Honda e vs MINI Electric

The Honda e costs £2,815 more than the MINI Electric. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The MINI Electric is not just cheaper - it also offers 35 kW more power and a 1.7s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the MINI Electric comes out ahead overall.

The MINI Electric is £2,815 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MINI Electric comes out roughly £2,935 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 121 miles for the MINI Electric - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 31-31 minutes.

The two are within 25 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 673 mm of total clearance for the MINI Electric and about 648 mm of total clearance for the Honda e. The Honda e also turns in a 2.0 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 Electric. 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.