MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 – the plug-in hybrid MINI – costs from £31,585

The MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 – MINI’s first plug-on hybrid – goes on sale in the UK priced from £31,585 and official economy of 134.5mpg.

The 2017 MINI Countryman arrived in October as an even bigger MINI and hoping to take on the small premium SUV market with its own brand of quirkiness.

That was followed at the start of this year with the range-topping MINI Countryman JCW, which upped the power to an impressive 228bhp and made the Countryman much more lively.

But now we get prices for the latest version of the Countryman, and if you ignore the rather heavy price – £31,585 – you can have as much power as the JCW in a much more economical and understated (if there is such a Countryman) MINI – the new MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4.

The MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 is MINI’s first plug-in hybrid (the BMW 225xe under the skin) comes with a three-cylinder petrol engine running the front wheels and an 88bhp electric motor on the back axle for a combined 221bhp, 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds and official economy of 134mpg.

Of course, you’ll never come close to the official economy, but you should get 50mpg if you never plug it in, and if you do you’ll get an official EV range of 25 miles (probably 12014 miles in the real world) from a 3.25 hour charge at home of the 7.6kWh which lurks under the back seats.

In the real world, you are probably going to have to charge the car often, as adding the batteries has seen the MINI’s fuel tanks shrink to just 7.5 gallons. But at least you’ll get low BIK rates thanks to the official 49g/km CO2.

The hybrid MINI comes with a decent spec including Sat Nav, Bluetooth, Cruise and Active Guard, a six-speed auto and MINI Driving modes.

Distinguishing features include the ‘E’ on the grille and side scuttles, a yellow ‘S’ on the door scuttles, 17″ Light Spoke alloys, hybrid-specific instrument displays and eDRIVE toggle switch.

The MINI Cooper S E Countryman ALL4 is available to order now at MINI’s UK dealers, costing from £31,585 (less taxpayer bribe) with an official UK launch on 24 June 2017.