In October last year, bookings for the Mini Cooper SE commenced officially. In the following month, BMW Group India confirmed that three EVs would be launched in India in six months. The story started with iX, and now we have the Cooper SE. It arrives in the country via the CBU (Completely Built Unit) route, carrying an ex-showroom price of Rs 47.2 lakh.

Powering the Cooper SE is a single electric motor that produces 181bhp and 270Nm of peak torque. That’s enough for a 0-100kmph sprint time of 7.3 seconds and a top speed of 150kmph. Now, you might think those figures aren’t good enough. Well, consider this – the Cooper SE weighs approximately 150kg more than the conventionally-powered Cooper S (three-door with automatic transmission). And that, with 190bhp/280Nm, does 0-100kmph in 6.7 seconds.

According to WLTP standards, the Mini Cooper SE can travel up to 270km on a single charge. That comes courtesy of a 32.6kWh (28.9kWh usable) battery pack, stacked in a ‘T’ formation within the car’s floor. Charging times? Those will depend on what kind of charger one uses. For example, plug the car in a home socket (2.1kW), and it would take nearly 12 hours to charge the battery pack. However, one could use the 7.4kW dedicated charger to reduce the wait time to 3 and 12 minutes. Then there’s the option of an 11kW charger, using which the battery can replenish in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. But, if you don’t have that kind of time either, find a 50kW DC charger. That can juice up the Cooper SE in just 36 minutes.

Features? The Cooper SE offers stuff like 17-inch alloy wheels, all-LED headlamps and taillamps, a panoramic glass sunroof, a digital instrument cluster, an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a Harman Kardon sound system. By default, the Cooper SE comes with a black roof. You can club one of the four colour options for the body – Moonwalk Grey, White Silver, British Racing Green or Midnight Black.

India’s pure-electric car space is growing steadily. And the Mini Cooper SE can be considered one of the first in its class. There’s no direct competition for the car in question. At least not at the moment. But that will change once Volvo lands the XC40 recharge on our shores. That should happen sometime later this year.