The Mini Aceman takes the place of the Clubman, which has gone out of production. Bigger than the Cooper, but smaller than the Countryman. We think the Mini Cooper is a cool thing, but does that also apply to the Mini Aceman?
What is striking about the Mini Aceman (2024)?
The Mini Aceman is fully electric and will remain so. The more spacious Mini Countryman you can also buy it with a petrol engine, with a power of up to 300 hp, the John Cooper Works. With the Aceman you can choose from three (electric) motor variants:
- Mini Aceman E, 184 hp, battery: 42.5 kWh
- Mini Aceman SE, 218 hp, battery: 54.2 kWh
- Mini Aceman JCW, 258 hp, battery: 54.2 kWh
The Mini Aceman Electric – as the car is fully called – corresponds in terms of dimensions to the first generation Countryman from 2010. Personally, we think the Aceman looks better than the Countryman, which has become very large. The Aceman is lower and shorter and therefore looks less like an SUV and more like a crossover.
Another difference is that the Countryman comes off the production line in Germany (Leipzig) and the Mini Aceman in China (Zhangjiagang). The car is built there by Spotlight Automotive, a joint venture between Mini owner BMW and Great Wall Motor. The 3-door Cooper Electric is also built here. Although it will eventually also roll off the production line in the very British Oxford.
What’s good about the Mini Aceman?
Expectations were high, because colleague Jaap previously drove the electric Mini Cooper and stated that the Cooper SE makes mincemeat of all the prejudices surrounding electric driving.
We don’t have to summon Jaap, because the Aceman also proves that Mini still knows what driving pleasure is. That whole ‘Go-Kart’ feeling with which Mini prides itself on may come across as nonsense from marketing employees who have had a few too many brainstorming sessions on their skippy ball, but it is not a lie.
We drive the Aceman SE and it grips the road like a rock, steers directly and with feeling, and you can place it very precisely in bends. It’s a pleasure to be behind the wheel. The seat is not as low as in the Cooper and many people will find that pleasant.
At full throttle, the Mini Aceman sounds like a pinball machine spitting out one ball after another. Or, for the Star Wars fans among our visitors, as a runaway R2D2. It’s more fun than we thought. When you are in a bad mood, you can also silence the noise.
It’s nice that the Mini Aceman moves smoothly and smoothly from its place, but that applies to almost all EVs. It is mainly the handling that puts the Aceman over other electric cars. A fun machine, we couldn’t describe it better.
What could be improved about the Mini Aceman?
With the tiny range of the previous electric Mini Cooper (203 kilometers), in practice you could just barely reach the supermarket on the corner of the street. The Mini Aceman SE goes further and has a range of up to 405 kilometers. Pay particular attention to the word ‘until’, because with the entry-level Aceman E you have to manage 309 kilometers (WLTP).
Precisely because the Aceman is more spacious than the 3-door Cooper and more practical with two extra doors, it will be bought less as a ‘car for extra’. And then we find a range of roughly 300 kilometers on the meager side. The simplest Skoda Elroq already reaches 374 kilometers. But it also has a larger battery of 55 kWh net.
So you can go further with the Mini Aceman SE, but it is 2000 euros more expensive. Still, we would be happy to spend those two grand, because the electric motor, with 218 hp, is more powerful than the base engine with 184 hp. With the even stronger John Cooper Works you sacrifice range (355 kilometers).
Mini Aceman is very expensive
Years ago, BMW, the new owner of Mini, decided that Mini had to become premium. In other words: expensive. That has done the brand no harm and so you also have to have a thicker wallet for an Aceman than for the electric one Fiat 600, Jeep Avenger in Volvo EX30 – to name just a few competitors.
Mini asks for a minimum of 38,990 euros. But then you get the smallest range. And don’t think you can order a flashy body color, it’s black or gray. You want at least the Classic. Then you can at least choose a cheerful color, namely Ocean Wave Green. But for this version you have to pay at least 44,590 euros.
It only becomes really fun with the Favoured. Then the roof and exterior mirrors are black, you have sports seats and you can have the Aceman painted in bright red or blue. Only then you are already at more than 46 grand for the E and almost 50 grand for the SE…
What do I think of the Mini Aceman?
The main reason that I drive a Mini (a Cooper on petrol) is the driving pleasure that the car offers. I like it when I sit a little deeper and the car really involves me in the driving. My Mini does that and so does the Aceman. Although you are a bit higher.
Furthermore, I once agreed with myself that I would never, ever drive a ‘boring’ car. So you will never find me in a Volkswagen Golf, for example, no matter how much I like that car. I want a design that is playful and distinctive. And the Aceman does not disappoint in that regard either. I think the interior is cool and the outside also makes me happy.
But I won’t be buying a new Aceman anytime soon. I find it so expensive that I prefer to wait for a used car, just like I did with my current Mini. Let someone else take the first debit off. It doesn’t matter to me that I might not actually get all the options I want.
In addition, the price list with accessory packages of a new Aceman has made Mini Nederland so confusing that I prefer to spend my time looking for a cool used car.
Source: www.autoreview.nl
