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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ?