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MINI goes bigger in size and range, but the Aceman EV misses the mark

Published: 21 Mar. 2025, 15:48

CHO YONG-JUN
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The All-Electric MINI Aceman and the All-Electric MINI Countryman [CHO YONG-JUN]

[TEST DRIVE]

The All-Electric MINI Aceman aims to be the middleman of the new-generation electric MINI lineup, with a slightly larger size and longer electric range compared to the previous iteration of the electric Mini Cooper. It still won't, however, appeal to everybody.

The BMW versions of the MINI didn’t appeal to everyone to begin with: Despite the cute exteriors, they were known for their firm suspension and sparse creature comforts that made it difficult for every driver to love but were the right car for people with a certain appetite. The Aceman still comes with firm suspension, less-than-practical rear space and is not the perfect EV in many ways. In contrast, its larger brother, the All-Electric Countryman, is more powerful and spacious but not really a MINI.

The MINI Aceman and the MINI Countryman [MINI KOREA]

The Korea JoongAng Daily got behind the wheel of both the MINI Aceman and the electric version of the MINI Countryman in a brief journey to and from Incheon to Gimpo, Gyeonggi, for a mixture of highway and city driving.

The Aceman is the only MINI that doesn’t come with an internal combustion-powered variant. It is also 220 millimeters (8.66 inches) longer than the Mini Cooper, but the added length is hardly noticeable in the rear seats — they are still not spacious. The trunk size did grow by 20 liters (0.7 cubic feet) over the Mini Cooper, though.

The size of the MINI Cooper, MINI Aceman and the MINI Countryman n [CHO YONG-JUN]

The front seats, however, are comfortable enough for both the driver and the passenger. The lack of a dedicated speedometer behind the steering wheel, along with the minimalistic dashboard design, may surprise newcomers at first, but the combiner-style heads-up display shows the speed, navigation and other relevant information, eliminating the need to look at the massive center display.

The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, which measures 240 millimeters (9.44 inches), really is the star of the show for the current MINI generation. Many of the buttons, including most climate controls, were replaced with the screen — but oh boy, is it fun. The OLED display feels high-resolution, bright and responsive and the fun themes installed, such as the Go Kart mode, Classic Mode and Trail Mode all show distinctive digital gauge cluster designs paired with artificial motor noise that will put a smile on many drivers’ faces.

The organic light-emitting diode display of the MINI Aceman and the MINI Countryman [CHO YONG-JUN]

While it would’ve been more intuitive to have more buttons, such as a large physical home button that will return to the main screen when you are stuck in the infotainment maze, the functionality is mostly well executed and, well, it’s a MINI, so some quirks are bound to be there.

The baseline Aceman E Classic comes with 184 metric horsepower of electric propulsion flowing to the front wheels, while the SE powertrain comes with a slightly more powerful 218 metric horsepower and 33.7 kilogram-meters (244-pound-feet) of torque, paired with a 54.2 kilowatt-hour battery made by China’s Svolt. While neither of them present any exciting performance figures, they are more than enough to provide the boost needed for daily driving. Including at highway speeds.

While none of the MINIs come with ventilated seats, the test drive vehicles came equipped with BMW’s Driving Assistance Plus, which means it comes with smart cruise control, steering assist and lane-keeping assist, but not the more advanced features such as lane-changing assist that comes with the Driving Assistance Professional on the top-of-the-range MINI Countryman.

The interior of the MINI Aceman [CHO YONG-JUN]

The car is rated to drive 312 kilometers (194 miles) on a single charge, a massive improvement from the 159-kilometer rating for the preceding Mini Cooper SE and enough for most use cases. The vehicles test-driven had shown, however, efficiency and range figures lower than the advertised spec — which according to MINI Korea, was because the cars calculate range based on how the car had been driven earlier, and coincidentally enough, they were on circuits prior to the test drive.

The baseline Aceman has a sticker price of 49.7 million won ($33,900), while the SE trim is priced at 58 million won.

The All-Electric MINI Countryman [CHO YONG-JUN]

The MINI Countryman, however, might be the more appealing MINI for many. It starts from 56.7 million for the base front-wheel drive model and goes up to 63 million won and 66 million won for the more powerful all-wheel drive variants, with much more space in the rear and the trunk. The Countryman also uses a CATL-made 66.5 kilowatt-hour battery that gives slightly longer ranges of 349 kilometers and 326 kilometers for the front-wheeled and all-wheel drive models, respectively. The all-wheel drive model was noticeably faster than any other MINI, going from zero to 62 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds.

The Countryman, though, feels less like a cute MINI hatchback and more like a Hyundai Ioniq 5-esque fast but bulky crossover.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]