As one of the giddiest experiences in modern mainstream auto design, the 2025 Mini Countryman SE All4 electric vehicle delivers an amusing mixture of over-the-top tech and spirited presence.

It’s a significant step up from the last electric Mini I drove, a long time ago, but, with a total EPA-rated range of only 212 miles from its 66.5 kilowatt-hour battery, you’ll again find it not exactly suited for power-draining mountain inclines or comfortable cruising to far-off Colorado destinations.

If you can live with the limited range and have the willpower to avoid using full bursts of its twin-motor-driven 308-horsepower — which seemed to instantly drop the range to about half of the total, during my very short drives — then maybe zany design and the added practicality of its no-longer-tiny SUV shape will float your boat.

The BMW-built Countryman is, however, a tariffs nightmare, with a quarter of its parts sourced from China and the whole thing put together in Leipzig, Germany. Its old-world base price was also a healthy $45,200, and appeared to me at just over $51,000, so I can’t imagine what they’re selling for nowadays. 

The alternative, if this itself is not the alternative, is the more traditional, gasoline-powered version, the new Countryman S, which features a 241-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo, with a dual-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission — and much of the same razzmatazz both inside and out. It starts at about $40,000. 

Let’s concentrate on the EV rendition, for the moment. It rather precariously balances oddities such as a circular OLED central video touchscreen, light-up fabric-covered door and dash panels and a fabric jewelry box in the center console, with an overall shape that’s curiously now rendered in an almost traditional, 175-inch-long SUV design.

There’s either a two-tone color scheme, with a blacked-out roof and window frames and contrast color body, or a more traditional, blended color scheme. Both are accentuated with bright LED headlamps and metallic trim around the grille, plus bright wheels and floor-level trim. 

That 9.4-inch screen is truly the strangest one in the car industry, in both good and bad ways. There’s so much start-up entertainment and full thematic video content that you might wonder why a car is even attached, which perhaps explains why it’s also set up to allow video games to be played while the Countryman is parked.

An overwhelming eight drive modes and themes modify both the content and the way the vehicle handles – you need to work through them to find two available regeneration modes, as the one-pedal driving system of other EVs is not immediately accessible here.

Physical controls beneath include slightly silly tabs for gear control and a mysterious fake ignition key, all of which are again as practical as the vinyl-fabric strap on the steering wheel. It’s that kind of car.

Settle into Countryman’s hyper-colorful seating, take a chance on the most unbridled setting, the GoKart mode, and the car will blast off with 364 lb-ft of torque and the added grip of full-time all-wheel drive.

The 2025 Countryman seems maybe the most removed from ancient Mini DNA the brand has ever been, but it’s fun to drive and despite being much heftier than the gasoline version, the power is plentiful. If you drop the rear seats, it’ll take a healthy 51 cubic feet of cargo, while behind-the-seat room is only 16 cubic feet – both considerably smaller than the internal combustion variant.  

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.