MINI Electric Seems Tamed on the Track

The British carmaker has, at least for now, no big plans to go electric. At least, it doesn’t have plans as big as some of the competition. But that doesn’t mean MINI won’t dip one of its wheels into this still emerging segment. And it already did, with the Cooper SE introduced in late 2019.

This particular car is not a purpose-built EV, but rather a conversion of the existing Cooper to house an electric powertrain. It’s not insanely powerful, and it seems to be more of a tease for something much better, which will probably never come.

MINI is currently in the process of selling the idea of an electric Cooper to as many people as possible, but independent reviews have already begun popping up. Such as the one in the video below, conducted by the crew from One Lap and posted last week on YouTube, featuring the car on a proper race track.

Set in Sport mode – one of the four available in the Cooper SE – the car is off to the flying start allowed by the instant torque all electric cars benefit from. But that’s about it.

One Lap says the car seems to limit power, and apparently fights back even when floored, refusing to provide the power the driver would have liked. There’s a lot of understeering to be felt during cornering, and a lot of other issues, some inherited from the conventional MINI range, others from the i3 electric drivetrain it is derived from.

You can watch the short, five-minute drive around the track below this text. The bottom line seems to be that the MINI Cooper SE is not an extraordinary car in terms of performance, compared with what else is out there, but it is not something you could discard easily because it is, in the end, a MINI. What matters is whether people will be comfortable with the idea of paying from $29,900 for it.