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The electric MINI Aceman is possibly the perfect-sized MINI – big enough to be practical, small enough to be agile – and now you can have a sportier version, the MINI John Cooper Works Aceman.
First we had the MINI Cooper Electric, then came the Countryman, which is now a substantially-sized car, and the Aceman slots in between these two models. In our view this means that the Aceman is the perfect-sized MINI, and if you want it with more performance, you’re in luck, because now there’s the MINI John Cooper Works Aceman.
The MINI John Cooper Works Aceman takes the standard Aceman’s body and adds a number of sporty styling details including black side skirts and a rear spoiler; we think it looks great, especially in the British Racing Green colour of our test car. The black and red JCW colour scheme continues inside the vehicle.
The John Cooper Works Aceman features a 54.2 kWh battery (49.2 kWh net) and a 255 hp electric motor delivering front-wheel drive.
The Aceman is 4,079 mm long, compared to 3,858 mm for the MINI Cooper Hatch, and 4,445 mm for the MINI Countryman. It has a 300-litre boot, which can be increased to 1,005 litres with the rear seats folded. A compartment under the boot floor can just about accommodate the charging cable.
The exterior is unmistakably MINI (although the round headlights have gone) and creative design has been applied to the interior. The entire width of the dashboard is covered in textured fabric, with a range of colourful ambient lighting options, and a large circular central touchscreen sits in the middle of the dashboard.
The standard Aceman offers a fun driving experience but the John Cooper Works Aceman takes this to the next level. There’s more performance, with a 0-62 mph time of 6.4 seconds, and there’s more sporty John Cooper Works suspension. The result of all this is that if you point the car at a corner, it goes round it – yes – like a go-kart.
However there’s a consequence of the sporty suspension (and the low profile tyres): a firmer ride than the standard Aceman (which has a firm ride anyway). Best to choose smooth roads to drive on, as roads with potholes won’t be particularly comfortable, as well as there being noise from the road and the suspension.
With the extra power – helped by the boost button on the steering wheel – and the front-wheel drive powertrain, enthusiastic acceleration also results in lots of torque steer.
The John Cooper Works experience may be accentuated for some by the interesting simulated engine noise, which, like some BMWs, sounds like pieces of metal grinding together.
The gear selector, offering options of D, or B for increased brake regeneration, is a very small toggle switch on the dashboard, and the button next to it to select Park is even smaller.
To the left of the gear selector is a toggle switch for ‘Experiences’, which gives eight options of Core, Green, Personal, Vivid, Timeless, Balance and Trail and Go-Kart. In terms of what the different modes mean for the driving dynamics, Go-Kart mode is probably obvious, as is Green. But what about the other modes? The main difference that you’ll see is a change in the cabin ambient lighting.
As well as changing colours, different Experience Modes also result in a different appearance of the large circular central touchscreen, ranging from displaying an old-fashioned speedo in Timeless mode to a compass in Trail mode. You can even select your own image in Personal mode.
As well as the gear selector and the Experiences switch, the Aceman still retains a few physical controls including a volume dial and a button for driver assistance settings, such as to switch off the lane departure warning system. There’s no instrument display in front of the driver, but there is a head-up display above the steering wheel.
Many of the latest EVs have all controls on the touchscreen and there is usually some frustration with the user experience. MINI, and BMW, seem to have (mostly) cracked the useability issues of in-car infotainment systems (although selecting radio stations seems to be more of a challenge in the Aceman than other BMW Group models). At the bottom of the screen are five shortcut buttons, comprised of Climate, Radio/Apple CarPlay, Home, Nav and Phone.
Either side at the bottom of the touchscreen are cabin temperature controls, and next to them are very small buttons for the heated seats, and next to the driver’s heated seat button is possibly the smallest touchscreen icon ever, for the heated steering wheel.
The MINI John Cooper Works Aceman has an official WLTP electric driving range of 217 miles. Energy consumption is 3.8-4.3 miles per kWh.
The Aceman has a maximum rapid charging rate of 95 kW, enabling the battery to be charged from 10% to 80% in around 30 minutes. It can also be charged via 11 kW AC charging.
The MINI John Cooper Works Aceman is priced at £40,220, which includes 19-inch John Cooper Works Lap Spoke 2-tone alloy wheels with sport tyres. Extras on our test car comprised of British Racing Green paint (£550) and ‘Level 3’ trim, which includes items such as Panoramic Glass Sunroof, Electric Memory Seats, Front Heated Seats, Driving Assistant Plus, Parking Assistant Plus, MINI Head-up Display and MINI Navigation (£3,800), taking the total price of our test car to £44,570.
The standard MINI Aceman is an optimum size for a MINI and offers a fun driving experience. If you want a sportier driving experience, then the MINI John Cooper Works Aceman is the answer. As well as sportier looks, with more power and a faster 0-62 mph time, there’s more performance, and there’s also tighter body control. However this results in firmer ride quality, which means that the John Cooper Works Aceman doesn’t have the most comfortable ride quality on poor road surfaces. The electric driving range is also reduced, and the maximum charging speed of 95 kW could be better. At £40,000, or potentially more with extras, it sits above many other EVs in this size category in terms of price. The MINI John Cooper Works Aceman is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10.
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