Next-generation electric MINI 3-door spotted testing

The “Electric Test Vehicle” sticker gives the game away. This is a development prototype of the next-generation electric MINI 3-door, appearing considerably earlier than expected, as a new generation is not due to arrive until 2023.

Despite this prototype’s electric powertrain, the forthcoming MINI generation will continue to offer internal-combustion engines. As recently confirmed, the final combustion-engined MINI will not be launched until 2025. From that point onwards, every new model introduction will be fully electric.

Next-generation MINI 3-door remains compact

The new MINI 3-door generation retains the model’s instantly recognisable silhouette. In every respect, it is MINI’s “911”, so nobody wants to spoil the formula. Even so, it is expected to be marginally smaller than today’s car, answering criticism that the MINI 3-door had become rather less mini.

Given that the BMW Group’s available front-wheel-drive platforms, with both engine and drive at the front, are sized for larger C-segment cars - such as the BMW 1 Series and the future MINI Countryman - another solution had to be found to ensure the next MINI remained as compact as possible.

That answer was found on the other side of the world, specifically in China. BMW’s joint venture with Great Wall will be strengthened through a new platform shared by the two manufacturers. This Sino-German partnership will provide the economies of scale required to keep costs under control, while also creating an opportunity for MINI to expand commercially in China. Alongside continued European production, it will also be built in China for the first time, avoiding the high import duties in force there.

What do the spy shots reveal?

For now, very little is known about the features or specifications of the new MINI 3-door generation. Further versions based on the same platform are expected, including a five-door body style.

Although its outline is immediately recognisable, several features should not be taken at face value. These include the headlamp surrounds, rear light units and the fake air intake on the bonnet, none of which are final. However, clear differences between this new generation and the current one can already be seen at the front.

Look at the shut lines separating the bonnet from the bumper and other body panels: the current model’s clamshell bonnet is likely to be replaced by a more conventional arrangement.

Exterior details and a new interior

At the rear, the tailgate also displays a particularly unusual, somewhat zig-zag-shaped shut line, running through the disguised rear lights.

Comments made by MINI chief Bernd Körber to Autocar suggest that the next-generation 3-door’s design will be “the biggest step in the last 20 years” in the model’s history, while remaining unmistakably a MINI.

There is also a glimpse of the new interior, which promises to differ substantially from that of the current model. From the limited view available, the dashboard appears set to be dominated by one or two screens - a layout increasingly common today - and seems to have done away with the circular central feature that has defined the MINI since… forever.