For many, the Mini Cooper SE’s defining statistic is its 114 miles of EPA-estimated range. That limited range will likely make the fully-electric Mini a rare sight in Wyoming, but defining the SE by range isn’t telling the whole story. Most people don’t actually drive 114 miles in a day very often, and the Cooper SE promises to make even grocery runs fun. It’s also a bargain.
The Cooper SE isn’t the first electric Mini, but it definitely won’t be the last. Earlier this year, parent company BMW’s CEO Oliver Zipse announced that it aims for half of Mini sales to be EVs as early as 2027 and a complete shift to EV power “by the early 2030s.”
EV power will be baked into the next generation of Mini Hardtops, due in 2024, but for now, the Cooper SE is an adaptation of the current iteration. It swaps the gas engine for the BMW i3’s electric motor and a T-shaped, 32.6-kWh battery pack of its own. Like the other aging Mini Hardtops, whose design dates back to 2014, the SE got a visual update for 2022 to help keep things fresh.
At a recent Mini-hosted media event in Palm Springs, California, I put the Mini SE through its paces. That included a few laps around an autocross course, driving it back-to-back with its gas-powered sisters and sampling its real-world use.
While jury-rigging an EV powertrain into an aging vehicle might not seem like a recipe for success, the Mini Cooper SE is a pitch-perfect adaptation of the brand’s trademark small and sporty flavor. It asks the same compromises of buyers, with limited space your life must fit and a stiff ride, but it also delivers the same go-kart like fun and engaging personality. Even better, it does so at a lower price after incentives are factored in.
The Range Question
The Cooper SE is the first electric Mini you can buy, but its evolution goes back to the 2009 Mini-E. A trial balloon for BMW Group’s EV plans at the time, that car had just 100 miles of range, and its chunky battery pack eliminated the back seat entirely. As many as 450 Mini-Es were leased to drivers in California, New York and New Jersey for up to 24 months. Smaller trials were conducted internationally.
In 2011, UC Davis published a study about the experiences of the American Mini-E drivers, and their findings are still relevant to EV buyers today. According to the study, 71% of them drove less than 40 miles a day, and 95% fewer than 80. In the German Mini-E test program, volunteer owners of gas-powered Minis were tracked alongside the EV drivers, and their driving habits differed only marginally.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, the average American drove 25.9 miles per day in 2017. Having seen older EVs like the Fiat 500e, Kia Soul EV and Volkswagen eGolf in action for years now, there are plenty of places where people are commuting today in EVs with less range than the Cooper SE.
On a 50 kW DC rapid charger, the SE can charge to 80% in 40 minutes, which helps make the car a little more practical. Unfortunately, public chargers don’t always offer that level of juice even when advertised, so advance planning is advisable for longer journeys. Owners who charge at home shouldn’t have to be too dependent on the various networks like EVGo or Electrify America but Minis are often described as appealing to “urbanites,” and apartment dwellers still face an uphill battle to reliable, cost-effective charging.
This doesn’t mean the 114-mile barrier isn’t a dealbreaker for some, but it isn’t necessarily the hurdle many perceive it to be, particularly if it isn’t your only car. According to Mike Peyton, vice president and “chief motorer” at MINI of the Americas, of the 3,000 or so Cooper SEs sold from January 2020 to the end of October 2021, 80% were to multi-car households.
The Cooper SE still asks for compromises, but they’re not any different than those of the standard Minis.
Unlike the Mini-E, the SE’s battery pack doesn’t intrude at all, but the SE is just 151.7 inches long, and modern crash structures mean only so much can fit inside. The back seat is tiny, and even five bags of groceries will necessitate folding it down. There’s just 8.7 cubic-feet of space behind the rear seat, and 34 with it folded. As on the other Minis, you can’t get Android Auto or blind spot monitoring.
