a great car why drop it 😢

A great and detailed review. I cannot disagree with the consumer frustration with changes that we all hate, yet manufacturers think it's a passing phase. We should, en-masse, boycott these manufacturers until they hear us and respond. VW are you listening? BTW Kia seem to be listening.

Good review. No physical air con controls is a minus. Having the main display centrally is also too distracting; aren't NCAP disqualifying 5-star ratings for cars like that?

Those tail lights look a little bit like a cartoon character that has been rendered unconscious by a sharp blow. All they need is a halo of birds circling to complete the look.

Yes I know the mini cooper is a bit of a luxury car but 34500 pounds means it will cost around 38000 euros. Why not buy the new model 3 at this point or even the volvo ex30? Also the renault 5 looks more interesting imo.

The Aceman isn't really an suv at all it's a hatchback with cladding

The back triangular lights looks awful compared to the current gen mini

Should have given it a sliding rear seat to give more boot space when 1 or 2 up.

Did you actually look at the Tyres on that car? Did you set the tyre pressures. Last MINI Electrics come on Crap tyres for anything other than warm dry roads. Chosen to help the range, Then they are often handed over with over inflated tyres and Journalists seldom check or adjust the pressures.

who scratches the top of their dashboard?

What's going on with the supers at the beginning?

Looks super cheap inside

Pity about the unnecessary door moulding- should have kept the flat design of previous generations and updated Cooper C.

The engine sounds in Timeless Mode were recorded from a real vintage Morris, according to electrifying YT channel. Also, new car shorter, but wider. Cheers.

Blimey this makes my 17 plate cooper s with chrome trim look like a Rolls Royce compared to this Chinese thing.

I'm not a fan of the exterior looks, cross between a Citroen DS3 (original one) and a Suzuki Swift but I like the interior. I'd consider one though.

Built in China. So why is it now £35-38k for an SE. Total joke. You van still buy a old style 1.5l petrol for £21k. £15k cheaper!!!!

what i like abt mini is that although its evolved it still looks refined and actually looks like a good car

the first Mini Cooper s by bmw cost £16k in 2004 and the base line mini 12k, how times have changed

It looks like a cheap Chinese knockoff. Compared with the previous interior that's truly truly awful. The electric specs, range, acceleration and woeful top speed are dreadful. They won't sell electric cars until they stop being sh*t.

Frankly these new Mini’s dont have the Mojo of the older ones. The Mini World (for me) ended with the R56 maybe at a pinch the F56. These new ones look exactly like the Suzuki Swift!

I seriously don’t understand all the bewildering options level 1 & 3 BS. Why would you buy a semi premium car in base specification? I just don’t get why manufacturers don’t just make it simple. Let’s have 1 model fleets & a separate model for the ordinary consumers with everything loaded already. If I’m paying £30,000 for a car I want as many bells and whistles as possible for my £30k which is a big chunk of money.

Good review with a few comments. 1. Why not even mention the glass roof?! Seems like a plus! 2. How often you going to have rear passengers? Just keep the seats folded down for extra storage. 3. Agree with hvac controls, wish they were physical buttons. 4. I wish you Brits used more realistic range testing, no way that is getting 250 miles! Probably closer to 185mi.

Left hand cars, Very different when Right Hand Drive and right handed people and the Screen to Left.

Why I get a feel of Amazon Echo Dot speaker type design feel....It should be rather called Mini Alexa!

I'd rather have a used i3, thanks.

i dont mind the design too much although its not the best we've seen, but modern mini's reliability woes, have me not wanting to even try

Looks like its had a bash up the door and odd without the black arches.

So it’s a Great Mini Wall!

Why do interiors need to be 'soft' these day? Who touches it?

Decent review... As Mini never sell on being "really practical" but they are popular and hold their residual value. Charging speed is pretty irrelevant on a city car... Our EV is charged once or twice per week while we sleep.

But I think Renault5 electric is cheaper and similar

Does the paint still rub off at the door jams because the rubber is too hard? Sorry never seen the design faults of my F56 ever get fixed. It’s and I’m being generous £10k minimum over priced. Renault 5 Retro looks better to me and we have had five MINIs two currently on the drive. Just can’t see us getting this new look or version. I can turn the heating on or volume without looking just on muscle memory in my F56. Please manufacturers get over this stupid all on a single screen.

Looks like cost saving to me, bright metalwork always looks like some effort went into its design. This looks like they wanted to cast parts for the lowest cost

loads of cheap stuff lifted from GWM inc the gold trim (seen in Haval model)

Serious question, who goes around banging the dashboard on their car?

That grill 😂

Mini knows their client base isn’t cross shopping another brand. Despite what RU-vid comments claim Mini band loyalty is high

I think for the price of this I'd much rather get a Smart #1 as it's the same price of the entry level Mini with the level 1 pack and it's much more practical. I know it doesn't really have the appeal of the Mini but I think it's much better value for money

36.6 * 4 ....146.4 miles range...49.2 * 4 = 196.8 miles range..these are realistic figures...

