There's good news and not-so-good news on the MINI front today, with the reveal of this - the MINI Cooper Electric in Sport Trim. It gets the muscular styling and sporty colour scheme of the mighty John Cooper Works cars (good news) but doesn't actually get any extra power or performance (not so good news).
Still has 218hp after all
Then again, with 218hp and 330Nm of torque anyway, you could easily argue that this MINI Cooper Electric in Sport Trim (can we just call it the Cooper Sport? OK then...) doesn't need any extra grunt to go with its new clothes. 0-100km/h still comes up in 6.7 seconds, and with the 52kWh battery lifted from the Cooper SE model, there's still a range of 400km to enjoy. The battery can be charged at up to 95kW and can be topped up from 10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes on DC power. The Cooper Sport can charge at up to 11kW on slower AC power.
According to MINI, the idea behind the Sport trim is to: 'Emphasise the brand's motorsport genes - achieved through numerous racing successes, including three victories at the Monte Carlo Rally in the 1960s.'
New 18-inch alloys
So, slightly confusingly, the Sport does actually get the John Cooper Works badge on the body, previously only reserved for the most hilariously overpowered MINI models. There's also a chequered flag logo on the grille and new 18-inch ten-spoke alloy wheels in a two-tone design. The brake calipers and the bonnet stripes are finished in JCW red.
As standard, the Cooper Sport also gets a new aero package, with extra spoilers and diffusers front and rear, as well as gloss black exterior trim and 'Chilli Red' paint for the roof and mirror caps.
The LED lights have also been modified. With the selected JCW signature picked on the interior touchscreen, the front lights only show two horizontal stripes as daytime running lights, while the lights at the rear have been reprogrammed to 'underline the width of the rear of the vehicle.'
Contrast red stitching
Inside are black synthetic leather seats, which get contrast red stitching and a new knitted material at the shoulders. There's a new, dark-finished, knitted material for the dashboard, the passenger side of which is finished with a red chequered flag motif. The central 24cm round OLED display screen on the dashboard is lifted from the rest of the new MINI range and features the John Cooper Works-inspired Go-Kart Mode, which colours the display and interior lighting anthracite red, and which ramps up the imitation exhaust noise.
The Cooper Sport will also come with the Parking Assistant Plus package, which uses 12 exterior sensors to look for a suitable parking space and shuffle you into it. It also allows remote parking manoeuvres to be carried out from your smartphone while you're standing outside the car.