Driving the 2022 Mini Cooper SE
Weight is the enemy of small, agile cars like the Mini and EV batteries are heavy. The Cooper SE weighs 300 pounds more than it’s Cooper S sister. A bigger battery pack might give the Cooper SE more range, but it would probably spoil what’s best about it. The SE translates the Cooper S’ playful, engaging hot hatch act almost perfectly but remixes it in its own fun ways.
The Cooper SE’s electric motor packs 181 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque, eight horsepower and an equal number of pound-feet shy of the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gas-powered Cooper S. The SE gets to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds while the S gets there in 6.2, but if you’re not looking at the stopwatch, the electric version feels faster thanks to the instant rush of torque and rapid sprint to 30 mph.
Minis are much more about hustling around twisty roads and tight urban spaces than straight-line speed, but that rush is always there waiting to be unleashed when you floor it and always brings a smile. Despite its slightly slower acceleration on the clock, the SE wants to play all along the way up to its artificially limited 93 mph top speed.
Speaking of twists and turns, at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, California I took the SE through a short autocross loop. It’s tight, reactive steering answers the driver’s every call and the low-down battery pack may help it feel more planted, but it handles much like the regular S. Like other modern Minis, the SE suffers in terms of lightness and size compared to the 1959 original and pre-2000s hot hatches, but it’s lithe and chuckable by the standards of 2022 cars and far safer and quieter than any vintage machine.
There are no gears to row, and that’s an experience some really will miss, but the Mini SE has one EV trait conventional hot hatches don’t. On the autocross course, the SE’s one-pedal regenerative braking was a pure asset, but going fast required the use of both pedals. On the street, most drivers will probably use the standard one-pedal regenerative mode that many EV drivers prefer. A low-regen mode allows a slightly more conventional braking and creeping feel, but regenerative braking can’t be turned off entirely.
The suspension is firm at the best of times, which is helpful on the autocross course but not necessarily everywhere else. On the billiard-table-smooth roads of Palm Springs the Mini was calm and comfy, but just like the Cooper S, the SE can be a little harsh on rough pavement.
Inside, the SE looks and feels just like the regular Minis except for the oval-shaped matte-finish digital instrument display and the yellow, instead of red, central toggle switch that turns the car on and off. The ambient lighting works just like that of the gas Minis, and so does the 8.8-inch infotainment screen and the BMW iDrive-based infotainment system. These systems aren’t the most modern, but they work well enough, and the SE is easy to learn.
The Bargain Factor
The Mini Cooper SE starts at $30,750, including destination fees. That’s $3,000 more than the gas-powered Cooper S. There’s a more basic gas Mini with 134 horsepower that starts at $23,750, but the SE offers Cooper S-like performance for even less. Thanks to a $7,500 tax credit, the actual cost of the SE is $23,250, and in some states, even less. (In Washington state, local incentives cut it to just $21,100).
While it’s possible to drive the Mini SE’s price up considerably by ticking option boxes (the Iconic trim, with its fancier interiors, adaptive cruise control and other luxury features adds $7,000 to the bill), this is still a bargain compared to its gas-powered equivalents.
The only other new EVs with comparable prices are Nissan’s base-model Leaf, which offers 145 miles of range and a starting price of $20,375 after the Federal tax credit, and Chevrolet’s Bolt. The Bolt offers 239 miles of range and starts at $24,995 after tax credits, but is still going through a painful battery recall. Mazda’s MX-30 and Hyundai’s Kona EV sell for more, and the former has less range.
While the Bolt comes closest on driving feel, and these other cars offer more practical interiors, none really offers the fun experience of the Mini. There’s currently a big gulf between sexy, headline-garnering EV rocketships like the Porsche Taycan and EVs most people can afford, and even cars like the Tesla 3 and Polestar 2 cost twice as much as the SE.
Mini has created a fun performance EV with a distinct personality, and one that can easily double as a commuter car for many drivers. The Cooper SE’s range may not be impressive, but the democratizing of fun-to-drive EVs is worth celebrating.