Mini Aceman

If you're after an electric Mini but want a five-door car that isn't the now-much-bigger Mini Countryman, then the Mini Aceman is your only choice. 

Doesn't sound like a great sell, does it? 

Based on a stretched version of the electric three-door Mini Cooper, the Aceman is a new model in the brand's line-up. It offers a hair more boot space and similar rear-seat practicality than the petrol-only Mini Cooper 5-Door, but brings some real compromises on the electric side of things.

Pick an entry-level Aceman and you'll get a 38.5kWh battery that can get you 192 miles on paper – but more like 150 miles in the real world. It charges at a maximum rate of 75kW, which is half as fast as the similarly sized Volvo EX30. Mid-spec Aceman SE models get a bigger 49kWh battery that's good for a theoretical 251 miles, but we saw just 210 miles in our testing. The fast John Cooper Works range-topper uses the same battery but adds a more powerful motor to reduce range to a claimed 210 miles… again, expect closer to 170 in normal use. At least these bigger-battery models can fast charge at 95kW, which is only 5kW slower than a Jeep Avenger.

While the Aceman may not lead the class in terms of range or charging performance, it does look very stylish, both inside and out. The cabin is the same as all current Minis, with a lovely woven-cloth dashboard covering, a striking circular infotainment system and no driver's display behind the steering wheel – unless you add the head-up display option. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are present and correct, although the built-in software is mostly brilliantly snappy and useful, if a bit unintuitive at first.

The Aceman's 300-litre boot is average – it's a bit bigger than the 281-litre space in the electric Jeep Avenger, and about the same as the Volvo EX30's load bay. A Lexus LBX has 400 litres. That said, rear-seat passengers have a reasonable amount of space in the Aceman – our 6'3" tester could sit behind his driving position with enough space for heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Out on the road, the Aceman frustrates. Around town and on country roads, the suspension does its darndest to fuse vertebrae, while the steering is direct enough that you need to be on top of things to avoid following cambers. The latter might be a flaw when trying to relax, but put your foot down and the Aceman scrabbles madly forwards, steering wheel tugging in your hands like an old-school hot hatch. It's fun to drive fast, with little body lean in corners and the suggestion that it really wants to be chucked about. It's efficient too – we saw average economy of 4.2mi/kWh in our testing, and aside from a bit of tyre roar, it's a fine motorway companion.

The Aceman's cabin is a real crowd-pleaser. As with the latest Mini Cooper and Mini Countryman models, there's none of your usual Tarmac-grey plastic. The main bulk of the dash and door trims are covered in a waffle-knit red and grey/blue cloth material, sections of which light up at night, giving the cabin an ambience few cars can match at this price point.

As standard there's no display behind the steering wheel. Instead, your speed is shown prominently at the top of the circular infotainment screen. If that's a deal-breaker, you can add the Level 1 options pack for £2,000, which includes a pop-up head-up display that will show you your speed, the curve of the road ahead and more. This pack also includes folding door mirrors, heated front seats, adaptive LED headlights and wireless phone charging to supplement the four USB-C sockets split between your front and rear passengers.

Speaking of the Aceman's circular infotainment screen, it's mostly brilliant. It's not only unique because it's round, but it also uses OLED screen technology for richer colours and deeper black levels. Information is laid out a bit more confusingly than on a rectangular screen, and it might take you a while to learn which screen elements are tappable and which aren't. It's speedy though, and there's a built-in AI voice assistant in the shape of Spike the dog. 

It's worth noting that you need to create and login to a Mini account to access his canine powers, and without logging in, you're set for a world of frustration. As a guest user you'll have to re-pair your phone every time you get in the car, as well as re-setting the temperature, re-adjusting the head-up display and changing the radio station back to your chosen one, and turning off the fake engine noise if you don't like it. It's infuriating, especially if you don't like creating accounts and sharing your data.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, however – though it's a bit of a shame that CarPlay displays in a boring rectangle in the middle of such a gloriously round screen.

You can brighten up the Aceman's interior by spending £4,000 for the Level 2 option pack. It includes the aforementioned Level 1 items, but adds a panoramic glass sunroof (which doesn't quite go back over your rear-seat passengers' heads), tinted rear windows and a thumping Harman/Kardon sound system.

