Peter Lyon
May 11, 2025
The all-new 2025 MINI 3-Door John Cooper Works (JCW) just arrived in Malaysia. Introduced into the country by MINI Malaysia, the car has landed in both petrol and full-electric (EV) versions. Now on display at MINI’s pavilion inside the Malaysia Autoshow 2025, the EV starts at RM225,188 while the petrol version is priced from RM330,988.
With red accents and a strongly sculpted front bumper, the MINI JCW’s exterior style departs from the conventional MINI Cooper’s charming and rounded appearance.
On the ICE version, owners can opt for a massive air diffuser built into the rear bumper with a centrally located exhaust pipe and a roof-mounted spoiler further highlight its hot hatch characteristics.
With a few exceptions, the emission-free electric MINI Cooper 3-Door JCW looks identical to its gasoline-powered brother. You have to look hard but the subtle differences include a modified back bumper, which is shaped to accommodate the lack of an exhaust pipe, while the EV also gets a bespoke front grille and bumper design.
Both hot hatches have the same interior which features a distinctive MINI OLED circular display infotainment system that doubles as the infotainment system and driver’s digital gauge cluster.
The MINI Cooper 3-Door JCW’s other interior appointments include a wireless phone charger, a driver’s heads-up display (HUD), dual-zone climate control, and the MINI experience mode, which produces a loud “woo-hoo!” when you engage go-kart mode.
Its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivers a gutsy 231 horsepower and 380 Nm to the front wheels (FWD) through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DCT). This allows the petrol version to reach a top speed of 250 km/h and jump from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.1 seconds.
On the EV spec, a front-mounted electric motor produces 258 horsepower and 350 Nm, and although top speed is only 200 km/h, the all-electric JCW can sprint from zero to 100 km/h in a quicker 5.9 seconds. The EV model has a WLTP range of over 363 km and is outfitted with a 54.2 kWh battery pack.
Both AC charging at 11 kW and DC charging at 95 kW are supported and the latter can charge from 10% to 80% in 30-minutes.
With the fuel version costing RM330,988 and the all-electric MINI Cooper 3-Door JCW costing RM225,188 in Malaysia, the decision is yours: will you choose the contemporary, nearly silent electric model or the traditional, combustion-powered hot hatch?
CARLIST THOUGHTS
This is just what the market wants—a new cool-looking MINI JCW spec with the choice of either ICE or EV powertrains. In fact, many more rivals have started offering a similar powertrain choice as the market slowly moves towards EV power while still cleverly offering a gasoline power version—which is a choice that many drivers still want.
