MINI says EVs are boring – until now

When the original Mini broke cover in the late 1950s, in response to fuel rationing precipitated by the Suez oil crisis, it altered the perception of compact cars and made the Mini a household name.

Sixty years on, MINI wants to achieve a similar perception adjustment by injecting emotion into what the brand says is a staid mainstream EV market (excluding brands like Tesla and Porsche).

Despite a relatively low range of around 200km, the new MINI Electric, which we drove at the global launch in Florida this week, aims to build a fan base via dynamic performance, a cheeky attitude and an iconic design.

With these elements, says MINI’s head of communications Andreas Lampka, the first MINI EV will change how people view battery-powered small cars and make the segment more interesting to a wider range of buyers.

“One of our missions is to emotionalise electromobility. And there is only one brand which I'm aware of that could do that,” he said, before later stating that he thought the Honda e and Porsche Taycan were cool.

“But all other electric cars are boring," he declared of the current crop of small EVs.

By combining the BMW i3's powertrain with its own dynamic chassis, MINI says its first EV will not only major on handling but affordability.

In the UK, the MINI Electric is cheaper than the Honda e, and when it arrives in Australia in July it will potentially be priced under $50,000.

That would match the Nissan LEAF ($49,990) and perhaps also the Hyundai IONIQ Electric ($48,490) and Australia’s cheapest electric car, the Renault ZOE ($47,490).

“EVs will have different approaches to pricing,” observed Lampka.

“So we think there's a way to get into that market to price it the way it is. We wouldn’t win any prizes for making more money with that [car], then not being able to sell the car.”

It remains to be seen how popular the new MINI Electric becomes in Australia, where its sub-par range could pose a barrier for many buyers. Just 80 examples will be available in 2020, of which only 12 have been pre-ordered.

But Lampka said the MINI EV had already proved its global appeal and reckons it won't cannibalise sales from other vehicles in the range – namely the 2.0-litre turbo-petrol MINI Cooper S, with which the new MINI Electric offers comparable straight-line performance (hence its official name: MINI Cooper SE).

“Expressions of interest are over 100,000,” he said.

“[But] We're not replacing volume from one model, we're bringing new people in who don’t want a boring electric car, and we might as well have customers who would go for a Cooper S.

“We will be quite good at attracting the more emotional EV buyer,” said Lampka.

The British brand’s communications chief said the while the seven-year-old i3 electric had a face only a mother could love, the MINI EV will bring the concept to a much broader audience.

“This is a car for someone who thinks the i3 is a good car, but is a bit on the higher end of ugliness. If you see both cars next to each other, the handling is remarkable but the [i3’s] looks are polarising.”

Read the 2020 MINI Electric Review