Is it any good?

We think the MINI Countryman Electric is rather good, yes. The build quality seems strong, the materials and cabin design are innovative without being unnecessarily indulgent, there’s plenty of space even compared with conventional family SUVs, and the performance from the SE ALL4 version is punchy without being unmanageable.

MINI’s well-established fun-to-drive ethos shines through, giving that performance a depth of quality some rivals will struggle to live up to. Electric vehicles are so easily able to be powerful that we’re increasingly finding top spec models difficult to recommend because it doesn’t feel like the chassis has been matched to the motors’ potential – not so here.

The Countryman SE ALL4 is fast but highly capable. The driving range is competitive, charging speeds promise to be good (we need to test this in the UK), and this electric version is more comfortable than the similarly powerful Countryman JCW petrol model. Shame about the lack of physical air-conditioning controls, but we think the electric Countryman does enough other things right to compensate for this mild annoyance.