• Truly game-changing infotainment system
• Interesting and unusual material choices
• Very well assembled

How is the quality and layout?

The 2024 Cooper Electric has a curiously unique cabin style, mixing a host of different materials together in a way that – whether it suits your personal tastes or not – you’d be very hard pressed to call dull. Banality isn’t in this hot hatch’s dictionary, if you haven’t gathered by now..

The dashboard is dominated by two principal design features: a layer of heavy knitted fabric that extends over most of the dash’s surface area and a circular infotainment display, front and centre. If the screen’s rounded design seems familiar, it’s because the shape echoes that of the original car’s central speedometer.

These two features aside, the rest of the dashboard is a real exercise in simplicity and minimalism – there isn’t even a digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel, as all your requisite driving info can be found on the central infotainment display. It’s a very pleasant place to spend time in, though, as the seats are very comfortable with a decent amount of bolstering, while headroom is surprisingly good (in the front, at least).

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The steering wheel itself is quite a chunky specimen in keeping with Mini tradition, but it’s still nonetheless comfortable to hold – especially with hands in the 10 and two position thanks to a couple of large palm pads.

We’re happy to report that build quality around the cabin is excellent, and far superior to rivals from any Stellantis brand. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t find any elements that would shake or rattle, nor that were offensive to the touch. If you ever needed conclusive evidence that Mini is an offshoot of the BMW brand, this interior is it.

Infotainment and tech 

As previously mentioned, the Mini Cooper Electric’s infotainment interface is housed within a circular display. As the world’s first circular OLED display, the graphics are supremely crisp, adding to the premium feel of the cabin. It’s a responsive touchscreen that’s certainly big enough, but it’s here where we found key functions such as the heating and most of the stereo controls. A head-up display is available, though without it you’ll be looking at the central screen for your speed.

By hitting the ‘Experiences’ toggle, we were able to rotate through a number of different moods, changing not just the design of the interface but certain aspects of the car.

For example, Green Mode cranks up the electric motor’s regeneration strength, while more driving efficiency data is provided through the interface.

Go Kart Mode, meanwhile, stiffens up the steering and increases the sensitivity of the accelerator pedal. Timeless Mode turns the infotainment display into a kind of barometer, but that’s about it. Overall, the different experiences work well in livening the interior up and quelling the tedium of a long drive. We may not have used all of them all the time, but they’re a fun addition to the car.

Our only real gripe is that the Cooper E’s Apple CarPlay interface is squared off within the circle, rather than stretching out to the display’s edge. Looks a bit silly, but that’s about it.