MINI JCW ELECTRIC

Halo hot hatchback embraces battery power for even more punch

- STEPHEN DOBIE

Transfixing on the weight figure of a newly launched EV is surely a hiding to nothing. They're all broadly guilty of it, so why care? But when a new Mini hot hatchback carries even 1725kg before the driver has climbed in, it's hard not to fret for its dynamism. The current-generation BMW M3 has received criticism for similar mass, while a Nismo GT-R is a few bags of sugar lighter. Both pack big engines and exhaustive tech into their much larger bodies.

The John Cooper Works Electric is the first pure-electric halo Mini hatch, and it arrives with reasonable potency. Its 255bhp and 258lb ft peaks drive the front wheels for 0-62mph in 5.9sec; the latest petrol JCW is 320kg lighter but 0.2sec slower. A 49.2kWh (usable capacity) battery combines with claimed 4.1mpkWh consumption for a WLTP-stamped 230-mile range, while max charging is 95kW. This JCW gets its own unique suspension set-up, including more negatively cambered front wheels, and forgoes its petrol sibling's adaptive damping to deliver the tenacious responses JCW buyers apparently demand. This has always been a rambunctious little car, a less subtly styled and more sledgehammer way to pick apart a Great British B-road than the Minis beneath it. This first impression suggests nothing has changed.