As we know, Mini is almost ready to reveal its first plug-in hybrid. Still, the company does not say much about it at this point. The only thing we know for sure is that the car will be based on the next-generation Countryman crossover. We have made this conclusion on the basis of a few press photos of a camouflaged prototype of the new gasoline-electric model.
The new Countryman will be based on the same front-wheel-drive platform as the BMW X1. So all signs indicate the Countryman will be using a hybrid setup similar to the China-only X1 xDrive25Le iPerformance hybrid and the Europe-market BMW 225xe, a plug-in-hybrid hatchback; all three ride on BMW’s UKL platform. The 225xe combines a 134-hp, 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder with a rear-mounted 87-hp electric motor to make for through-the-road all-wheel drive. A 7.6-kWh battery enables an all-electric driving range of about 25 miles, and total system output is 221 horsepower.
The Countryman is scheduled to arrive within the next few months, and the plug-in-hybrid version will almost surely be joined by conventional internal-combustion variants. A diesel variant was previously rumored for the United States, but the standard Mini Hardtop‘s three- and four-cylinder turbocharged engines are more likely bets for our version of the small crossover.
