The psychedelic camouflage foil, the dialect of the engineer behind the wheel, the Munich license plate – all of this looks familiar on this prototype, which is whizzing around on the Swedish ice lakes of Arjeplog north of the Arctic Circle.
Almost two years before the start of series production of the next generation of the Mini, men like Klaus Bramer are tuning the assistance and stability systems and giving the chassis the finishing touches.
But some things are different about the vehicle.
This Mini is the first to be designed explicitly for electric drive and is therefore on a completely new platform.
The electric model will be built in China instead of in England.
And so Chinese warnings are emblazoned on the sun visors in the otherwise camouflaged interior.
For the successor to the Mini E, the Bavarians have teamed up with Great Wall Motors for the first time and awarded the construction contract for the small Stromer to Zhangjiagang.
Chinese know-how, Chinese components and Chinese costs should finally enable the British BMW subsidiary to break through on the world's largest car market and at the same time create a cheaply produced vehicle for Europe.
Apparently that cannot be done with expensive components from Bavaria.
The Mini is therefore not based on the modular system with which BMW equips all electrified cars, from the plug-in hybrids of the Active Tourer to the i4 and iX to the upcoming i7.
Instead, he uses Chinese architecture.
Technically, it becomes a clone of automotive caricatures like the Ora Cat, this retro-style vehicle with a Porsche front and a Beetle rear that made its debut at the IAA in Munich last year.
This will probably not bother customers, especially if the car is affordable.
Two years before the start, however, there is still no statement on the price.
However, it is becoming apparent that the new Mini will be stronger, drive faster and go further - the developers are promising that.
In addition to the Cooper E, which is at the level of the current model with 185 hp, 40 kWh battery capacity and a range of 300 kilometers, there should be a Cooper SE that gets 225 hp and can cover around 400 kilometers with its 50 kWh battery.
And it shouldn't stay at today's 150 km/h either.
"Driving fun will be even more important with the next Mini E," says Bramer before he starts the next lap on the ice and chases the car over a handling course.
He raves about the go-kart feeling that Mini claims for itself.
But can this also be achieved with the electric drive?
"Electromobility even suits us driving dynamics experts," says Bramer and talks about the low center of gravity due to the batteries in the floor and the high torque of the electric motors.
These respond particularly spontaneously and can be sensitively regulated.
So the Mini should drive like a Mini and also look like a Mini.
Although the design is still heavily concealed, the car will not be unveiled until next summer and will be sold from the end of 2023.
But the typical contours can hardly be hidden, such as the pancake-sized central display in the interior.
Mini has sharpened the proportions.
So Mini has stretched the wheelbase by at least 15 millimeters in favor of the backbenchers, but otherwise shortened the car by 30 millimeters and thus broke the growth spiral.
Mini is not alone with the China connection.
Almost at the same time, Smart's competition published a few Erlkönig pictures from the ice.
This compact SUV is to succeed the Fortwo and Forfour at the end of this year.
For Smart, China is even more important.
Daimler has sold the brand to Geely and nothing more to report apart from the design.
The car is not only produced but also developed entirely in China.
And so in Arjeplog countless Mercedes prototypes, including the electric G-Class, cross the snowy landscape, but not the Smart.
Instead, the smart developers are shivering at minus 40 degrees in northern China.
While in Stuttgart they no longer want to have anything to do with the Smart billion grave and are not even allowed to speak to their old colleagues because of competition law, BMW is still holding the hand over Mini.
If only because the Bavarians are still developing a mini line with a combustion engine in Munich, which will be built on a group platform in Oxford.
And they also want to set the tone in Zhangjiagang.
"You have to see the joint venture more as a service provider who, with its know-how and local opportunities, takes on tasks in development and production for us," says company spokesman Andreas Lampka.
He compares Great Wall Motors with Magna in Graz, where BMW had the X3 developed and Mercedes the G-Class.
There is a lot of praise from experts for the way to China: "In fact, for the majority of customers it doesn't matter where the Mini or Smart is built, as long as they get the quality they are used to," says Jan Burgard from the strategy consultant Berylls in Munich: "After all Brand identity has little to nothing to do with where a car is made, but with the fact that it embodies the brand values.«
For the manufacturer, on the other hand, origin makes a difference, explains Burgard: The fact that the Smart and Mini were popular was also due to their proximity to a parent company in the premium sector.
But that also made things expensive.
"Since the Mini and Smart vehicle concepts can achieve neither higher sales prices nor dramatically higher quantities, the manufacturers have to look for other ways to reduce costs and are therefore well advised with their China joint ventures," Burgard is convinced.
Above all, Smart can only benefit from the move to China.
The brand has never been really successful: "Many people thought that Smart didn't have enough cars for a comparatively large amount of money," sums up Burgard.
Development and production in China could change that - not least because the battery, the largest cost item in a small electric car, would now be manufactured cheaply.
However, the new strategy is not free of risk, the expert warns: “As an SUV, the new vehicle concept itself is far removed from the original core of the brand.
Even if all the trappings are right this time, it is therefore questionable whether customers will take this step.«
Thomas Geiger is a freelance author and was supported in his research by BMW/Mini. Reporting is independent of this.