MINI Convertible going ELECTRIC – but not until 2025

MINI boss confirms that the MINI Convertible will live on as an EV, but won’t arrive until 2025, two years after a new MINI Hatch launches.

If you want a small ‘Premium’ electric convertible at the moment, the choice is pretty limited. In fact the only one we can really think of is the Fiat 500 C Electric, assuming you think of the 500 as ‘Premium’.

Doubtless going forward there will be more small electric convertibles, and one of them we now know will be the MINI Convertible Electric.

But if you were hoping MINI are about to deliver a convertible take on the MINI Electric any time soon, you’re going to be disappointed. Although MINI boss Bernd Korber is happy to confirm it’s on its way, saying:

The MINI Convertible has a large and particularly loyal fan base. This is also shown by the great demand for the latest, freshly updated model. We are therefore firmly convinced of the success of this vehicle concept for the future.

In fact, it’s likely to be 2025 before an electric MINI Convertible arrives, following the arrival of an all-new MINI in 2023.

That all-new MINI is expected to be smaller than the current MINI, which perhaps doesn’t auger too well for room in the back, although a move to a new EV Platform for the MINI in the next generation that could will be mitigated with better packaging.

Doubtless there will be far more competition in the small electric convertible segment by the time the MINI Convertible Electric does arrive, but with the Convertible accounting for quite a chunk of MINI sales – 1 in 5 in Germany – MINI clearly don’t want to lose out by dropping it in the rush to electric.