Revealed: the brand-new Mini Countryman

The MkII all-new Mini Countryman gets its public launch at the Los Angeles Motor Show next month. Presumably because Angelenos are so deeply into their alt-propulsion vehicles, the first version is a plug-in hybrid. It goes by the name of Mini Cooper S E Countryman All4.

Decoding those suffixes, you get a good idea what it's all about. Cooper S because it's got plenty of power: a total of 224bhp when the petrol engine and the e-motor are harnessed together. And the E bit shows it's a plug-in hybrid. And the All4 is because – some of the time at least – you get AWD.

As to the Countryman bodystyle, are we alone in observing it wears its bigness better than the the outgoing one? A pair of a creases above the front and rear wheels give it a crisp muscle.

Like the Clubman, the Countryman now sits on the BMW group UKL2 platform, which means a growth in width, as well as loadsa tech and connectivity.

The propulsion, like the platform, is shared with the BMW 225xe. That means a three-cylinder 136bhp petrol Mini Cooper engine up front with a six-speed autobox. The rear wheels get the 88bhp single-gear electric motor.

The Mini is supposed to get a better all electric range than the 225xe, at 25 miles until the 7.6kWh battery is depleted. Assuming you drive like you're utterly terrified of the throttle pedal. It will actually go all-electric up to nearly 80mph, but that won't help the range any.

The battery is under the back seat, and so's the fuel tank, but it crunches the tank down to just 35 litres, so the long-journey range won't be great.

Still, in a Countryman crossover, the case for AWD is a bit stouter than with the BMW people-mover.

And performance is worthy of the Cooper S badge: 0-62 takes 6.9 seconds, they claim. But since the electric power trails off at high speed, expect the fast-lane acceleration to be rather more flaccid.

Of course the new Countryman will also come in conventional flavours with the usual range of Mini petrol and diesel engines and normal propshaft 4WD.