Mini India, the subsidiary owned by BMW Group, announced the arrival of an Electric Version of their Hot Hatch- Mini Cooper SE. Mini India has started accepting pre-bookings for the all-electric 3-Door Mini Cooper SE EV from 29th of October.
The EV can be booked online or through dealerships with a booking amount of Rs. 1 lakh. The EV Mini Cooper SE is expected to be priced between Rs. 50-55 Lakh, as it will be a CBU unit and will be offered in four distinct paint options- White Silver, Midnight Black, Moonwalk Grey & the all time Mini famous, the British Racing Green.
MIni has confirmed that the Electric version of the Mini Cooper SE will be powered by a 32.6 KWh capacity batteries that will propel those electric motors and produce 184 HP & 270 Nm of torque, with no emission coming out of the exhaust, helping us keep our Mama Earth cooler for a little longer and slow down the global warming. Even without endangering the lives of Polar bears, the EV Mini Cooper SE will give you a whiplash and pin you back to the seats, as it sprints 0-60 in just 3.9 seconds and before you take out your cheque books to sign the booking amount, let me just clarify one fact, it’s 0-60 Km/h and not mph.
The Mini is known for its mini dimensions and maxi performance, but there’s something more that is mini in this EV and that is the driving range, the Cooper SE EV claims to get a range of 233 kilometers, which is not really a big number considering it’s big price tag. Considering the EV infrastructure in India has just begun to develop, you cannot expect to utilise its 50 KW DC fast charging, which will charge 80 percent of the battery in 35 minutes, because you do not have DC Fast chargers in India as of now. So, you will have to limit your weekend getaways within the proximity of the driving range.
Considering the dimensions of the Mini, yes, you could argue that there’s just not enough space to house a larger battery, but that is something Mini will have to work on if they want to capture a large chunk of EV market share in India.
For now, we will have to overlook these minor fly in the ointment and enjoy the exciting and thrilling driving experience Mini has always delivered to its customers and with an Electric powertrain, we are sure the drivers will have a great time behind the wheel and not regret their decision of buying the Mini EV even for a moment, because we are certain when you would pin the throttle of the Mini EV to the floor, you will smile exactly the way you did, when you drove above 80 km/h for the first time in your life.
We cannot wait for the Mini EV to officially launch here in India, so we could experience the Mini EV ourselves and transform this imaginative driving experience into an actual drive review and see whether Mini EV will make it’s Gasoline powered predecessors proud or not.
