February 8, 2025
2025 Mini Cooper EV launched with 250-mile range, go-kart mode, circular screen

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2025 Mini Cooper EV launched with 250-mile range, go-kart mode, circular screen photo

I don’t envy the designers who have to create a new generation of Mini Coopers. With an iconic look like the Mini, you can’t stray too far from its roots or else the traditionalists will revolt. You also can’t play it too safe or else it will be criticized for being derivative. The styling team has to walk a fine line and they would have successfully done so with this new electric 2025 Mini Cooper.

This is our introduction to the generation that replaces the previous Mini, which debuted in 2013 – an ancient artifact in the automotive world. With the 2025 Mini comes a design that’s really new but still familiar. And while it’s bigger than ever, its tall windows and short overhangs still make it look small like a proper modern Mini.

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Up front, it’s just like any other Mini model, with two round headlights and a grille that is reminiscent of a largemouth bass. However, at the rear, it has triangular taillights each with half of the Union Jack flag. A decade ago, the flag taillight design was cute for about five minutes, but now it’s way too trendy and I wish Mini would turn this gimmick into an option and give the Cooper a normal looking taillight. However, that might just be your cup of tea.

The inside is where the biggest changes are made. Mini may have taken an evolutionary approach to its exterior design, but it has given the interior of the car a massive makeover. Its steering wheel features a unique three-spoke design with a funky bottom spoke, its dashboard is appropriately blank, and it brings back the centre, dash-mounted circular speedometer. A small panel of toggle switches below said speedo controls the windows and drive mode, and there are lights built into the dashboard and door card material that allow it to shine through below.

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Speaking of that speedometer, it also doubles up as an infotainment screen. It’s much larger than the circular screen on the previous generation car, so Mini was able to pack a lot of information into it without clutter, and it looks surprisingly simple at first glance. Like most cars with digital gauges, the new Mini’s circular screen features various graphics options; In this case, they are based on the driver’s chosen experience mode. There’s also a fun go-kart mode that adjusts chassis agility as well as steering response and traction control intervention—the screen flashes red for that.

Overall, the cabin of this new Mini is the closest it has been to the original since BMW took over the brand in the late 90s. It’s simple, airy and features the classic central speedo and toggle switch bar combo. It’s not quite as cavernous as Alec Issigonis’ original design, but it’s as close as you’ll get to a 21st-century Mini.

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Under the skin, this new Mini is nothing like the original. In the case of the new Mini Cooper E, it gets an all-electric powertrain, although a similarly styled gas variant is on the way. Up front is a single electric motor that makes 184 horsepower, and if you move up to the Cooper SE, you get 218 horsepower. The Cooper E hits 60 mph in 7.3 seconds but the Cooper SE cuts that a few tenths short, dropping that speed to 6.7 seconds.

The Mini Cooper E has a 40.7 kWh battery, giving it a WLTP-rated range of 190 miles. Bumping over the Cooper SE comes a 54.2-kWh battery that boosts the range to 250 miles.

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Mini isn’t reinventing the wheel with the new three-door Cooper, and for good reason. This is a formula that has been working for almost 65 years. However, for this new generation, the Mini updates that formula for the modern age of electrification, and at least from what I can see, it looks promising.

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