Mini Cooper Electric’s retro heaven cabin: Game-changing tech appears in new electric vehicle

Mini’s three-door Cooper Electric may not be due on sale until 2024, but retro lovers will appreciate an early peek at the new EV’s interior.

Mini’s looked to its own back catalogue – not for the first time – to inspire the cabin design.

As per the 1959 original, the dashboard is dominated by a central-mount circular display. The old one was limited to just your speedo, but the new EV’s is a large 9.4-inch diameter touchscreen showing speed, electric range, audio and navigation.

2024 Mini Cooper EV interior
2024 Mini Cooper EV interior with 9.4-inch diameter centre-mount touchscreen and dash light show

Beneath this is a small toggle panel, again echoing the original Mini design. Here you’ll find a fixed starting key, and proper turning knobs for your climate control and audio control.

Funky tech to complement the retro touches

The new Mini’s dashboard is coated in an eco-looking fabric, and features built-in LED light elements. Colours are set to change depending on drive mode, or can be custom chosen by the driver.

Again inspired by the original Minis, there are no gauges to be seen behind the steering wheel. A concession for the EV is a large head-up display ahead of the driver.

Mini showed exterior images of the Cooper Electric in April, but we won’t see the new generation model in the metail until the IAA German Car Show in Munich in September.

2024 Mini Cooper EV.
2024 Mini Cooper EV.

New Cooper Electric will be a big improvement

The current Mini Electric offers a challenging 203km (WLTP) electric range, minimising the appeal of the city EV.

Its 28.9kWh (usable) battery should make way for a 40kWh or 54kWh pack, the size depending on the grade. We can expect the longer range 54kWh Mini to travel closer to 400km between charges.

While petrol Minis will continue to be made in the brand’s Oxford plant in the UK, the next generation EVs are to be built in China.

The front-wheel-drive electric platform has been a joint development between Great Wall Motors (GWM) and BMW, Mini’s parent company.

2024 Mini Cooper EV.
2024 Mini Cooper EV

The new Mini Cooper Electric is expected on sale in Europe by mid-2024, so we’re hopeful it’ll be in Australian showroom by the end of next year, or early 2025.

Prices are also likely to rise. The current Mini Electric starts from $55,650 before on-roads.

Iain Curry

A motoring writer and photographer for two decades, Iain started in print magazines in London as editor of Performance BMW and features writer for BMW Car, GT Porsche and 4Drive magazines. His love of motor sport and high performance petrol cars was rudely interrupted in 2011 when he was one of the first journalists to drive BMW's 1 Series ActiveE EV, and has been testing hybrids, PHEVs and EVs for Australian newspapers ever since. Based near Noosa in Queensland, his weekly newspaper articles cover new vehicle reviews and consumer advice, while his photography is regularly seen on the pages of glossy magazines.

2 thoughts on “Mini Cooper Electric’s retro heaven cabin: Game-changing tech appears in new electric vehicle

  • August 1, 2023 at 8:52 am
    Permalink

    Just a quick typo fix. The WLTP range is 233, not 203. In the real world it is north of 250. You can easily get WLTP in sports mode. I have had a MINI SE for almost 3 years, and this is exactly what I get.

    It is quite annoying that people fixate on range. I just put sticky tyres on which decreases the range – why? Because it is fun. I rarely do over 200km in one go. Up/down the coast = 100km, daily (work) = 30km. I could halve the battery, get better performance and still not need to worry about range. How many people who have 500, even 400+ range do that in a single sitting (ie. not stopping for a toilet/food break). I’m sure there are people out there who can do it, but they would be a minority. You probably don’t want to sit in a mini for more than 2 hours in any case unless you are on glassy smooth roads. Fun comes at the expense of comfort 🙂

    I hope the new MINI drives as well as the old one, because it is one of, if not the most fun EV out there at the moment.

  • August 1, 2023 at 3:59 pm
    Permalink

    Not a fan of no instrument binnacle in front of the steering wheel even with a head up display. It just looks weird. Are BMW just cost saving by using this interior, or going retro with a nod to the original Mini ? As most prospective buyers would not have a clue about the original Mini interior, why go retro at all ?

Comments are closed.