What do you mean, ‘not sustainable’?
Contrary to what we may have previously suggested, the all-new Mini Cooper (S)E remains fully electric. The petrol versions basically remain the same, although they will be significantly facelifted again. These photos show that well.
The fact that we may be a bit surprised by this news is because this ‘splitting’ of a model does not fit in with BMW’s strategy. After all, that brand usually chooses to put electric models and models with a combustion engine in one and the same jacket, as is done with the BMW X1 and iX1 and the Mini brother of that car, the new Countryman.
However, this is different with the three-door Mini, which has had the model name ‘Cooper’ since the appearance of the new electric generation. This car is on a ‘dedicated’ EV platform, developed in collaboration with a Chinese partner, and will therefore not appear with a combustion engine in the nose. Instead, the current three-door, five-door and convertible versions of the Mini will be facelifted again. This also happened in 2018 and 2021 with the third generation of the ‘new Mini’, which has basically been around since 2013 and is therefore ten years old. What do you mean, petrol is not sustainable?
These photos prove that another facelift is in the pipeline. Just like in 2021, this is a fairly major renewal round, which will involve a lot of new sheet metal. The ‘clamshell’ hood, for example, gains more sleek creases and loses the U-shaped notch directly in front of the windshield. It also seems to be extended a bit further down and gets a wider, more rectilinear grille opening, which seems to grow a bit, especially in width. There are also new headlights and of course the front bumper has also been thoroughly overhauled.
From the side and back it is easier to see that the current Mini is still ‘normal’ here. For example, in contrast to the all-new Cooper E, the car still has separate, black wheel arch edges and the door handles are a lot more traditional in shape than the BMW significantly larger exterior mirrors of the electric newcomer. At the rear, the emphasis seems to be on a redesigned and arranged bumper. The rear lights will retain their shape and perhaps also the current Union Jack layout, although Mini may well revise them slightly for the final production model.
The fact that Mini is not launching a completely new petrol Mini has of course everything to do with cost savings. In the long term, all Minis will be electric, so the brand does not want to unnecessarily invest in ‘old’ technology. Therefore, you can also count on powertrains that will in any case largely be adopted from the current generation. An electric version of the five-door Mini will not be available at all, because according to Mini, such a car would compete too much with the upcoming Mini Aceman. Do not expect VDL Nedcar to benefit from keeping the current Minis longer, because the contract with Mini’s parent company BMW still expires next spring.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl