It's a lot sooner than we expected.
We may have already seen the new Mini Cooper S E completely undisguised, but there's still a lot of mystery surrounding the automaker's first-ever fully electric hatchback. It won't be long until we discover the car's specifications, however, as Autoblog reports the Mini Cooper S E will officially break cover in just a few weeks on July 9.
That's earlier than we anticipated as we were expecting the reveal to take place at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show in September, two years after the original Mini Electric Concept was unveiled. Mini also confirmed that a reveal is planned for that specific date but refused to comment any further.
Visually, the production version looks identical to the Mini Electric Concept shown in 2017. Despite being electric, it's still instantly recognizable as a Mini Cooper. There are some subtle changes, though. Since no cooling is required for a combustion engine, the Cooper S E has a different front fascia with a closed off grille since there's obviously no need to cool a combustion engine. Like the concept, the grille also has a green stripe and the car rides on funky four-spoke wheels.
Performance specifications haven't been confirmed, but the Cooper SE is expected to share the same electric drivetrain as the BMW i3S, which uses a 44.2-kWh 120 Ah battery and an electric motor producing 181 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque. Range should also be around 170 miles on the WLTP cycle. However, a prototype supplied to Autoblog was given a low range estimate of only 120 miles.
Mini's first EV will go into production at the BMW Group's Oxford plant in the UK in November 2019. Let's just hope the extra weight of the battery pack doesn't sacrifice the Mini's signature go kart handling.
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