Used Mini Electric 2020-present review review

Could the Mini Electric be a better getaway car than the classic Minis in The Italian Job heist movie? It would certainly provide a swift and silent escape, with the only potential issue being the modest range.

Either way, it's one nippy small electric car and a compelling used buy.

Performance & Range: All Electrics get a healthy 181bhp, allowing for a 0-60mph time of 7.3sec. If those figures impress, that's because almost resemble hot hatch numbers.

The model's official range is 145 miles, but in real-world conditions that number is closer to 125 miles (on a good day). Naturally, for many people, that simply won't suffice. If so, check out alternatives like the 199-mile Fiat 500 Electric and 217-mile Peugeot e-208 – again, those are official ranges, so still expect a drop off in real-world driving.

Ride & Handling: There are four driving modes to choose from: Sport, Mid, Green and Green Plus. Sport sharpens up the accelerator response and gives you more of that instantly responsive electric-car feel. Green requires you to push the accelerator pedal much harder for a good burst of acceleration, encouraging you to drive more gently.

The Mini is relatively agile by electric car standards, feeling darty and changing direction without much body lean. Sadly, the Mini's steering doesn’t give you much warning when the front tyres are about to lose grip – something that happens sooner than you might imagine, especially when it's been raining. That spoils the fun a little.

Ride comfort isn't a big Mini Electric strength, either. It jostles you around along beaten-up urban backstreets and thumps over expansion joints. Having said that, the suspension takes the sting out of most bumps in the road, and the car settles well enough at higher speeds, so the slightly fussy ride is unlikely to be a deal-breaker.

Interior & Practicality: The interior in the Electric lives up to Mini's upmarket standards, with plenty of soft-touch plastics on the dashboard, as well as solid-feeling knobs, switches and stalks. It looks great, too, with a cheerful, retro design – and thankfully, once you’ve got used to one or two quirks, that doesn’t compromise usability.

The driver's seat is comfortable, supportive and has a wide range of adjustment. The 5.5in digital screen behind the steering wheel (in place of conventional instrument dials) makes it easy to see how much charge there is in the battery at a glance, as well as how fast you’re going. The digital instruments in some rivals show a greater variety of detail and are larger, but the Mini covers the basics.

There’s no electric equivalent of the five-door Mini – you get the same body as the three-door petrol Mini hatchback. That means getting into the back of the Mini Electric requires a bit of contortion. Once you’re in, there's less head room than in the regular petrol model because the battery’s position means the rear seats have had to be mounted higher.

The reduced head room is more noticeable with Level 3 trim because it has a standard-fit panoramic sunroof that drops the height of the ceiling. A six-footer will need to cower, and stingy knee room will stop passengers slouching forwards to straighten their neck.

Boot space is exactly the same as in a petrol three-door Mini hatchback. That means you’ll squeeze in more luggage than you would in the Honda E but the Renault Zoe is a more practical choice.

A two-level boot floor comes as standard, as does a 50/50-split rear seat, and we could only fit a paltry three carry-on suitcases into the load bay.

Trims & Equipment: Mini gives you a choice of three trim levels – simply called Level 1, 2 and 3. If you go for Level 1, you'll get sat nav, two-zone air-con and cruise control. Level 2 adds rear parking sensors and a reversing camera, heated seats and the driving assistance pack, which includes automatic high-beam assistance and traffic-sign recognition. At the top end, Level 3 gets a head-up display, upgraded headlights and a panoramic roof.

Interested in buying a used Mini Electric? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.

Used Mini Electrics start at around £11,000. That'll get you a 2020 example in Level 1 trim with around 30,000 miles on the clock. Level 2 cars rise to around £14,000, while Level 3 models come in at around £15,000.

Have a budget of at least £18,000 if you desire a 2023 car, and upwards of £24,000 for a 2024 one.

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Charging: Charging the 28.9kWh (usable capacity) battery from empty to full takes around four hours and 45 minutes using a normal 7kW home wall box. A 10-80% top-up can be grabbed in around half an hour from a 50kW public CCS charger. You can also plug in to a regular three-pin domestic socket, although a 10-80% charge will take around 15 hours.

Insurance and servicing: Insurance groups range from 22 to 23 (depending on the trim), meaning it should be relatively inexpensive to insure. Mini offers fixed-price service plans, which includes a £17.99 per month plan spread over 36 months. That consists of two services, one brake fluid change, one inspection service, one free MOT and free map updates.

Reliability

The Mini Electric has earned itself praise from owners for its reliability, with few reports of issues over extended periods of ownership.

Discover more about used Mini Electric reliability and common problems on our dedicated reliability page.

The Level 2 trim gets you lots of excellent equipment and is a justifiable upgrade over Level 1. Level 3 isn't extortionately more expensive than Level 2, but feels less of a must-have leap in kit.

Our favourite Mini Electric: 33kWh Level 2

The Honda E is a suitably small and tech-filled electric car built for urban driving. However, it has an even shorter official range (125 miles).

The Renault Zoe, which is not as luxurious as the Mini, is cheaper to buy. It's also available has a much better official range than the Mini and the Honda E at 245 miles.

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Interested in buying a used Mini Electric? Visit our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.