The Mini Electric has been a long time coming but is
finally on its way and is currently being put through its paces with a
development cycle that will see it travel the world. Carscoops spy photographers recently
stumbled upon a Mini Electric prototype during winter testing and as we had
suspected, it won’t look very different than ICE variants of the Mini. In fact,
it appears virtually identical and you’ll need to have the eyes of a hawk to
notice the differences.
The most significant point of difference between the
Mini pictured and others currently on sale is the inclusion of a different
grille that’s fitting of an electric vehicle. The Mini Electric will, of
course, feature a charging port but unlike some EVs were the plugs are located
in the front fascia, the Mini’s is where you’d expect to find a normal gas cap.
Looks aside, the Mini Electric will feature a powertrain unlike any
other used by the British automaker. The hatchback will
use a single, front-mounted electric motor and perhaps, a battery that’s a
similar size to the 42.2 kWh unit found in the most-recent BMW i3. A similar
powertrain package could be later used by a rumored baby BMW i1 model.
Drivers of the Mini Electric will be reminded that
they’re driving a special Mini not only when they press the throttle but also
glance at a bespoke digital gauge cluster. There’s a chance that when the Mini
Electric premieres with this cluster, it could be rolled out to ICE Mini
models. The Mini Electric will be presented later this year.
