Part 2: Did MINI Go Electric Too Soon? (a Bold Choice in a Changing World)

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Yesterday we discussed why MINI committed to going all electric by 2030 and how that has impacted their model line-up. Today we get into the good stuff; what does the future look like next and how global politics could to change it all. Tomorrow we’ll go back in time and ask what if?

MINI Embraces Electric Mandates Just They Begin to Change

Most major automotive markets have mandated that all new cars be electric by a certain date. In the US that’s 2040. EU it’s 2035. And in the UK this was just pushed (back) up to 2030. Politics being what they are the dates may shift, but there’s no question that the first world is moving to a zero emissions (by vehicle) policy at some point in the future.

Because of this, MINI saw the writing on the wall and decided to make a bold choice.

The electric J01 MINI Cooper

Years ago MINI looked at those policies, early EV adoption and how well electrification fits the brand ethos and decided it to transition s quickly and prudently to EVs as it could. They launched Project Grizzly (which we mentioned in Part 1 of this series) and took a leap. The problem is that there was no net to catch them.

EV growth has slowed in Europe and the UK – the exact area where legislation is pushing hardest. Meanwhile in the US EV sales remain strong but there are signs of over saturation looming. The one common factor the public no matter what continent their on is a charging infrastructure still in its infancy.

Luckily MINI’s “Power of Choice” strategy is designed to offer as wide a product assortment as possible for a small car company.

While the tariffs could severely damage business over the next year, MINI (like BMW) has positioned themselves well to pivot quickly based on consumer demand. And even more impressive they’ve done this by market. For instance the US Countryman S has a 241 hp B48 without mild hybrid assistance (mild is very different the plugin if you’re curious). In the EU the same model makes 215 with a heavier and more complex mild-hybrid version of the B48. It sounds small but this is exactly the type of complexity MINI was anticipating as it looked to accommodate global emissions requirements that vary widely.

But MINI didn’t anticipate everything perfectly.

The F60 MINI Countryman Plug-In Hybrid available from 2016 to 2024.

Why There are No New MINI Hybrids

In late 2023 MINI quietly killed its one of its most popular models – the Countryman Plugin Hybrid. Just as plugins began to grow in popularity killed off its entrant in this space.

Certain markets (and certain brands (not yet MINI) are seeing slowing sales of EVs while plugin hybrid sales are surging. Why? With no reliance on a charging infrastructure and electric only ranges increasing to well over 50 miles on many models, the use case is starting to make a lot of sense.

But then again it already did many a lot of Countryman buyers. The Countryman PHEV accounted for 13% of the model’s global sales in 2018 and 25% of all Countryman sales in 2022 (its last full year of production).

The BMW X1 and it’s plugin hybrid system,

However MINI decided years ago that they would go all in on fully electric vehicles or internal combustion engines (ICE) with no hybrid options. So much so that they decided against creating a Countryman version of the BMW X1 Plugin Hybrid. Is there enough of a shift in demand that MINI could change their mind?

It’s unclear but if they do there’s a great option in the hybrid X1 that would seemingly be straightforward to implement. If MINI borrowed the drivetrain from the X1 it would get a 150 hp combustion engine coupled with a BMW eDrive power unit creating a total output of 177 hp. But the most impressive thing would be the 56 miles of range – a massive step-up from the 18 miles in the F60 Countryman hybrid.

Developing a car takes years but given the commonalities of the Countryman and there X1 and the proven nature of the hybrid system in it, we’d guess that the to market could be as little as 2-3 years. If that’s the case (and that’s a big if) we could see MINI bring a hybrid Countryman to market by 2026 – 2027.

But what if MINI had truly seen the future? How would that have changed its current products? We’ll look at this tomorrow in Part 3 and talk a bit about what could have been,

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