MINI Plant Oxford has built 11,000 MINI Electric already

The MINI Plant in Oxford has already built more than 11,000 MINI Electric models since production began, with 3,000 UK orders in the mix.

It’s a year since MINI revealed the MINI Electric (the MINI Cooper S E in the rest of Europe)  as it finally turned its initial EV adventures in to production reality.

Production of the MINI Electric actually kicked-off at the MINI Plant Oxford (although the electric gubbins is put together in Germany first) in November last year, and despite the Covid-19 enforced lockdown MINI has managed to build 11,000, a milestone reached just before the summer shutdown (why a summer shutdown with so much time lost to Covid-19 we don’t know), with 3,000 of those heading for UK buyers

That decent rate of production tends to indicate MINI were right to deliver the MINI Electric with a modest battery size – 32.6kWh – powering a 181bhp electric motor and delivering a range of 124-144 miles, a combination allowing MINI to price their electric model from £24,400 (after PiCG). 

Good though it is to see the MINI Electric shifting in decent numbers, and MINI saying it will account for a third of MINI 3-Door Hatch builds in 2021, it’s a long way short of the 78,000 who put their name down for a MINI Electric by the time production started.

David George, Director, MINI UK, said:

We’re delighted the MINI Electric is such a success in the UK and that our customers love the car as much as we do. It’s fantastic to see the growing popularity of electrified vehicles – the UK already accounts for nearly a fifth of global MINI Electric and MINI Countryman Plug-In Hybrid sales and we know that demand is increasing.