Mini has revealed the first-ever all-electric John Cooper Works models. As a fan of the brand, I was looking forward to Mini leaning hard into the performance provided by electric motors, but the result is disappointing, to say the least. The JCW Electric Hardtop is only good for 255 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, which is only good enough for a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.9 seconds. That's not even good enough to beat the 2025 Mini Countryman JCW, which is supposed to be the fat kid in the family.
The more I think about it, should Mini have even bothered? I don't mind electric vehicles, but certain names are too sacred to carry an EV badge. These names are normally found on cars linked to the vision of one man, like Carroll Shelby or John Cooper, which all JCW models are named after. John Cooper was a deeply interesting man, and he alone believed that Minis could be raced successfully. Not even the father of the Mini, Sir Alec Issigonis, believed his tiny car was suited to motorsport, so John Cooper had to go out and show the world what the famous itty-bitty city car could do. As it turns out, the car was so successful that Mini eventually named the Cooper after him.
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