MINI ACEMAN JCW

Mini turns up the wick on its electric-only compact SUV

- MURRAY SCULLION

Confident driving on unknown roads.” This message popped into the car’s head-up-display while we had it on test. It’s nearly beautiful, almost like a haiku or sonnet. At the time I was left wondering whether the Mini was being complimentary or maybe a bit pass-agg. Perhaps it’s a sort of polite Britishness born of the Aceman’s Oxford roots, or it’s a case of ‘lost in translation’ from where the car is actually built, 5000 miles or so east of Cowley, in Zhangjiagang, China. Either way, it’s an oddly polite ode for such a little tearaway.

The Aceman JCW uses the same electric powertrain as the Mini JCW, meaning a single motor, front-wheel drive and 255bhp. It can manage 0-62mph in 6.4sec, so around half a second slower than the hatch but nearly a second quicker than the next quickest Aceman. A 49.2kWh (usable) battery and 3.8mpkWh combine for a WLTP range of 214 miles. Max charging is 95kW for DC and 11kW for AC, which isn’t that impressive at all, really. DC charging time from 0-80% is 31 minutes, while AC from 0-100% is five hours and 30 minutes. Its rivals offer more range and faster charging.