On August 27th, the brand-new electric MINI ACEMAN was officially launched. The new car has launched a total of 4 models, with the price range being 209,900 – 279,900 yuan. It is understood that the brand-new electric MINI ACEMAN is MINI’s second domestically produced electric vehicle, positioned as a pure electric compact SUV. The future of the brand-new electric MINI ACEMAN will fill the market gap between the MINI COOPER S and the MINI COUNTRYMAN.
Overall, the MINI ACEMAN still continues the MINI family style. The overall design is somewhat similar to the MINI COUNTRYMAN. The shape of the front headlight group does not adopt the traditional round shape but becomes more angular, with a rather high recognition. In addition, the new car adopts a closed front face design, only reserving a slender ventilation opening at the bottom for the heat dissipation of the motor and other equipment. The front surround adopts a new design, and the overall style is more aggressive.
On the side of the body, the MINI ACEMAN has the classic floating roof design and a round body. The length, width and height are 4076 (4094) / 1754 / 1515mm respectively, the wheelbase is 2606mm, positioned as a small pure electric SUV, and adopts a four-door design. At the rear of the vehicle, the MINI ACEMAN no longer uses the capsule-shaped semi-fan British flag taillights but adopts vertical taillights. The rear shows a wider visual effect. The bumper is made of black plastic material, showing a crossover style. The English logo “ACEMAN” is located in the center below the MINI logo, and the “Beam Auto” logo is on the upper left corner.
In terms of the interior, the MINI ACEMAN still uses a large number of classic MINI design elements. The circular central control screen has a high recognition and is only equipped with a few physical buttons. The overall design is very simple. In addition, the button area below the central control screen also adopts circular design elements, which has a certain inheritance with other MINI models. The instrument screen in front of the main driver has been cancelled, and the HUD head-up display system will replace the role of the instrument panel.
In terms of power, the MINI ACEMAN will provide two power versions. The MINI Aceman has a maximum power of 184 horsepower, paired with a 40 kWh battery pack, and the cruising range is about 300 kilometers. The MINI Aceman S has a maximum power of 218 horsepower, paired with a 54.2 kWh battery pack, and the cruising range is about 400 kilometers.
The domestication process of MINI is very slow, but the product launch is very fast. Domestic MINI models are produced by Beam Auto Co., Ltd., which was jointly funded by the BMW Group and Great Wall Motors in a 50:50 ratio in December 2019. In December 2023, Beam Auto obtained independent production qualifications. At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, the MINI brand showcased two brand-new electric models – the brand-new pure electric MINI COOPER and the brand-new pure electric MINI ACEMAN. On July 6th, the brand-new pure electric MINI COOPER was officially launched, with a total of 5 models. The price range is 189,800 – 266,800 yuan. It is understood that the brand-new pure electric MINI COOPER is MINI’s first domestic car, and the second domestic car, the brand-new pure electric MINI ACEMAN, was officially launched today, only one and a half months later.
According to the plan previously announced by BMW, due to the sluggish sales in the Chinese market, the models produced by Beam Auto may mainly be targeted at overseas markets or become MINI’s second largest production base globally. Data shows that the sales volume of the MINI brand dropped from 34,100 units in 2019 to 28,700 units in 2022, and then to 18,200 units in 2023, far behind the overall market of traditional fuel luxury brands. However, in today’s increasingly hot electric vehicle market, these two models seem to have missed the opportunity. There have already been many competitive models in the market, which have good performances in terms of space, cruising range, configuration, etc. It is not easy for MINI pure electric to gain market share from it.
