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November 14, 2022
Motor Journalist Koji Ozawa on the Allure of the MINI CROSSOVER PHEV | MINI
Presented by MINIMINI CROSSOVER PHEV | MINI Crossover PHEV
Your Sustainable Companion for an Active Lifestyle
A design that blends MINI's heritage with smartness and ruggedness, five-seat practicality with a spacious luggage compartment, and the go-anywhere capability of the unique ALL4 four-wheel-drive system—these are the hallmarks of the MINI Crossover. Now, the MINI Crossover PHEV combines these features with the smooth ride and environmental performance unique to PHEVs. Motor journalist Koji Ozawa, a MINI enthusiast for the past few years, tested the special edition 'MINI Crossover Untamed Edition PHEV' to ascertain its true value.
Text by Koji Ozawa | Photographs by Ken Takayanagi
As Electrification Accelerates, What Should You Drive?
'Koji, I'm thinking about my next car. What do you recommend? With electrification, we don't know how much longer we can drive gasoline cars, and EVs are still a bit daunting, aren't they? The queues for charging sound like a nightmare.'
Lately, I've been getting this question more often than usual. What's more, the pace of future electrification might not be as rapid as predicted, making things even more unpredictable.
So, I've started saying this:
'In that case, a PHEV, a plug-in hybrid, is your only option. Simply put, it's a hybrid car with an enhanced battery that can be charged. When charged, it can run solely on electricity like an EV, and when the charge runs out, it can use gasoline and run on its engine. It's truly a half-and-half of EV and hybrid. It offers good fuel economy, can be used as an EV, and might just be the perfect choice for today.'
Among them, the PHEV variant of MINI's four-door model, the MINI Crossover, particularly interests me. Not only is its size comparable to the regular gasoline and diesel models, but it also features an 88 PS PHEV motor and a 10 kWh lithium-ion battery in the rear, enabling an electric-only range of approximately 53 km (WLTP cycle) on a full charge.
While its range is shorter compared to a BEV (pure EV), it can still run as a conventional 1.5-liter gasoline hybrid once the charge is depleted, with a respectable fuel economy of 14.8 km/L (WLTC mode). It truly offers the best of both worlds. Furthermore, I myself have owned a MINI for many years and am familiar with its appeal.
However, if I'm going to recommend it, I must test it myself as a professional. Therefore, this time, I decided to take the "MINI Crossover PHEV" limited model, the "MINI Crossover Untamed Edition PHEV," on a long-distance drive.