Well yes Ive done 25000 miles in my electric car T M3 no problem

Made in China? No wonder BMW don’t want the EU to put tariffs on Chinese made cars.

No simplicity. No chrisma.

Many years of experience with Mini cars and as a Cooper SE 2023 owner, here's my comments and pros-cons list. I will have to start with negatives because fairly, they ruined the iconic-retro design of their own. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the British market received numerous "special editions" of the Mini, which shifted the car from a mass-market item into a fashionable icon because of the Retro design understanding. And since the day Mini came out with new Countryman and the new Mini S/SE. Even the 2023 Mini cooper SE has the characteristic tounches everywhere exterior and interior! KEEP READİNG DOWN BELOW. !!! My objective thoughts and pros-cons list : Pros: 1- Bigger battery; had to be improved because even cars like peugeot 208e-500e had bigger batteries than the previous generation Mini Cooper SE. 2- The chassis is lengthened; A longer chassis can provide more spacious interior and increases performance. 3- Growth of mirrors; I think it's counter-design, considering the iconic circular mirrors and iconic design language. However, for someone who is not very tall, larger and rectangular mirrors can be considered functional as they can minimize blind spots. 4- More options on Customization the Mini. Also great to see John Cooper Works exterior body kit so smooth... 5- More horse power means better perfomance! Great to see! CONS; God! I'm furious and dissapointed the are too many of them! (OBJECTIVELY) 1- The black plastic artch trim has gone? Seriously? Those places especially if you live in cities will get tremendous amounts of small damages from other car doors and small physical contacts. Also where is the iconic design? 2- The taillights? What the hack you guys were thinking? The physicalş design had never changed since 1990's and you guys not only changed the shape, also ABOLISHED the Union jack Great Britan flag and instead put a triangular cheap material chinese looking lights. 3- İnterior: The new generation automobile industry finds it right to express interior design in the most extreme way possible. But if we look at the cars that have reached the timeless design language. No matter what and what, you will not come across such a disgraceful interior design. The reason? The reason is that everywhere inside is made of a single material and they are trying to look as if it is a brand like Tesla. No my friend, this huge screen does not reflect the 1959 Central Speedo screen. There may be people who like it, but if everything is being completely electronic on a single screen, including the air conditioning controls, the car will be more anti-userfriendly and you will understand how useless it is after using it for a week. Also I don't think anyone has to like this stupidly designed "futuristic" steering wheel. 4- Interior buttons used to make you feel like you're in a spaceship or an airplane. This swisting and one-screen-everything buttons are definitely less charismatic than previous Mini's. More cheap material plastics being used and carpets everywhere making it like its only one piece carpet. Love to see and feels of the better quality materials on my Cooper SE! I love them. I would be happier if I was able to see Mini brand not being gay and try to shine, wanting to be more popular, not following the stupid path started by other brands... if if if if.... Mini used to be Mini but not anymore it looks like. It doesn't feel like it. You also learn from your mistakes. No simplicity = No good.

When I looked at it for the first few times, I couldn't figure out why it felt odd. Then I saw it, the bonet is just a conventional style, instead of the clamshell design Minis have had since the revival. It just ruins the design for me, as well as the flat headlights instead of round one. The back doesn't look too bad, but the front is awful. The lack of blacked out wheel arches also looks odd. The interior is a huge step down. The previous one was elegant with a touch of luxury, while being unique. It certainly looks unique now, but also like a toy. BMW is having an identity crisis, and they unfortunately transmitted the virus to Mini.

Can you guys start using kilometers for range as well? I’m certain a big part of your audience does not use miles.

Styling? It looks like the car has melted 😩

If the model on the screen is an SE why is it badged as the S model?

I really like the looks

Front still looks nice and recognizable but they muted my enthusiasm by removing the chrome, putting cheap plastics in cabin and smoking something funny when designing the taillights. Specs are obviously much better than the previous model but they're not exactly impressive at this moment in time and for what they're asking. It's a meh from me.

It looks nice, the vast majority of folk who already buy the Mini will just buy this. It's an evolution of design.

Do small electric cars hold onto their value?

That fabric on the dash is gonna be nightmare for maintenance!!

It's a good electric car, sure, if you ignore the price.

Chinese auto partnerships are pretty different than rest of the world. They specifically mention what department they are going to be sharing expertise in. This probably is the same.

Good review but I hate the back and white thinking that low range = “pathetic” and high range = good. There are plenty of us that don’t need or want electric cars with bigger batteries and therefore more range. It’s like reviewing a Lamborghini and saying the interior is pathetic as it doesn’t fit a family of 5 and 2 dogs. I’d love to see more smaller electric cars with smaller batteries but with quicker charging. If this new Cooper SE had a 30kw battery but charged at 150kW you could get 10-80% in around 10mins. That wouldn’t be an issue for long trips (if you ever take long trips) if you only had to stop for 10 minutes every 2 hours. Think outside the box. Cheaper. Lighter. Smaller. More efficient.

