An In-Depth Look At the U25 2025 MINI Countryman Electric (New Photos)

[DimON]

MINI is gearing up to replace its best selling model next year making it larger, more comfortable, more modern and electric. The 2025 MINI Countryman is a global model but one designed with an eye towards the North American consumer – more than any MINI ever. While MINI is releasing both an ICE and electric models, today’s we’re going to focus on the first ever MINI Countryman Electric. What does electrification (much less the other changes) mean in terms of design, performance and utility? We spoke with our sources to give you the clearest picture yet.

As you can see in the photos throughout this article, MINI is in the very final stages of testing the Countryman making its last second tweaks to electronic settings and refinement. Some of this final testing was done in the Scottish Highlands and more specifically Lochearnhead Scotland.

The 2025 MINI Countryman SE not in Scotland but at a recent LA Photoshoot

The 2025 MINI Countryman Electric – A Bold Look

Stylistically the U25 MINI Countryman is a sharper, more bold design that has clearly grown in every dimension. But we knew about the size. What we see here for the first time is the muscular fenders and minimal front and rear styling. More upright with a few technical looking details, MINI has clearly tried to make the Countryman look for off-road worthy.

The front is more square and the new headlights are more dramatic in their angles. While these aren’t the optional dynamic headlights, the LED daytime running lights do a great job of showing off the new shape.

Overall, like the J01 Cooper, the U25 Countryman overall design is minimal and almost elegant while its details are purely functionally driven

The Countryman will once again be positioned as the largest product in the MINI range. It will also be the only platform offered by MINI with both ICE and electric power. Designed with plenty of input from the American market, it will deliver more space and utility to ever before. But can it still retain the hallmarks of the MINI brand? While we don’t yet have an answer, we have some details that give us a clue.

Improved Off-Road Ability?

Sources tell us that MINI will offer a package on Countryman with more aggressive off-road capable tires and a slightly raised suspension. While it won’t offer true off-road capability like a Land Rover or Bronco, it will have better grip and ground clearance for trails and even the ability ford small streams. For most that just means it’ll look more aggressive and capable when running to get morning coffee.

The 2025 U25 MINI Countryman Electric next to the 2025 J01 MINI Cooper Electric

How Big is the 2025 MINI Countryman Electric?

It’s bigger but not huge. While we can’t tell you yet about our experience seeing it in person at a preview in Munich, we can talk about the dimensions that MINI has previously given us.

According to MINI we’ll see some modest but noticeable increases in length on this new Countryman. Growing mostly behind the rear wheel wheels, we’ll see an additional five inches of length in total. The added length is designed to increase the rear cargo space putting it on par with other crossovers in the category. Note the wheelbase will not be changing over the F60 which could mean an even larger front over-hang.

	R60 Countryman (’10-’16)	F60 Countryman (’17-’23)	U25 Countryman (’24-’32)
Length	4097 mm / 161.3 in	4298 mm / 169.2 in	4429 mm / 174.37 in
Height	1562 mm / 61.5 in	1557 mm / 61.3 in	1613 mm / 63.5 in
Wheelbase	2596 mm / 102.2 in	2670 mm / 105.1 in	2670 mm / 105.11 in

How Much Will The 2025 MINI Countryman Electric Weight?

Added size means added weight right? Maybe not as much as you might think in the case of the ICE variant. However the electric version will undoubtedly be the heaviest MINI ever. To keep this weight down our sources are telling us that MINI will make use of advanced chassis design and plenty of new aluminum components to reduce the weight gain you might expect with the growth in detentions. We can get an idea of weight by looking at the new BMW X1 which has a 3,750 lbs curb weight. That’s only up 24 lbs over the previous generation despite being marginally larger and being offered with more standard equipment. Given this we’d expect the ICE generation Countryman All4 won’t be far off the current car’s 3,726 lbs curb weight (assuming equipment levels are similar). However due to the heavy battery pack, we’d expect the 2025 MINI Countryman Electric to be at least 500-600 lbs heavier. Assuming the BMW iX1 is a clue, we could see a final weight around 4,400 lbs.

The 2025 MINI Countryman Electric – Range, Performance and Charging Speed

MINI will launch two electric configurations simply named the E and SE. The E will have a single motor driving the front wheels while the SE will offer a two motor set-up driving all four wheels. But what

	Countryman E	Countryman SE*
WLTP Range – Europe	273 miles	261 miles
EPA Range – United States (estimated)	213 miles	204 miles

*The SE will be the only model imported to North America

One important note about range that is almost always missed by commenters on social media. The WLTP testing protocol produces, on average 22% higher mileage figures than EPA testing by. However in our experience, real world performance often lies somewhere in the middle, a bit closer to the EPA numbers. 

Another important point not factored into these numbers is BMW’s historically conservative published performance numbers. Given that the EPA figures are self reported by automakers, there is some flexibility in how they test and produce numbers. Third party tests have shown brands like BMW and Porsche are often under-reporting real-world range in order to accommodate for various conditions.

