2021 MINI Cooper SE

We’ve now tested the Mini Cooper SE in almost every imaginable condition: In Miami commuter traffic, on rolling woodsy roads in New York’s Catskills, even a harborside racetrack in Brooklyn, during the annual Formula E electric race weekend. The electric Mini, after many years of testing and development, went on sale in 2020 and is unchanged for 2021.

The good news? The Mini’s optional electric powertrain, including a weighty battery, doesn’t spoil its endearing personality and sprightly handling. The bad news? The Mini’s official 110-mile driving range, as rated by the EPA, may be a deal-killer for people who expect Tesla-like stamina from an EV. 

Still, the Mini is more than defensible for a certain subset of electric buyers. First, the Cooper SE is priced from just $23,250, after buyers subtract a helpful, $7,500 federal tax credit from the $30,750 base price. That makes the Mini one of the most affordable EV’s around, priced about $7,000 less than a Chevrolet Bolt. State and local incentives may push the Mini’s price closer to $20,000. 

The Cooper SE exceeded 130 miles of range in our real-world testing, well beyond its official rating. That’s still not practical for people who intend to hit the Interstate for days at a time. But 130 miles is ample if the Mini is your around-town special. 

Company executives remind us that, for nearly 80% of current owners, a Mini is the second, third or fourth car in a household—making this SE a compelling option for commuting, errands or weekend drives, with zero tailpipe emissions. Its 32.6 kilowatt-hour battery is about one-third the size of Tesla’s largest, helping to keep the price in check. Plug the Cooper into a Level 2 charger and a full charge takes about four hours, another advantage of carrying a relatively small battery. A DC fast charge juices the Mini to 80-percent in less than 40 minutes. 

Battery basics aside, the Mini hasn’t lost its charm; from its bulldog styling—a tiny bulldog, perhaps—to a luxurious interior and frisky performance that reveal its shared roots in the BMW 2-Series Gran Coupe and electric i3. (BMW is Mini’s corporate parent). Inside, the Mini’s round, LED-wrapped display screen takes center stage. A 5.5-inch, black-panel driver’s display perches atop the leather-wrapped steering wheel.

Sculpted sport seats are wrapped in striking, diamond-stitched leather, with thick, supportive bolsters and a manual thigh extender. Optional features include a Harman-Kardon audio system, head-up display, touchscreen navigation and a version of BMW’s intuitive iDrive infotainment system.

Barely 12 feet long, this diminutive hatchback is a tight fit in back, but two grown-ups can easily fit if front-seat passengers slide forward a bit. Cargo space behind rear seats is the Mini’s biggest sore point; a pair of overhead-size rollerbags won’t fit without folding one of the split rear seats.

This electrified version keeps the Mini hardtop’s cool design flourishes, including a contrasting white (or black) roof and Union Jack taillamps, with natty diamond-stitched leather upholstery and metal toggle switches inside. It also adds unique features, such as optional “Energetic Yellow” exterior mirrors and trim, and alloy wheels whose three-hole cutouts cleverly recall a British electrical socket.

The standard Mini’s hexagonal grille is closed off here, because the SE doesn’t need to inhale air to cool a gasoline engine and radiator. This Mini also rides 0.7 inches higher to make room for its underfloor battery.

The Cooper SE makes a healthy 184 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque, using the same electric motor found in the BMW i3, but driving the front wheels instead of the rears. Even with about 450 pounds of battery below deck, the Mini’s 3,153 pounds makes it among the market’s lightest EVs. From Miami to upstate New York, our Mini SE’s carved corners and scooted around slow traffic with aplomb, hitting 60 mph in a brisk 6.9 seconds.

In a bid to maximize range, top speed is kept to 93 mph. Drivers can select two modes of regenerative braking, a lighter setting that feels more like coasting when you lift off the throttle, and a more-aggressive mode for the one-pedal driving many EV fans favor. Four selectable driving modes include a Sport setting and a Green + mode that conserves energy by limiting power for heating and air conditioning.

The Mini’s efficiency rating of 108 mpge in combined city/highway driving—mpge being the government equivalent of a gallon of gasoline—is less impressive, a bit shy of the 119-mpge of the larger, roomier Chevrolet Bolt. But look at it this way: The Mini’s battery offers 28.9 kilowatt-hours of usable power (the rest is a buffer to ensure long battery life). A gallon of unleaded gasoline contains 33.4 kilowatt-hours of energy, so the Mini can cover a good 130 miles, while using the equivalent of about 0.9 gallons of gasoline. 

That’s still serious money-saving efficiency, especially with home electricity costing far less than gasoline at the pump.

A 2018 study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found that EV’s energy costs are less than half that of typical fossil-fueled cars, at an average $485 a year, versus $1,117. That should hold true for the Mini Cooper SE as well: The EPA figures a Mini SE owner will spend just $600 a year in electricity, versus $1,500 for the gas-powered Mini Cooper S. Over three years, that’s $2,700 in energy savings for SE buyers—along with green goodness that takes less toll on their conscience.