Mini Cooper Electric review

The Cooper Electric is an immediately interactive car to drive: communicative, lively and terrier-like. The new Minis get a bunch of ‘Experience’ modes – seven in all – accessed via the touchscreen or a switch in the toggle bar. ‘Go-kart’ mode stiffens the steering, sharpens throttle sensitivity, and enhances the soundtrack.

There’s a ‘woo hoo’ sound reminiscent of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ when you select it, and a retro-futuristic whoosh if you give it the full beans. Back off abruptly and there’s another blast of sci-fi sonics. You might find it all a bit much, depending on your viewpoint (and age).

This sounds all very Gen Z...

You’re not wrong. The Cooper Electric risks feeling like a high-tech toy, designed to sit outside an artisanal coffee shop. But at heart it’s still a fizzy driving machine. The steering has 2.2 turns lock to lock and a fixed ratio, so you really can apex it.

What’s particularly refreshing about the Cooper Electric is that it’s one of the few EVs around where you might want to just take it out for a drive for the sake of it. That’s as good a sign as any.

It’s extremely grippy and interactive, with all the weight down low in the battery pack. The downside – across the range here – is that the ride is very firm, something you’ll be very aware of with passengers onboard. You’ll be prepared to take the hit in the JCW, but lower down the range you surely want something more supple.

Speaking of the JCW… any good?

To a point. We’d stop short of calling it a proper hot hatch, but the only electric car that’s really made the grade so far is the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. And that’s… a massive crossover. The JCW’s more comparable to the Alpine A290 and Cupra Born VZ, both of which have a distinct enjoyment ceiling.

The steering’s a fraction too light and the brake pedal’s much the same at the top end of travel, but the John Cooper Works builds on the standard car’s inherent agility: it’s chuckable and grippy, and hangs on gamely along a winding B-road.

Dump the throttle and you’ll have to wrestle with an absurd amount of torque steer, right the way up to the national speed limit. Combined with the urgency of the fake motor noise, you’re almost tricked into thinking that you’re going quickly. But the acceleration’s not intimidating at all – certainly not as lairy as 0-62mph in under six seconds suggests.

We love the ‘boost’ paddle that unlocks full power for 10 seconds – it adds another layer to the experience. We’d sooner have this over a Cooper S, which is saying something.

Where's the instrument panel?

The Cooper Electric has been somewhat Teslafied, relying on the central screen for all your driving information. The blend of infotainment and driving info isn’t especially well managed – you have to pick between a giant speedo, the satnav and the entertainment functions. Difficult to fit all that in a circle. You might get used to it once you've set all the configurable options to your liking.

There is a head-up display as standard on SE and up (it’s part of a £2k option pack on E models): this gets round the 'why the heck isn't the speedo in front of me?' issue, but it's over-designed and we'd prefer something simpler.

There are plenty of safety systems available with the electric Mini, mostly quite annoying (especially the speed limit assist), but mostly quite easy to turn off.

What about charging?

The bigger batteries will charge at up to 95kW on the right machine (75kW on the E models). Mini says 10 to 80 per cent takes under 30 minutes; slower charging is up to 11kW AC.

Official figures say you’ll get up to 4.5mi/kWh, which is heavily dependent on driving style. In the JCW we only managed 2.6 mi/kWh – not quite 130 miles of range – but that was with quite liberal use of the boost paddle. Ahem. You’ll definitely do better with lighter shoes on. But then why go JCW if you’re not going to enjoy the extra oomph?