Mini 3D Hatch vs Toyota Mirai

What's the difference?

The Mini Cooper surprised me. I didn’t expect this little car to be electrified with such success. It’s fun to drive, easy to charge, and aside from its range, which is naturally limited by its size, the remaining drawbacks are no different from the rest of the Cooper range.

Who is the Cooper SE Electric best suited for? Probably a buyer who is looking for a second car to use primarily as a runabout who also happens to love the art of driving. Few EVs fit that bill so well.

Believe it or not, the Mirai represents a pretty big gamble for Toyota, a company who has been known in the past for being relative conservative with its vehicles.

In recent years though, with models like the GR Yaris and even the RAV4 Hybrid, it seems like Toyota is more willing to go out and take a chance on something that would not be considered a safe bet.

The Mirai represents this willingness to experiment, but it is still too early to say whether it will a winner or a failure.

It drives well, looks good and its powertrain is a potential gamechanger for electric cars in Australia, but whether hydrogen takes off locally with customers is beyond Toyota’s control and up to those willing to invest in refuelling infrastructure.

The Cooper SE, at least in this ‘Yours’ trim, is iconic Mini. Like the concurrent Fiat 500, the Mini is one of those cars which does ‘modern classic’ so well it’s hard to tell how old it is underneath.

The commitment to the core shape of this car is admirable, but to me this is a particularly rare case of everything clad in black working brilliantly.

The little green bits which hint at the electrified nature of this variant contrast so well, and are much more subtle as a flourish on these ‘Tentacle’ wheels than they are on the somewhat ham-fisted ‘Power’ rims which normally come with the SE.

This extends to the inside of our test car, which also had black seats and black headlining to match the black dash.

Again, normally this would be a recipe for undue claustrophobia, but in this Mini it just feels right.

The seats are more comfortable than they look, and adjust for a low-slung and sporty feeling arrangement. The dash is a little clumsy, though, with its lumpy design and plethora of material choices, perhaps shaped more for style than to induce a feeling of spaciousness.

I’m still not a particular fan of it, but when you combine it with things like the toggle-style buttons and Union Jack imprints in the tops of the front seats, there’s no question Mini is committed to unique styling.

This is particularly true of the huge round centre panel, which in its original incarnation used to house the speedometer, but now houses a multimedia suite.

The positioning of the screen doesn’t feel entirely right for the driver to use as a touchscreen, and the software is overcomplicated at best, and downright painful to use at worst.

Thankfully, once you’ve managed to get the wireless Apple CarPlay working, you’ll be forced to use it less often.

This is beginning to sound overly critical, but the context is this car isn’t designed to feel spacious or function seamlessly. It’s designed to be a statement all on its own.

When you combine the unmistakable exterior presence with this particular colour scheme and wheels, the whacky interior falls into place to make for one somehow completely charming package.

It has so much charisma I found myself constantly forgiving, or at least overlooking, its flaws to enjoy it as an experience – just as intended.

Remember your awkward teenage years when you were still a little uneasy in your own skin and tried to find your way in terms of your own style? (I certainly do!).

Now remember bursting on the scene in your 20s with the confidence and swagger of a Calvin Klein model after working out your niche? (I’m still waiting for this to happen).

Well, the Mirai certainly remembers because the inelegance of the first-generation car has given way to a much more confident and handsome model.

From the outside, there is no denying its Toyota-ness and from certain angles the new Mirai even looks a bit like its Camry cousin, with a bit more flair.

The split front lighting signature and massive grille direct your eye to the blue-tinged Toyota badge, which the Mirai wears proudly, while the puffed-up bonnet and lower-bumper chrome accent add a touch of sportiness and class, respectively.

Move to the profile and you will see 19-inch wheels filling the arches, as well as a sloping rear roofline and silhouette that echoes the best of the premium German sedans.

From behind, the body-wide tail-light design and subtle spoiler adds to the Mirai’s strong road presence without looking over the top, but I especially like the way the lines of the former continue down the bumper to break up the body panels.

If you can’t tell already, I'm a fan of the exterior looks of the Mirai, and I bet if the Toyota badge was swapped out for a Lexus one, no one would think it looked out of place.

Step inside the Mirai and there are familiar Toyota appointments like the way the dashboard sweeps away from the driver, as well as a shifter design lifted from a Prius.

The surfaces are all soft-touch, though, and the mix of leather and gloss-black materials combine to elevate the interior ambience.

