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A Rear-Wheel-Drive Mini? Sounds Like It Could Happen
If you were around in 1959, perhaps you remember when the British Motor Corporation introduced the original Mini. Its packaging of a compact transverse engine with front-wheel-drive left room inside for four actual seats, and the overall design, by Sir Alec Issigonis, to this day remains influential.
As Mini moves toward electrification, one element of that original Mini’s personality may be about to change, and it’s significant.
The British automotive publication Autocar says that in order for the traditionally front-drive Mini to take advantage of a new BMW Group platform for electric vehicles, it may be necessary for Mini’s lineup to become primarily rear-wheel-driven.
“One reason for this decision is because a rear-wheel-drive set-up is ‘better for dynamics.’ As such, the platform can support only rear- and all-wheel-drive set-ups in single-, dual-, tri- and quad-motor configurations,” the publication says.
The new BMW Group platform, called the Gen6 800V architecture, will improve charging speed, and will provide a decrease in manufacturing costs. The project is patterned after the Vision Neue Klasse concept (below), which debuted in late 2023. “The design is so progressive it looks like we skipped a model generation,” said Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, when the concept first appeared at a press event in Munich.
At its unveiling, we reported that BMW claimed the technology in the Vision Neue Klasse sedan concept “will offer 30 percent more range, 30 percent faster charging, and 25 percent greater efficiency than its current EVs. New battery cells offer 20 percent higher energy density, which will make a major contribution to those goals.”
According to Autocar, the first vehicle using the architecture will be the BMW iX3, now scheduled to reach dealerships in September. After that, the technology “will be rolled out across all BMW, Rolls-Royce and Mini EVs from their respective next-generation models.”
For Mini, that could be a while. Each model in Mini’s current lineup—the Cooper, the Aceman, and Countryman—has been comprehensively updated in the last 18 months. The Aceman, a battery-electric small crossover, is not part of Mini USA’s 2025 lineup.
And for Mini’s legion of loyal fans who insist that the standard FWD packaging has made for zillions of fun miles of driving, Autocar quoted BMW Group purchasing and supply board member Joachim Post as reporting that future models “will always have Mininess.”
Post said, “We want to make one thing feasible—sheer driving pleasure.”
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RWD would have been fun on the past models with ICE power. As an overstuffed, overweight EV I just can’t get excited.
A RWD Mini? Talk about heresy! And anyway, I doubt that many of the dwindling RWD faithful will be willing to buy an EV-anything, in any event.
I purchased a 2012 Mini Cooper S with 100K miles and LOVE IT! Frankly I was rolling the dice because I heard everything bad about the platform. Well, they were wrong at least about this car. I’m at 140K in less than two years now and it keeps performing reliably and produces amazing SMILES! FUN isn’t even an accurate term. Anyhow, I first learned they killed the manual and then I learned they are trying to turn the line all electric. Well, guess that will help the resale value of cars like mine because….I can’t imagine owning a soulless battery pack that might be quicker but…who cares. RWD will not change my buying habit and that includes the BMW brand of which I used to support. Their cars are not only soulless….they are fugly too.