What's the difference?
Mini and electricity were always destined to be together. Of course a sporty, prestigious and quirky little car favoured by urban dwellers was going to be the perfect match for an electric powertrain.
And while the Aceman SUV isn't the first fully electric vehicle for the brand it is a welcome addition that's quintessentially Mini, even if it is made in China.
The Aceman fills the gap between the Mini Cooper hatch and Countryman SUV and rivals a range of small electric premium SUVs such as the Alfa Romeo Junior and even the Volvo EX30.
The variant of this four-door, five-seater Aceman we are testing is the SE.
Electrified utes are growing in popularity in Australia and carmakers have been paying attention.
While the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute is by far the best-selling as it stands, there hasn’t really been any electric ute to go up against the poorly received LDV eT60, until now.
South Korea’s KGM (formerly known as SsangYong) has just launched the Musso EV, which is a purely electric dual-cab ute. It’s unrelated to the existing, turbo-diesel Musso and is more closely related to the current car-based Actyon and Torres SUVs.
Read along to see how this ute stacks up against its growing set of competitors.
The Aceman could be the perfect Mini - bigger than a Cooper, smaller than a Countryman. It’s also surprisingly spacious and practical. The price is about right compared to rivals, and so is the battery size and range.
What the Mini has that others don’t is its unique and playful design and ‘attitude’. True to the Mini ethos it's not a restrained car, it’s whimsical in its design but serious in its ability. It's a great car to drive both dynamically and in terms of comfort.
Despite having the Musso name, this electric ute is a completely different beast which is much more lifestyle-oriented than the older and unrelated turbo-diesel Musso workhorse.
There really isn’t much competition out there right now in the electric ute space but this makes a compelling case, especially for those looking in the fleet space. It has an appealing price, adequate range, SUV-like comfort and decent payload capacity.