Mini’s 2024 Cooper EV comes with bigger batteries, more power
The next electric Mini will come with much bigger battery options, more power, and a refreshed design when it hits the road in 2024.
The car will have two battery options, 40kWh and 54kWh. These are significantly higher than the outgoing Mini‘s 32.6kWh battery.
While we don’t yet have official range estimates on the EPA cycle, it’s estimated that the battery options will offer 300 and 400km of range, respectively, on WLTP test cycles. But EPA numbers are always lower than WLTP, so these should work out to approximately ~145 and ~180 miles of range, respectively.
The smaller battery will keep the same 181hp/135kW motor as the current Cooper SE, and the upgraded 54kWh battery will get a power bump up to 215hp/160kW. In the future, Mini wants to offer a “John Cooper Works” model with even more power, as it has offered before on gas models – but this time the electric model will get a JCW version too. That upgrade should come in 2025.
Mini will still make a gas-powered model, but expects the electric car to make up 50% of sales by 2025, as compared to today’s 15%. Mini has stated before that it plans to go all-electric and stop selling any gas cars by 2030, with its last-ever gas model being introduced in 2025. So it’s going to need a high electric mix if it wants to keep on track for that goal.
While Mini declined to show the design of the refreshed Cooper, opting to keep it in yellow-and-back camouflage until its full reveal this fall, we’ve actually seen photos of it uncamouflaged before.
Back in December 2021, photos surfaced of a completely uncamouflaged Mini in China. The new Mini is being built in cooperation with Great Wall Motor, bearing fruit from an agreement made between BMW and Great Wall Motor in 2018.
Those photos showed significant exterior design changes, with the most drastic change being the taillights, and a larger rimless center screen.
And the uncamouflaged car was parked next to other cars – which look identical to the camouflaged car showed off today. So if you’re wondering what’s under that camouflage, well, just look back in time a couple years to see a pretty good idea of what might be there.
Electrek’s Take
My entry into the EV universe was as one of the original “Mini E Pioneers,” who drove the 500 original Mini Es first released in 2009. So I have a particular attachment for this little car, which was a great experience at the time, and one I remember fondly (read more in my review of the outgoing Mini Cooper SE electric).
The outgoing Mini Cooper SE was a pretty good deal when it first came out, offering a fun driving experience for people who know how much car they needed and knew that the Mini would be enough for them. While it was panned by some for “not having enough range,” it was the cheapest EV available at the time, and as long as the car has enough range for you – and 114 miles is more than enough for many, many drivers – then that’s all that really matters.
But since then, we’ve seen other vehicles drop in price (like the current screaming deal on the Chevy Bolt) or increase in capabilities, and the Mini has not only kept the same specs, but also got a price hike, taking it over the $30k mark which it originally started just a hair under.
So this is a much-needed refresh to get the Mini closer in line with the current market. It’s fine if it still stays smaller than other EVs – Mini buyers are often looking for less car, that’s kind of the point of the brand and the name to begin with. And we do expect Mini to come in a little higher in price than similar offerings, since Mini has always considered itself as somewhat “premium” brand, and consumers do attach some value to the “fun” aspect of the brand.
But if Mini can still stay somewhat close to the lower end of the price spectrum, in the same ballpark as the upcoming Fiat 500e refresh and perhaps somewhere in at least an adjacent universe to the impossibly low-priced Chevy Bolt, then this will remain a fun option for those who ought to realize they don’t need a land-yacht (I’m talking to the vast majority of you, here).
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Aviation startup ZeroAvia says it’s been granted a “raft” of 45 new patents key to the development of practical large hydrogen aviation engines – and the company says it has 200 more H-related patents in the pipeline!
The news comes just weeks after ZeroAvia and Scottish regional airline Loganair announced a new, hydrogen-electric “turboprop” replacement motor capable of up to 5MW of shaft horsepower (~6,700 hp). United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) no. 12,341,225 covers an integrated hydrogen-electric engine design land is key to the development of a modular multi-MW hydrogen-electric engine for the ATR 42 and 72 model aircraft — which Loganair owns more than twenty of.
ATR isn’t the only potential customer ZerAvia is eyeballing, either. Despite hydrogen losing ground on utility-scale projects and more companies realizing that it’s “impossible” for hydrogen to compete as a transportation fuel, the fuel still seems to have some practical application in the aviation space. Both Airbus and Boeing have advanced plans and IP for hydrogen-ready airframes in recent weeks, as well, making the IP for large hydrogen-powered aviation engines that much more valuable.
“Recent patents filed and granted around hydrogen aviation give a window into an accelerating field of innovation,” explains Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO, ZeroAvia. “As we see the large airframe manufacturers beginning to compete on technologies for hydrogen aircraft, there is a big opportunity for companies pioneering hydrogen propulsion systems. These are the inventions that will deliver truly clean, more affordable and highly efficient commercial air travel.”
What it’s all about
Like many tech-based startups, securing IP has been an integral part of ZeroAvia’s strategy, with the value of its patents being, essentially, the value of the company. Just as – if not more important to airlines like Loganair, American, and EcoJet, however, are the potential cost-savings of hydrogen compared to conventional aviation fuels like kerosene.
Importantly, these novel engines promise cost reductions for airlines. The substantially lower maintenance needs of hydrogen-electric engines will mean a decrease in maintenance and downtime for an airline’s fleet, with hydrogen fuel also projected to be significantly more cost effective than kerosene over time.
