Mini is making some big changes for 2025, renaming the two-door hatch the Mini Cooper and outfitting it with a specialized EV platform and a sleek new look.
Though BMW’s Minis have been on the market for roughly half the time the Issigonis-designed original existed, the small vintage hatchbacks have become so familiar over the past 20 years that they are Mini for many people.
Returning to its origins, the fifth-generation two-door Mini Cooper shrinks, the pie-plate screen expands, and the toggles acquire importance and prominence.
The first new Mini Cooper to hit the market in 2025 will be battery-electric, keeping with the brand’s goal of going all-electric by 2030. Similarly, the new Mini Countryman 2025 will debut with the EV. Both automobiles debuted at the Munich Motor Show.
Exterior
The 2025 Cooper will never be mistaken for anything other than a Mini. All you need is one look at that face. However, this is a considerably more mature, sophisticated Mini, departing from the humorous throwback template to deliver something with a far more expensive feel.
There are more straight lines where there were once curves, and there is a greater emphasis on painted metal surfaces rather than plastic add-ons or chrome embellishments.
It’s as if the old Mini was dressed in athleisure gear, while the new one is dressed in a designer shirt and slacks that are cut to show off those gym-honed biceps.
Consider the chiseled, almost BMW M2-like rear quarters, the unadorned wheel arches, and the sleek flat door handles. This isn’t the Mini we’ve become accustomed to. It’s a genuine BMW baby.
The grille isn’t all that different from the one on the old electric Cooper SE. Still, the wide hood, with its raised center section, blinking front headlight eyes, and new triangular-shaped taillights contribute to a stronger, more grown-up appearance that will be better matched to optional 17- or 18-inch wheels than the stock sixteens.
Interior
A Mini that looks so different on the outside deserves an equally drastic inside makeover, and the design team delivers.
While the exterior has moved away from its retro beginnings, the interior has gone the other way. It skillfully employs modern technology to breathe new life into old design elements like the characteristic central touchscreen styled like the Speedo on a 1959 Mini.
Previous Minis tried to shoehorn a rectangular digital peg into a circular hole, but it never looked right.
However, for the first time, the 2025 automobile features a fully circular OLED touchscreen as the only physical display on a simplified dash that also features a horizontal air vent and an oval switch panel in the form of the original Mini.
Fixed menu items such as navigation, media, phone, and climate controls are located at the bottom of the screen. You can also customize your backdrop, including uploading your image. There are eight Experience Modes available to set the ambiance with graphics, lighting, audio, and drive parameters.
Looking across to the center display is dangerous and cumbersome, so BMW has introduced an optional head-up display that provides all the information you’d expect from a digital gauge cluster without detracting from the attractive dash’s simplicity.
To save you from reaching across to physically operate the screen, the 2025 Cooper includes a voice-activated Intelligent Personal Assistant whose avatar can be a Mini or a dog named Spike.
Performance
EVs will only enhance the go-kart driving experience that Mini is based on. The standard Cooper E is powered by a 135 kilowatt (184 horsepower) electric motor with 214 lb-ft of torque. Step up to the Cooper SE for 160 kW (218 horsepower) and 243 lb-ft of torque.
The Cooper E with its tiny 40.7 kWh battery has a range of 190 miles on the more favorable European test cycle. The SE has a battery capacity of 54.2 kWh and a range of 250 miles. Fast charging is up to 75 kW for the E and 95 kW for the SE and should get the cars from 10% to 80% charge in 30 minutes.