- mini has released information on the new capability of its plug-in-hybrid countryman prior to its debut at the frankfurt auto show next week.
- the mini cooper s e countryman all4 phev's range is now 35 miles on electricity alone, which is a 30 percent improvement over the previous model.
- we told you some details in june about the mini cooper s e electric model; it will also be at the show and goes into production later this year in the u.k.
it'll be impossible to tell from just looking at it, but the mini cooper s e countryman all4 plug-in hybrid that'll be sitting on stage at the frankfurt auto show will be sporting some cool new battery tech. mini says the new phev uses the "very latest battery cell technology" and now has an electric range of up to 35 miles, 30 percent more than the first edition.
the range number comes from the new new european driving cycle (nedc) test, which is more lenient than the epa test used in the u.s., but even taking that into consideration, it seems like bmw and mini have done some impressive engineering here. the first version of the s e countryman all4 could only go up to 13 miles on the epa's test cycle, yet the new version's battery capacity has only been increased from 7.7 to 10.0 kwh. the engineers have stuffed 2.3 kwh worth of capacity (around 30 percent) into a pack that's the same size and shape as the previous one, allowing the phev to get its 30 percent range increase without any added compromise. well, perhaps on the price, but we'll have to see what mini says about that down the road to know for sure.
the mini cooper s e countryman all4 produces a total of 224 horsepower that runs through a hybrid-specific all-wheel-drive system that can go from zero to 62 miles per hour in 6.8 seconds, according to mini's claims. mini also says that the new pack recharges in around five hours from a standard european domestic socket, and in three hours and 15 minutes from a level 2 charger.
the longer electric range makes the s e countryman all4 less of a "whybrid." but if a torquey, zero-emission mini is what you're after, then take a look at the other electrified mini that'll be on hand in frankfurt. mini is promising "a stand focused squarely on electric mobility" at the show and is bringing along the new all-electric mini cooper s e that it unveiled this summer. this ev uses a 135-kw motor that produces 181 hp to do the zero-to-62 run in a claimed 7.3 seconds and has an overall range of up to 168 miles. that's a solid improvement over one of the og evs, the mini e, which mini tested around the world a decade ago. those all-electric models couldn't quite reach 100 miles on a charge, but they were popular with real-world test drivers nonetheless.
mini will finally launch the cooper s e, its first ever all-electric production model, next year, with production expected to start at the u.k.'s mini plant oxford in november 2019.