MINI Aceman Review 2024

If you were irked that no five-door MINI Cooper Electric is available, then the Aceman fills almost exactly the same purpose. And if you’re after a small electric SUV, then the Aceman is a great option alongside the likes of the Volvo EX30 and Jeep Avenger Electric. However, if you’re looking for a small electric family car then make sure you check it out first – the rear seats are cramped and the boot is fairly small, which could make it too tight for family use. The larger MINI Countryman could be a better option in that case.

So far we’ve only had the chance to try a top-spec MINI Aceman SE, which has a good amount of pep when you put your foot down and a decent battery range of up to 252 miles on a full charge. If you have charging at home and don’t do a lot of longer journeys then the Aceman E could suffice, although its shorter range also comes with slightly less power.

The choice of Classic, Sport or Exclusive trim depends on which look you like the most. When it comes to equipment, the standard model includes some relatively high-end features, such as a heated steering wheel, but we like the head-up display and heated seats included on the Level 1 pack. This is standard on the Aceman SE. The extras on higher levels are nice to have, but not essential.

The MINI Aceman takes on other small electric SUVs, such as the Jeep Avenger Electric, the Volvo EX30, Peugeot’s E-3008 and the Kia EV3, with more rivals on the way. Style-wise, the MINI is nice enough to look at but it’s the interior that really stands out, with its unusual round infotainment screen and clever use of materials. It’s more fun to drive than those rivals, too, and competitively priced, at least in entry level form.

The knitted material across the dash and door cars of the MINI Aceman looks and feels great. Most of the plastics feel decent too, although they feel less premium the lower down in the car you go, and some feel on the scratchy side. Generally, however, it feels like a high-end machine.

The Aceman’s defining interior feature is its high-resolution circular infotainment screen, which is where most models house all the main features. The OLED screen looks fantastic, with a crisp display, and although there’s a lot of information displayed on it, we found it simple to navigate.

That said, our test car had the optional head-up display in front of the driver, which presented the basic driving information away from the clutter of the main screen, and meant we didn’t need to glance sideways to see things like driving speed. Lower-spec cars won’t have this, which could get annoying. A lack of physical buttons to jump between features is also irksome – everything, including changing the temperature on the air-con, is done through the screen. The minimalist look is very nice, but it sometimes gets in the way of practicality.

You can use the screen to change the car’s mode. While other cars have this to an extent – for example, they’ll let you select Sport for more vim from the driving experience, or Eco to save on fuel – the Aceman has extended this to create whole… well, vibe, depending on what mode you’re in. The graphics and the sounds of the car are all adjusted depending on the mode selected. We’ll touch on this later in the Driving section. There’s also a digital mascot within the car, called Spike, who’ll talk to you during your journey. We’ve not really spent much time with him, but it’s an interesting idea.

Our test Aceman also had the optional augmented reality navigation system installed, which overlays directions on a live video feed of the road ahead. We could see how it could be useful at particularly complicated junctions, but we found it cluttered up the screen and we never really got used to it during our three hours or so in the car.

Top-spec cars get a Harman Kardon sound system, which sounds very good, and there are four USB-C sockets with which you can charge your devices.

The Aceman isn’t a large car, but nevertheless MINI would have you believe it could be used as a family SUV. We have our doubts, however. While it’s more than comfortable for adults up front, save for a lack of adjustability of the headrests for taller occupants, the rear seats are tight on both legroom and headroom. Children should be ok, but it’s far from spacious. While there is a middle seat, it’ll be quite a squeeze for anyone brave enough to try it. Think of it as a MINI Hatch that’s been raised up, rather than a capacious SUV.

At 300 litres the boot is a reasonable size, although smaller than rivals like the Jeep Avenger. It’ll cope with a small shop, but a week’s holiday will be a step too far. If you’re not using the rear seats, you can fold them down to extend the cargo capacity to 1005 litres.

There are two versions of the MINI Aceman, each with their own combination of electric motor and battery.

The entry level model is the MINI Aceman E, which has 184PS and 290Nm from its electric motor, giving it a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds.

The Aceman SE, meanwhile, ups the power to 218PS and the torque to 330Nm, which drops the 0-62mph time to 7.1 seconds. That doesn’t sound that quick on paper, but it’s feels pretty nippy from behind the wheel.

The MINI Aceman E will give you a range of up to 192 miles from its 42.5kWh battery, while the Aceman SE extends that to 252 miles by way of a 54.2kWh battery.

Wind and road noise is generally well contained in the Aceman. Although we’ve tried it on a range of roads in Denmark, from around town to motorway, we haven’t yet had a chance to drive it in the UK.

The Aceman has yet to be tested by the independent safety experts at EuroNCAP, but MINI has a strong history in these tests and we’d expect it to do well. Standard safety features include a parking assistance system and MINI’s Driving Assistant, which includes features like blind-spot detection and adaptive cruise control. Higher-spec cars have Driving Assistant Plus, which adds extra steering and lane assistance to keep you from veering out of your lane.

As it’s brand new, we don’t have any specific information about how reliable the Aceman will be. But as it’s based largely on existing mechanical bits, we can take an educated guess – based on what we’ve seen from other MINI electric vehicles we don’t anticipate many common issues. Both BMW and Chinese firm Great Wall, which collaborated to create the technology powering the Aceman, have lots of experience with electric cars. Electric tech is generally more reliable than a petrol model anyway, because there are fewer moving parts to go wrong.

Depending on the model, the MINI Aceman sits between insurance groups 20 and 24 out of 50, so premiums shouldn’t be overly painful.

As an electric vehicle, the MINI Aceman costs nothing in Vehicle Excise Duty… for now. From 1 April 2025, that changes, because the rules around taxing a car will be updated. From that date, electric cars will cost the same as petrol and diesel cars, and Aceman owners will be liable for the standard annual rate, which is currently £190 but could go up.

Customers buying a new MINI Aceman can choose from three trim levels, although they work in a slightly different way to some other car brands.

The trims control essentially the look of the car. The Classic trim comes in a choice of three colours – Melting Silver as standard or Midnight Black or Nanuq White as options. You can have the whole car the same colour, or spec a contrasting Jet Black roof. It comes with 17-inch alloy wheels as standards, although 18-inch units are optional extras. Inside, you can choose from a grey and blue or black and blue upholstery.

The Exclusive trim comes in Nanuq White as standard, with Midnight Black, Indigo Sunset Blue, Ocean Wave Green and Rebel Red as options. Like the Classic you can spec a Jet Black Roof, but you can also have a Multitone Blue roof, and you can have your side mirrors finished in white. Larger 18-inch wheels are standard, and the front grille is finished in silver. The interior colour choices are beige or (ironically for an electric car) Dark Petrol.

Finally, the Sport trim is, as the name suggests, sportier in its looks, with redesigned bumpers and side skirts and spoiler, and 18-inch alloy wheels. Nanuq White is again standard, with Midnight Black, Chilli Red and Legend Grey as options. Opt for a black roof if you like, or have it in Chilli Red along with the side mirrors. The interior is black.

After you’ve chosen a trim, you can then choose a Level pack, as discussed earlier, to specify what equipment you’d like. The standard cars are pretty well specced, especially the Aceman SE models.