The 2025 Mini Countryman SE: Whimsy doesn’t make up for annoying

For its third incarnation, the Mini Countryman now comes in an all-electric variant. The Countryman is Mini's take on the family car, a compact crossover with bold design both inside and out. At a time when far too many automakers are supersizing their vehicles, Mini's offerings are still right-sized, even if the Countryman is a bit bigger than the model it replaces. But at times, you might be left feeling that style took preference over substance.

The previous Countryman was available with the brand's only plug-in hybrid powertrain, but Mini now only offers the Countryman with either an internal combustion engine or as a full battery electric vehicle. Consequently, the Countryman SE is a fair bit more expensive now, starting at $45,200 before any tariffs are taken into account.

Much of that money has gone to more lithium-ion—66.5 kWh in total (64.7 kWh useable), coupled to a pair of electric motors with a combined output of 308 hp (230 kW) and 364 lb-ft (494 Nm). That's sufficient for an EPA range estimate of 212 miles (341 km), although that might be a little on the conservative side. Based on the past few hundred miles, the test car we spent a week with averaged 3.4 miles/kWh (18.3 miles/kWh), which should allow for 220 miles (354 km) on a single charge, at least in good weather.

Mini quotes a 30-minute time to fast-charge the battery from 10 to 80 percent at a peak of 130 kW. In practice, we weren't able to get close to that. The first DC charger I plugged into, at just 16 percent state of charge, wouldn't deliver more than 55 kW. Swapping to a different charger, the rate increased to a peak of 67 kW, but it still took over 45 minutes to reach 80 percent SoC. A level 2 AC charge at 9.6 kW should completely charge the battery in eight hours, Mini says.

It’s a look

Ever since its 21st-century rebirth, Mini has brought a sense of whimsy to its designs, particularly the interior styling. Gone are most of the toggle switches (and the little safety protrusions that accompanied them) on the dashboard, with the exception of one for changing between drive, reverse, and neutral, plus another to switch between drive modes. A third knob is the Countryman's twist-to-start control.

Pretty much everything else is shuffled off to the infotainment system, a single circular touchscreen that lives in the middle of the dash. (A small heads-up display in front of the driver also shows critical information like speed while on the go.)

There are eight different drive modes, each with its own UI for the screen: Core, Go-Kart, Green, Vivid, Timeless, Balance, Personal, and Trail. Unfortunately, the lag when toggling between modes has persisted from the preproduction Countryman we sampled last year to the production car we tested last month, despite several software updates since then. It's as if the infotainment system has an underpowered processor or not enough memory to do the things it wants to do without making you wait.

This is the speedometer in Go-Kart.

Jonathan Gitlin

This is the speedometer in Go-Kart. Jonathan Gitlin

Perhaps you'd prefer to see more information?

Jonathan Gitlin

Perhaps you'd prefer to see more information? Jonathan Gitlin

I have seen this implementation of CarPlay unflatteringly compared to one of those Coca-Cola soda fountains that lets you choose from a whole bunch of different sodas.

Jonathan Gitlin

I have seen this implementation of CarPlay unflatteringly compared to one of those Coca-Cola soda fountains that lets you choose from a whole bunch of different sodas. Jonathan Gitlin

Perhaps you'd prefer to see more information? Jonathan Gitlin

I have seen this implementation of CarPlay unflatteringly compared to one of those Coca-Cola soda fountains that lets you choose from a whole bunch of different sodas. Jonathan Gitlin

Ivory dials for Timeless.

Jonathan Gitlin

Apple Maps looks like this when you use it.

Jonathan Gitlin

Green will get you a few miles further down the road.

Jonathan Gitlin

I think this was Balanced. Meanwhile, 4.2 miles/kWh is pretty good.

Jonathan Gitlin

The driving assist screen.

Jonathan Gitlin

Or you can have a giant clock.

Jonathan Gitlin

Green is the eco mode, which changes the throttle map and turns down the climate control to eke out a few more miles of range. I'm not sure I detected a huge amount of difference in the driving behavior between Mid, Core, Vivid, Timeless, or Balance, but I did like the cream-colored retro dials in Timeless, which call back to the original Minis of the sixties.

You may be unsurprised to learn that I liked Go-Kart—even the very Mario-like "yahoo" that plays as you switch to this mode. It suits the Countryman's peppy power delivery and very quick steering, which is surprisingly direct, even for a small car. Sadly, the steering is devoid of feel, but there is a lot of grip from the high-profile 18-inch tires. You might want to turn the radio up at speed; wind noise is very noticeable at above 60 mph (97 km/h).