The debate regarding what defines an iconic model or a famous brand is still pretty heated these days. That’s because of the advancement of electric vehicles and the perceived beginning of the end for internal combustion mills. With more and more emphasis being put on cutting CO2 emissions, companies like MINI have to migrate to a different setup. That wouldn’t be enforced without a demand from customers, too and that is starting to grow right now, as more EVs are being brought out.
MINI has just announced that its first ever fully electric car is now available for orders and that the first batches will be delivered in March 2020. The new MINI Cooper SE is an interesting car, considering how small and compact it is and how much power it has on tap.
However, according to numerous rumors floating around in recent years, BMW has big plans for its British sub-brand. Namely, the Germans have been pondering for quite some time the possibility of turning it into an electric brand altogether.
“Surely that doesn’t include the John Cooper Works models, right?” you might rightfully ask yourself. Well, you might be surprised by the answer. In a recent interview with Motor Authority, MINI USA VP Mike Peyton said the John Cooper Works models don’t really have to be powered by engines. They could just as well use electricity to get your adrenaline shots. According to him customers “appreciate the handling aspect of the product, the aesthetics of the product.” He also added that the JCW badge isn’t necessarily to be used exclusively on cars powered by gas and oil.
According to Peyton, the John Cooper Works products are defined by their performance and we shouldn’t be surprised if we’re going to see big changes done to them. While that seems like a path all performance cars are going to drive on one day, I’m still not really prepared to get used to it. I agree that electric vehicles are fun but for me, personally, a big part of what made a MINI JCW so fun and enticing was that popcorn sound you’d get every time you stepped on the gas pedal.
