It’s the first time the famous John Cooper Works (JCW) badge has featured on an electric Mini, taking the fight to Alpine and its A290.

Despite poor sales, electric cars are popping up left, right and centre. It’s no secret that the shift to fully electric has well and truly begun as we head towards environmental regulations restricting the sale of internal-combustion-engined vehicles. While that day will be a sad one for us enthusiasts, at least some manufacturers are trying to build fun electric cars, and that’s where this new JCW Mini slots in.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from driving around in an electric Mini for the past year or so as a daily driver it’s that it can be fun. The zippy, small-car performance is handy around town and does just enough in the corners to keep you somewhat entertained. An electric car will never be as exciting as a petrol-powered hot hatch, but it ain’t all that bad, trust me.

If you prefer your Minis petrol-powered, check out our R56 Mini Cooper S guide!

So what’s the new JCW electric Mini all about?

Truth be told, Mini hasn’t gone into great detail about chassis changes, however, they have mentioned that the JCW electric Mini comes with 258hp, as opposed to the standard EV’s 218hp. You will need to have the car set in John Cooper Works mode, though, to allow for the extra horsepower. In other drive modes, power is reduced to around 230. That power figure is backed up boy a helpful 251lb ft of torque, which does wonders when you wanted to nip out intro traffic, or on roundabouts etc.

In terms of performance, 0-62mph is dispatched in 5.9 seconds, and it’ll go on to a top speed of 124mph. Enough to get you behind bars, but in today’s world, still off the benchmark. That equates to roughly 0.6 seconds faster from  0-62mph than the regular SE electric Mini, and 18mph more at the top end.

On the outside, there are a few touches that help distinguish it from a regular SE EV, but it’s subtler than what we’ve seen before from JCW. The most noticeable change is the spoiler, which is trademark JCW in the BMW era. The aerokit adds in some more aggression, although the front apron is available as an option on the regular SE…

Inside, it’s essentially the same as the regular car. The biggest changes are the sportier seats and the different textures and colours on the dashboard. The central 24cm screen remains the same, although you’ll get new drive modes over the SE model, including the famous Go Kart mode.

What about range and price?

The JCW electric Mini comes with the same 54.2kWh battery that features in the regular SE model. As a result, the charging capacity is also 95kW, which means you can charge from 10-80% in around 30 minutes. In terms of range, the WLTP figure is 251 miles. I’ve come to learn that for regular drivers, that usually equates to 25 fewer miles than the quoted figure, sometimes more.

Prices start at £38,420 for the electric Mini JCW and will go head to head with the Alpine A290.

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