Electric Mini keeps the top on

Hopes for a convertible offshoot of the Mini Cooper E have apparently been crushed. BMW management is said to have decided against such a model. Demand was still very high for the predecessor.

In the summer of 2022, BMW presented an electric Mini Convertible based on the previous generation – albeit as a one-off, unsaleable show car. However, the unique model was so well received that the Munich-based company launched the Mini Cooper SE Convertible as a small series in 2023, strictly limited to 999 units.

The high demand for an open-top electric Mini, which had reached the end of its production life and was technically getting on in years, had naturally fuelled hopes that the new edition of the electric Mini presented in September 2023 would also receive a convertible sooner or later. But that won’t happen, as BMW Blog reports.

Citing industry sources, it states that BMW has stopped the convertible version, internally referred to as J03. It was supposed to start production in 2027 in parallel with the electric Mini three-door (named J01) at the Oxford plant and in China. However, the model will not yet be realised “changing market dynamics for EVs and the increasing pressure to maximise profits on entry-level electric models like the Cooper.”

bmwblog.com