The “Electric Test Vehicle” sticker gives it away. We're looking at a prototype for testing the next generation of the MINI 3 doors electric, much earlier than usual — the arrival of a new generation is not expected until 2023.
But despite the electric nature of the prototype, the next-generation MINI will keep internal combustion engines in the catalog. As recently confirmed, it is only in 2025 that we will see the launch of the last MINI with a heat engine. From then on, all new releases will be 100% electric models.
The new-generation 3-door MINI maintains the iconic silhouette of the model — it's, for all intents and purposes, the MINI “911”, so no one wants to spoil the formula — but its dimensions are expected to be slightly reduced compared to to the current model, meeting criticism that the 3-door MINI… mini had little.
Bearing in mind that the “all ahead” platforms (engine and front-wheel drive) available in the BMW Group are dimensioned for larger models, in the C-segment (BMW Series 1, for example and the future MINI Countryman), it forced us to find an alternative solution for ensure that the next MINI remained as compact as possible.
The solution was found on the other side of the world, more precisely in China, where the joint venture that BMW has with Great Wall will be reinforced with the sharing of a new platform between the two manufacturers. This Sino-German combination will provide the necessary economies of scale to keep costs in check and also an opportunity for MINI to grow commercially in China; in addition to continuing to be produced in Europe, it will also be produced, for the first time, in China, avoiding the current high import taxes.
What do spy photos show?
At the moment, little or nothing is known about the features or specifications of the new generation MINI 3-door — from the same platform it is expected that there will be other derivations, such as a five-door bodywork.
Although the silhouette is immediately identifiable, we should not take seriously some of the elements placed on it, namely the headlamp rims or taillights, which are not the definitive ones, as well as the false air intake over the hood. However, there are clear differences between this new generation and the current one, which we can see ahead.
Note the cut lines that separate the hood from the bumper and other body panels; the shell-style hood of the current model should give way to a more conventional solution.
Also at the back, in the trunk, there is a rather peculiar cut line — somewhat zigzag in its orientation — running through the false rear optics.
Statements by top MINI manager Bernd Körber to Autocar indicate that the next-generation 3-door design will be “the biggest step of the last 20 years” in the model's history, but it will still clearly remain a MINI.
It's also possible to catch a glimpse of the new interior, which promises to be quite different from the current model. From what little we can see, we see that the dashboard should be dominated by one or two screens — a configuration increasingly in vogue these days — and it seems to have lost the central circular element that has characterized the MINI since… forever.
