MINI Aceman Review 2024

If you were irked that no five-door MINI Cooper Electric is available, then the Aceman serves 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.

There's not all that much difference between the entry-level MINI Aceman E and the more powerful Aceman SE when it comes to performance: yes, the difference is noticeable, but it's not big enough to dramatically influence your decision. Both are perky enough. What will probably have more bearing on your choice is the SE's range, which is given at 251 miles compared to the E's 192 miles.

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 dashboard and door cards 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, stylish graphics and funky animations, and the software feels slick and glitch-free, while good screen sensitivity means the system reacts reliably to input. It also supports all the functionality you'd expect it to, such as DAB, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

However, the minimalist design that helps makes the interior look so cool also means that pretty much every function of the car has to be operated through the touchscreen, and that makes it hopelessly cluttered, meaning a particular on-screen icon is really tricky to pick out at a glance. MINI will tell you that it's fine because all the important driving information is constantly visible at the top of the screen, while  the temperature controls and some shortcut icons are ever-present at the bottom. But even so, there's just too much going on to pick out the nugget of information you're looking for quickly and reliably. Things are slightly better if you go for a car with a head-up display, because you don't have to look at the central screen so often, but only the highest-spec cars have this. What's more, it doesn't stop you struggling to find minor functions within the complex screen layouts, and it doesn't change the fact that if you want to do anything with the ventilation system more complicated than changing the temperature, then you have to delve into a submenu. All very annoying, and too distracting in our view.

One of the myriad ways in which you can use the screen is to change the car’s driving 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. 

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 enough 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 seatbelt in the back, the middle seat itself is nowhere near wide enough to accommodate an actual bottom, which renders it completely useless. Think of it as a MINI Hatch that’s been raised up, rather than a capacious SUV, and don't bank on using any more than four seats.

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. 

From behind the wheel, even the E feels impressively nippy, despite what the slightly lacklustre-sounding numbers suggest. There's plenty of zip off the line, and a decent amount of on-the-move acceleration, too. The SE is a bit quicker still for an even perkier feel. It's not so much off the line where you'll notice: it's more that there's a good bit more surge when you're picking up speed on the move.

In the fullness of time, the Aceman range will expand with the introduction of the high performance JCW (John Cooper Works) version. This will have 258PS and 350Nm of toque for a 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds.

According to official WLTP figures, the MINI Aceman E will give you a range of up to 192 miles from its 38.5kWh (usable capacity) battery. The Aceman SE extends that to 251 miles by way of a 49.2kWh battery.

When it arrives, the JCW will use the bigger battery, but range will drop to 243 miles.

Like with many electric cars, there's very little noise from the powertrain as you speed up and slow down, but MINI has synthesised a variety of sounds that are piped into the cabin, designed to make things more dramatic. If you'd prefer peace and quiet, you can simply turn these off.

The Aceman's blunt front end design generates a bit of wind noise, and there's some road noise to be heard as well, but neither is loud enough to be a problem.

The Aceman has yet to be tested by the independent safety experts at Euro NCAP, 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 cars are generally more reliable than a petrol models 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 essentially control 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.