Not-so-mini anymore: Mini unveils new SUV - GERMANY MOTOR SHOW MINI - GERMANY MOTOR SHOW MINI
LEADIN:
Mini has unveiled a new electric SUV with a round touchscreen ahead of the Munich motor show.
The brand also presented a new Mini Cooper with a simplified design, keeping the essential features of its iconic look.
STORYLINE:
The Mini is getting yet another facelift in its 64-year history.
The carmaker, owned by BMW Group, unveiled a new Mini Cooper, and a new Mini Countryman on Friday (1 September 2023), three days before the start of the Munich motor show, called IAA Mobility.
Both models wheeled onto the stage are electric, but they'll soon also be available in combustion engine versions.
"We are witnessing, today, our first and our biggest mini transformation ever," says Stefanie Wurst, head of Mini, BMW Group.
"Mini has been creating cars that inspire pure joy for over 60 years. Hundreds of innovations and millions of cars later, we have the same passion to forever change what it means to drive."
The three-door Cooper is not the first electric vehicle of the brand, but it still marks a milestone, according to James Attwood, acting magazine editor of Autocar.
"I think it's a really important day in Mini's history. They have had an electric car before, but it was kind of a conversion of the existing combustion engine car. Like a lot of car brands, Mini's Future is fully electric and they're really committed to getting there quite quickly. So I think the launch of the proper electric Mini Cooper hatch is a really key moment in terms of sort of pushing the brand forward," he says.
Bigger and higher, the Countryman gets its first electric version.
And inside, both cars keep the essential Mini design features.
"Step by step, we are reducing the amount of elements, whatever wasn't necessary we took out and what remained are iconic elements. The steering wheel, obviously, the round centre icon - centre display and the toggle bar. The toggle bar is for us the connection - we are human beings who want to have this kind of tactile experience and therefore we decided to keep those three main elements," says Oliver Haile, head of Mini design at BMW Group.
One of the key new features of the new Minis is the round OLED touchscreen, which can be used to select "experience modes" to change the screen colours and the ambient lighting.
"It's really interesting, it's a round OLED touchscreen and it seems what Mini have really made for is the round screen is a very key element," says Attwood.
"It dates back to the 1960s, cars always had round dials. So there's a real historical feature they want to keep. In the previous Minis that have had touchscreens in, it's been a rectangular touchscreen mounted inside a kind of circular area. So there's always been this got a little bit of dead area. So what they've done this time is you've actually got a fully round OLED screen, which means that the whole thing works and goes right to the edges."
Over-the-air updates of the cars' software will come as standard, a feature numerous carmakers have already introduced.
Mini confirmed its range will be fully electric by 2030, and insisted on the new models' sustainable design.
"We worked very hard on reducing the ecological footprint of our new Minis as much as possible while increasing the use of reclaimed material. Take the alloy wheels. They are depending on the size of the car and the size of the rims. They are made out of between 30% to 70% of secondary aluminium. And the new and super nice interior materials don't only look great, they consist of up to 92% of recycled fabric," says Stefan Fleck, head of Mini product line at BMW Group.
Mini fans will notice how the design of both cars has been simplified.
The plastic around the Mini Cooper's wheels is gone, the door handles are now flush and the body indicators were moved up to the wing mirrors.
"You're actually beginning now to see this kind of design, particularly in electric cars, where they're really being stripped back of some of the exterior features and really simplified and design is kind of refocusing on a handful of key areas. So with the Mini, it's just focusing on those rounded headlights and a lot of the real traditional Mini features," says Attwood.
In terms of range, the new Mini Cooper can be driven for up to 402 kilometres (250 miles) in its SE, higher-end version, according to the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure) test cycle.
The Mini Countryman SE ALL4, the premium version seen on stage, has a range of up to 433 kilometres (270 miles), according to preliminary data.
Batteries are compatible with fast-charging stations, allowing them to go from 10% to 80% in under 30 minutes, Mini says.
In Germany, the new Mini Cooper will retail from 32,900 euros ($35,000), and the new Mini Countryman will start at 43,500 euros ($47,000).
Both will go on sale in early 2024.
AP video by: Tristan Werkmeister