Exterior looks better but the interior is still ruied by that hideous round display, so I have just stopped watching

I agree with others, the whole character of the Mini has all but evaporated. I feel a little like, since BMW were gifted the single valuable bit of Rover group they wanted - jilting Honda unpleasantly in the process - it’s like they’ve gradually been ‘processing’ what was a very natural, organic product. Here we are, well over 2 decades on, and it’s lost almost all its flavour. Just imho. I mean, who knows what Honda would have done, but this is literally a Mini in name only. Maybe that works, for some people. I don’t disparage electric cars in general, not being a fan of changing gears when the car can do it for me, they have a natural advantage to me. I only know this: if EVs were the norm since 1950 say, to present-day, nobody would be able to convince a boardroom to buy or drive an ICE design. It’s inconceivable, due to the environmental catastrophe alone. But, noise, invisible toxins, etc etc, that’d blow it out the water anyway. And that, is with today’s rather wimpish batteries. Breakthrough or not, the batteries are slowly improving anyway. It’s where we’re headed, I think the war is already over, won & lost, but during the transition, I have no beef with other motive power units, and don’t think ordinary people ought to be punished financially for keeping their purchased vehicle for a decent length of time. I drive an old Prius, and previously did indeed scoff. I literally bought it based on just two main parameters: One, it cannot have the same lousy fragile automatic transmission, all the other used cars I bought have; Two, I cannot afford enough battery power to make the car get really hot inside the cabin, after a cold or wet winter’s walk in the hills. Those two things, swung the purchase. EVs overcome the first also, but are squarely a problem for the second because nothing is much better as a boiler than a diesel or petrol/gas combustion engine. A great boiler is 93% efficient, and any old ICE is 80% efficient as a heat producer. We tend to forget only 20% gets anywhere near turning a shaft. Take care all.

Looks like the generic GTA version of the Mini

What's with only 49kwh , and add 100-130kwh charging rate like real cars

Looks great but the electric car side of things is pathetic. Whats the point of this? Poor charging speed, bad range (5miles per 1kwh - hilarious), and £35k???? What was the point shipping the manufacture to China if you still end up with this unappealing package?

Battery capacity is poor for the price as is the charging speed. MG4 I’m sorry to say beats its hands down. If a 45kwh battery will get anywhere near to 250 miles I’ll eat my hat particularly as you got 4 miles per kWh so at most 160 miles in warm weather!As for the artificial noise then what were they thinking!

Nice Suzuki Swift 😄

Im not sure it will hold onto value. My £32000 ‘72 plate’ Mini Electric is worth £16,000 today. 50% less in 1.5 years 😮

R.I.P New Mini Cooper 😭

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The range is abysmal. I went to the dealer to look and the PCP deal is terrible, residuals terrible .. so walked out.

No physical climate controls, so I won’t be replacing our two year old Cooper S with this, and the heads up display with the screen is not great, if it had the physical controls then we would purchase..great shame .

Somehow they've managed to get rid of any cool the design ever had (and it had quite a bit). Looks like a Mini from Bizarro world -- as if a designer who had no understanding of what made the previous generation MINI look so good did a redesign.

Chinese/ British brand/ German owner....

This EV looks good. Exterior is OK, acceptable, not-super-weird. Interior looks good; relatively simple-and-tidy dashboard layout. That round center display is not good though. Overstyled form that hurts functionality? That's bad. Rectangular horizontal display, please... With good software/UI. And instead of the silly "EXPERIENCES" artificial powertrain sounds or whatever that is, they should utilize the resource for physical buttons/dials for climate control.

the triangular rear lights don't go with it

*Its an Insult to the name of John Cooper !*

This looks like a Suzuki Swift at the front and a Vauxhall Adam from behind…..bad move Mini

Why, why, why do people STILL quote figures for the original SE that are so wrong. The quotes 0-100 (or 0-60) was sandbagger by MINI with everyone from Bjorn to drive getting significantly faster (around 6.6s). Is the new one sandbagged - I think not based on the E getting the same result from a much heavier car. Secondly, I would love to know what 10/10s driving style is. If I am only managing to drive at 8/10, in my MINI SE, then 10/10 would be scary. Maybe it is the track tyres, maybe the warmer weather, but I have never driven a car that hangs on anywhere near as well. I guess you really need to be nice to the new kid on the block, or they won't keep giving you toys. Ok, it goes further, but that is about the end of it. Sorry to be negative, but I get annoyed when people tow the line and don't give actual figures.

So basically over £40000 for a Mini ! Ridiculous.

Less mini and more ora 3 😂

The back of it just makes me think Peugeot. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Quite like the interior though, although they are right it’s been cheapened.

The Mini has come so far from the original (not all bad), and in homage to their electric future... maybe they should rebrand the company Min-E, no? just me then