I spy a Mini marvel, says RAY MASSEY

This really is the new-generation electric Mini hatchback. Sadly, the British style icon will be built in China under a joint agreement between owner BMW and Great Wall Motors rather than in the UK.

The company has released the first undisguised pictures after spy shots ‘leaked’ from a photo-shoot in California. Rear shots show it to be a Mini Cooper S.

Built on a new front-wheel drive platform, this Mini has a more purist, pared-back, style. Out go chunky plastic wheel arches. In come creases and lines designed to create unusual highlights and reflections.

At the rear, quirky Union Flag brake lights are replaced with a new triangular configuration.

The cleaner design follows an earlier collaboration between chief designer Oliver Heilmer and British fashion designer Paul Smith on a stripped-back Mini concept car

Super Cooper: The redesigned all-electric Mini range will be built in China

It is understood the Cooper name will be used on all future three-door hatchback models, with an entry level Cooper E, an S, a more powerful SE and an even feistier 250 hp John Cooper Works version.

Depending on model, battery sizes are expected to be 40 kWh — with acceleration from rest to 62 mph in about seven seconds and a range of up to 250 miles — and 50 kWh-plus battery with more oomph and a 300-mile range. The range is set to hit UK showrooms from May 2024, with a petrol version — still built at Oxford — to follow.

At the rear, quirky Union Flag brake lights are replaced with a new triangular configuration

Depending on model, battery sizes are expected to be 40 kWh — with acceleration from rest to 62 mph in about seven seconds and a range of up to 250 miles

The range is set to hit UK showrooms from May 2024, with a petrol version — still built at Oxford — to follow

Munich-based BMW announced in October that all future electric models will be built abroad.

In March it said production of the new Mini Countryman is set to begin at its ‘green’ plant in Leipzig — the first German-made Mini.

BMW currently makes 40,000 electric Minis a year in Oxford but production will end this year. As a consolation, the 2,000 workers there will build the petrol Mini Cooper three-door and five-door hatch models, plus convertibles from 2025.

Skoda develops smart grille to warn pedestrians 

Skoda has developed a smart grille to alert pedestrians if it’s safe to cross the road — and warn them when it’s not. It’s being trialled by the Czech company — part of the giant Volkswagen group — as part of a new urban mobility project.

Signals on a Skoda Enyaq iV’s LED radiator grille alert pedestrians when it’s safe for them to cross, as well as warning when the car is beginning to move off.

Warning sign: Signals on a Skoda Enyaq iV’s LED radiator grille alert pedestrians when it’s safe for them to cross

Skoda said: ‘When the car approaches a pedestrian crossing, it can warn those waiting to cross in advance that it has spotted them. It then stops and displays green arrows, for example, to tell them it’s safe to cross. Once they have crossed, and the car is about to set off, it can display a different signal to warn that the car is moving.’

But the law would need to be changed to allow such plates on the road.

Who is going to service electric cars?

The drive to put more electric cars on our roads is all well and good —but just who is going to be trained to service them at your local garage?

New analysis from the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) predicts by 2030, 103,000 IMI qualified technicians will be needed to work with electric vehicles, rising to 124,000 by 2032.

‘Shortfall’: Institute of the Motor Industry wants to see an acceleration of training

But that will still leave a ‘potential shortfall’ of 4,500 by 2029, increasing to ‘a massive skills gap’ of 16,000 by 2032.

IMI wants to see an acceleration of training, saying: ‘Previous market expectations of electric vehicles requiring less time for servicing may be misplaced, increasing pressure on a workforce already dealing with an ageing UK car fleet.’

The IMI said more than 14,800 technicians undertook training and testing to obtain its TechSafe professional recognition in 2022.