► New Mini Aceman spyshots
► Due summer 2024 below Countryman
► Electric only, Chinese-built
Only a few short weeks since we saw the Mini Aceman concept car unveiled in summer 2022, we’re seeing the first prototypes in the wild for the first time. Tellingly, our spies caught the baby electric crossover in China, where it will be built in a collaboration with local manufacturer Great Wall.
It’s not a classic SUV, more a pumped-up five-door hatchback – a Mini ‘Allroad’ of sorts. This is an incremental model, slotting in the fag-paper space in the market between the regular Mini hatchback (due to be replaced in 2023) and today’s Countryman crossover, which is due to jump in size in its next generation.
Our spy photos reveal two Mini Aceman prototypes: one on a transporter, thought to be a lower-spec model; and a spyshot of a higher-end trim, smuggled out of China.
The 2024 Mini Aceman: what you need to know
The production version of the Aceman concept car arrives in June 2024 to battle the armada of dull baby crossovers flooding the market (think Nissan Juke, VW T-Cross, Renault Captur et al). Expect electric power only, with two battery sizes and two power outputs.
It’s very much the poster child for next-generation Mini. While the hatch and Countryman both persist with a choice of electric or combustion power, the Aceman takes the plunge and goes EV-only.
To be built in China by the Spotlight Automotive joint venture BMW has with Great Wall (alongside the electric version of the new three-door hatch), the Aceman is a crossover that’s much shorter than the current Countryman. The newcomer measures 4050mm long, 1990mm wide and 1590mm tall, and sits on a new platform with a longer wheelbase than today’s Mini hatch.
Mini Aceman styling under that camo
Short overhangs and pronounced wheelarches stretch over a compact crossover bodyshell that’s unmistakably Mini. Despite the small footprint, CAR understands it all offer more interior space than today’s Countryman.
Strip away the heavy, swirling disguise, and we can make out BMW-spec door handles and the Aceman concept’s day-running light graphics (but ignore the exaggerated, old-Mini circular chrome ring camouflage, designed to make us think this is a current-era model).
The Aceman’s design is clearly Mini but shaped by a new strand of style and zeitgeisty innovation; the brand calls the new ethos Charismatic Simplicity. ‘We stick to tradition where it makes sense, and we never break with tradition without a very good reason,’ says head of design Oliver Heilmer.
‘The Aceman is our first 100 per cent leather- and chrome-free proposal. Not because we don’t like leather and chrome, but because there exist planet-friendlier alternatives which offer more variety, more creative freedom and a more emotional user experience.’
Interior ambience: your own DJ and light show
Chief innovation is likely to be the interior experience trailed by the 2022 concept car (below). New controls, an Android-powered OS and a major redesign of the circular OLED display are promised – and you can expect a new interior lighting and mood package that’ll immerse the cabin in your choice of colour and music. Sounds like a nightclub on wheels.
The gizmo can mix in digital acoustic sequences like a professional DJ, or mute the journey except for a distant e-motor whine and subdued tyre noise. It all means Mini Aceman owners can compose their own cabin ambience complete with bespoke soundtrack. And it should make production.
Electric power specs
CAR magazine can reveal that the Aceman will drive the front wheels via a choice of two powertrains: the base Cooper E will pack a 40kWh battery and 184bhp e-motor, the SE features a 50kWh energy cell and a 231bhp power unit.
All-wheel drive is not on the cards for the Aceman, but will be offered for future Minis: the 286bhp John Cooper Works and the 300bhp-plus GT, according to sources in Munich and Oxford.
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