Mini says it will not ditch IC engines until at least 2030
The British car marque claims it intends to keep internal combustion engines in the lineup as long as possible, although the eventual drive for car downsizing might eventually force it to go all-electric. The year 2030 is when things may start to change – but not before.
Bernd Koerber, Senior Vice President of the company, pointed out that most Mini owners hardly ever travel far in their cars, so 240 kilometers (150 miles) of range should be mostly enough for them.
The recently introduced Mini Cooper SE (see the gallery and video) is the only EV the brand is offering right now, and things will likely stay this way. Originally made to resemble the Mini Electric Concept that debuted two years ago, the Cooper SE ended up looking quite like a brand-new car, unless you consider the wheels and the faux grille.
Powering the EV is a single BMW i3s motor rated at 184 hp (137 kW) and 270 Nm (200 lb-ft) of torque. A 32.6-kWh battery gives it between 235 and 270 kilometers (146 – 168 miles) of WLTP-rated range, and charging from zero to 80% takes up 35 minutes as long as the standard charger is used. The Cooper SE sprints 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.3 seconds, falling 0.6 s behind its ICE-powered counterpart, and is handicapped at 150 km/h (93 mph).
Mini assembles the Cooper SE in the same Oxford factory as the rest of its range. The first EVs will roll into the showrooms throughout Europe in 2020. Despite this, the next generation is already in the works. Co-designed with the China-based Great Wall Group, it should be based on an entirely new platform and enter production in China in 2022.
Editor Andrew Raspopov
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