The MINI Electric car (MINI Cooper SE) launch in India is to unfold later this year, suggests a report on The Economic Times. It will be the BMW Group’s first electric car launched in India, and one of the several new luxury electric cars entering our market this year. Internationally, BMW Group started selling the MINI Electric in March 2020 and found 17,850 buyers by the end of the year.
The Mini Cooper SE or simply the MINI Electric, unveiled last year, is not a long-range EV, as it is built for urban commuting. So, a wide charging network is not a must-have to enjoy ownership without range anxiety. Speaking to financialexpress.com late last year, Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group (India), said that the company is watching the EV policy framework and the EV charging infrastructure to decide its EV launch plans in India.
BMW Group introduced India’s first hybrid electric sportscar (the BMW i8) as well as India’s first plug-in hybrid car (BMW 7 Series PHEV) and has mostly stayed ahead of the curve in launching electrified vehicles. The ET report suggests that even though BMW Group is concerned about the charging infrastructure, it has decided to proceed with the MINI Electric launch.
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Francois Roca, head of Mini in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, had talked about launching the MINI Electric in India in 2019. Below is what he had told ETAuto.com in November 2019:
If the market is ready to welcome electric mobility, we will be there. We have a plant in Chennai, this helps us to have, let’s say, a more approachable price tag or a different category of customer.
…But it’s very much linked to the ability of India to build infrastructure.
Francois Roca, head of Mini in Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa in November 2019
The MINI Electric is available as a three-door hatchback. It has a Lithium-ion battery pack with a net/gross energy content of 28.9 kWh/32.6 kWh. There’s a single motor driving the front wheels, with 135 kW (184 PS) and 270 Nm. A nought to 100 km/h sprint takes 7.3 seconds, and the top speed is limited to 150 km/h.
The MINI Cooper SE has a maximum charging rate of 50 kW. India doesn’t have fast chargers with a peak power of more than 50 kW anyways. Fully charging the MINI electric car’s battery pack can take as much as 12 hours (with a 2.3 kW AC charger) and as little as 1 hour 24 minutes (with a 50 kW DC charger). A full charge gives a range of 235-270 km as per the new WLTP test cycle.
As for the MINI Cooper SE features, LED headlamps, 16-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone automatic climate control, heating with heat pump technology, electric parking brake, 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, 5-inch digital instrument cluster, etc. are standard. 17-inch alloy wheels, 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and wireless smartphone charging are available optionally. In some markets, its ‘Corona Spoke’ wheels were renamed to Power Spoke wheels in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the UK, the MINI Cooper SE costs GBP 27,900 (INR 26.74 lakh) and competes directly with the Honda e. In the similar price range, one can also get a Kia Soul EV, Hyundai Ioniq EV and the Hyundai Kona EV. The MINI Electric price in India could be INR 40-45 lakh (ex-showroom). The ICE MINI 3-door in India costs INR 35 lakh (ex-showroom) onwards.
MINI Electric car FAQs
When will the MINI Cooper SE launch in India take place?
It is reported that the Mini electric car launch in India will take place in 2021.
What will be the MINI Electric price in India?
If launched, the MINI Electric could cost INR 40-45 lakh (ex-showroom) in India.
![Next-gen Electric MINI Cooper likely at dealers by early 2023 [Update]](https://electricvehicleweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2023-MINI-3-door-Hatch-front-render-350x197.jpg)
