Up for African electric driving? Aceman’s a neat choice.
So you’re an electric Mini fan and you’re looking for something to tickle your fancy. Well you may be one in a thousand, but we may have the car for you. Meet the Mini Aceman SE. The one that loses both the P in its name and the petrol tank, too.
Not that all-electric Minis are anything new. The previous generation Cooper SE served the brand well with a blend of performance and electricity, as well as a decent wedge of range anxiety. Aceman, however, is the first standalone electric Mini. A compact crossover, it slots between Cooper and Countryman effectively replacing the Clubman.
Which means it’s a five-door with a more rugged, SUV-inspired stance. With squared-off lights and blanked out grille, now that it doesn’t need a radiator, and the like. It looks the part in red, doesn’t it? Groovy LEDs, smart polished wheels and the rest. You need to know your oats that it isn’t petrol, we’d say…
Aceman has 405 km range. Well, in theory.
Anyway, it isn’t. The senior member of the new two-model electric Aceman line-up above the 135 kW 290 Nm E, the SE adds typical extra Mini S vigour in its 160 kW 330 Nm front-mounted electric motor driving the front axle. Fired by an effective 49.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, Mini promises ‘up to’ 405 km driving range and half-hour 10-80% charging on a 95 kW supply. Well, that’s the theory.
We live in Africa. Where 95 KW chargers are like hen’s teeth. A fallacy. To try the theory, we popped in for coffee at a local café that has a BMW and Mini charger point. After an hour, the 22 kW device gave us six percent. So we left the car there and came back eight hours later to fetch it. By when it was up from 85 to just off 200 km range. Were this a petrol Mini, it’d have taken us 45 seconds to add the juice to go that distance.
Think about that for a second. Never mind, we dare you to get beyond 300 km on a charge. However, if you live overseas in a country with real charging infrastructure, or you have solar and a wall charger at home, then it’s a different matter. Aceman will happily charge full in six hours, or overnight on regular Eskom juice. Yes, our 220V wall socket probably charges quicker than that ‘public’ gimmick.
Latest Mini Charismatic Simplicity cabin design
Aceman features Mini’s latest Charismatic Simplicity cabin design philosophy. A hit and miss solution, some of us loved it. Others abhorred it. Trimmed in sustainable knitted fabrics, its 9.4-inch circular OLED touchscreen needs your smartphone to be integrated to work properly via the Mini app. Once connected, it’s pretty neat.
Like that it recognises you and prepares the car to your preferred settings and one of several infotainment experience mode themes like Go-Kart, Green or Timeless, as you enter. That alters the screen graphics, ambient lighting, artificial driving sounds and the like to your wan. All striking and impressive, it’s even backed by a few, perhaps not enough buttons and knobs. So can be counterintuitive while driving.
Practical in some respects, Aceman is tight in the rear, especially for tall adults. The 300 litre boot is smaller than rivals but opens up to 1,005 litres with the rear bench down. Which is still lacking. It makes up through a decent level of spec, however, with the likes of LED lighting, parking sensors and a rear camera. Never mind its unique, stylish and premium high-quality cabin, even in the base model.
Mini Aceman SE is fun to drive
Fun to drive, like the Cooper SE, Aceman SE retains that trademark Cooper S go-kart feel, quick steering and nippy urban traffic feel. Our tests proved impressive performance. In fact its right up there among the better front driven cars on our run, albeit still some way off our hot hatch king Hyundai i30N.
Aceman however likes to bounce against the TC if it’s on; or spin that front axle wildly up with the nannies off. Which we found somewhat surprising, considering that S pedigree. With that wheelspin solved via launch control, who knows, this EV may even have threatened that hallowed Korean king’s precious petrol record…
All in all, the Mini Aceman SE delivered some unexpected speed, style and excitement. But it also packs in several compromises, the worst of which is beyond it, or Mini’s control. If you’re not fully prepared for African electric motoring, just get a petrol Cooper or Countryman S. But if you’re ready for it, then this very well may be that one in a thousand car for you… – Michele Lupini
Images & Testing: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Mini Aceman SE
Motor: 160 kW 330 Nm electric
Drive: Direct FWD
Battery: 54.2 kWh lithium-ion
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 3.24 sec
0-100 km/h: 6.43 sec
0-120 km/h: 8.63 sec
0-160 km/h: 14.76 sec
400m: 14.5 sec @ 159 km/h
80-120 km/h: 4.01 sec
120-160 km/h: 6.12 sec
CLAIMED:
Vmax: 170 km/h
Energy Average: 14.1 kWh/100km
Range 380 km
CO2: 0 g/km tailpipe
Warranty/Service: 5y 100K/2y unl
PRICE R897K
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