Honda e vs MINI Cooper

The Honda e costs £4,560 more than the MINI Cooper. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The MINI Cooper is not just cheaper - it also offers 52 miles more WLTP range, 35 kW more power and a 1.2s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the MINI Cooper comes out ahead overall.

The MINI Cooper is £4,560 cheaper to buy. The MINI Cooper is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £176 for the Honda e, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MINI Cooper comes out roughly £4,720 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 115 miles for the Honda e and 158 miles for the MINI Cooper - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The MINI Cooper goes roughly 43 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 28-31 minutes.

The two are within 4 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 648 mm of total clearance for the Honda e and about 644 mm of total clearance for the MINI Cooper. The Honda e also turns in a 1.8 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Honda e and 84% for the MINI Cooper. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.