Next-Gen Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Spied Showing Future Hot Hatch

Mini plans to sell electric and combustion-powered versions of the next-gen Cooper Hardtop simultaneously for the model's next generation. These spy shots catch the development of the hot John Cooper Works model with an ICE under the hood.

 This car wears swirly yellow-and-black camouflage and panels to cover sections of the body. In front, there's a grille with a trapezoidal shape and rounded edges. A sensor is in the center. The concealment doesn't let us see much of the lower fascia, except for the square inlets in the corners.

The hood appears to have rounder styling than the current model. The headlights are still round and have circular pieces of trim around them.

In profile, the new Mini Cooper Hardtop doesn't look significantly different in comparison to the existing model. The hatchback seems more angular than the somewhat rounder shape of the current one.

Like along the flanks, the rear end doesn't change much from the current Mini Cooper Hardtop. The taillights with a Union-Jack-inspired design are still present. On this development vehicle, you can see the cutout in the bumper for the center-exit exhaust.

The recently launched Mini Aceman concept might give us an idea of what the brand is planning for the cabins of its future vehicles. The model featured a large, circular touchscreen on the center of the dashboard and toggle switches below it.

The ICE and EV Mini Cooper Hardtops will ride on different platforms. The electric version will reportedly be lighter than the existing Mini SE and will ride on a longer wheelbase. The model will allegedly be available with a 40-kilowatt-hour battery with about 185 miles (297 kilometers) of range or a 50 kWh providing around 250 miles (402 kilometers) between charges.

The combustion-powered variant will allegedly ride on an evolution of the existing model's FAAR platform. The engines will also reportedly have only slight changes.

We're expecting the combustion-powered Cooper Hardtop to debut before the end of the year and be on sale for the 2023 model year. The EV model will have an unveiling later. The John Cooper Works variant like in these pictures will probably be among the last versions to arrive.