MINI Confirms 250 Mile Range for New Electric MINI Cooper

MINI is officially previewing the all new J01 electric MINI Cooper this week and talking about details for the first time. Along with showing the camouflaged car, MINI announced several key bits of news namely the range and a revised name. While MotoringFile readers already know this via our exclusive reports earlier this year it’s our first official confirmation. And what about the question of if this new electric MINI will even come to the US market? We have news on that too.

Let’s start with the name. As we reported last year, MINI will be exclusively using the name “Cooper” for its smallest family of cars. The base small MINI will be known simply as the MINI Cooper with two different levels of performance and options; the Cooper S and the JCW. The move is one we’ve pontificated about for years as an idea to avoid confusion and lean into the fact that the hatch is widely known as the “Cooper” (whether MINI likes it or not). It also further separates the iconic hatch from the Countryman and Aceman by making the Cooper name exclusive.

The all new electric MINI Cooper will come in two flavors; the Cooper E and the Cooper SE. The E will have a 40kWh battery driving the front wheels and should see a range of around 200 miles on the WTLP testing cycle. The Cooper SE (also FWD) will have a larger 54kWh battery and should see a 250 mile range with WTLP testing. Our sources have told us that these figures are relatively conservative (as is BMW’s typical position). An important note for those comparing this to the current electric MINI hatch – that car has a 110 mile range and a 28.9kWh battery.

Performance is also up with the Cooper E offering 181bhp – similar to the traditional Cooper S performance. The hotter Cooper SE will have 215bhp and should have JCW levels of performance.

While we’ve heard MINI is developing a full JCW version, Autocar has a few new details. According to the publication it will feature the same 54kWh battery as the SE, will arrive in mid-2025 – around a year after the standard cars, with a focus on power over range, suggesting upgraded motors will be fitted. Expect an output around 250bhp.

The J01 MINI Cooper will debut at the Munich Motorshow this September. Production will start later this year in China and sales will begin in the UK, Europe and Asia shortly after. According to sources familiar with MINI’s plans, the North American market will not get the initial iteration of the all new electric MINI Cooper or Aceman. Instead we’ll see an updated version in several years likely built in the UK or Europe.

For much more on the all new J01 electric MINI Cooper, head over to MotoringFile’s dedicated J01 section.