There's an old motorhead saying: Speed is just a question of money. How fast do you want to go?
That's been updated for our time: How far do you want to go ... on the batteries? And how much are you willing to spend to save on gas?
The Mini Cooper Countryman plug-in hybrid has answers to both of those questions.
What It Is
The Countryman is Mini's least mini model. It's a five-door hatchback that seats five adults — and their stuff.
It has 17.2 cubic feet of space for cargo behind its back seats and 47.4 cubic feet with them folded down.
The plug-in hybrid has some other things, too, including the capability to go about 12 miles on battery power alone.
If your drive is within that radius of action, you could save a bunch on gas by not burning it.
But fuel efficiency costs money, too.
The Countryman Plug-in hybrid lists for $36,900, which is about $10k more than the price of the base (non-hybrid) Countryman ($26,900). It's hard to make the economic case for that. So Mini makes a performance case on top of that.
What's New
The Countryman hybrid is now available in Classic, Signature and Iconic trims, the last of which bundles a power liftgate, upgraded 8.8-inch centrally mounted touch screen and a 12-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system.
What's Good
Personality. And practicality.
It has electric vehicle (EV) capability without the EV wait.
There's no loss of cargo capacity to get EV capability.
What's Not So Good
It has a modest EV-only range.
It has a modest internal combustion engine (ICE) range, too.
Under the Hood
The Mini has the right idea, arguably.
Even though the price of gas has gone up recently, it is still much too low for any plug-in hybrid to make sense on purely economic grounds. The money you spend on the hybrid is hard to make back at the pump.
Thus, Mini offers power as its form of compensation.
The hybrid Countryman pairs the regular Countryman's 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine with 134 horsepower with a 7.6 kilowatt-hour battery/motor for a combined output of 221 horsepower and 284 foot-pounds of torque.
What you end up with is a vehicle that is capable of burning rubber without burning gas — for about 12 miles, at least. After that, the 1.5-liter ICE kicks back on for primary propulsion, as in a conventional hybrid.
But there's also a downside, and it has absolutely nothing to do with money.
The hybrid Countryman has a very mini gas tank, just 9.5 gallons versus 16.1 in the non-hybrid version. This means your range on gas is not very far either.
On the Road
The appeal of EVs — other than the grounds of gas not burning — is the immediately forceful thrust of electric motors, acceleration that is instantaneous. Touch the pedal and it goes . Also appealing is the silent running of electric motors.
You'll enjoy both those things in the Countryman hybrid, just not for very long. Or rather, not for very far.
Most full-time EVs can go 100 to 150 or so miles before they need to be plugged in for a recharge. The part-time EV Countryman can go about 12 miles on a full charge.
This is the functional price you pay for the convenience of not having to plug in, as you would a longer-legged full-time EV.
But you can refuel the Mini in minutes — whereas a full-time EV takes at least 30 to 45 minutes to recharge — and then recharge the batteries when you have time.
At the Curb
The Countryman is similar to the Mini Clubman, which is also a wagon, and both have almost exactly the same cargo capacity specifications.
But there's one big difference: back-seat legroom.
The Countryman's got 37.6 inches versus the Clubman's 34.3 inches. It's the difference between a family car and an in-a-pinch car. The Countryman comfortably carries five people, plus a bunch of stuff. The Clubman can comfortably carry two adults — upfront, the driver and front-seat passenger — and two or three more adults who can handle it. Or kids.
Interestingly, the Countryman and Clubman are almost the same size overall — or rather, almost the same length: 169.8 inches for the former and 168.3 inches for the latter.
There's another difference, too: more rear shoulder room in the Countryman's second row. It has 54 inches versus 52.8 in the Clubman. It also sits much lower, at 56.7 inches tall versus 61.3 inches for the Countryman.
And there's a final difference: Mini doesn't offer a plug-in hybrid version of the Clubman.
The Rest
One of the neat things about Minis generally — not just the Countyman — is the almost-infinite array of individually available factory/over-the-counter trim bits and pieces you can choose from to make your Countryman uniquely yours.
The Bottom Line
Spending the extra money on a plug-in hybrid when gas is relatively cheap doesn't make a lot of economic sense, but that's not the only reason to consider this one.
Eric's new book, "Don't Get Taken for a Ride!" is available now. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
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