Next-Gen MINI Electric Officially Teased – 2 Variants With Bigger Battery And More Range

Next-gen MINI Electric undergoing final pre-production testing phase.

Whilst BMW Group Malaysia introduces another allocation of the limited-run MINI Electric Resolute Edition at the on-going Malaysia Autoshow 2023, its global parent BMW Group is on the last leg of developing the next generation version of said special’s succeeding base variant.

According to BMW Group, the new MINI Electric will come in two variants starting with a base MINI Cooper E, followed by a peppier MINI Cooper SE. Both share the same basic layout of having a single front-mounted motor juiced by floor-mounted battery packs, but they differ in outputs and capacities.

Two variants will be available starting with a base Cooper E offering 181 HP and roughly 300 KM of range.

Starting with the base Cooper E, it’s motor will serve up 181 HP (or 131 kW) whilst its battery capacity reads at 40.7 kWh. The latter should enable a maximum range of roughly 300 KM on a single full charge, according to the Oxford-based brand.

While this may not sound like much, we’ll remind you that the existing MINI Electric packs a smaller 28.9 kWh battery pack that enables a far shorter maximum range of just 232 KM.

An up-specced Cooper SE variant will also be available, offering 215 HP and at least 400 KM of range too.

Moving up to the Cooper SE, this up-specced variant gets a much larger 54.2 kWh battery pack, which should promise at least 400 KM in range with each full charge. This gets matched with peppier output figure of 215 HP from its front-mounted motor.

Apart from this, BMW Group didn’t reveal any further details, but the firm did provide a set of new images of the model’s development prototype dressed in a rather striking camouflage, though we reckon the latter is redundant at this point – we’ve already seen the model fully uncovered not too long ago.

Spyshots of the MINI Cooper SE that surfaced online recently after it was spotted filming in the US.

MINI Electric Resolute Edition version of the current-gen model on display at the Malaysia Autoshow 2023.

As reported prior, the new generation MINI Electric hatch forms part of the three-model electric range from the iconic British marque. Alongside the traditional 3-door hatch detailed here comes a new small-sized  Aceman crossover that slots below the larger and electric version of the Countryman.

Also, noted prior is the fact that this electric offshoot of the next-gen MINI hatch will be built in China through partners Great Wall Motor, with production efforts slated to kick off in the final quarter of this year. This follow up shortly after the new Countryman begins rolling out of BMW’s Leipzig plant in Germany.