It has been twenty years since the reborn Mini Electric Hardtop Cooper made its premiere in North America, yet the vehicle is still every bit as fun to drive and fashionable as it was when it first came out. Its retro-modern appearance continues to draw attention, and its dynamic chassis tuning offers drivers something to look forward to each and every time they step behind the wheel.
The Cooper may not be the most practical Mini model due to its availability as a two-door hatchback, a four-door hatchback, or a convertible; yet, it remains desirable for individuals or couples looking for the smallest available Mini.
When you upgrade to an S model, you get a feisty 189-horsepower turbo four, which provides much-improved acceleration compared to the standard model’s turbocharged three-cylinder engine that produces 134 horsepower. Sadly, doing so also greatly enhances the price of the Cooper, bringing it very close to the pricing of luxury-brand automobiles such as the BMW 2-series Gran Coupe and the Mercedes-Benz A-class.
Do you need more performance than what the standard Cooper can offer? Check out the Cooper JCW, which has a ferocious turbo engine that produces 302 horsepower and was covered in a separate review.
The Mini Electric Hardtop is a two-door car, an inexpensive car amongst the other electric cars available in the market, with lots of quirky interiors comparatively to the pocket you are emptying, and has almost no noise, with which the outsiders and any passerby can notice except for the driver.
Exterior of Mini Electric Hardtop
The MINI Electric hardtop looks quite similar to that of the Sporty Cooper S model, it has eye-catching three-pin plug-in style wheels and florescent color wheels, which are a signature but if you don’t want to stand out with the wheels car you can opt for the normal painted MINI wheels. This Coupe has two doors, four-door, and even in the convertible version, but the looks are amazing.
Interior of Mini Electric Hardtop
The MINI Hardtop is equipped with an 8.8-inch oblong screen in its cockpit, which looks absurdly obtuse shoehorned, though it is fun to use as it has top specs.
The toggle switches look quite charming a little fiddly to use. There is even a new screen behind the steering wheels which shows speed, charge, range, and trip data which is much better than the do-it-all dial. The MINI compromises on the boot space, offering only 211 liters of boot space.
The driving position of this car is low and straight-legged, just similar to the other MINI’s, providing a superb driving position. There is useful storage in the door pockets, and under the charging sockets in the armrest. You can even find a fluro starter button and drive selector. On the infotainment screen, you don’t get Android Auto, but Apple Play comes as a standard on this screen.
Engine and Battery
This MINI front-wheel drive electric motor makes 181 horsepower and 199-pound feet of torque, which is from a 28.9 kWh battery. It comes with a 32.6kWh lithium-ion battery. The Hardtop being small comes with a small battery as well.
This Car’s estimated driving range is around 110 miles on a full charge with a consumption of 31kWh per 100 miles. On DC fast charging it can get charged up to 80% in just 35 minutes. If you are using an A.C charger at home that is 7.4 kW then you can restore your battery in just four hours. In spite of the small battery the performance of this car is really great, it can crack 0-62mph in just 7.3 seconds.
Ride and Handling
The MINI hardtop offers drivers assistance technology such as forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and rain-sensing windshield wipers and headlights. Braking and handling are the top-notch of this car, it offers two levels of regenerative brakes to choose from.
On country roads, the car gets going rough and fast thanks to the good grip and precise steering. But the electricity feels firm over the lumps and bumps on the roadways, but the road and wind noise are kept to the minimum in this one.
Price of Mini Electric Hardtop
This MINI Hardtop comes in 4 different trims: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Cooper S Shadow edition. The Level 1 costs around £28,220 and comes with LED front and rear lights, sat-nav, Apple Carplay, and a cockpit with dual climate controls. The Cooper S level 2 trim comes with heated front seats, the comfort access pack, which can make your life simple, folding and self-dimming mirrors, rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, and a storage compartment pack comes for £30,500.
Cooper S Level 3 which comes for £34,160 comes with additional matrix LED headlights, a front parking system and Harmon Kardon audio system, and even a head-up display and a Parking Assistant system. The Top model Cooper S Shadow edition has all in it that you need, a 17-inch alloy wheel, body-colored wing mirror covers and piano black exterior trim around the front grille, a unique sill door design, and shiny black interior trim, this one is for £34,750.
What’s New for 2023
Beginning with the 2023 model year, the Mini Cooper will be offered in a brand-new Resolute Edition trim level. It is painted in Rebel Green and has external trim in frosted bronze. Additionally, it has yellow and cream tweed seat coverings and unique door sill guards for the Resolute Edition.
The package is also available on the convertible model, albeit it has a black soft top and black mirror caps rather of the white roof and mirror caps seen on the Hardtop variant.
In order to have the most amount of driving enjoyment possible, we would go for the manual gearbox and install it in the more powerful 189-horsepower Cooper S Hardtop. Since neither version of the Mini is very roomy, we recommend going with the three-door model rather than spending the additional money on the five-door Hardtop.
Beyond that, the personalization choices are plenty and desired, and we’ll leave it up to you to decide what you want to do with them.
Warranty
When compared to other manufacturers of compact cars, Mini provides a guarantee that is somewhat superior, especially when it comes to free planned maintenance. Both Volvo and BMW provide free planned maintenance plans that are comparable to the one offered by Mini.
Mini Cooper covers the warranty of 4 years or 50,000 miles and complimentary scheduled maintenance is covered for 3 years or 36,000 miles
Top 3 Features of MINI Hardtop.
- You get a 6.5-inch impressive center screen on the dashboard, stylish faux seats, and 8 airbags. You can even opt for a convertible rooftop in the upgraded trim.
- The turbocharged 1.5 liter 3-cylinder based engine and the 124 horsepower make it a fun little car to drive.
- The type of safety assistance which the Hardtop provides is the best in town in this kind of arrange too.