New Mini Cooper Electric hatch, Countryman SUV in Australia ahead of debut next month

EXCLUSIVE

The 2024 Mini Cooper Electric three-door hatch – and next-generation 2024 Mini Countryman small SUV – will be unveiled formally at the Munich motor show next month, Drive has learned.

And examples of both new models are already in Australia for customer previews behind closed doors this week, event invitations seen by Drive reveal.

Showroom arrival timing for the new Mini Cooper hatch and Countryman SUV – each available with petrol and electric power – is yet to be confirmed.

However reports out of Europe claim the electric Cooper hatch and petrol Countryman are due to commence production before the end of this year, ahead of the petrol Cooper and electric Countryman early next year.

As previously reported by Drive, the Mini line-up will over the next 18 months undergo its biggest change in more than a decade with the arrival of a wave of new models.

The traditional Mini three-door will now be known as the Mini Cooper, rather than the 'Mini Hatch' badge it is officially sold under today – though all Mini hatchbacks sold in Australia since 2017 have worn the Cooper badge regardless, in their variant designations (Cooper, Cooper S, etc).

Petrol and electric versions of the first new three-door Mini hatch in a decade will for the first time be two distinct vehicles on unrelated underpinnings.

MORE: 2024 Mini Cooper electric hatch revealed

While spy photos show the petrol Cooper will be a heavy facelift of the outgoing model, the electric Cooper will be all-new, sitting on dedicated electric-car underpinnings developed with Chinese car giant Great Wall Motors (GWM).

The electric Cooper – set to launch as a three-door only – will be manufactured in China. The petrol version, which is set to offer three-door hatch, five-door hatch and two-door convertible bodies, will remain UK-built.

As previously reported, the new electric Mini Cooper will retain the 3.8-metre length of today's model, but is expected to adopt a broader footprint and a shorter front overhang, to maximise cabin space.

There will be two variants at launch: the entry-level E, with a 40.7kWh battery and 135kW electric motor, and the SE with a 160kW motor and 54.2kWh battery. Due in 2025 is expected to be a high-performance John Cooper Works variant.

Mini has quoted driving range of 300km to 400km, a significant increase from the 233km – from a 32.8kWh battery – of the current Cooper SE.

Official photos of the new Cooper Electric's interior show a large 9.4-inch circular touchscreen in the centre of a minimalist dashboard, and a head-up display in front of the driver in place of a traditional instrument cluster.

Meanwhile, the new Mini Countryman will be a twin under the skin of the latest BMW X1, and is set for a significant growth spurt.

It is set to measure 4429mm long and 1613mm tall – about 130mm longer and 60mm taller than its predecessor.

The larger Countryman will create space below for the Aceman, a four-metre-long, electric-only Mini SUV due in 2025 on the Cooper Electric's Chinese-influenced underpinnings, which will indirectly replace the Clubman wagon.

A range of petrol engines are due to launch first, expected to include three- and four-cylinder engines shared with the BMW X1 – topped by an all-wheel-drive John Cooper Works performance model.

Two electric variants have been confirmed: the front-wheel-drive E with a 140kW motor, and the all-wheel-drive SE All4 with 230kW from dual motors. Both variants will be powered by a 64.7kWh battery, good for an estimated 450km of driving range.

Mini says 15 per cent of its global sales are electric – even though it only sells one electric car, the Cooper SE hatch, which is also the most popular version of the three-door Hatch range.

In Australia, the Cooper SE electric car accounted for 27 per cent of Mini three- and five-door hatch sales in the first half of this year, while the plug-in hybrid Countryman accounted for 25 per cent of its mix.