Mini's new Charismatic Simplicity design language debuts with the Aceman. The new appearance aims to mix simplicity and sustainability. At its most basic, this crossover features a traditional two-box form. The wheels are placed at the farthest corners to shorten the front and back overhangs.
To put the enormity of the Aceman into perspective, it is 159.4 inches (4.05 meters) long and 78.35 inches (1.99 meters) broad. In contrast, the contemporary Mini Countryman is 169.7 inches (4.31 meters) long and 78.8 inches (2 meters) broad when the side mirrors are included.
The Mini Concept Aceman is an electric crossover that demonstrates how the company envisions future versions. A manufacturing version of this EV is coming later to occupy the area between the Cooper and Countryman in the lineup.
The Design
Mini provided no technical information regarding the Aceman. Instead, the company will concentrate on the vehicle's design and future technologies. The car is the one-of-a-kind hue Icy Sunglow Green, which seems blue in these photos. The roof is British Racing Green metallic.
Mini also stated that the production Aceman will sit in the lineup between the Mini Hardtop and the Mini Countryman. That appears to be supported by the size. It's roughly an inch longer and six inches higher than the four-door Mini Hardtop. And, with the exception of height, all of those figures are significantly lower than the larger Countryman.
The Interior
The inside is much more intriguing than the outside. Mini claims to have applied the concept of "Charismatic Simplicity" to the automobile, and it shows. It sports a basic dash pad in front of the unique green velour steering wheel, with a circular OLED touchscreen infotainment display affixed to it.
It builds on the design concept established by the original Mini revival in the early 2000s, but it is far less crowded. Below the screen is an oval-shaped control strip with physical toggle switches for sound and temperature controls, a homage to the toggles first presented by the previous contemporary Mini. The infotainment system appears to be based on Android as well.
This second Mini EV will be built on the same chassis as the next "classic" three-door Mini, which will be released next year with a complete design overhaul. The new three-door will be available in two variants, the Cooper E and SE, with the E expected to have 135 kW of power and a range of 186 miles (300 km), and the SE potentially having 160 kW and a range of 248 miles (400 km). Because the Aceman will be constructed on the same platform, we can expect these performance figures to be similar to this model as well.
Even though the Countryman is Mini's second-best seller after the three-door hatchback, if the Aceman is all-wheel drive, it appears it is being brought in to effectively replace the Countryman's job as a purposely urban SUV. If the Aceman is successful, Mini will be free to redesign the Countryman into something more befitting to its name, a full-fledged all-electric SUV more at home outside of town.
