Performance

Like most electric cars, the MINI allows you to choose how much performance you’d like by selecting one of four modes - Sport, Mid, Green and Green Plus. In ‘Green Plus’ mode it makes the accelerator feel less responsive while ‘Sport’ makes it feel really rather quick, especially from a standstill. Because electric motors give you power instantly as soon as you press the pedal, the MINI is almost alarmingly quick up to 30mph and has to rely on the electronics to keep the wheels from spinning.

The MINI’s motor is basically the same as that used in the sporty version of the BMW i3 and has 182bhp – more than the Honda e’s 148bhp but less than the top Nissan Leaf e+’s 217bhp. It helps that this MINI is only 145kgs heavier than a MINI Cooper S 3-Door with automatic transmission, so it has less bulk to carry around than other electric cars. Rivals with bigger batteries have to cope with more weight and feel less perky as a result.

The top speed is limited to 93mph, which is less than the petrol MINIs and actually lower than some pretty mundane hatchbacks. However, it’s never likely to be an issue in the UK, especially if you want to preserve the range – driving fast eats through the battery power. 

Drive

Everyone expects a MINI to be good fun to drive, with a direct and sporty feeling that makes it easy to drive around town yet brings a smile to your face when you are on a twisty road. The electric version doesn’t lose this feeling.

The suspension has been tailored specifically for the Electric to cope with the extra weight, and the centre of gravity is 30 millimetres lower than in the MINI Cooper S as most of the mass is in those heavy batteries. The weight over the front wheels is reduced too; in fact, the MINI Electric has close to perfect weight distribution between the front and back of the car, which makes it feel very well balanced.  Think of how a supercar or Formula 1 racer is low to the ground with the engine in the middle to get this same effect and you can imagine why it’s a good thing. 

The Driving Mode selector switch doesn’t change the way the MINI goes around corners, but it does alter the way the steering feels and how much response you get when you press the throttle pedal. You can also choose the best setting for ‘engine braking’, where the motor recharges the battery when the driver lifts off the accelerator. It can be varied by a switch between very light and heavy enough to make the brake pedal redundant.