Mini Aceman EV Concept offers preview of the future

There seem to be two main trends in the automotive industry when it comes to unveiling new designs. One follows the classic emotional approach, where the design does all the talking, where we get to ogle the new sexy lines and the images draw us into the futuristic world promised by the new car.

The other trend makes sure to employ politically correct and ethnically diverse actors who never drove a car in their lives and who probably won many competitions for wearing weirdest items of clothing. This trend involves a lot of knitted stuff, fancy sunglasses and painfully uncomfortable shoes. There are tons of off-angle images, colorful blobs of nothing and for some strange reason - lollipops. Guess which way Mini did go with the Aceman EV Concept?

After filtering out all of that useless junk, we find actually a very good looking and very interesting car - dare we say revolutionary? Maybe a bit much. Evolutionary then - yes, it really is a very clever new car from Mini. Although it is only a concept for now, we will actually see the road-ready Aceman some time next year and it is bound to look very much like the car we have here today.

There are some big words involved in every car launch and here we have the “Charismatic Simplicity” - that’s ok, we get it. Simple two-box shape with some sharper edges and big wheel arches accented by black plastic. It looks good, really good - the car seems to be athletic with a higher shoulder line and those wheel arches bulge out quite a bit. Giant wheels add to the overall “outdoor activity” looks with the glass house not being as tall as on other Minis.

The Aceman resembles Mini Countryman but it is much shorter, it is actually only one inch longer than Mini Cooper. Thanks to its 20” wheels it rides much higher than the Countryman though and it towers it by an inch and a half. Mini managed to squeeze a much bigger car internally into a footprint of the Mini Cooper - now that is awesome.

Since the emergence of electric cars, the automakers clearly struggle to figure out what to do with the grille. A feature that has been around since the invention of the car and one that designers think we, the people, can’t live without.

Mini follows Hyundai and Cadillac and fits the Aceman with hundreds of LEDs that can illuminate the grille in many different patterns. The car can greet the owner, can show the charging status or possibly send a clear message to other road users. Fists or fingers will no longer be required, from now on just hearts and fluffy bunnies.

The Aceman retains the classic headlights and taillights but the round shapes are a bit more angular now - still unmistakably Mini. The exterior overall is an evolution of the current design, it gets the much needed refresh and it gets an extra dose of funkiness. Thumbs up for the design team for this effort - really well executed.

The interior immediately brings up one question - what were they eating (or smoking)? You need to filter out the colors and patterns to actually realize the inside of the car has gone through some major redesign.

Gone is the steep windscreen which now stretches further towards the front, the dashboard is simple and it sits much deeper. The central screen is a winner, it is an instant icon, people will either hate it or love it but there is no question it is marvelous to look at and most likely a true joy to use.

Mini keeps the original toggle switches just below the screen - the day those switches are gone will be a sad day for the brand. There are two projectors hidden behind the sun vizors that brighten up the dashboard with enlarged images from the central screen.

It’s the idea we see on our TVs with lights behind them changing the ambient colors and making the experience supposedly better. Majority of people see it as a distraction and this feature won’t make it to the production car but it is an interesting idea on how to make use of the large dashboard space without using expensive and large screens.

The round OLED screen is the heart of the car and the brand new operating system offers a breath of fresh air. It is built on Android Open Source Project and it is simple, intuitive and configurable in many ways. User interface is obviously designed specifically for the screen and it makes the experience unforgettable. One of the first of many to come, interactive features, is the car’s navigation ability to explore cities by current events.

Attractive new design that Mini so desperately needed is joined by the compulsory presence of eco-friendly fabrics derived from fish-free fishing nets and water-free plastic water bottles. The whole package is topped off by a new software that together with the round screen creates a completely new experience.

Despite Mini trying really hard to distract us with flashy images, strange wardrobes and unhealthy amounts of weirdly dancing and moving people, we have managed to spot a truly new chapter in Mini’s history. It is much more than a refresh, it is a completely new direction that tries to carry its classic roots into the future and Mini manages this tricky transition really well. It’s not a new chapter - it’s a whole new book.

Mini Aceman design sketches, The Jacket and Plastic Dog make appearance again

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