[Auto] BMW confirms high-performance electric Mini John Cooper Works

[#Steeven.™]

Rumors about a high-performance version of the electric Mini have been ringing for a few months. Today, BMW has not only confirmed the development of a car of these characteristics, but has accompanied it with some images in which you can see how they work on its set-up.

As is customary on John Cooper Works vehicles, this electric will have a sporty set-up. Even somewhat focused on the circuit. It will also inherit the spoiler, wheels and fenders from the gasoline model, minus some of the air intakes that are not necessary in a car without a heat engine.

Pictures show more than meets the eye
The photos you can see in this article were taken on the famous Nürburgring race track, with very light camouflage. Instead of wearing the zebra-like stripe patterns, which hide their shapes nicely, it's adorned with diagrams of the world's most famous race tracks.

According to BMW, with this decoration they intend to make it clear that it is an electric car focused on the track, which will perform better than the fun Mini Cooper SE. That is, above the 184 hp and 270 Nm that this electric has, which allow it to accelerate from 0 to 100 km / h in 7.3 seconds.
The Nürburgring is a long track, the longest race track in the world, with 20.8 km per lap. If BMW shows us their high-performance electric future in such a location, it wouldn't be surprising if they tried to successfully complete a test there.

 

Problems of creating a high-performance electric
However, running on a track consumes much more energy than in normal use. So much so that, on average, one kilometer on the track is equivalent to around four kilometers on the road. And that is the case both for electric cars and for diesel or gasoline.

This means that the autonomy of the Mini Electric, would begin to be in trouble in these circumstances. Especially with the increase in temperature of maintaining the maximum consumption of its 32 kWh battery for a few laps. This is the main problem that electric cars often face in terms of performance. They can usually only go a few laps before the car limits its power for safety.

The electric Mini JCW of the future
So while the technical details of the electric John Cooper Works are not yet known, BMW is expected to add more cells to its batteries, with better cooling. At least if you want to keep the same chemical composition, but get more power. Larger batteries can generally supply more power at any given time, so a larger battery would also allow the car to go faster.

Another possibility that is being speculated is to add a rear engine. Since the electric motors are relatively small and easy to couple to an axle, BMW could make the Mini with rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. Which would improve its performance on the track and its acceleration from a standstill, without increasing the weight much.