MINI recently bid adieu to the Clubman but is going to fill that void in a couple of months with the Aceman. The newcomer won’t be a direct replacement since it will take the shape of an electric-only crossover, sadly without the funky barn doors of its predecessor. Confirmed to premiere in a couple of months, the subcompact SUV has been speculatively rendered based on the official teaser images published in late January.
Positioned below the larger Countryman, the MINI Aceman will essentially be a five-door crossover version of the new electric Cooper 3-Door hatchback. Both are going to be built in China this year before the EV duo begins to roll off the assembly line in Oxford in 2026. How big is it going to be? The BMW-owned marque has already announced it’ll measure 4075 mm in length, 1754 mm in width, 1495 mm in height, and with a generous wheelbase of 2605 mm. These dimensions will make it large enough to accommodate five people and a 54.2-kWh battery pack.
Codenamed J05, the Aceman will go down in history as MINI’s first EV-only model. We’re expecting to see E, SE, and John Cooper Works versions with different horsepower and torque ratings. The hot JCW is certainly going to pack more punch than the 218 hp and 330 Nm (243 lb-ft) expected from the Aceman SE. As for the base E, logic tells us it’ll have 184 hp and 290 Nm (214 lb-ft) to mirror the Cooper E hatchback.
The impending arrival of the Aceman means there’s no need for MINI to do a five-door version of the electric hatchback. The British brand is still going to sell you a hatch with five doors but only with combustion engines. The Cooper 5-Door is expected to break cover later this year with largely the same technical specifications as the equivalent Cooper 3-Door introduced at the beginning of this month with gasoline engines.
MINI has confirmed the Aceman will break cover on April 24, with sales to commence later this year. There are no plans to import the electric crossover to the United States from China. However, there is a chance it might land in North America in 2026 once production of the EV starts in Oxford.
Source: Kolesa
