The Mini Aceman will expand the British marque’s crossover offerings to two, and will be a purely electric proposition to boot.
While it will be recognisably a Mini model, the Aceman will sport some styling features that are new to brand, including slightly squared-off wheel arches, lift-up door handles, and flatter surfacing.
Many elements from the concept unveiled in the middle of the year will be carried through to the production vehicle, including the overall silhouette, headlight and tail-light shapes, and a closed-off front grille.
As was expected, the concept’s frameless door windows and thin wing mirrors have been junked for more conventional units.
Our spy photography agency managed to snap photos of two Aceman prototypes. The one on the car carrier seems to be a lower-spec model, as it has higher profile tyres and split four-spoke alloy wheels awkwardly paired with a five-stud layout.
Meanwhile the vehicle with the blurred background was photographed in China, and seems to be a higher spec variant as it has fancier alloys with thinner rubber.
The production Aceman will be around the same size as the concept, which measured 4050mm long, 1990mm wide and 1590mm tall.
This means the all-electric crossover will be shorter than today’s Countryman that’s 4297mm long, 1822mm wide and 1557mm tall.
Thanks to the dedicated EV architecture, the Aceman’s interior room should be comparable or better, even, than the larger Countryman.
Under the skin the Aceman will use a new electric car platform being jointly developed by BMW and Great Wall Motors in China.
This architecture will also be used in the upcoming all-electric Mini hatch. According to Autocar, the Mini EV hatch will be initially available in two flavours: a Cooper model with a 135kW motor and a 40kWh battery, and a Cooper S variant boasting 165kW to play with and a larger 50kWh battery pack.
The Cooper S should have a WLTP range rating of around 400km.
It’s possible the launch lineup for the Aceman will feature the same drivetrain options as the smaller Mini EV hatch.
With no replacement planned for the current Clubman wagon, the Aceman will fill the hole between the hatchback range and the Countryman, albeit with a traditional lift-up tailgate in place of the Clubman’s rear barn doors.
Both the dedicated Mini EV and the new Aceman will be built in China, and exported around the world.
