New Mini Cooper Electric Car Rolls Off Chinese Production Lines

BMW's first China-made electric Mini car rolled off the assembly line over the weekend at its joint plant in Zhangjiagang, a city in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, with manufacturing partner Great Wall Motor, according to CNEV.

The announcement comes after the German automaker confirmed plans on September 8 to begin exporting electric Mini Cooper hatchbacks and Aceman crossovers from China in 2024, and after the two companies established Spotlight Automotive, a 50-50 joint venture, in late 2019.

Last October, BMW told The Times that it would stop mass production of electric Minis at its Cowley facility near Oxford, England, and shift all production to China by the end of 2023, but a last-minute package of subsidies from the UK government eventually led to BMW partially reversing this decision last month.

In terms of appearance, the new MINI Cooper maintains the current model's classic design, with round headlights, an oval front grille, and two doors. A through-type light strip connects the triangular taillights at the back.

The white suspended roof contrasts with the blue body and is complemented by asymmetrical rims, making it instantly recognisable. At this time, neither the dimensions nor the price range have been officially revealed.

The vehicle will be available in two variants. The MINI Cooper E's entry-level model is powered by a 135 kW electric motor and a 40.7 kWh battery pack. The top-of-the-line model (MINI Cooper SE) comes with a front 160 kW/330 Nm electric motor and a 54.2 kWh battery pack. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.7 seconds and has a maximum cruising range of 402 km (WLTP). There is support for both 11 kW AC slow charging and 95 kW DC fast charging.

The instrument panel has been replaced by a head-up display on the inside. In comparison to the previous embedded layout, the 24-cm circular central control screen is floating and is supported by the MINI OS 9 operating system. The physical buttons below the central control screen are all arranged in a circle. Simultaneously, the traditional round air-conditioning outlets are being phased out in favour of slit air-conditioning outlets.