MINI Countryman Electric review

Driving position 

Finding the perfect seating position in the Countryman Electric is nice and easy. For the type of buyer, it’s spot-on, with a raised position that gives you full visibility of the road ahead and all windows around you. 

The rear window looks small from the outside, but in practice, it’s big enough for reversing – even in tight car parks. 

Tech and features 

The Countryman’s cabin is just as sleek as the outside, matching the stylish look of its smaller Cooper relative nicely. 

Sitting proud in the centre of the dashboard is a large 9.4-inch circular OLED infotainment screen that runs MINI’s latest software. 

Using this screen feels similar to an iPad experience – it’s smooth, tactile and fast. It’s exactly how a touchscreen should be, not to mention incredibly crisp like a tablet too. 

You may think a round screen wouldn’t work, but it just makes sense. Because it doesn’t have a display or any dials in front of the driver, this screen acts as the hub for all things related to the car, like a Tesla. 

At the top it shows your speed, then below that is media or maps, and below that are the climate control functions. This is of course fully customisable, so perfecting your ultimate setup is easy after spending a few minutes in the submenus. 

You can use MINI’s own apps or connect your smartphone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. It’s a shame it doesn’t fill the whole screen, but does mean you can adjust things such as the temperature without losing your sat-nav. 

The rest of the cabin feels sturdy and premium, sprinkled with MINI’s youthful touch thanks to things such as a bespoke storage box and portrait air vents that wouldn’t look out of place on a very expensive guitar amp. 

Electric motors and power 

There are two different Countryman Electric trims on offer: Countryman E and Countryman SE – both of which use the same 66.5kWh battery. 

Our test car was the top-spec Countryman SE All4 Exclusive, which produces 304hp from two electric motors (one at the front and one at the back) for added performance and grip. 

This allows it to complete the 0-62mph sprint in a blistering 5.6 seconds. Not that any buyer of the Countryman will be chasing acceleration times, but it’s handy to know you won’t get bogged down at junctions or overtaking on the motorway.

Handling and ride comfort 

Unleash all this horsepower on the open road and you begin to notice the added weight of the EV over the petrol version (around 300kg in the E and 450kg for the SE). 

This, coupled with its taller body when compared to the Cooper, makes it feel a little heftier around tighter bends. Still, MINI’s light and sporty steering helps to hide some of that added weight. 

Sitting on the optional 20-inch John Cooper Works alloy wheels, the main downfall is the stiff ride – something all generations of Countryman have had. It’s better than previous models but isn’t as cushioned as some of its rivals. 

But something you don’t get with the petrol car is regenerative braking, which in the Electric, offers one-pedal driving that can be adjusted using the car’s paddles. You even get a boost button on the steering wheel, but that’s more of a gimmick than anything else. 

If you want to try out different driving modes, Go Kart, Core and Eco all adjust the ride, steering and suspension to suit different needs. 

Boot space 

There’s 460 litres of boot space in the Countryman Electric – 30 litres down on the BMW iX2 on which it’s based, but still plenty for family life. 

You also get a small storage space underneath the boot floor, which is useful for charging cables. There’s no front boot (or ‘froot’) in this car either though, which is a miss. 

Rear seats 

Rear seat space is really good in the MINI Countryman Electric, with enough space for two adults to fit comfortably on a longer motorway drive. Three adults could sit together, but it would be a tight squeeze. 

And there’s a pair of USB-C ports to keep devices charged on these longer drives. 

The rear seats, if you need the added boot space, fold down in a handy 40:20:40 split. That makes it it’s easy to slide longer items through the centre of the car while still being able to use the two outer seats. 

Storage solutions 

All round storage is very practical, with deep door pockets at the front, a sizeable glovebox and a small storage box between the driver and passenger for wallets, keys, etc. 

In the back, it’s a similar story, with decent-sized door bins and a foldable armrest from the middle seat. 

Safety 

MINI being owned by BMW means the days of dinky hatchbacks is over, creating more interior space and increasing safety levels to an all-time high. 

The latest MINI Countryman hasn’t been independently tested by Euro NCAP yet, but we imagine it'll do well, with the previous model scoring a full five stars in 2017. 

As well as this, the new car gets a range of onboard safety features including lane-keep assist and cruise control.

Range and charging times 

The 66.5kWh battery means the Countryman E gets 286 miles of range, while the heavier but more powerful Countryman SE ALL4 can travel 266 miles on a single charge. 

In our testing, we found this to be close enough, and a real-world range with mixed driving should comfortably get you 200 miles on a charge. 

Then, when you do need to top up the battery, you can charge at a rate up to 130kW, charging the car from 10-80% in 29 minutes, according to MINI. 

Rivals from Tesla and Volvo do offer faster charging up to 200kW, so the Mini lacks a little in this area. But if you’re smart with charging, you won’t need to do too many fast charges anyway. 

Reliability 

The petrol Countryman was one of MINI’s most reliable cars, borrowing many of its underpinnings from the BMW X1 and using a find-tuned formula for a solid small SUV. 

We expect this electric Countryman to be even more reliable since it’s a generation on and it’s fully electric, which means there are fewer moving parts than in an engine that could, in theory, go wrong. 

Every new Countryman Electric gets a three-year/unlimited-mileage warranty that can be passed onto used car buyers too. Plus, MINI offers an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty for the battery pack for added peace of mind.