The interior of the Mirai might not be as stunning as the exterior, but it is certainly no drab and depressing place to spend some time.

Does anyone buy a car called a Mini for practicality? I hope not. How does this little hatch line up with the segment or the EV market, though?

The answer is still not well. Even compared with design-led cars like Mazda’s MX-30, the Mini is smaller again, having hardly any boot space (211 litres to be precise) and only four seats. Even then, the rear two seats are difficult to access and no good for adults.

There’s a handy space under the boot floor for charging gear, although as the Cooper uses run-flat tyres, there’s no spare.

It is worth noting this electric version doesn’t actually lose any room compared to the standard combustion variants.

As driver-focused as this little car might be, it’s hardly a better story up front, as the Cooper SE trades away practicality to stay true to its retro design.

The driver's seat is comfy, low, and sporty, clasping your sides nicely and I like the trim a lot. But, as mentioned the space feels quite claustrophobic due to the proximity of the A-pillars and up-close dash features.

Functionally, the dash layout is a little awkward, with the small digital instrument display being partially obscured by the wheel in my driving position. The exaggerated centre screen panel and other trimmings feel as though they close in what little space is available, particularly if you’re tall and have knees.

There’s hardly any cabin storage on offer, either, with a small wireless charging bay in the armrest console, a tiny bay below that for loose objects, two small cupholders with another small bin in front of the shifter, and tiny pockets in the doors.

To make things worse, the two-door Cooper design has enormous doors, making it hard to slide in and out of in tight parking spots. Ironic given how easy it is to park this compact car in the first place.

Measuring 4975mm long, 1885mm wide, 1470mm tall and with a 2920mm wheelbase, the second-generation Mirai is comparable in size to a mid-size sedan like the Camry and Mazda6.

However, it is a little longer, wider and lower, with an elongated wheelbase, and is in fact larger in all dimensions (save for height) than a Honda Odyssey people mover!

You’d think this would afford passengers heaps of room, but all the whizz-bang cutting-edge technology has to go somewhere.

Based on Toyota's new GA-L platform, the second-generation Mirai is fitted with three hydrogen tanks – two smaller ones positioned laterally behind the rear seats and one large one mounted longitudinally where a traditional transmission would sit.

What this means is that rear seat room is compromised, and the hydrogen tank eats into the middle seat’s legroom so much that the new Mirai might as well be a four-seater.

Leg- and shoulder-room in the second row are adequate, but the sloping roofline means it can be hard for taller passengers to get comfortable. I'm 184cm (6'0") and had trouble.

Move to the front seats though, and it’s a different story with comfortable and supportive seats offering plenty of adjustability for drivers/passengers of any size.

Storage options are also ample, with a door pockets, a centre storage bin, two cupholders and a tray for your phone/wallet.

Opening the boot reveals a cavity large enough for just 272 litres (VDA) of volume – less than the smaller-sized Corolla sedan (470L) and well-down on the similarly-sized Camry (524L).

Like the rear seats, boot space is compromised by powertrain components, the culprit being the battery and electric drive motor found above the rear axle.

The rear seats in the Mirai are also fixed, which means they won’t fold down to open up more volume.

With only 20 examples available in Australia, and none offered to the public to buy, it’s hard to judge exactly how much value you get with the car.

Toyota has released pricing, though, sort of.

The 20 units are available to organisations who might want to trial the hydrogen powertrain, costing $63,000 for a three-year lease.

The cost of refuelling over that period is included in the price, too, but Toyota is restricting the lease to Victorian organisations as its Altona refuelling station in Melbourne’s west.

The Mirai comes fitted with LED exterior lighting, rain-sensing wipers, auto-folding and heated exterior mirrors, 19-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, synthetic leather interior, leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel, power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and push-button start.

Handling multimedia duties is a 12.3-inch touchscreen system with satellite navigation, digital radio, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functionality and a 14-speaker JBL sound system.

There's no wireless smartphone charger, though, which is a big miss in our book for a car that is so future focused.

No doubt the bulk of the cost of the car is due to its cutting-edge powertrain (which we will cover further below), but the levels of equipment would be on par with high-end mid-size sedans like the $46,990 before on-road costs Camry SL Hybrid, $51,390 Mazda6 Atenza and $50,990 Hyundai Sonata N Line.

It's also hard to compare the Mirai against Hyundai's Nexo hydrogen SUV, which has no pricetag in Australia but its Korean price can be converted to around $A84,000.

