The MINI Electric Convertible is a difficult car to recommend. It’s slower, heavier and less practical than the hatchback on which it’s based – and it’s not worth making that many sacrifices for the benefit of having a folding roof, especially in somewhere as wet as the UK.

It’s also expensive for what it is. A cash price of £52,500 is an astronomical sum of money for an electric car that’ll struggle to do 100 miles on a charge. For £3,000 less you could have a BMW i4, which is better in every objective way – and if you have your heart set on a convertible, you could have a Porsche 718 Boxster for the same sort of money.

MINI’s counter argument is that the Electric Convertible is currently the only drop-top EV on the market, although the company has conveniently forgotten that the Fiat 500 Electric Convertible exists. Yes, the Fiat might not have a complete convertible roof, but it still gives you 90% of the convertible experience for £18,000 less. It has a much longer maximum range, too. According to BMW the lofty price is hinged on its exclusivity, but this smacks of cynicism to us.

If you want a slice of faux British, electric-powered, drop-top nostalgia, ignore the MINI Electric Convertible, save your cash and wait for the MG Cyberster to hit the showrooms. Both cars are as tenuously linked to their heritage as each other, but at least the MG will be a proper sports car with a longer range, more power and a very similar price.

What we like

It’s an electric convertible, and all that entails.

What we don’t like

It’s expensive. The price walk between the hardtop and convertible versions of the MINI Electric is more than five times greater than the difference between the hardtop and convertible versions of the petrol-powered MINI Hatch – and the Electric Convertible simply doesn’t set itself far enough apart from the standard MINI Electric to make it worth spending the extra cash. The only extras you get are a fabric roof and a ‘one of 999’ badge for the front wing.