First look: Electric MINI Aceman leaked ahead of official reveal

The MINI Aceman has leaked ahead of its official reveal. Sliding in between the new MINI Cooper hatchback and MINI Countryman SUV in the British-German brand’s line-up, the all-electric Aceman is set to replace the recently-discontinued Clubman estate and will be fully unveiled in April.

No, we haven’t procured a poor Photoshop job courtesy of the royal family; these images are actually from the Chinese government and are taken from official patent filings by MINI for the Aceman’s – which is set to be built in China – design.

As you can see, the Aceman gets the same angular headlights as the larger Countryman, which pay homage to the round MINI headlights of old. However, the overall shape of the car is more akin to the Aceman Concept, which debuted all the way back in 2020. The production Aceman gets that car’s boxy silhouette, with ‘Exclusive’-spec cars getting the same bronze trim as in the Cooper and Countryman.

MINI has confirmed that the Aceman measures 4,075mm in length, 1,754mm wide (excluding mirrors) and 1,495 in height, which makes it shorter than even the Volvo EX30 and Vauxhall Mokka Electric, being more akin in size to smaller and cheaper superminis like the Vauxhall Corsa Electric. MINI has confirmed there will be room for five, though, unlike the Cooper hatch which can only seat four.

These latest images don’t show the Aceman’s interior, however, you can expect things to look virtually identical to the new Cooper and Countryman, which are already both on sale. This means the centre of the dashboard will be dominated by a 9.4-inch circular OLED touchscreen; production cars won’t have the special Pokémon mode, nor the animated dashboard of the concept, although they will have MINI’s new array of ‘Experience Modes’. These change the look and feel of the infotainment system and ambient lightning, as well as adjusting the way the car drives.

Speaking of the way the MINI Aceman drives, the new electric crossover will use the same platform as the smaller MINI Cooper – the Countryman gets a different setup of which it shares with the BMW iX1. MINI has confirmed the Aceman will be powered by a 54.2kWh battery pack which we suspect will give it a range of around 250 miles – roughly the same as what you get in a Peugeot E-2008.

With the full unveiling confirmed to come in the next few weeks, the MINI Aceman is set to go on sale ealy in 2025. While it’ll be built in China for now, a recent investment in the MINI Oxford plant means production will shift to there in 2026. Given that the MINI Cooper starts from £30,000, a price tag of around £34-36,000 for the Aceman seems likely, putting it in-line price-wise with many of its small electric SUV rivals.