This electric Mini takes the best bits from BMW’s late i3 hatch, and one of those is its electric motor. With 135kW/270Nm on tap, it’s a punchy little thing, and in a package this small it feels energetic.

There’s a single-speed transmission with an integrated front differential, and this version of the Cooper will sprint from 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds.

The motor also uses a particularly aggressive regenerative braking profile, which is strong by default but can be adjusted down by the driver.

It can also make use of an array of drive modes: 'Sport', 'Normal', 'Green', and 'Green+' (which maxes out regen and won’t let you use the air-con!).

I spent the majority of my time in the car using Green or Normal modes, with a stint in Sport. It was nice that each mode seemed to give the steering and accelerator response a distinct but not overtly artificial character.

What even is a hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle? Well, we're not scientists but the way we understand it is that there is a special component in FCEVs - the fuel cell - which combines incoming air with hydrogen to produce electricity, with the only bi-product being water.

The single electric motor driving the rear wheels of the Mirai outputs 134kW/300Nm, which enables a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.2 seconds in the 1900kg sedan.

Top speed is also pegged at 175km/h – or well and truly above the road-legal limit – and the electric motor is paired with a single-speed auto transmission.

Performance may seem underwhelming, especially when mainstream electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona Electric can hit triple digits in a much faster 7.9s time, but the Mirai is designed for efficiency and smoothness, not performance.

Hyundai's Nexo meanwhile, makes 120kW/395Nm from its electric motor.

The Cooper SE draws its power from a 32.6kWh Lithium-ion battery pack, one of the smallest of any mass-market EV on sale today.

This grants it an official combined cycle range of 233km on the realistic WLTP testing protocol, but you can expect a real-world range of around 200km. My car was reporting around 180km at 100 per cent charge.

The WLTP-rated energy consumption for the SE is 16.8kWh/100km, and I saw 14.0kWh/100km. That's better than the 16kWh/100km I’m getting from my MX-30 electric long-termer, but still not as adept as the smaller Hyundai electric offerings.

I drove it around with regen maxed out aside from a stint on some back roads in Sport mode which dials it back a little. As the battery is very small, expect every little change in road conditions or regen usage to have a bigger effect on the range remaining.

The Cooper SE has a single European-standard Type 2 CCS charging port on the rear driver’s side. For a car with such a small battery, the Cooper charges very fast which helps make it more convenient to use.

On the slower but more readily-available AC chargers it will charge at a max rate of 11kW which will see a charge time somewhere in the range of three and a half hours, while on a fast DC charger it will get to 80 per cent charge from 10 per cent in 36 minutes.

The 11kW AC inverter is particularly welcome, as with a battery this small, it means you can realistically rely entirely on AC charging which is an increasingly common feature of council parking locations.

No other car with a battery this small offers AC charging this fast, and it’s convenient to avoid the need to seek out a DC charger for a full juice every once in a while.

Official consumption figures for the Mirai are published at a combined 0.7kg of hydrogen per 100km… which doesn’t really mean much without a frame of reference.

The 2021 Mirai is fitted with three hydrogen for a combined capacity of 5.6kg (or 141 litres) that enables a driving range of 650km when tested on the WLTP (Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure) standards.

Okay so a 650km range is pretty good and comparable to diesel SUVs of a similar size, but that’s moot if refuelling costs more.

Because hydrogen refuellers are not yet readily available, the cost of refuelling is still a little unclear, but Toyota has said it works out to be around $70-80 to fully refuel the second-generation Mirai, making it comparable to filling up a petrol or diesel car.

The new-generation car also features three hydrogen tanks instead of two, which means during range is up 30 per cent compared to the first-generation Mirai.

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Nexo features a 6.33kg hydrogen tank, enough to propel it around 666km before needing a refuel.

The Cooper SE not only nails the Mini brief of feeling “like a go-cart” on the road, but to me this car particularly proves electric vehicles can have distinct and engaging characteristics.

Immediately, all the Mini cornerstones are present. This car feels low-slung, firmly sprung, with heavy and direct steering ensuring you really feel the road.

Few electric cars have come close to something so engagement-oriented. The Model 3 is firm and fast, but somewhat removed from the road with its unusual cabin and heavily computerized steering, while Mazda’s MX-30 is a similarly lightweight and engaging EV, just with the ride height and pleasantries of an SUV.

