MINI Countryman hybrid range, MPG, CO2 & charging

The MINI Countryman hybrid's official pure-electric range of 29 to 32 miles on a charge is about equivalent to that of rivals such as the Kia Niro PHEV and Hyundai Ioniq Plug-In. We also believe MINI’s numbers are achievable, based on our test car’s trip computer indicating 28 miles of electric range at 92% battery charge. 

MINI Countryman hybrid range, MPG and CO2 emissions

According to official tests, the Countryman will cover an electric range of just over 30 miles from a full charge. Our drive confirmed achieving that is not an issue – with a gentle approach to the throttle and a mainly urban commute, you could feasibly go about your daily duties and not use a drop of petrol. It’s about as much range as many of the plug-in Countryman’s rivals offer.

It's best to calculate your costs by first figuring out how much mileage you can cover easily within the MINI's maximum pure-electric range. Then assume a real-world fuel economy of around 35mpg for any mileage you'll be doing after that, which is what our colleagues at Auto Express achieved when they lived with the pre-facelift Countryman PHEV for six months.

It could also be a frustration that the MINI has a small 36-litre fuel tank, which will see you visiting the petrol station regularly on long trips. As with any plug-in hybrid, if you do a lot of short journeys and can charge regularly, you can enjoy virtually fuel-free motoring. If you do a lot of long journeys then an efficient diesel or petrol car could well prove cheaper to buy and run than a PHEV.

Charge time

The Countryman is supplied with a Type 2 cable for public chargers and a three-pin cable for plugging into a normal domestic wall socket. Recharging the 8.8kWh battery should take less than four hours if you use a three-pin plug, but top the car up from a home wallbox and that figure reduces to two-and-a-half hours.

The MINI's charging speed is capped to protect battery life, so there's no rapid charging possible, regardless of how fast the charger you plug into is. The charging port in the MINI is on the car's passenger-side front wing, which is easy enough to access, but can be a bit of a pain if you can't park parallel to the charger.