► Hot JCW now in electric flavour
► Different platform to the ICE JCW
► You’ll need a good chiropractor
Welcome to the first ever Mini John Cooper Works Electric, an extra-spicy version of the already brisk Cooper SE. Despite this EV hot hatch sitting on a different platform to the ICE JCW, it follows a familiar formula to gain the John Cooper Works badge. Stiffer, speedier and more aggressive to look at.
The petrol hot hatch might be a dying breed, but there are more and more electric pocket rockets available. An Alpine A290 is similarly retro in appearance and a good deal cheaper, while the same can be said of the Abarth 500e. Both are a bit slower, but speed isn’t everything. I’m looking at you, MG4 XPower.
At a glance
Pros: Pleasing balance in the bends, feels quick, appealing interior
Cons: The ride gave me back pain after 45 minutes, torquesteer for days, higher driving position than ICE JCW, did I mention the ride is awful?
What’s new?
There’s an uprated motor between the front wheels, but no limited-slip differential. Instead, the additional power relies on stickier, more performance-oriented rubber to put the additional power down. I wouldn’t call the regular Cooper SE a particularly soft-riding car, but the JCW is stiffer still and has a bit of negative camber up front.
The other changes are all cosmetic. There are some JCW-specific 18-inch alloy wheels, red brake callipers and a red roof, plus more aggressive front and rear bumpers. Inside you get faux-leather sports seats and a chequered flag pattern on the knitted dash. You’d still be hard pushed to spot
What are the specs?
Power is up around 40bhp over the Cooper SE, giving the JCW Electric a chunky 254bhp and 250Ib ft of torque. That’ll get you from 0-62mph in an Abarth 600e matching 5.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 124mph. In other words, the JCW Electric is faster to 62mph and has a lower top speed than the ICE JCW.
You get the same 54.2kWh battery as the Cooper SE which gives an official WLTP range of 251 miles. That’s not at all bad for the class, and neither is the 95kW maximum rapid charge rate. A 10-80% charge on a powerful enough charger is sub-30 minutes, and it can benefit from three-phase 11kW AC charging, too.
How does it drive
Like nobody’s bothered to take the transport blocks out from between the coils of the springs. Everyone that has sampled the JCW Electric has commented on how unrelentingly stiff it is, even compared to the already firm Cooper SE.
Not only do you feel every piece of gravel or surface indentation on any road, the damping feels very sudden giving a slightly bouncy feel. It’s especially bad on the kind of patchwork urban roads where the Mini should be most at home, getting marginally better as speeds increase. After 45 minutes on Cotswolds roads, my lower back was starting to feel a little sore.
Admittedly, I am well into my forties, but this is an unnecessary level of stiffness that would alone put me off buying one. The other dealbreaker is the torquesteer. Remember, there’s no limited-slip diff here, yet the wheel is tugged this way and that under heavy acceleration, more so than even the slippy diff equipped Abarth 600e.
And while the new rubber has raised the limits, it just doesn’t ping itself out of a corner like the Abarth, and you can feel power being artificially limited at lower speeds to prevent a single tyre fire. To make matter worse, you don’t even have to flick the boost paddle to unleash the last 27bhp of the 254bhp output to feel as if the front tyres are overwhelmed. That’s right, in most situations you have a mere 227bhp.
It’s not all bad. The steering is responsive, has a frisson of feel that isn’t just torque corruption, and doesn’t feel too heavy. That stiff suspension and a more even weight distribution than the ICE JCW means it turns in keenly to the quick rack’s inputs, with minimal roll and a chassis that responds well to a spot of trailbraking. This is easily done with the reassuring feel of the brake pedal.
There is of course no rorty four-pot or an exhaust to pop and bang, but the petrol car doesn’t have a great singing voice, so it’s no massive loss. Besides, the Star Wars Landspeeder style electronic whooshes and pulses that rise and fall with throttle and brake inputs are a lot more appealing than the ICE-aping dross other performance EVs pump out.
What’s it like inside
At first glance the JCW Electric’s interior looks exactly the same as the ICE JCW’s. However, jumping between the two reveals that the former’s driver’s seat doesn’t go anywhere near as low as the latter’s. It didn’t bother every tester at CAR, but I certainly noticed it and couldn’t get as comfortable behind the wheel.
Like other Mini Electrics, there’s huge swathes of knitted fabric across the dash that looks good and hides far more hard plastic than you’d find in this car’s predecessor. The ultra-sharp round touchscreen infotainment system, solid feeling controls and some natty detailing still make this the poshest small car interior, though.
Space is predictably plentiful up front, with lots of head and legroom and enough space between you and your passenger. Rear legroom is almost non-existent with a tall driver, and the boot is small, though. Same as it ever was, then.
Before you buy
By the time you’ve specced your Cooper SE in Sport trim, you’re only looking at a £1,500 jump to get yourself into a JCW Electric at £34,905. Included is Mini’s Level 1 equipment pack which gets you everything you really need equipment wise, although it’s possible to spend very nearly £40k with the Level 3 pack, a fancy roof and metallic paint.
Verdict
If you’re thinking about buying the hottest electric Mini, don’t do it. Even by its usual standards, the ride quality is simply unacceptable and means the JCW isn’t really an everyday usable kind of car. If you’re a Mini nut who really must have the fastest option, buy the petrol instead.
If your head is turned by the advantages of EVs, there are more rounded hot hatch options that are cheaper and more practical. Yes, the Mini is a bit sharper as steers more sweetly than the Alpine A290, and is more agile than the Abarth 600e, but either would be easier to live with whilst offering plenty of entertainment in the bends.