Electric conversions: Mini Recharged EV electrifies famous 1998 Paul Smith edition

Renowned British fashion designer Paul Smith has returned to collaborate with iconic British automotive marque Mini to electrify the 1998 MINI Paul Smith Edition, converting it into the Mini Recharged.

As carmakers around the world look to electrify their line-ups at ever varying degrees of efficacy, a parallel market is growing alongside, as car owners look to convert their favourite classic vehicles to electric propulsion.

Unsurprisingly, a number of carmakers are jumping on board with this trend, bringing everything full circle.

British automaker Mini is the latest to reinvent a classic and called on famed British fashion designer Paul Smith to transform his own limited 1998 Mini Paul Smith Edition into an emissions free electric car.

A year after Smith unveiled the Mini Strip at the IAA motor show in Munich – described as a “radically reduced, sustainable concept car” – Paul Smith’s latest Mini is the Mini Recharged model and revisits the 1998 Mini Paul Smith Edition, which was limited to 1,800 vehicles.

“Three things describe this car perfectly: quality, sustainability and functionality,” said Paul Smith. “This car also respects the past. When you move into your old aunt’s flat, out of respect you don’t change everything, but you do some modernising.”

The new Paul Smith Mini Recharged recalls the original 1998 version with the same bright blue based on a switch taken from one of Smith’s favourite shirts, while a lime green battery box recalls a 1990s colour palette.

Much as the Mini Strip demonstrated a radically reduced and sustainable concept vehicle, so too does the Mini Recharged, with a stripped back interior leaving out trim parts, leaving a bodyshell with a bare and unclad floor pan and rustic floor mats made of recycled rubber.

In addition to the use of resource-saving materials, Smith also removed entire instruments, replacing them with a simple magnet next to the steering wheel to accommodate a smart phone, which, apart from the speedometer, replaces almost all the old buttons and functions on the dashboard of the 1998 Paul Smith Edition.

“We have made a 1990s car totally relevant for today,” said Smith, who also designed the Mini Recharged with a steering wheel able to be completely removed – said to facilitate getting in and out of the car, but also as a “tongue-in-cheek quip symbolic of Paul Smith’s trademark wit.”

“Ideas are never the problem, you can find them everywhere. The challenge is to implement them. Here it worked. A dream has come true,” he said.

Engineers from Mini’s ‘Recharged Heritage Limited’ team helped to make the dream a reality, converting the classic 1998 internal combustion engine (ICE) model into an emissions-free vehicle thanks to a 72kW motor.

The Mini Recharged by Paul Smith will be on display at the Salone Del Mobile 2022 in Milan being held between June 7 and 12, part of the ‘Paul Smith showroom’ which will be designed in the striking colours of the vehicle.

Additionally, the presentation of the Mini Recharged by Paul Smith will also serve as a fitting stage for a discussion between Sir Paul Smith and Oliver Heilmer, Head of Mini Design, focusing on sustainable approaches to automotive design.