Mini Aceman review: An all-electric fusion of fun

I’ve long been a fan of the Mini. It’s a great car that has maintained a sense of fun, it’s enjoyable to drive with that “gokart” feel to it and it always feels a little more sporty than it actually is. The Mini Cooper (as it now is) taps into the small car vibe, where it feels as though you’re actually driving it, rather than being driven by it.

The Mini range has expanded and contracted over the years, now settling on three models: the Mini Cooper is small and fun, the Mini Countryman is more of an SUV and the Aceman – the new addition – slots right into the middle. It’s the best of the Cooper and the best of the Countryman – or is it?

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The Disconnekt Downlow

The Mini Acemen slots into the centre of Mini’s range as an electric-only option. It’s only a little larger than the Cooper, but adopts some of the styling of the Countryman. The big design advantage is the rear doors, but the back seats are a little small. There’s no shortage of character, with a modern interior dominated by the big central display. It’s fun but can be a little fiddly and there’s no driver display unless you go for the optional HUD. The Aceman is easy and fun to drive – it’s a fun car – but there’s no avoiding that you can get larger models with longer ranges for similar money.

See the Mini Aceman from £31,920 on Mini.co.uk

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Mini Aceman fun stuff: Design, interior and technology

The Mini Aceman sits in the middle of the Mini family. It’s unique, because it’s electric only, while the other models offer both electric and combustion. While the Cooper is all about those compact dimensions, the Aceman swells slightly, without being as big as the Countryman. In the process it adopts a lot of Countryman design, so at first glance it feels a little more like a compact Countryman than it does an inflated Cooper.

That gives the Aceman a fairly solid profile. It doesn’t get those round headlights of the Cooper so it misses out on some of the cutsy looks, being slightly bolder in appearance. It also has rear doors, which the Mini Cooper Electric lacks (the 5-Door Cooper is only available as a combustion model), so it fills a small gap in the electric range, making it the obvious choice for a family that wants easier access to the rear bench.

And I don’t say small by mistake: one thing that you don’t get from the Countryman is much knee space in the back seats. Although the Aceman is larger than the Cooper, it’s not much larger, and taller passengers in the rear will feel that. To get a sense of the sizes of the three Mini models, here’s a quick comparison:

	Length	Width	Height
Cooper	3858	1967	1416
Aceman	4079	1991	1514
Countryman	4445	2069	1635

The Aceman gets a 300 litre boot (compared to 211 litres in the Cooper, 460 litres in the Countryman), so you can see how these cars scale up, little by little. And it could be that it’s too small a change, considering you’ll get more space from the Kia EV3.

Where the Mini Aceman feels more spacious is in the front. For the driver, you’re treated to an interior that fits the rest of the family, using reclaimed materials with that knitted finish on the dash and various straps in places to add interest. Most of the attraction, however is in the circular OLED display and the cute toggle switches beneath it.

This is backed up with projectors to change the ambient lighting – which gives this car character – but it’s very much a rinse and repeat of Mini’s other models. That’s no bad thing, the Mini interior is now very modern, but the lack of a driver display might push you towards the options list, with the Level 1 pack bringing with it the heads-up display and some other creature comforts, for a £2,000 price.

The circular OLED display is your sole source of information, keeping the driving details (like speed) towards the top and putting the climate controls in the bottom corners, so driver or passenger can change their settings respectively. Major functions are faily easy to get to, but dive into the menus and it’s a little fiddly to fish out what you might be looking for. Connect your iPhone or Android and you’ll get that mirrored experience sitting in the middle of this display rather than taking over the whole thing.

Part of Mini’s vibe these days is its Experiences. These are sort of like driving modes, although they are more geared towards changing the display visuals. They get their own toggle on the dash, which gives them quite a high billing considering how few other physical switches there are. I’ve got to say beyond looking at them, I’ve never really felt the need to switch to a mode that makes everything look entirely different.

As usual, there’s a full range of customisation options, with Mini offering three “Styles”: Classic, Exclusive and Sport, which gives access to some of the options. Then the Packs expand the features and this is where you’d get things like folding mirrors, LED headlights and a whole lot more.

Mini Aceman essentials: Range, performance and handling

The Mini Aceman hangs onto one of the things that Mini is known for and that’s the sporty drive. As soon as I got behind the wheel it felt familiar, although this car isn’t especially nippy. It feels larger than the Cooper (which it is), but doesn’t quite have the road dominance that the Countryman offers with its higher ride.

There are three versions of the Mini Aceman – the Aceman E, the Aceman SE and the Aceman JCW. The biggest differentiator is battery capacity, with the Aceman E getting a 42.5kWh (gross) battery and the Aceman SE and JCW getting 54.2kWh (gross). The Aceman E feels a little slow off the line with a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds, while the SE improves that to 7.1 seconds. The JCW comes in a 6.4 seconds, which is a little more pacey.

With the aim of delivering a sporty feel, the ride is towards the firm side, designed to keep you engaged and that does give the Aceman something of a planted feeling, although this car has been engineered for easy driving, with light steering. In reality, I don’t mind the ride too much, but it suits the character of the smaller Cooper better than it does the Aceman.

I managed to get an average of 3.5 miles per kWh out of the Aceman, which would give a range of about 135 miles in the E, or 172 miles in the SE. Those figures will be subject to a lot of variation, depending on the weather and your driving style, but there’s no avoiding that you’re not getting a huge battery for the money compared to some rivals. For around the same price you can get the Kia EV3 or the VW ID.3 with a larger battery and longer range.

The different models also come with different charging speeds, with the Cooper E only getting 70kW charging. That’s below average and you might feel the impact of that if you attempt a longer drive where you want to use rapid chargers.

But for many people, the charm of the Mini’s fun and modern interior will have its appeal. For those looking to scoot around town with a mite more space than the Cooper, without the bigger jump to the Countryman, the Aceman has electric appeal. Once behind the wheel, I found the experience perfectly enjoyable, but the closeness to the Cooper might leave you looking closely at the prices and scratching your head.

Should I buy the Mini Aceman?

If you’re a fan of the Mini, but feel that the Cooper is just a little too small, then the Aceman is only a small step away. The feel of the interiors of these cars is very similar, each offering an interior that’s much the same in terms of layout, quality and features.

On the road, the Aceman drives like a Mini, that gokart feeling that comes from the stiff ride making itself felt, while the compact size brings natural advantages when parking and navigating the urban jungle. But the competition is fierce and what the Mini Aceman offers in charm it lacks in battery compared to its rivals.

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