2021 Mini Cooper SE: Specs, Price, New Look, & Photos

2021 Mini Cooper SE: Specs, Price, New Look, & Photos. Mini has had a long history of building charismatic fun to drive cars with their go-kart-like handling and rambunctious turbocharged engines. As the industry continues its forward march into electrification. This is Mini’s entry into the fray with the 2021 Mini Cooper SE, an electrified version of the Cooper S, which replaces that cars 2-liter turbocharged petrol engine with the same electrified powertrain that you find in the BMW i3s. Today, I’m with Mini with the all-new electrified cooper SE. And the big question I want to be answered does this new electric Mini Cooper signify the start of a new era at Mini, that’s all we’re here to find out.

2021 Mini Cooper SE Specs

2021 Mini Cooper SE Engine

Now the 2021 Mini Cooper SE is based on the current generation Mini Cooper platform, which debuted back in 2014. and this is not a dedicated review platform, so you guys might be curious when you open up the hood. This is essentially again the same powertrain we find in the BMW i3s, so the performance version. And surprisingly, if you take this plastic cover off, you can see there is the electric powertrain for this vehicle.

It essentially makes 181 horsepower and 199 pounds of torque. Now, if you compare these numbers to the numbers you find in the gas-powered Cooper S., the gas-powered car makes about eight more horsepower and about ten more pound-feet of torque. This is very comparable. It’s why Mini is calling it the Cooper S and E for electrification. Now, of course, there’s no gearbox with a car like this. The gas-powered cooper offers either a 6 manual transmission a six-speed or an 8-speed Auto. This only comes with a single-speed reduction gear transmission.

And Mini says the performance is very comparable to the petrol power to the vehicle. You should get to 16 around 6.9 seconds, and the charging is the range of this vehicle. Mini said when they initially launched this car last year, it would have around 235 to 278 kilometers of range. The actual EPA numbers for the US-spec car is a hundred and ten miles. Now that is pretty disappointing in terms of the competition. Remember the Cooper SE is supposed to be kind of like a second car.

2021 Mini Cooper SE Specs

Minis are usually like second cars, so Mini claims 110 miles of range is plenty for a vehicle like this. This car does have the ability to also quick charge; you could also quickly charge it at 50 kilowatts station. Which would give you about 80 percent charge in around 35 minutes? This car will take about 24 hours if you just level one charge. It’ll take about 4 hours if you do a level 2 charge. Because this car only has a 32 and a half kilo an hour battery pack. It’s why the range is only 110 miles.

Because of the electric powertrain and the batteries, now this car else also is relatively heavy. The regular gas-powered car weighs around 3700 pounds, which is actually really heavy for a car that’s this small. This one here is about 300 pounds heavier, suits still can get a tick over 4,000 pounds before the electrified Cooper SE.

2021 Mini Cooper SE Images

Exterior Design

By now, you should become familiar with the idea of this generation. It’s probably on its last leg, Mini is going to be introducing a new generation soon. As you can see, this car still looks relatively fresh despite being six years on the market. There is very little indication that this is the actual electrified version of the Cooper S aside from the grill. Which, as you can see here, is completely closed off. There’s also a lot of acid yellow accents are on this car. That’s what many uses to show that this is there electrified powertrain.

All of the Cooper s keys will come standard with their full LED headlights, which include an LED daytime running light, LED turn signals, you have LED fog lights here. I really think this car looks really great. I like how the girl is closed off, the only thing that I don’t like about the front end is this fake hood scoop. Mini decided to keep that hood scoop from the petrol-powered S small.

Because no engine needs air being fed to an intercooler, you can see it’s actually closed off. I kind of wish many just got rid of that, but they also wanted to show that this is still kind of like the S but with an electrified powertrain. Looking at the rest of the side profile, you can see at 152 inches long. This is a small car, I mean if you compare it to something like the Nissan Leaf. This car is about 2 feet shorter, which again makes it a little bit more unique in the segment.

