Styling
Ostensibly, from the outside about the only way you'll spot the E from the SE is the boot badge. On the entry-level car, the main 'Aceman' legend has no suffix, whereas for the upper variant there's a yellow 'S' sitting after it. So the same chunky yet compact looks grace the Aceman's form, although it obviously would come on 17-inch alloys as standard in base-spec Classic trim like this; our test car was fitted with 18-inch 'Night Flash' rims (£550) to bolster its appearance. But contrast roof colours and rugged body cladding are still the order of the day, although there's again an option on this car which changes the look. At the front, the daytime running lamps that encircle the headlight clusters are part of the Level 1 Pack (£2,000), so without that it would just have single, horizontal lines in each cluster instead, making it look a bit like a giant automotive version of the 'expressionless face' emoji when viewed from the dead-ahead.
Interior
While there's still no problem with the build quality of the Aceman's cabin, when it's in less-than-Exclusive trim, it certainly loses some of its visual pizzazz. The dashboard isn't as fancy when there are no contrast colours in pretty patterns woven into it, and with plainer door cards and just a few glimpses of the gold detailing, the MINI's interior takes on a more charcoal, and dare we say dull, ambience. You still get all the nice tech, though, including the 9.4-inch round touchscreen infotainment system and, as part of that Level 1 Pack, a head-up display, so it doesn't feel like a Hertz Rental Aceman inside the E Classic, at least.
Practicality
No changes to interior passenger space nor boot capacity are applicable when comparing the Aceman E to the Aceman SE, which is to say that while the headroom is fine in the back for taller people, kneeroom assuredly isn't, the cargo area is an acceptable but not ace (see what we did there?) 300 litres with all seats in use, and most bizarrely of all, for a car which its parent manufacturer insists will
never come with a petrol engine of any sort, there's a 'hump' in the centre-rear footwell which means seating five inside the MINI at any one time looks like an optimistic premise in the extreme. If you want a properly practical family car from this marque, you're going to need to look at the bigger (and pricier, natch)
Countryman therefore.
Performance
The Aceman E might not sacrifice anything in terms of interior packaging compared to its SE relation, yet it loses a fair amount in the 'on-paper stats' stakes when you just stack the numbers up against each other. This base powertrain for the electric crossover sacrifices 25kW from the front-mounted electric motor (135- plays 160kW), resulting in lower horsepower (184hp, down 34hp) and less torque (290Nm, a reduction of 40Nm). That results in a slower 0-62mph time, of 7.9 seconds here (eight-tenths tardier than the SE's sprint), as well as a marginally reduced top speed (99mph, rather than 106mph).
In practice, though, the Aceman E doesn't feel like it's dreadfully slower than the SE, because it's 65 kilos lighter for a reason we shall come onto in a second. So out on the roads, it has the usual electric vehicle 'whizzy-ness' at lower pace, as well as the silky smooth power delivery and easy single-speed gearbox which makes driving it effectively from metre one an absolute doddle. And not a little bit uninteresting, either, mainly because it might make some unusual and vaguely interesting synthesised noises in certain drive modes, but that's about the only thing that's even moderately remarkable about the way the Aceman E stops and goes.
Therefore, more pertinent spec-sheet losses relate to the battery size and range performance. The reason the E is 65kg lighter than an SE is because it has a smaller power pack, rated at 38.5kWh usable instead of 49.2kWh. This reduces the maximum theoretical range to 192 miles (compared to a claimed 252 miles for the SE), while even the maximum DC charging rate is denuded too - it's 70kW for the E, yet 95kW for the SE.
This won't be a massive problem, because as it has a smaller battery to top up then the 70kW DC rate will perform the industry-standard 10-80 per cent charge quicker than the SE would (29 plays 31 minutes respectively). But the real-world range is going to be far more pressing a concern for Aceman E owners. We climbed into our test car on a cool but not bitterly freezing autumnal day, and the onboard computer said the MINI was going to do 107 miles from its 75 per cent of battery power. Not brilliant at all, although in mitigation the Aceman E did then turn in a very creditable 3.7mi/kWh during our test loop.
