Exclusive First Photos of The 2025 Electric MINI JCW

DimON · June 19, 2023

What you’re looking at are exclusive first photos of the 2025 electric MINI JCW scheduled to debut late next year. While this prototype is still camouflaged, we can see several tell-tale signs that point to what the first ever electric MINI JCW will look like. Read on for exclusive photos and details on power, range and timing.

Spotted outside of Munich, we were quite sure what we had seen until we looked closer at the series of photos we took. But upon closer inspection we spotted several details that sources had previous told us to expect on the forthcoming JCW. Despite the heavy camouflage, there’s a surprising amount of new JCW styling details to uncover in these first photos

New Exterior JCW Design Details

Let’s start upfront. The deeper front splitter extends out further and has a center support for the first time. Also new is a single horizontal cross-member that spans the full width of the deeper tower air intake. Looking closer the entire front bumper is more aggressive and slopes downward on the corners likely for aero purposes.

And don’t let the trim around the lights or that hood scoop fool you – both are fake.

The side sills are also more aggressive and extend further downward at the bottom of the car. Also there’s a new are element (that very noticeable bulge) just in front of the rear wheel. That is likely there to push air around the wider (likely 225 mm) tires.

Let’s talk about the wheels and tires. What we see here are not the stock JCW wheels that will come on the car. The stock JCW wheels will be the 17” John Cooper Works Sprint Spoke with the 18” John Cooper Works Lap Spoke being optional.

For more about the new range of MINI wheels, read our exclusive report.

Finally around back we see two obvious JCW details. The first is the massive (for a MINI) rear defuser. Designed to literally suck the car to the pavement at speed, the defuser will likely help to limit the lift that is typically seen on a MINI due to its unique aero properties.

But there’s something else hiding in plain sight. Looking closer at the photos you begin to notice a rather interesting rear wing that looks almost like the original JCW GP wing. On the side there are vertical elements on the side design like that GP but in a more subtle and integrated way. An entirely new element is the two small fins that sit just inside of the edge of the wing that appear to be roughly the same width apart as the rear defuser.

Expected Electric MINI JCW Power and Range

We know from sources that MINI will be amping up the power of the electric JCW models far more than what we’ve seen in the ICE variants. In the Cooper JCW model we see here that figure will likely be 250 hp – a 22 hp gain over the ICE JCW. But more importantly will be the increase in torque and the immediacy of its delivery. That points to an upgraded electric motor under the hood.

	2025 J01 MINI Cooper E	2025 J01 MINI Cooper SE	2026 J01 MINI JCW	2023 F56 MINI Cooper SE
Horsepower	181 hp	215 hp	250 hp*	181 hp
Range	200 miles (WLTP)	250 miles (WLTP)	TBA	125 miles (WLTP
Battery Size	40kWh	54kWh	54kWh*	32.6 kWh

* Confirmed through unofficial sources but unconfirmed by MINI

What will this do to range? Unfortunately the added aero and larger wheels and tires will increase drag likely reducing overall range. And sources tell us that the JCW will get the same size battery as the Cooper SE. That would mean we’d see the estimated 250 miles range (WLTP) decrease a bit. How much? We could make an educated guess but it’s still a bit early.

Electric MINI JCW Release And Pricing Info

Pricing and availability is a bit murky but here’s what we know. As has been reported, the first version of this car will be made in China via BMW’s venture with Great Wall Motors called Spotlight. That car will be sold in Asia, Europe and South America initially. At some point after launch we expect production expand to the Oxford UK plant which could coincide with the J01’s launch in the North American market.

J01 MINI Cooper (BEV) / China	Start of Production
J01 MINI Cooper E	11/2023
J01 MINI Cooper SE	11/2023
J01 MINI Cooper JCW*	TBD

Pricing is still TBD but we do expect MSRP to rise from what we see on the current MINI JCW. In the US that $35,400 price will likely be north of $40k by the time that markets gets the car. In German the currently 39.800€ will likely increase a similar amount.

What were we doing in Munich to have snapped these photos you ask? Let’s just say we’ll have much more on the J01 electric MINI Cooper soon.