Interior Design

Now stepping inside the Cooper SE, you can see just like the exterior the interior has some subtle changes. And the door sounds relatively solid. It reminds me again of the last Mini Cooper that I sat in. The changes that you can see here are pretty small. I mean obviously, the acid yellow accents are kind of carried through. There are some you know yellow accents here for the start-stop. The floor mats are also unique. And I also really like these seats, these are the upgraded seats you get with the iconic trim. You can see they have kind of this diamond quilted pattern, the nice stitching, they’re also very soft and comfortable.

They’re all a manual seat they just in like eight different ways. You even get a thigh extended over here on the driver and the passenger side. Obviously, the seats are tailored more to be sportier, but for my frame, I find that I fit in them very comfortably. In terms of the materials, this car has relatively good material. The Steering wheel is also nice, it’s got you know very nice leather on it. It’s a very thick bolstered rim, it’s got your usual steering wheel controls. The door panel here is also soft touch; the windows are OneTouch up-and-down for both, which is nice.

Now, of course, being a Mini and electrified car, you’re probably wondering how is the cargo capacity. Cuz remembers Mini offered an electrified version of the Mini E about 10 years ago. Because the batteries took up space there, which didn’t have a backseat and didn’t have any cargo space. Now for this new generation, Mini has obviously redesigned the batteries because of new technology. And you aren’t gon na lose any cargo space back here compared to the gas-powered car.

You’re looking at around 8 points 7 cubic feet of space back here. Which is very small, but remember we’re talking about a car that’s 152 inches long. Now, if you ‘d like, you can fold down the seats back here, and it gives you around 32 cubic feet of space. Which is not bad, but keep in mind you’re gon na lose those back seats but the cargo area here as you can see mostly backpacks we’ll take it up fully. It’s nice that Mini has not compromised the cargo area with this new electrified version.

2021 Mini Cooper SE Price and Release Date

About ten years ago, when Mini tried their first electrified attempt with the Mini E., it was kind of a one-off model because many only managed to sell about 50 of them in the US. Obviously for the second version of their electrified car. This is a car that will be available in all 50 states, and it’s also available now. And you can also purchase this thing, so it’s something that Mini has spent a lot of time doing because this is all done in-house. It’s got the same powertrain within the BMW i3 S. which makes this thing one quick little car, I mean 0-60 in 6.9 seconds. It isn’t exactly fast with a lot of electric car standards. You can thank Tesla for that.

If you guys saw from the test drive on the road. The car actually has plenty of power despite it being front-wheel drive. It can actually put the power down. And even though we’re here in Florida there aren’t very many curvy roads, I can still feel the fact that this still handles and feels like a Mini. Which means it has go-cart like steering. It has a bit of a harsher ride quality, which could be a deal-breaker for some.

I like the fact that Mini has kept the charismatic look while adding a few little touches. The fact that this is an electric car with the wheels with a yellow accent. Now keep in mind Mini offers a lot of bespoke options in this car. You could customize this to get rid of some of the electrified stuff like the yellow badging here and there for more of a conventional look.

Really, what makes the Mini Cooper SE so appealing is the fact that Mini has priced this car extremely well. The base model starts at twenty-nine thousand nine hundred dollars. Now that’s only about two thousand dollars more than the petrol-powered Cooper S, which is actually a steal now. Of course, this particular one here there are three trim levels; there’s this the signature plus and then the iconic trim. The iconic trimmed adds things like the panoramic sunroof, the bigger eight-point angels display, the heads-up display, and the Harman Kardon sound. This one all in is thirty-six thousand nine hundred dollars plus destination now. That is before the federal tax credits, now if you guys purchase this car in the US. You will qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit on this car. Which you can, of course, add to the purchase price the following year.

And depending on what state you live in, some states offer credit as much as three thousand bucks. If you guys go for the base trim, you get this car for under $20,000. Really, it makes the 2021 Mini Cooper SE a really enticing proposition against the gas car. , if you guys are okay with the fact that it only offers 110 miles of range.. I think that is my one criticism of this car; I want Mini to kind of improve the range closer to 200. really it’s gon na make an interesting. The second car, and I think it’s gon na make again a really enticing proposition. What we’re seeing here, of course, is the start of a new era for Mini as their second attempt.

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