However, even good electrical efficiency like that would only yield 142 miles from 100 per cent, if you could match the consumption, and a more typical 80 per cent charge (what most people will do as they use DC connections) is going to bring you back down to 114 miles. Honestly? That doesn't feel anything like enough for any young families who might be interested in the Aceman and who often venture further afield at weekends, although as MINI reckons this model is aimed at 'modern urbanites', maybe such mythical creatures can manage with an electric car which is going to need hooking up to the mains far more often than is strictly necessary.
Ride & Handling
Ah. Now, we quite liked the way the Aceman SE drove over in Copenhagen back in October, even if we weren't blown away by it dynamically, but if we had one tiny reservation about it when pootling around the Danish capital and its surrounding environs, it related to the ride quality. And, believe us, Denmark's authorities do a damned sight better job of keeping their tarmac in good condition than the UK's equivalents manage, so we knew getting it back to the UK was going to be pivotal to our longer-term view on the Aceman.
And regrettably, what were possibly background, lingering question marks about the SE overseas have transformed into full-blown exclamation marks in an 18-inch-wheel-shod E back home. Frankly, the ride quality of the MINI Aceman is wholly unacceptable. There's one back lane (Tysoe Road) running north from the A422 to the picturesque Warwickshire village of Kineton and the Aceman E was little short of horrid along there; bouncing wildly through undulations, giving the sensation that it was torque-steering if you went near the throttle, and generally doing a fine impression of the unpleasant, frenetic nature of the original Mini. Great, if you want a faithful recreation of a car whose suspension was developed in the 1950s, but not so great if you actually want to enjoy travelling in the Aceman E on anything but a velvet-smooth stretch of asphalt.
The ride settles down to more tolerable levels on better, bigger roads and with more speed under the Aceman's tyres, but it's never anything like what we'd call 'good'. That, of course, might not be such an issue if the MINI upheld the brand's traditional 'go-kart handling' ethos, but even here we're lukewarm on the E. The steering has reasonable weight but stodgy feel, there's an impressive resistance to understeer and fine levels of traction yet no sensation from the Aceman's chassis that it has any sort of throttle adjustability dialled into it whatsoever, and the crazy pogo-stick comportment the car has doesn't instil any confidence in its driver nor imbue them with a sense that the MINI is planted to the surface on interesting country roads.
Yeah, if you're running on top-notch surfacing and you don't extend the Aceman E's chassis and drivetrain much beyond about 60 per cent, you might get a quietly accomplished driving experience from it. But amazing refinement? A memorable road-holding experience? Comfortable and cosseting ride manners? The answer to all of these queries are no, no, and good grief,
hell no, in order.
Value
As recompense for the small battery and restricted range, the E Classic not only represents the cheapest way into any MINI Aceman model, but also the company's most inexpensive electric crossover. It's not quite the most affordable EV in the brand's portfolio, obviously, as the Cooper E hatchback takes that honour with a bang-on £30,000 ticket. However, at £31,220 without options, the Aceman E Classic at least looks like it is competitively priced - even if a few choice upgrades, as fitted to our test vehicle, push the final figure up to £34,350.
Verdict
The hope with the MINI Aceman E is clearly that its tempting windscreen sticker and its undoubted aesthetic charm will win it enough fans in showrooms that they'll sign on the dotted line before they've driven it. However, while we wouldn't accuse the electric crossover of being actively bad, there's nothing fabulous about being behind its wheel, and we'd say the ride quality can be borderline alarming if you find a bumpy patch of tarmac. We also prefer the stronger all-round capabilities of the Aceman SE, which isn't a huge financial leap from the E, but if you've always wanted a five-door electric MINI with an affordable price tag, this is the car for you. For everyone else, there's always the
Countryman SE...
