Video: Testing the Electric MINI Countryman – Real-World Range & Charging

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Electric vehicles reveal their character not in daily commuting but on longer drives where planning, efficiency, and charging infrastructure all intersect. That is exactly why this trip mattered.

The route from Chicago to north of Milwaukee is deceptively simple. Flat highways. Consistent speeds. Familiar Midwest conditions. It is also the kind of drive many Countryman buyers will make regularly. Long enough to test range assumptions. Short enough to expose charging realities.

From the moment the wheels started turning, electric MINI Countryman felt at home on the highway. So much so that this is clearly the best highway car that MINI has ever made. Stability was excellent, road noise was low, and the power delivery made merging and passing effortless. With the weight down low and the battery pack providing excellent sound insulating qualities, the ride and the comfort were far better than even the new petrol Countryman.

Range consumption told an honest story. At highway speeds, efficiency naturally dropped compared to EPA estimates. But it did so predictably. There were no surprises, no sudden cliff edges. The car simply settled into a rhythm and delivered consistent feedback on what it was using and what remained. Using the built-in navigation (recommended for the electric Countryman SE), the car constantly kept me aware of my total range and how my driving style was affecting it.

Charging was equally revealing. Not in showing limitations of the Countryman but of the charging network itself. The moment you venture off the highway and into rural America, finding a working fast charger will likely take you far out of your way. So much so that I never did. Well accept for the one that was offline.

Luckily a slow charger proved to be good enough for the day and I was able to make the 220 mile round trip with a few miles left. But the Countryman did a lot to help with that touch of range anxiety. With the navigation on, it was very clear what range I had how it would affect my trip. So much as that at one point the Countryman (with assisted driving plus on) decided to charge itself and proceeded to began exiting the highway and heading to a fast charger just off the exit. Clearly it didn’t know I had a charger at our destination – my garage.

This drive did not prove that EVs are perfect or that range never matters. What it did prove is that the electric MINI Countryman fits comfortably into real world use, even when conditions are less than ideal. Yes there are some mental hurdles to overcome. But nothing that a little planning can’t solve in most any situation.

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