2024 MINI Countryman revealed

At more than 1.6 tonnes, the tagline ‘More MINI than ever’ is frighteningly accurate, as the German-owned British small-car company launches its biggest model ever, the third-generation 2024 MINI Countryman with both electric and combustion power.

Due to arrive in Australia in the first quarter of next year with only entry-level petrol and diesel engines, the new MINI Countryman will be joined by two all-electric variants and a John Cooper Works (JCW) All4 flagship six months later.

While MINI has announced it is going all-electric by 2030, it still believes it needs combustion power for the Countryman SUV in this generation, which will cycle out of production by the time the car-maker’s self-imposed EV deadline rolls around.

The front-drive petrol (Countryman C) and diesel (Countryman D) versions arrive earliest, while the petrol-powered JCW and the Countryman E and Countryman SE All4 EVs will follow in the third quarter of 2024.

The larger new electric SUVs are more powerful than their three-door hatch cousins, starting with the 150kW/250Nm electric powertrain in the Countryman E and rising to the 230kW/494Nm twin-motor set-up in the Countryman SE All4, both of which are inked in for Australia.

The hotter of the two models will punch to 100km/h in 5.6 seconds and reach a WLTP range of 433km, while the Countryman E eases to 100km/h in a more leisurely 8.6sec but ekes out 29km more range.

MINI has been coy about the exact powertrain beneath the two electric Countryman variants, but says they can swallow enough charge for 120km of range in 10 minutes. The battery is likely to be similar to the 67.4kWh lithium-ion unit in the BMW iX1, with which it shares its UKL2 underbody architecture.

MINI has admitted to adding 12cm more length (taking it out to around 4.43 metres long) and 6cm in height (moving to around 1.62 metres high), and the extra space is given over largely to the rear seats. While it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s likely to sit on the same 2692mm wheelbase as the BMW iX1.

Like the hatch, the new MINI Countryman has had its design cleaned up, inside and out, and eschews leather in favour of recycled plastics, recycled ocean plastics and recycled ‘aluMINIum’.

MINI says the new Countryman is all about “fewer but better things, with tactile lovable design pieces and a lot more space and simplicity”, with recycled polyester straps on the dash that look like pull handles or securing straps, but are actually fixed to the dash.

The new SUV also receives MINI’s new round OLED display, a range of interior lighting and mood-changing displays and the same lack of an instrument cluster ahead of the driver, virtually mandating the option of the head-up display.

For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales' Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au