2025 Mini Aceman review: Australian first drive

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Most automotive manufacturers would do anything to access the love, affection and devotion that surrounds anything wearing a Mini badge. Volkswagen might have come close with the modern Beetle, but Mini continues to appeal to legions of fans around the world, despite the ever-changing demands of modern automotive design, safety and cost rationalisation.

“Always wanted one. I’ve always loved them. Had an old one years ago. My parents had one when I was a kid.” Ask anyone driving a modern iteration of the new Mini and you hear responses like that. Being able to tap into an emotional connection like that is priceless, regardless of the type of product you’re referring to.

Now, that might not even be particularly relevant in 2025, to be fair. In real terms, how much does a 2025 Mini have in common with the OG? We joke at Drive that a current Mini (even the three-door) should be called a Maxi, and there’s precious little to tie the current crop to the legendary original beyond the name. Two factors do stand out, though – the triumph of clever packaging and iconic design that ensures a Mini, regardless of size or shape, looks like a Mini. 

And that’s where the new Aceman comes in. Wedged between the conventional Mini (in three- and five-door guise) and the Drive Car of the Year category-winning Countryman, the Aceman is the Mini for those of you wanting a five-door, with an electric drivetrain and styling that effectively straddles the two bookends.

You might ask why Mini doesn’t just offer an electric five-door regular hatch, but the argument would probably be that there’s a market for a vehicle that isn’t quite an SUV and isn’t quite not an SUV, if that makes sense. The term crossover gets bandied around a fair bit in the modern motoring world, but that’s exactly what the Aceman is.

As you would have seen in our news report, Mini has already ended availability of the entry-grade E, with just the SE and upcoming JCW remaining. There is still stock of the E, but once that’s sold, the E leaves our market stage left.

Reasons include the shorter driving range of the E despite the more affordable pricing, and our predilection for buying the most expensive variant of everything. While a price leader is always an attractive proposition, there’s not much point offering it if not enough Aussies are buying it. Crucially, the Aceman is the first model within the Mini product offering to be exclusively electric.

So, Aceman is down to one SE model (until the JCW arrives) that we’re testing at its local launch, which in Favoured trim starts from $60,990 before on-road costs. There’s plenty of standard equipment too, including adaptive cruise control, Parking Assistant with surround view, a premium 10-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, Mini’s augmented-reality satellite navigation, a panoramic glass roof, heated John Cooper Works front seats, and Favoured interior trim. 19-inch alloy wheels are also standard. 

Aceman SE makes 160kW, 330Nm, and features a 54.2kWh battery pack that is actually 49.2kWh in regard to usable capacity, with a WLTP-claimed 406km range and a 0–100km/h time of 7.1 seconds. In short, then, the Aceman is right in the sweet spot for urban dwellers not needing to go on long-distance road trips regularly.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that the Aceman is indeed a Mini, something that is crucial to this brand in any market. It stands out in sometimes mundane city traffic, and looks different enough that people notice it.

The Aceman sits well on the road too, with the chunky 19s out toward the corners giving it a broad stance, and features like the grille design, glass, and LED lighting giving it a modern feel. You can even select the mode of the daytime-running lights up front to change up the character if you so wish.

For mine, a three-door Mini is the one to have, but for those of you actually needing the extra space, a five-door Mini is still a stylish compromise.

Move into the cabin, and the Aceman is once again unashamedly a Mini, but with a modern twist. There’s a chunky 240mm OLED screen mounted in the centre of the dash, and making good use of that space to offer both a nod to the past and a salute to current infotainment expectations. Through the screen you can choose from eight different modes to switch up the personality of the Aceman, with each mode bringing different sounds, displays and colours.

Mini proudly proclaims to be leather-free, with Aceman SE getting Vescin vegan leather upholstery. Now, I won’t pretend to actually understand what ‘vegan leather’ really is, but unlike some of these modern attempts to be environmentally friendly, the Mini’s trim is comfortable, cool and not scratchy or uncomfortable. The floor coverings and floor mats are made from at least 90 per cent recycled polyester, another tick to Mini’s eco credentials.

If you need the space to move four adults – or two adults and two growing teenagers – around regularly, the Countryman is the Mini for you. The Aceman has usable space in the second row, but it is tight when you have tall occupants up front, and you then have tall passengers clambering into the second row. Keep that in mind, but if the second row is occasional or for shorter trips, there's no issue.

The boot is more than acceptable for this segment, too, with 300 litres on offer when the second row is in use, which will work for most day-to-day requirements. Fold the 60:40 second row down and you get a very useful 1005L to play with. 

At launch, we used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Both were quick to connect the first time, and remained reliable once connected. We did have a couple of instances where we had to marry the phone back to the car after getting out for lunch for example, but once connected, the system was easy to use.

Whereas the circular screen could otherwise be gimmicky, Mini designers and engineers have done a good job of making it functional, with the real estate used to handily display the functions you need access to.

The Aceman SE (and the E if you’re looking at one of the final ones) is capable of accepting DC fast charging, up to a maximum of 75kW for the E and 95kW for the SE. That means the SE will get from 10–80 per cent in a claimed 31 minutes. If you’ve got what we consider to be the benchmark home charger, delivering 11kW via three-phase AC, you can charge the SE from zero to 100 per cent in five hours and 30 minutes. 

Driving an EV at launch is often a challenge in regard to measuring efficiency, and that proves to be the case on our Aceman SE drive. We’ll focus closely on real-world efficiency when the Aceman comes through the Drive garage post-launch, and if it can get close to the WLTP claim, it will be a useful crossing distance for plenty of potential buyers.

Like most electric cars, the Aceman feels punchy, punchier in fact than it needs to be in real terms, and has a sharp turn of speed even in its most efficient driving mode. Getting up to speed, maintaining speed or overtaking are all effortless and, of course, silent. The lack of driveline noise can exacerbate the other noise when you’re driving an EV, but the Aceman is fairly quiet, even on coarse-chip country roads.

Ride quality was also good, regardless of the surface beneath, with the Aceman hiding most of its 1710kg heft, and you only ever feel that weight if you need to pull the Aceman up from high speed into a corner you weren’t expecting. Even then, it’s well balanced and the brakes work faultlessly, but it's only then you feel the weight. We liked the steering and the general feel behind the wheel, whether out on the open road or working your way through city traffic.

Half the battle is already won when a vehicle is wearing a badge as iconic as Mini. That alone gets people interested who might otherwise have walked past without noticing. Initially, I wondered where the Aceman might fit into a Mini range that already had a five-door hatch and an SUV-like Countryman.

The Aceman’s – um – ace up its sleeve, of course, is the electric powertrain. With a range that makes sense to most drivers in this country, pricing that sits it squarely in the sweet spot of the competitive set, and standard equipment that delivers what buyers will want, it’s a genuine alternative for those of you looking for a funky EV.

Electric Cars Guide

Trent Nikolic has been road testing and writing about cars for almost 20 years. He’s been at CarAdvice/Drive since 2014 and has been a motoring editor at the NRMA, Overlander 4WD Magazine, Hot4s and Auto Salon Magazine.

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