2025 MINI Countryman Charging Speed

Charging speed is as critical is not more so than range depending on your situation. And if we look at the identical electric BMW iX1 sold in Europe, we get an idea of what the Countryman electric should offer in terms of charging speed. The BMW iX1 supports DC fast-charging at up to 130 kW, which can charge from 10 percent to 80 percent in only 29 minutes. While we don’t have global data (much less US specific data), we do have European data on charging speeds which should give you an idea of what we’ll see with the 2025 MINI Countryman Electric.

Charging Point	Max. Power	Power	Time	Rate
Standard 11.0 kW On-Board Charger
Wall Plug (2.3 kW)	230V / 1x10A	2.3 kW	33h15m	11 km/h
1-phase 16A (3.7 kW)	230V / 1x16A	3.7 kW	20h45m	18 km/h
1-phase 32A (7.4 kW)	230V / 1x32A	7.4 kW	10h30m	35 km/h
3-phase 16A (11 kW)	400V / 3x16A	11 kW	7 hours	53 km/h
3-phase 32A (22 kW)	400V / 3x16A	11 kW †	7 hours	53 km/h
Optional 22.0kW On-Board Charger *
Wall Plug (2.3 kW)	230V / 1x10A	2.3 kW	33h15m	11 km/h
1-phase 16A (3.7 kW)	230V / 1x16A	3.7 kW	20h45m	18 km/h
1-phase 32A (7.4 kW)	230V / 1x32A	7.4 kW	10h30m	35 km/h
3-phase 16A (11 kW)	400V / 3x16A	11 kW	7 hours	53 km/h
3-phase 32A (22 kW)	400V / 3x32A	22 kW †	3h30m	100 km/h

* = Optional in some countries, standard in others. Check local specifications for details.
† = Limited by on-board charger, vehicle cannot charge faster.
Data provided by ev-database.org

2025 MINI Countryman Electric – Performance

	Countryman E	Countryman SE*
Horsepower	185 hp (140 KW)	264 hp (200 kW)
Battery Size	64 kWh	64 kWh

*US model.

Leveraging the same technical layout as the BMW iX1, the Countryman E single motor variant will produce 185 hp and be offered in FWD only. The WTLP rated range for the Countryman E will be 440 km or 273 miles. 

The Countryman SE will see an output of 264 hp via dual motors and AWD. The 64.7-kWh t-shaped battery pack in the SE will have a range of 440 km or 261 miles.

Will a 204 Miles Range Be Enough?

Will the range be enough for markets like North America? Looking at comparable models (there aren’t many) it would seem that it’s on the low side. But critically it’s not that far off from other models in its space.

	EPA Range	Starting MSRP
Volvo XC40 Recharge	223	$55,300
Tesla Model Y	279	$53,380
Kia EV6	310	$50,025
Polstar 2	270	$49,800
Nissan Ariya	304	$48,485
Subaru Soltara	228	$46,220
Mustang Mach E	315	$45,995
Hyundai Ionic 5	303	$45,295
Tesla Model 3	272	$44,380
Toyota bZ4X	252	$43,335
VW ID 4	204	$40,290
Kia Niro	253	$40,875
MINI Countryman SE	204	$39,000 (*estimated)
Volvo EX30	275	$36,145
Nissan Leaf S Plus	226	$36,040
Hyundai Kona Electric	258	$34,885
MINI Cooper SE (F56)	114	$30,895
Nissan Leaf	149	$29,135
Chevy Bolt EUV	247	$28,795
Chevy Bolt EV	259	$27,495

We’ve estimated the MSRP based on the historical pricing relationship between the Cooper and the Countryman. However don’t be surprised if that pricing relationship evolves in this new generation as MINI moves the Countryman up a category due to its size increase.

Of course range is only only key data point. There’s charging speed, overall efficiency and of course that ll important fun to drive data point. But that aside there’s no question the U25 electric Countryman SE will have range on the lower end of its market. Despite it bring not that far off of cars like the VW ID4 and the Nissan Leaf S Plus, will its EPA range of just over 200 miles be enough? What do you think? Does the design, performance and quality of the MINI Countryman make up for a range that’s marginally lower than some of the competitors?

The 2025 MINI Countryman Electric – Release Dates

MINI will debut the 2024 MINI Countryman (labeled a 2025 in the US) in the second half of 2023 with an all-out model onslaught. Based on our sources, this is what we expect to see in terms of production timing:

U25 / Leipzig, Germany	Start of Production
U25 ICE Countryman	11/2023
U25 ICE Countryman S	11/2023*
U25 ICE Countryman JCW	03/2023*
U25 BEV Countryman E	03/2024
U25 BEV Countryman SE	03/2024*
U25 BEV Countryman JCW	TBD*

*US market models

The post An In-Depth Look At the U25 2025 MINI Countryman Electric (New Photos) appeared first on MotoringFile.

View the full article