ZEROAVIA
You can read more about the new ZA600 and ZA2000 hydrogen-electric av motors here, and let us know what you think of hydrogen’s chances against traditional, kerosense-based aviation fuels in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: ZeroAvia.
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You might want to hold onto your handlebars for this one – literally. The fashion-forward British electric scooter maker Bo just unveiled what could be the most extreme electric scooter the world has ever seen. Named The Turbo, this standing e-scooter isn’t just playing around with speed – it’s aiming to smash right through it and find out what’s waiting on the other side.
And it all begs the question, “How much is too much?”
When we talk about fast electric scooters, we’re usually in the neighborhood of 50 mph (80 km/h). But the Bo Turbo doubles those numbers.
With 100 mph+ (160+ km/h) top speeds and claimed acceleration that’s faster than a Tesla, this scooter seems to use a design philosophy pulled straight from the playbook of Formula One. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the team behind The Turbo includes engineers with experience from Williams F1 and the Bloodhound Land Speed Record rocket car.
The world’s fastest e-scooter?
Built on the same base chassis as the company’s sleek road-going Bo Model-M, The Turbo takes everything up a notch – actually, several notches. It features a 24,000 W dual-motor powertrain, 1,800 Wh battery, advanced traction control, and a power-to-weight ratio that reportedly beats a Bugatti Veyron.
At full power, the system is capable of propelling riders down a straightaway at three-digit speeds while standing upright. It’s absurd. It’s glorious. It’s gratuitous. It’s a dream. Or it’s a nightmare.
Bo says the machine is already delivering 85+ mph (137+ km/h) in early track testing at Goodwood Motor Circuit and is currently in development to push beyond the 100 mph barrier under Guinness World Record supervision.
And just in case you’re wondering if this is some experimental prototype cooked up in a lab – it’s not. The company is planning a limited run of built-to-order Turbo scooters, starting at a whopping $29,500. The first one is scheduled for delivery to a collector in Madrid during the 2026 Formula One race weekend.
From F1 brake ducts to street scooter DNA
Despite the headline-grabbing speed numbers, there’s a ton of serious engineering going on here. The Turbo uses ram-air intakes based on F1 brake cooling designs to keep the motors and controllers from overheating. The chassis – made from aerospace-grade aluminum and CNC-machined billet parts – is based on Bo’s proven Monocurve platform, the same structure that underpins the Bo Model-M. In fact, that might be the most impressive part of all, that the same chassis used underneath their everyday-ride-it-to-work Bo Model-M scooter is also holding together this 100 mph beast.
Bo’s team insists that despite the monster specs, The Turbo remains “surprisingly rideable.” Professional BMX rider Tre Whyte has piloted over 20 high-speed test runs, with the team now preparing to push the envelope even further.
A wild PR stunt – or something more?
It’s tempting to see The Turbo as just a headline machine (and hey, it works), but Bo says this project is about more than just chasing speed records. According to Bo CEO Oscar Morgan, “The Turbo is part of our mission to elevate these futuristic electric vehicles into the top tier of automotive performance.”
And honestly, they’ve got a point. E-scooters have exploded in popularity as low-speed urban vehicles, but the category rarely gets taken seriously in the performance world, despite the advent of racing leagues. Bo wants to change that – and they’re using motorsport technology to do it.
Electrek’s Take
Is this a practical daily rider? Absolutely not. But that’s not the point.
Bo is doing what so few e-scooter companies are willing to do – pushing boundaries, proving performance, and trying to make scooters feel exciting, not just functional. Whether The Turbo hits 100 mph or not, it’s already helped raise the bar for what electric micromobility can be. And if that means they develop safer and stable ways to build scooters along the way, then all the better.
The fact that they actually plan to sell these is a bit worrying, though the $30k pricetag means the local teens on your street aren’t going to be terrorizing the sidewalks with them. Well, not unless you’ve got an oil sheikh and his teenagers living on your street.
But hey, if you’ve got thirty grand and a need for painful death levels of speed – maybe this is your next toy.
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Environment
Chevron defeats Exxon in dispute over Guyana oil assets, clearing path for Hess acquisition
Chevron has prevailed against Exxon Mobil in a dispute over Hess Corporation’s offshore oil assets in the South American nation of Guyana, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told CNBC’s Becky Quick on Friday.
The ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in favor of Chevron clears the way for the oil major to complete its $53 billion acquisition of Hess Corporation.
Chevron shares jumped about 3% in premarket trading.
“We disagree with the ICC panel’s interpretation but respect the arbitration and dispute resolution process,” Exxon said in a statement Friday.
The dispute had created significant uncertainty over whether Chevron’s acquisition of Hess would close, weighing on the oil major’s stock performance. The transaction would have failed if Exxon had prevailed.
Exxon and China National Offshore Oil Corporation had filed an arbitration case with the ICC, claiming a right of first refusal over Hess’s assets in the Stabroek Block, an oil development off the coast of Guyana.
Hess has a 30% stake in an oil patch, while Exxon leads the project with a 45% stake and CNOOC maintains 25% stake.
“We welcome Chevron to the venture and look forward to continued industry-leading performance and value creation in Guyana for all parties involved,” Exxon said.
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