An In-depth Look at the MINI Cooper E – MINI’s Entry-Level EV

DimON · August 9

We’ve talked a lot about the new electric Cooper SE over the last 18 months but the car that’s perhaps more important for the brand is the entry-level electric Cooper E. It’s likely be MINI’s biggest volume seller in many markets but how does it stack up to it’s faster more expensive SE sibling? Let’s take a look.

The electric J01 MINI Cooper E starts from £ 30,000 in Classic Trim, a full £ 4,500 less than the SE model. But what are the differences and are there any benefits in going with the E over the SE?

Cooper E Performance

As the entry point for the range, the Cooper E has a smaller 40.7 kWh battery pack compared to the in the Cooper SE’s 54.2 kWh. This gives the Cooper E 305 kilometers (190 miles) in the WLTP test cycle. This is down from the 402 km (250 miles) in the SE. Both offer the same charging speed – 28 minutes of charging with a DC output of up to 75 kW is enough to charge the MINI Cooper E battery from 10 to 80 percent.

This is a decidedly different strategy than the electric Countryman E, which shares its battery with the Countryman SE and thus has even more range than its more powerful sibling.

The Cooper E has an output of 135 kW/184 hp and can access the maximum torque of 290 Nm at any time allowing for 0 to 100 km/h in 7.3 seconds. Interestingly that’s not far off from the Cooper SE’s 6.7 seconds. Also an interesting note; this is nearly as fast as the R53 Cooper S.

J01 Cooper E vs F56 Cooper SE – Surprising Commonalities

Where it gets interesting is how close the J01 Cooper E compares with the last generation Cooper SE. As you can see below the J01 has more power, torque and even more range than what we saw out of the original F56 Cooper SE. This is due to a more advanced electric drivetrain, larger battery pack and newer, more modern software.

	J01 Cooper E	J01 Cooper SE	F56 Cooper SE
Power	184 hp	218 hp	181 hp
Torque	214 lb-ft	243 lb-ft	199 lb-ft
Transmission	1 speed	1 speed	1 speed
0-100 kp/h or 0-60 mph	7.3 sec (0-62 mph)	6.7 sec (0-62 mph)	7.2 sec (0-60 mph)
Range	190 miles	250 miles	140 miles
Battery Size	40.7 kWh	54.2 kWh	32.6 kWh
Length (mm/inches)	3858 mm / 151.8 in	3858 mm / 151.8 in	3850 mm / 151.5 in
Width w/o Mirros (mm/inches)	1756 mm / 69 in	1756 mm / 69 in	1727 mm / 68 in
Height (mm)	1460 mm / 57 in	1460 mm / 57 in	1432 mm / 56.4 in
Wheelbase (mm)	2526 mm / 99 in	2526 mm / 99 in	2495 mm / 98.2 in
Curb weight (kg/lbs)	1540 kg / 3395 lbs	1605 kg / 3,538 lbs	1440 kg / 3175 lbs
Weight distribution (Front/Rear)	F 58% / R 42%	F 57% / R 43%	F 54% / R 46%
Front Overhang	746 mm / 29.3 in	746 mm / 29.3 in	757 mm / 29.8
Rear Overhang	586 mm / 23 in	586 mm / 23 in	681 mm / 26.8 in
Luggage capacity (seats up/seats down	210 / 800 L	210 / 800 L	211 / 941 L

The J01 Cooper E (like the new electric Cooper SE and Aceman family) is available in Asia, Australia, Europe, Central America, South America and the UK. Due to tariffs on cars made in China, it will not be offered in North America. However that could change as MINI expands production of the J01 and J05 family to its Oxford UK plant in 2026.