Mini to launch two electric Mini models in 2024
Mini has revealed more details about its future electric models. The new Countryman is scheduled for launch in February 2024. In the summer of that same year, the new electric hatch, now named Cooper, will follow suit, as an EV first.
Mini opted for the dual fuel strategy for the Countryman, with production reportedly being prepared in Leipzig, Germany, to start this year. Mini had yet to disclose whether the staff in Leipzig would be making both the electric and petrol Countryman from the beginning. However, it has become clear that the battery-electric Countryman won’t be completed before 2024. Exact data on the vehicle are not yet available, but it is likely to be based on the already presented platform brother BMW iX1 – at least as a top model with all-wheel drive.
For the electric Mini Cooper, the story goes the other way around. The BMW brand’s new boss, Stefanie Wurst, has hailed the new hatch “the beginning of a new era”. The Mini Cooper will be electric first and run off the lines in May 2024. The EV is being developed in cooperation with Great Wall from China and has already been tested for quite a while. Still, the fifth-gen Mini has yet to make an official appearance. Media reports now mention power levels between 135 and 160 kW and two battery options with 40 and 54 kWh. That would be slightly less than the Great Wall Ora Funky Cat, with 45.4 and 59.3 kWh net battery options. The petrol-engined Cooper will not be launched until July 2024 and will likely be the last Mini model with an internal combustion engine.
Next up is the Mini Aceman. Previously a concept, the launch is now set for January 2025. While the new Countryman will also be available with all-wheel drive, the Aceman will only be front-wheel drive. Here, the output will be between 130 and 160 kW. At just under 4.10 metres in length, the Aceman will be positioned between the Mini Cooper (at around 3.90 metres) and the larger Countryman (4.43 metres).
With this new product range, Mini aims for an electric sales share of 50% by 2025, compared to 15%. At the beginning of the 2030s, Mini will reportedly only have purely electrically powered models in its range.
Several months before the premiere (in the case of the Countryman and Cooper, probably at the IAA Mobility in September) and the actual sales start, there is still no certainty about prices. The Mini Cooper SE is currently listed at around 37,000 euros, but this model only has a 29 kWh battery. With 40 or 54 kWh, even the electric three-door model is likely to start at over 40,000 euros, while the larger Countryman as an iX1 offshoot is more likely to begin at 50,000 euros.
0 Comments