The Cooper has more the personality of a track-ready hot hatch. It leaps into action with the responsiveness of its electric motor, and the steering tune gives it a dart-like feel in traffic.

The firm ride won’t be for everyone. It’s a little hard on the day-to-day, and its lack of wheel travel compared to, say, an SUV gives it more trouble balancing out bigger bumps and corrugations which can get unpleasant in the cabin.

Carving up a curvy road on the weekend, though? There’s no EV better than this bar Porsche’s Taycan, and even then, you’ll need one hell of a road to make the most of it.

The tightly-wound little Mini simply comes alive in the corners. Anyone who doubts electric vehicles can still be fun needs to drive one of these before they settle their mind.

The downside? While the Mini will put a smile on your face, the electric drivetrain here feels a bit like cheating. No transmission and an instantly responsive regen brake makes it all too easy to carve corners without the need to even take your foot off the accelerator pedal.

And having the weight so far down in an already low car makes it stick to the road like glue. You never really feel like something can be done wrong in this car.

While it’s so much more fun than most electric cars, it’s still missing the engagement of the need to grab a gear yourself.

On the topic of regeneration, the Mini’s aggro little motor will slow you down as quickly as it can accelerate, and in Green mode in particular it can be driven as a ‘single pedal vehicle’ around town.

You have to watch its bite, as a minimal release of the accelerator will bring you to a halt. This is good for economy though, and you’ll need it to make the most of this little hatchback’s short range.

Toyota is positioning hydrogen as a potential future fuel source that is – crucially – sustainable and eco-friendly, which means the Mirai has a lot riding on its shoulders.

And behind the wheel the new-generation Mirai drives just fine.

The Mirai uses hydrogen to create electricity to drive its wheels, which means it feels very much like a battery electric car from the driver’s seat.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but keep in mind Toyota’s potentially revolutionary drivetrain won’t feel so revolutionary behind the wheel.

Like all EVs, torque is available instantaneously for a quick and peppy pick-up off the line, but the Mirai won’t demolish the 0-100km/h sprint like the Porsche Taycan or Telsa Model S.

Designed for efficiency rather than pace, the Mirai will accelerate briskly to 60km/h, but takes 9.2s to hit 100km/h – not that we got to test the latter in the extremely short drive loop in Melbourne’s West.

Despite tipping the scales at over 1900kg, the Mirai’s ride is soft, supple and extremely compliant, almost to a fault.

Steering feels light and effortless, while 19-inch wheels do nothing to upset the serene and comfortable interior ambience – it’s seriously good enough to be a Lexus.

What’s so striking about driving the Mirai though, is how much it could appeal to motorists who travel long distances (as is often the case in Australia) and can’t afford the sometimes 10 hours required to recharge a battery electric vehicle.

Refuelling the Mirai is as quick and easy as a conventional petrol or diesel car. Australia just needs more hydrogen stations to make use of the technology and open up electrification to those that may not have considered it (or deemed it unfeasible for their needs) in the past.

The 2021 Toyota Mirai has not been crash tested in Australia or in Europe, and as such does not carry an assessment rating from ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

However, Toyota has fitted its hydrogen-powered sedan with its 'Safety Sense' suite, which includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, automatic high beam and traffic sign recognition.

Other features include blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, seven airbags, surround-view monitor and rear-seat ISOFIX anchorage points.

The Mirai’s hydrogen tanks are also stronger than before thanks to a new multi-layer construction.

Mini, like its BMW parent, persists with an off-the-pace three-year and unlimited kilometre warranty promise. This includes roadside assist, and the battery components are covered by a separate industry-standard eight-year and 160,000km warranty.

Minis have ‘condition-based servicing’ whereby the car will decide when to send you back to the workshop, so intervals could be variable.

A ‘basic cover’ service program will set you back just $940 for four years, or $1280 for six years, which includes a vehicle check, fluids, and an air conditioning filter.

The more comprehensive ‘Plus Cover’ which has location-based pricing will also include brake pads and discs and wiper blade replacements where required.

Unlike new Toyotas on sale now, the Mirai does not come with a warranty because is only available on a three-year/60,000km lease.

There are servicing costs though, with Toyota charging a one-off $2693 fee for maintenance of the Mirai over that lease period.

Scheduled service periods are every 12 months/15,000km, whichever occurs first, though it is unlikely every Toyota dealership will ultimately be able to service the Mirai.