MINI Countryman PHEV 2019 Review

The rebirth of MINI under BMW has definitely caused plenty of us to wonder how far the concept can be stretched.

The Countryman SUV is the ultimate example of that quandary. It’s one and a half times as long as the original and three times as heavy.

And now in this plug-in hybrid version it costs almost $60,000 before on-road costs … a MINI!

Oh yeah, one more thing. This MINI can be rear-wheel drive.

How so? Well the Countryman Plug-in Hybrid, as it is officially known, derives momentum from a rather complex petrol-electric hybrid all-wheel drive system

The front wheels are driven by a 1.5-litre turbocharged triple cylinder engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The rear axle gets its motivation from an electric motor via two-stage single-speed transmission.

So the Countryman PHEV can be front-wheel drive if only the petrol engine is working, all-wheel drive when the electric motor chimes in and rear-wheel drive when the petrol engine chimes out.

And the latter scenario can happen quite a bit. It’s not obvious, you don’t suddenly start slewing from side to side and pulling big drifts.

But you can verify you’re in rear-wheel drive in a MINI on the big circular screen in the dash … then the graphic representation of your Countryman will have red (for petrol) and green (for electricity) wheels turning together and solo and red and green arrows blinking away, signifying when drive or regeneration (in the case of the electric motor) is happening.

It’s quite the show.

The practical effect is snappy acceleration when both drivetrains combine to produce 165kW and 385Nm. The 0-100km/h claim is 6.9sec ... could be. It’s definitely not that quick when the electric motor depletes and the engine is left to its own devices, or 100kW and 220Nm.

Then there’s some noticeable lag from standstill and not quite the rush through the midrange. The upside is pushing the engine harder produces a cheeky and likable growl typical of triples.

We seem to have got ahead of ourselves here a bit, but the fact is the powertrain is the fascinating bit of this car.

So we’ll talk about it a bit more. The hybrid synchronous motor is fed by a 7.6kWh lithium-ion battery. The claimed maximum range for the Countryman is ‘supposedly’ 40km, although that is due to rise to 47km soon courtesy of a bigger battery.

‘Supposedly’ is inserted there because even with more than 95 per cent of battery charge onboard, our Countryman never claimed to have more than 22km of electric range.

But it does regen a fair bit. In one inner city stop-start run we went eight km in pure EV mode and lost five km of electric range.

So the message is really covet that electricity. If you’re barrelling along a freeway, toggle into Save mode and the Countryman will run on petrol power and recharge the battery.

Get off the highway into city rat runs and flick to Max eDrive to go electric, save fuel and emit less poisons.

If it’s all too complicated for you then toggle Auto eDrive and the MINI’s sophisticated software will pick and choose what power sources to use when until the battery runs out.

According to the Green Vehicle Guide, the Countryman PHEV averages 2.5L/100km of petrol and 13.8kWh/100km of electrical consumption.

We were averaging 7.5L/100km and 1.9kWh/100km which tells you there was plenty of fossil fuels being burned versus electrons.

OK, so final bit on the drivetrain, recharging. MINI claims three hours 15 minutes from a normal wall socket or two hours 15 minutes via a wallbox. So you don’t get much range but the battery can also be filled overnight. It uses a Type 2 plug.

The Countryman cannot be DC fast-charged.

The rest of the drive experience is recognisably MINI. It steers very directly, points in on the nose enthusiastically and tracks reliably in corners with a hint of understeer when pushed.

Understandably, it just does all that with a little less litheness than a standard MINI. You can sharpen the throttle and weight the steering in sport mode, but not sure if there is much reason to.

We’ve already made the point the Countryman PHEV it’s big by MINI standards at 4299mm long, 1822mm wide and 1559mm high. It’s also heavy at 1660kg dry.

That weight impacts on ride. At high speeds or low, in the city or the country, on rough or relatively smooth roads, the Countryman doesn’t do a particularly good job of smothering out imperfections.

Rolling on 18-inch Bridgestone Turanza run-flats probably doesn’t help in this regard.

By the way, we did drive the Countryman on some dirt roads and it was just fine.

Being a big MINI doesn’t mean this is a big car. Rear-seat passengers have a tight fit for leg room, although headroom is fine. The boot size is 405 litres before the split-fold is collapsed. it then grows to 1275 litres.

That’s all fine considering the space-munching battery and motor, but there’s no spare tyre under the boot floor either. OK. It’s an SUV in name only, but someone will get a a puncture in one of these things in the middle of nowhere one day…

Up-front the seats are small yet very supportive, the gear lever falls easily to hand. Manual shifting is achieved by knocking the lever left and then pushing forward for a downchange and back to go up. It will up change for you in manual even if you do want to be a lunatic and bang away on the rev-limiter. Bad luck.

Circles are a big deal in here. There’s a circular instrument panel mounted on the steering column that dispenses with a tacho for a basically useless power meter. There’s circular surround for the door latches and the gear lever and even the cupholders are circular…

The ring around the large circular screen changes colour depending on something. Maybe the position of the Moon, who knows. Having said that, I’m sure an outraged of well-to-do will write in and inform us all and deliver some insults along the way. Thanks in advance.

Anyway, get past the colour ring and anyone with fat fingers will have a heck of a job actually using the touchscreen for anything other than leaving smudges. Far better to use the dial on the centre console and handy back button to drill down into the menus.

The driver’s seat and the steering column of the Countryman PHEV are both manually adjustable. That’s no problem except this car is $57,200 plus on-road costs. Rip out the hybrid system and a Countryman front-drive triple will cost you $41,990.

Heck you can get an all-wheel drive Toyota RAV4 hybrid fork $38,140. Or go the whole hog and get a $60,000 Kona Electric.

So presumably it’s the super-expensive powertrain that lengthens the Countryman PHEV’s price and keeps its equipment list under control.

Safety equipment includes six airbags, adaptive cruise control with stop and go traffic function, low speed autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, front and rear parking sensors, a speed limit information system and LED headlights.

MINI logo projections are standard, as is a powered tailgate, adaptive interior LED mood lighting, dual-zone climate control, sat-nav, twin USB ports, Apple CarPlay, six-speaker stereo, wireless phone charging and a digital radio.

The Countryman PHEV is protected by a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, while service and selected maintenance costs can be covered by a single, one-off advance payment with MINI Service Inclusive.

It would be interesting to hear the rationale of anyone who buys this car. It’s expensive, it’s small – except when compared to other MINIs – and its battery range is rather limited.

Maybe the rear-wheel drive thing is a turn-on. Theoretically green and mean at the same time!

Whatever the rationale not too many people will adopt it. The Countryman Plug-in Hybrid is a big MINI in a tiny sales niche.

How much does a MINI Countryman Plug-in Hybrid cost?
Price: $57,200 plus on-road costs
Engine: 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol/electric motor
Output: 165kW/385Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 2.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 57g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A