After entering the world of electrification with the Mini Cooper SE a couple of years back, the automaker is now gearing up for its next adventure. The next-gen Mini Cooper EV was recently spied in Sweden during a winter test session. The upcoming Mini Copper EV is still at least a couple of years away, but it will play an important part in shaping the company’s future. The car was spied with heavy camouflage that barely gives anything away, but here’s what we’ve documented about it.

2022 MINI Cooper EV

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2022 MINI Cooper EV

2021 MINI Cooper EV

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2021 MINI Cooper EV
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

What Do We Know About The Upcoming Mini Cooper EV?

There next-gen Mini Cooper EV was spotted with heavy camouflage during a winter test session in Sweden. Since this is an early prototype and not much is revealed, we’d advise you to take every detail with a pinch of salt. There are a lot of fake parts that you can see all around the body. For starters, there are the fake headlights rings upfront and hood scoop to confuse the onlookers. However, the ‘Electric Test Vehicle’ tag on the sides gives it all away. Even the taillights, for that matter, don’t give up on any new design elements. The car could also turn out to be slightly smaller than the current-gen, but we’ll hold our breath on that one.

Not a lot is revealed in the spy shots, but Mini Cooper could adopt the curved screen setup from the current crop of BMWs moving forward. This will be a big bummer for many of us, but, again, we’ll wait to see how it pans out.

There’s no information on the powertrain whatsoever, but we can use the current SE as a benchmark to speculate a few aspects. The Mini Cooper SE is the company’s first EV and it is purely an urban commuter. It delivers just 110 miles of range on a full charge, makes 181 horses, and takes 6.9 seconds to 60 mph from a standstill. The upcoming Cooper EV could be a lot better since all the rivals have upped the ante by many levels. Given that the car is not due before 2023, we can probably expect a range of around 200-250 miles, which will be the bare minimum by then, and slightly better performance specs too.


Powertrain

Electric motors

Horsepower

181 HP

Range

110 miles

0 to 60 mph

6.9 seconds


In 2020, Mini’s sales went down by over 22-percent in the U.S., but the demand for the SE has increased and the company is hoping for the EV to account for eight-percent of its sales here in the States. In pure numbers, that translates to less than 3,000 examples, but it’s still a growth on the electrification front for the automaker. The company aims to go fully electric by 2030, but that doesn’t start right away. The Mini Cooper will be offered with internal combustion engines until 2025, so the next-gen Cooper won’t be all-electric.

Final Thoughts

The next-gen Mini Cooper electric is still some time away and we’re surely going to see more of it until its debut. For now, Mini is trying to hide all the design elements, but it doesn’t matter because these are still early prototypes and styling changes could still be made. The car will only be spotted more frequently from now on and we’ll stay on top of it.