On July 6th, the new electric Mini Cooper from Spotlight Automotive, a joint venture between BMW and Great Wall Motor (GWM), officially entered the market in China.

Consumers can now choose from a total of five trims with a price range of CNY 189,800 - 266,800 (US$ 26,100 - 36,700).

The new Mini Cooper has dimensions of 3858 mm length, 1756 mm width, 1458 mm height, and has a wheelbase of 2526 mm, which is 31 mm longer than the previous generation.

It is available in five trims: Cooper E Big Player/Classic, Cooper SE Artist/Racer, and Cooper SE 1/65 Limited Edition; as well as six body colours, namely, 'storm grey', 'polar bear white', 'British green', 'benedict yellow', ' magic blue', and 'chili red', with blackened body pillars, exterior mirrors, and roof.

As the fifth generation of the classic Mini three-door model, the new electric Mini Cooper retains numerous classic design elements of the Mini brand, including a compact, three-door, four-seater layout.

The new electric Mini Cooper E Classic runs on 17-inch aluminium alloy rims, while the Artist and Racer trims run on 18-inch aluminium alloy rims.

Mini Cooper SE Racer Edition

Furthermore, the Mini Cooper SE Racing Edition offers a JCW (John Cooper Works) kit. The black body trim is paired with a red roof, red exterior mirrors, and the JCW logo. At the same time, both the Artist and Racer trims offer panoramic sunroofs.

In terms of power, the entry-level Mini Cooper E is equipped with a 135 kW (181 PS)/ 290 Nm electric motor and a 40.7 kWh ternary lithium battery pack, providing a China light-duty vehicle test cycle (CLTC) range of 456 km and a 0 - 100 km/h acceleration time of 7.3 seconds.

The high-end Mini Copper SE is powered by a 160 kW (215 PS)/ 330 Nm electric motor and a 54.2 kWh ternary lithium battery pack, providing a CLTC range of 452 km and a 0 - 100 km/h acceleration of 6.7 seconds. Under DC fast charging, the charging time from 10% - 80% is 30 minutes.

Inside, the Classic Edition comes standard with a 240 mm diameter circular central control screen powered by the Mini Operating System 9, which supports a personal voice assistant, navigation, games, and streaming media.

Other features include ambient lights, dual-zone automatic AC, wireless mobile phone charging, steering wheel heating, parking assistance, and cruise control.

The Artist Edition adds electric adjustment seats, LED interactive headlights, in-car cameras, heated front seats (with massage function for the driver's seat), electric folding and heated exterior mirrors, and a keyless entry. The basic configuration of the Racer Edition is similar to the Artist Edition, but the seats are made of red and black Vescin leather.

Additionally, there are physical buttons and knobs below the central control screen. Mode switching between core mode (Core), go-kart mode (Go-Kart), energy-saving mode (Green), balance mode (Balance), nostalgia mode (Timeless), custom mode (Personal), and smart mode (Vivid) are supported. Each mode has a specific UI.