As well as getting a bigger battery and more electric horsepower, Aceman SE models get the Level 1 pack as standard, as well as a heated steering wheel. On some versions of the Aceman you can add a Level 3 pack to get augmented reality sat-nav, computer-aided parking systems, a 360-degree camera and an interior camera that you can use for selfies. Really…

Thankfully all-round parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard.

At 4.1 metres long, the Aceman is 22cm longer than a Mini Cooper, with 8cm of that growth coming between the front and rear axles. It's also a mere 5cm taller than its hatchback brethren – does this make it an SUV?

Well, space up front is good, although tall drivers may find their knees resting on the hard plastic centre console and door panel. Storage in the front of the Aceman is decent – there's a lidded cubbyhole under the driver's armrest, along with a few cupholders, and door bins that can hold a small bottle of water.

Space in the back of the Aceman is surprisingly good for a small car. A tall adult will be able to sit behind a fellow height enthusiast in the driving seat, and even with the optional panoramic sunroof there's plenty of headroom. Unlike some electric cars with their batteries hidden under the floor, your rear passengers will be able to fit their hooves under the seat in front. Sadly there's a bit of a hump in the middle of the floor so getting three in the back will be a squeeze, not helped by the relatively narrow middle pew.

One point to note is how upright the Aceman's rear seats feel – we'd prefer a slightly more reclined position. Thick seat bases also mean you need to put some real effort into securing an Isofix child seat onto the fixings, and then we found it hard to clip kids in using the car's seatbelts, which end up hidden under the child seat.

The Aceman's 300-litre boot is a nice square shape and can swallow one big suitcase with some other soft bags alongside it. There's a big drop down into the boot though, so you'll have to heave heavy objects back out once you've dumped them in. A 12V socket on the left-hand side of the boot can power a cool box, and there's a bit of space under the boot floor for a charging cable. The rear seats flip down in a 60/40 split leaving you with a 1,005 litre void for runs to IKEA or the tip.

The Aceman has a choice of two battery packs, and three power outputs. The entry-level Aceman E has a 38.5kWh (useable) battery and a 184hp motor. It'll crack the 0-62mph sprint in 7.9 seconds, but only has an official range of 192 miles – expect to see more like 150. It can only fast charge at 75kW, so getting from 10-80% will take 28 minutes.

The Aceman SE and JCW get a 49kWh (useable) battery. This can charge faster at 95kW, but because it's a bigger pack than in the E, 10-80% takes 31 minutes. 

Power increases in the SE as well – you get 218hp, with a 7.1-second 0-62mph time. JCW models get 258hp for a 6.4-second run to 62mph. Official range for the SE is 251 miles, and 210 for the JCW, but you can safely subtract about 40 miles from both if you want a real-world estimate.

We'd pick the Aceman SE – it delivers thrilling acceleration and pulls hard out of corners, while offering the longest range of any Aceman… despite still having a disappointingly short range.

Ah, comfort… the Aceman has little. At low speeds the suspension bangs and jiggles, leaving you feeling unsettled most of the time. The ride improves at motorway speeds and on smooth Tarmac, but when did you last see any of that in the UK? It's a real pity – it left our testing family feeling decidedly queasy on country roads. The car is tolerable on long trips at higher speeds, but there's a little more tyre roar than we'd like in such a premium-feeling cabin.

Luckily, the Aceman is otherwise fun to drive. That stiff suspension and a low centre of gravity mean you can drive it like any other Mini – with scant use of the brake pedal into corners and roundabouts, and with a chassis that feels as if it wants to rotate slightly if your steering inputs are as subtle as a Chuck Norris fist-bump. Get hard on the gas on a corner exit and the electric torque will overwhelm your front tyres' grip earlier than you might expect, leading to the front running wide if you're not careful. It's fun stuff, and harks back to ye olden days of hot-hatch hooliganism.

Mini's packed the Aceman with several 'experiences' (driving modes), which mostly alter the throttle mapping and steering weight, along with the visuals on the infotainment screen and accompanying sound effects. Go-kart mode is your sport setting, but it comes with such a prominent fake noise that we just left the car in 'core' (normal) mode. You can disable the fake noise in all modes, but unless you have a Mini account, the car will re-enable it each time you use the Aceman.