Driving the front wheels is a 182bhp electric motor which ironically is the same horsepower as the 2.0-liter petrol engine in the Cooper S – but electrification has added 145kg of weight.

Mini claims a range of between 124 and 144 miles. On our test drive in Oxfordshire in cold and windy weather, we got nearer 100 miles.

But data gleaned from current Mini owners revealed that, on average, they drive no more than 25 miles a day so this range will be entirely adequate.

The Mini Electric is supplied with a three-pin domestic charging cable. But most owners will want to buy a wall box for home and an 11kW cable.

The standard cable will charge up the Mini overnight but the wall box will allow you to go from empty to 80% in two and a half hours, or in 35 minutes from a fast charger station.

Before we go any further, let’s talk money. Three specifications are available named blissfully simply ‘1’, ‘2’, and ‘3’.

Level 1 costs 32.000 USD after the PICG; level 2 35.200 USD and level 3 39.800 USD. These prices put the Mini in a middle ground between the Renault Zoe and Honda’s very cute E which has a similar range to the Mini’s (the Zoe will take you further).

Of course, most people will buy their Mini Electric on finance or by leasing, and with Mini’s traditionally strong resale values the monthly payments are likely to be attractive.

The Mini Electric’s interior will be entirely familiar to current owners. The trademark circular display center dashboard now contains the infotainment screen and the familiar and tactile toggle switches.

One of these, colored green, is used to change between the various regeneration modes. Mini uses tricks learned on parent company BMW’s electric i3 including the ‘one-pedal’ function whereby lifting off the accelerator will trigger regeneration strong enough to take the place of braking.

This is the default mode that you’ll be in when you start the car – if you want a more coasting mode you’ll have to select it.

There are also a couple of selectable modes called Green and Green Plus that choose less aggressive acceleration modes and can also disable the air-con if you’re getting slightly twitchy about range or want to go even greener.

The electric motor will accelerate the car from 0-62mph in 7.3sec but a more relevant number is 0-30mph in 3.9sec which is more than brisk enough in town.