Little Countryman, but purely electric
Meet the Mini Concept Aceman, a new study model that plays a double role. The Concept Aceman not only looks ahead to a brand new production model, but also introduces new Mini design.
Highlights
- Preview of completely new model
- Aceman comes between three-door Hatchback and Countryman
- Possibly as a successor to the five-door Hatchback
- Electric only
- No leather or chrome, new design
The electric version of the three-door Mini Hatchback is currently Mini’s only electric car, but it won’t be for long. For example, Mini is working on a completely new Countryman, a car that will also be available with an electric powertrain in addition to combustion engines. That Countryman gets a smaller crossover brother next to him who appears purely and only as an EV. It’s that new compact electric crossover that this Mini Concept Aceman is a pretty concrete harbinger of.
Mini Concept Aceman
Dimensions and placement
Interesting is the placement of the Aceman. Mini says that the production version derived from the Concept Aceman will be placed between the all-new three-door Mini Hatchback and the next generation of the Countryman. Mini doesn’t say it in so many words, but that seems to mean that the Mini Hatchback with five doors will be dropped. Mini does not have to do without a compact five-door, the Concept Aceman also has – including the tailgate – five doors. Mini does not give technical specifications of the powertrain.
Mini Concept Aceman
The Mini Concept Aceman looks like a really small Countryman. The study model, surrounded in these photos by hip, busy pointing and sultry looking figures, is 4.05 meters long, 1.99 meters wide and 1.59 meters high. Those dimensions are striking, they make the Aceman about 7 centimeters longer than the five-door Hatchback and no less than 36 centimeters shorter than the current Countryman. The distance to the Countryman will increase further in the future, as that SUV makes a small growth spurt with its generation change. Furthermore, the Aceman is strikingly enough about 5 centimeters shorter than the three-door crossover that closely resembles its name: the Paceman, which was produced between 2012 and 2016.
design
Mini’s latest concept car is clearly recognizable as Mini, but does a number of things differently than you are used to. For example, you will not find chrome-colored frames around the windows. That doesn’t come completely out of the blue. In 2021, the manufacturer conjured up a three-door Hatchback from the top hat in the form of the Mini Strip. The Aceman has of course not been stripped of its external decoration. For example, we see skid plates at the front and rear and the fairly large angular wheel arches with even more angular dark plastic screens are filled by 20-inch wheels.
Mini Concept Aceman
The Concept Aceman has a high front with a completely closed grille. In contrast to the well-known Mini grilles, the grille is not hexagonal, but octagonal. The grille-like element, which has of course completely lost its function as a grille, is framed with light green LED lighting. Also interesting are the headlights. To a certain extent you know the shape of the light units on the front of the current Countryman, although they are a lot sharper and follow the line of the hood. The handles are recessed into the doors.
No modern Mini without the necessary design references to the Union Jack and so the Aceman also has rear lights with a Union Jack-like pattern. As with the current Minis, this results in two arrow-like shapes in the rear lights. In addition, the Concept Aceman has a large roof rack in the form of the Union Jack. The large model name Aceman is written on the tailgate. Above it you will find a 2D version of the Mini logo. In both the front and rear bumpers, we see orange-colored speakers that play a tune when the car is unlocked. That scene is accompanied by an elaborate light show and a winking Aceman. Cosy.
Mini Concept Aceman
Interior
Despite its relatively compact dimensions, the Mini Aceman is a crossover that – at least on paper – offers space for five passengers. The Aceman owes this, among other things, to its electric powertrain. Although the interior of the Mini Concept Aceman with all its brightly colored fabrics looks quite bombastic, the whole has a minimalistic design. The dashboard consists of little more than a fabric-covered panel with a circular display in the middle. That round OLED screen is of course a modern interpretation of the round instrument panel that Mini has had in its cars for years. Below the screen is a small island containing a very select number of buttons and switches with which you operate the handbrake and the audio system or choose the direction of travel. The space between the front seats is filled by a handy console that includes storage space, an induction charger and cup holders. In the interior you will find no chrome or leather. For example, the steering wheel is covered with velor and even the buttons on the spokes are hidden behind a thin layer of fabric.
According to Mini, information can also be projected across the entire width of the dashboard, from “a detailed map to a cloudy cloudy sky.” Mini also offers you the possibility to choose from so-called Experience Modes that influence the layout and the color themes of the OLED screen and the projections.
The production version of the Aceman may already be on the market next year. Mini also has a completely new generation of its three-door hatchback in the barrel.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl