MINI Aceman SE 2024 | First Drive | The First Ever All Electric MINI Aceman

What if the standard Mini Cooper is too small, but the latest Mini Countryman is too big? That’s where the new Mini Aceman comes in.A spiritual successor to the retired Clubman, the Aceman first landed as a concept car back in 2022 and is now production-ready.It is only slightly more expensive than the entry-level Cooper, is available exclusively as an electric car (unlike both its larger and smaller siblings), and it’s positioned to be the car you turn to when you’ve outgrown your small, three-door hatchback. 

Having created a gap between its still-small Cooper and bigger-than-ever Countryman, Mini has slotted the Aceman into place like a stepping stone between the two.
Is the Aceman the car you upgrade to when you’ve outgrown your Mini Cooper? Read on to find out.
Price and availability Mini Aceman :
The Aceman is aggressively priced. Despite being larger than the Cooper it starts at $2300 which is just £2300 more than the entry-level version of Mini’s smallest car. The Aceman range tops out at £41,350 in U.K and it’s available to order now.

Design, technology and interior Mini Aceman interior :

The Aceman shares more of its appearance with the larger Countryman than the smaller Cooper. It’s a car with big, clean surfaces, sharp angles and a distinctive face that demonstrates how Mini hasn’t lazily put the Cooper into a photocopier at 125 percent. 

It’s more like the Countryman at 75 percent, to extend the metaphor, but park the three cars next to each other and they differ far more than memory alone would have you believe.

A five-door hatchback, the Aceman has a roomier interior than that of the Cooper. This is most obvious in the rear, where space is much improved over the smaller car. Full-size adults can sit back there, even with a pair of six-footers in the front. The glass panoramic roof of our test car robbed a bit of headspace, but it’s still respectably roomy, but obviously not as spacious as the latest generation of Countryman.

Up front, the dashboard features the same circular touchscreen display as the Cooper and Countryman. It’s an OLED panel, so colours and blacks look fantastic, and while the user interface looks cluttered at first, it’s a joy to use once you’ve tackled the relatively steep learning curve. 

As with other Minis, the Aceman has numerous drive modes that change how the car goes, but also how it sounds (via futuristic engine noises pumped through the interior stereo) and what the infotainment interface looks like.

A spiritual successor to the Mini Clubman, the new Aceman is the first Mini to be offered exclusively as an EV, with no petrol version available. It slots between the similarly-priced Cooper hatchback and the larger, pricier Countryman SUV, and is described as a crossover for the premium small car segment.

Interior, practicality and boot space :

The Aceman’s interior is roomier than that of the Cooper, making it an attractive option for young families who have outgrown the three-door Mini.

The dashboard is broadly the same as the Cooper and Countryman, with a large circular display at its centre, but Mini has let its designers have some fun here. Harking back to the Aceman concept from 2022, the production car has a fabric dashboard with multicoloured patterns, and details that look like luggage straps on the dash’ and steering wheel. It’s design for design’s sake, but gives the cabin a nice dose of character.

Rear seat space is much improved over the Cooper, with good knee room and adequate headroom even for adults. However, the glass panoramic roof of our test car, while a nice addition, seems to rob some headroom. It’s fine back there, but obviously not as spacious as the larger Countryman. 

A 6ft passenger could sit behind an equally tall driver without too many complaints, unlike in the smaller Cooper. Both versions of Aceman have 300 litres of boot space, but there’s no additional storage under the bonnet.The interior is similar to that of the Cooper and Countryman, with a striking circular display (Mini). 

Technology, stereo and infotainment :

Mini’s new circular touchscreen is a clever (and attractive) bit of technology, but its user interface takes some getting used to. The system feels a bit cluttered at first, but after a couple of hours behind the wheel you soon learn where everything is – like the settings menu – and how to interact with key controls like cabin temperature and the navigation system.

The nav is pretty good – so good, in fact, we’d consider using it instead of Google Maps, although drivers will be reassured to know the Aceman comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard. And yes, they actually look quite good on the circular screen, since their wallpapers fill the display and the car’s key controls remain visible at all times.

We found the voice assistant would frequently interrupt conversations with our passenger, mistakenly thinking we were talking to it. And, while Mini says the cars we drove were not pre-production – the usual get-out when functions don’t work properly on launch drives – the user interface occasionally glitched during our day of driving. Not a deal-breaker, but frustrating nonetheless.

There are some physical controls, including a key-like switch for starting the car and a toggle switch for flicking between the Aceman’s many drive modes – including Go-Kart, complete with (optional) sci-fi engine sound effects.

Lastly, upgrading to the Level 2 options kit includes a Harman Kardon sound system, plus the aforementioned glass roof.

Should I buy the Mini Aceman?

On price alone, the Aceman makes a lot of sense. It feels like the perfect car for a young family who has outgrown their Cooper but still wants to be a part of the stylish Mini family and doesn’t need, or cannot afford, the much larger Countryman.
It’s a smart looking car that has enough room in the back for adults, a fairly respectable boot capacity (although at 300 litres it’s slightly smaller than the 318 litres of the Volvo EX30) and great efficiency. The interior looks good, the infotainment system is great once you get the hang of it, and there’s just enough performance to not make the Aceman feel like a slouch.
Being just £1,800 more than the entry-level Mini Cooper, the larger Aceman feels like good value for money. It’s as if Mini is simply giving buyers the choice of which sized car they want, rather than positioning the Aceman as a more premium EV. It’s a sensible, honest move that Mini fans looking to trade in their Cooper for something bigger are likely to appreciate.

MoverLands

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