MINI Cooper vs Skoda CITIGOe iV

The MINI Cooper costs £5,700 more than the Skoda CITIGOe iV. For that premium it adds 29 miles more WLTP range, 35 kW faster peak rapid charging and 74 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the MINI Cooper comes out ahead overall.

The Skoda CITIGOe iV is £5,700 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £144 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Skoda CITIGOe iV comes out roughly £5,660 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 158 miles for the MINI Cooper and 134 miles for the Skoda CITIGOe iV - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The MINI Cooper goes roughly 24 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 28 minutes in the MINI Cooper and 60 in the Skoda CITIGOe iV, so the MINI Cooper loses less time at each stop. That makes the MINI Cooper the stronger long-distance car.

The Skoda CITIGOe iV is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 111 mm narrower than the MINI Cooper. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 755 mm of total clearance for the Skoda CITIGOe iV and about 644 mm of total clearance for the MINI Cooper. The Skoda CITIGOe iV also turns in a 0.6 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the MINI Cooper and 84% for the Skoda CITIGOe iV. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.